Words: Belinda Connolly
Noticed a downturn in click-through rates, email opens and leads on your digital platforms? Your digital marketing content strategy may have worked up until recently but in any given year, algorithm changes, user behaviour and SEO trends mean 12 months is a long time in digital marketing.
So, what exactly has changed, and how can you fix your outdated content strategy to ensure you’re reaching your audience on the right platform at the right time? We’ve got you covered – keep reading for details.
Videos are bigger than ever…
.. but shouldn’t be longer than ever. Everyone loves a video, and every digital marketer dreams of their vid going viral. You’re doing it wrong if you’re still creating half-hour videos and expecting them to get traction. People – even your target audience and fans – don’t have the time or attention span to commit to long videos anymore. Being concise is what it’s all about. Think about what you watch on TikTok and Instagram – the best videos are engaging and get to the point.
As attention spans decrease, so should the length of your videos. Research shows that short videos between 15 and 60 seconds are the most likely to be played all the way through. And don’t overlook trending audio – this can help your video get cut through in a crowded field.
Unsure what type of content to film? Be inspired by Bunnings, who share a mix of campaign-centric videos on their social accounts with longer, evergreen ‘how to’ vids on YouTube. This mix meets the creed of ‘something for everyone’ while building trust with their audience.
Email like it’s 2025 – not 2005
We’re big fans of email marketing for many reasons, including its incredible ROI. For every $1 spent on business emails, brands see an average $42 return, making it the highest-performing ROI in all digital marketing streams in Australia.
If you’re still sending long-winded emails with GIFs and long videos, you’re setting yourself up for unsubscribes and deletes. The new rules around email are proven to improve click-through and open rates so ditch the long-winded EDMs and try:
- Keeping the word count to a maximum of 125 words
- Using bullet points for easy scanning
- Making the CTA unmissable.
TIP: Double and even triple-check hyperlinks to landing pages and the CTA, and refine your subject line until it’s a maximum of 50 characters to intrigue your readers.
Another way to update your email strategy is to personalise, personalise, personalise. It’s no longer enough just to add the recipient’s name: to get better results, drill down and separate your audience into segments, such as user behaviour.
Do they often buy multiples of the same item? Do they add to cart, leave it for a day or two and then return to purchase? Personalised emails that target shopper behaviour can compel readers to take action. Offer discounts for customers who spend big and send gentle abandoned cart reminders for those who may be deliberating.
SEO has changed – make it work for your brand
In the blink of an eye, the way people search online has completely changed, thanks to AI. The days of Googling info and sifting through pages of not-always-relevant information are fast disappearing.
Now, people want instant, personalised information via their Large Language Model (LLM) of choice. Even for Google users, often the first thing they see after typing in their query is an AI summary.
To ensure your brand is picked up by LLMs and included in search results, you need to overhaul your content strategy.
Here’s how:
- The first few sentences of your copy should address a query in concise language
- Subheadings are most successful when they are a real question that a user may ask
- Keep it simple – no acronyms, abbreviations or unnecessary industry-speak.
Include FAQ sections on your website to help LLMS find your content, and structure the content like a user typing a query into an LLM.
A few tweaks to your content strategy can be enough to improve results across digital strategies and see better ROI. We suggest setting aside 15 minutes a week to keep up with industry trends (subscribe to our newsletter here) and then spending half hour refining your strategy. Committing to this small weekly task will ensure your content is elite and current – not outdated and failing.
No time to fix your strategy? Get in touch! We’re passionate about helping clients reach their content strategy goals.
