{"id":5063,"date":"2022-01-21T11:53:04","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T11:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/01\/21\/your-audience-isnt-really-interested-in-just-the-facts-anymore-rose-colored-glasses\/"},"modified":"2022-01-21T11:53:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T11:53:04","slug":"your-audience-isnt-really-interested-in-just-the-facts-anymore-rose-colored-glasses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/01\/21\/your-audience-isnt-really-interested-in-just-the-facts-anymore-rose-colored-glasses\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Audience Isn’t Really Interested in ‘Just the Facts’ Anymore [Rose-Colored Glasses]"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"Last week, I spoke to a client in the health care industry whose team wanted to develop a new digital content customer experience. But they felt frustrated.<\/p>\n

Five years ago, with help from a couple of ad agency consultants, they\u2019d come up with the idea to launch a digital platform to provide easy access to facts. All they needed, they thought, was to set up a digital library that could answer every question existing clients might have.<\/p>\n

They would \u201clet the facts speak for themselves\u201d and win the customer retention battle.<\/p>\n

<Narrator>: \u201cIt didn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

You see, facts almost never speak for themselves (they\u2019re bashful that way). And they almost never win an argument.<\/p>\n

Think about the last time you presented a set of facts you thought would clinch your argument. Boom. You dropped the mic and the knowledge bombs. You won, right?<\/p>\n

Nope. Presenting facts does nothing to correct a false belief, and it usually causes your opponents to double down on their beliefs.<\/p>\n

A group of researchers actually have studied this so-called \u201cbackfire effect<\/a>\u201d and found that correcting someone \u201cactually increases<\/em><\/strong> [emphasis mine] misperceptions among the group in question.\u201d<\/p>\n

The backfire effect indicates correcting someone actually increases misperceptions among the group in question, according to #research from @UMich and @GeorgiaStateU via @Robert_Rose @CMIContent. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

In a big data, deep fake world, we have more \u201cfacts\u201d than ever before. The question is: Does anyone care what we have to say?<\/p>\n

A few years ago, researchers at Wharton<\/a> showed people various algorithms. Most people in the study found them interesting and valuable \u2013\u00a0until an algorithm made a mistake. Once people saw the mistake occur, they were \u201cvery, very unlikely to use it and didn\u2019t like it anymore.\u201d Study participants seemed to judge algorithms more harshly than they would people, one researcher noted.<\/p>\n

But, if these people had input into the algorithm or were allowed to adjust the forecasts, they not only liked the algorithms more, they didn\u2019t lose nearly as much confidence when an error occurred.<\/p>\n

These findings bode well for preserving the role of human involvement<\/a> in an increasingly automated world. But it also speaks volumes in terms of how delicate belief and trust are.<\/p>\n

So, the content question in 2022 isn\u2019t about how to present \u201cjust the facts.\u201d The question is how to make people care about any of the facts. And this isn\u2019t just a marketing question. It\u2019s a fundamental communication question.<\/p>\n

Increasingly, facts are a commodity. They\u2019re easy to attain, so we don\u2019t value them. And because we don\u2019t value them, they can be assailed with \u2026 well \u2026 \u201calternative facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facts are easy to attain, so readers don\u2019t value them, says @Robert_Rose via @CMIContent. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

As I told my health care client, companies have to give people something to believe in (to quote the classic Poison song). You have to give audiences something more than facts to care about.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t, you risk creating some version of this scene from the TV show The Simpsons: Lisa feels sad because one of her favorite teachers left. Her father, Homer, doesn\u2019t get why. \u201cI knew you wouldn\u2019t understand,\u201d she says. \u201cHey,\u201d says Homer, \u201cjust because I don\u2019t care doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, with every piece of content, ask this: \u201cDo we want people to care?\u201d<\/p>\n

If not, there\u2019s no problem going with the cold corporate template and \u201clet the facts speak for themselves.\u201d If you do want people to care, you better give people more than content they can believe. You better give them content<\/a> they can believe in \u2013 <\/em>even if it means putting in more effort.<\/p>\n

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: How\u2019d You Make That Flipping Awesome B2B Content for ServiceNow?<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n

Creating belief is about understanding intent<\/h2>\n

So, how do you start creating content that goes beyond simple fact-based research, data, and information?<\/p>\n

