Delivering Engagement: The Content-Value Exchange

Email campaign success depends upon subscriber engagement.

Marketers must understand that trust-building content (i.e., white papers, how-to-guides) and educational content (i.e., ebooks, newsletters) only become powerful if they facilitate a value exchange (both sides must benefit from engagement). Marketers looking to acquire customers and drive high engagement need to focus on consistent and engaging content that delivers value to the recipient in exchange for something (e.g., time, email address). The more valuable the content (built to serve your audience over time), the easier it will be for them to engage with your brand in a value exchange.

Here are a few thoughts on how to engage prospects more fully with your brand:

• Deliver engagement by offering recipients something valuable. Content only delivers engagement if it confers value. Your subscribers need to know they can trust you. When you build trust by offering valuable, relevant and timely content (informative content; not ad speak), you can turn your audience’s precious attention into long-term interest that drives repeat traffic and sales.

• Meet recipients’ needs for timely and relevant information. By providing relevant contextual information, you can strike a responsive chord among readers who will appreciate receiving timely, regular information updates and news. It requires a lot of work to build trust from your audience; so to earn and sustain the active engagement of readers, give them the content they expect and want:
  • An anticipated level of quality (well-written and articulate);
  • Value (subject matter expertise); and
  • Consistency (an editorial style baseline).
• Earn and sustain the active involvement of recipients. Good email content helps you deepen your relationship with your audience. When you write effective subject lines (that interest them enough to open your message), and create valuable content that meet their expectations (and get your messages read), you begin to engage and deepen relationships (that gets you increased market share, repeat business, more referrals).
• Focus on your prospects’ perspective. The more specific and relevant your content is for your readers, the more likely you are to see higher levels of engagement—whether you measure results in opens, clickthroughs, downloads, or even revenue generation.

Depending on your product or service, your audience, and your brand…the right content mix could vary and include blog posts/articles, case studies, videos/tutorials/webinars/demos, infographics, white papers/ebooks, presentations, newsletters/email/RSS.

Your readers are always searching for timely information and value high-quality content. Get closer to them by providing valuable information in exchange for their valued time—they’re interested in only what engages, and they engage with that which confers value.