nRelate: How to engage content consumers

According to The Behavior Shift: Getting Content in Front of Consumers fewer than 10% of content consumers (US adults over age 18) are clicking on content links through social networks like Facebook or on product links through the social networks. In fact most (48%) say they are most likely to click on 'related content' links at the bottom of other articles.

With fewer people clicking and engaging through search or social options, how can a brand engage?

First, know what these readers are looking for. According to the report 84% are likely to click on 'related content' when reading local news, 62% when reading entertainment pieces and 47% when reading sports content.

Second, focus on quality of content not quantity. The researchers found 60% of people engage through content from sourced they know offline - a newspaper, a manufacturer or brand - while one-quarter believe pieces which include images (24%) or author images/bylines (23%) are of higher quality. Interestingly enough only 11% looked at embedded video as a quality feature.

Finally, don't forget the relevance. For branded content, especially, consumers are most likely to click related links for content that is related to a product search or review - for example, someone looking at a piece detailing the benefits of 3D Blu-Ray versus HD Blu-Ray players would probably find movie-related content relevant.

You can read part one of the study, including how consumers are finding content, here.

Tags: blogs and content, content consumption trends, content relevance, nRelate, social marketing