Go back to that argument you had on social media or with the colleague or boss who never seems to \u201cget it.\u201d Think about those customers you\u2019re trying to convince to purchase from you or advocate for you.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re never going to win those battles with facts \u2013 you must understand why<\/em> they are arguing, searching, or deciding. You must understand their intent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To understand intent, you must first create mechanisms \u2013 content-driven experiences \u2013 that enable your brand to listen more effectively<\/a> to the signals generated across their interactions.<\/p>\n

Create #content-driven experiences to understand audience intent and listen to signals generated by the interactions, says @Robert_Rose via @CMIContent. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

As one might expect, this requires more effective use of data than is likely available for most businesses. A thorough content strategy is needed to provide data to help the business understand each piece of content\u2019s type and purpose and how they apply contextually to each step of the customer\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n

What does that content strategy<\/a> look like?<\/p>\n

In my research and consulting practice, I\u2019ve seen marketing organizations create a self-enablement process to create this level of capability. It typically involves a three-step process:<\/p>\n

1. Arrange the data house<\/h3>\n

Create a dictionary or interpretation for understanding intent. Put simply, you need to discern the most appropriate response to the customer\u2019s interaction with your content.<\/p>\n

This is where a metadata structure<\/a> and content tagging system to track behavioral context (or intent) come in. For example, a white paper called Discover How Digital Marketing Is a Good Thing for Your Business might be tagged with a \u201cbeginner\u201d or \u201clearning\u201d intent. Someone who consumes this white paper would NOT be considered a lead but will be nurtured as an engaged audience.<\/p>\n

2. Develop best next capability<\/h3>\n

Once you have an intent signal, you need to understand what\u2019s the \u201cbest next\u201d thing to make that customer understand and care about the answer.<\/p>\n

Businesses need to create content-driven experiences to deliver a \u201cbest next\u201d experience to content consumers. For example, that targeted messaging to the beginner or learning audience member should prompt them to want to read a how-to-change piece.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s overly simplistic, of course, but you can see how levels of nuance may need to be captured with more than just answers to a question. Through additional content consumption, a poll, or a survey, you can glean if this beginner is feeling confident or fearful about change. As you learn more about the nuanced aspects of the customer\u2019s journey<\/a>, you can automatically deliver the best next experience for that customer.<\/p>\n

Similarly, it\u2019s not all about technology and dynamic content. There\u2019s a human element to this, too. You can share this information with others who can deliver additional experiences that fall outside the digital content realm. For example, you could share insights<\/a> about the beginner prospect\u2019s behavior with sales. Once sales understands what the prospect needs, their role can evolve from a persuader to a consultant helping the prospect understand the best way to move to the next step.<\/p>\n

3. Connect the experiences<\/h3>\n

This step enables the most insight. Once you map your content<\/a> to understand what you need to deliver based on intent, you must develop the capability to aggregate this data and serve up the content (and the intent) contextually across the different experiences. You need to find a way to connect the experiences into a singular view of the audience\u2019s progression through their journey.<\/p>\n

For example, if the beginner persona ultimately purchases your services, you might want to connect their profile to the onboarding or training module of a 101-level set of training classes. The insight gleaned from a more statistically relevant data set improves these activities or even makes them possible in the first place.<\/p>\n

This third step may be the most difficult part of the process because it often means integrating multiple technologies to create a single view of the customer.<\/p>\n

But you can start small. Even if you can just connect the intent upper\/beginning part of the journey (awareness) to the mid part of the journey (sales), you are starting to get much better.<\/p>\n

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: How To Make Content a More Effective Part of Your Sales Funnel<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n

It\u2019s the content, not the data, that makes people care<\/h2>\n

Data gives you the opportunity to make people care about what you have to say. To get beyond just \u201canswers,\u201d you must create compelling content that integrates those answers (facts, figures, data, information) into compelling experiences that appeal to the audience\u2019s feelings.<\/p>\n

One widespread marketing fallacy is that buyers want factual answers about the products and services they\u2019re considering.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not true. More often than not, the brand that supplies the least information, facts, data, etc., about a product and provides the most inspiration, belief, and emotional connection will be the chosen one.<\/p>\n

You need to convince customers they are buying into a brand they can believe in. To do that, you need to give them an experience they believe in, too.<\/p>\n

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Why the Future of Demand Gen Lies in Self-Service Content Experiences<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n
Want to learn how to balance, manage, and scale great content experiences across all your essential platforms and channels? Join us at ContentTECH Summit this March in San Diego.\u00a0<\/em>Browse the schedule<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/em>register today.<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/div>\n

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski\/Content Marketing Institute<\/em><\/p>\n

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