Who Wants to be Average?

Seriously, who wants to be average?

One communications trend we do love is branded content, which means, as we love to say in our tag: own your story, tell your story, live your story.

Here’s how we made content king for one of our clients:

Flat-line leadership for a trade newsletter was average at 22 percent or below (and most people are satisfied if they hit the average). The two biggest single hits on prior newsletters included a solo graphic and a member fundraiser.

In a member survey, we asked all the obvious questions and then some.

Based on our media and social media experience, we made massive changes – including change in delivery, design, time of day delivery and (this is key) original content.

What we were told by staff was completely opposite of how member readers responded and reacted to the content based on tracking. What members told also was different than what their own reading habits revealed based on tracking and other industry average measurements.

Once habits were established, we also changed content and pivoted to test story lines, narratives and styles (such as linked copy only vs. short posts with no links). After three months and six newsletters, we had established a content rich timeline with considerably higher open rates.

Results: The new and improved newsletter spiked to close to 50 percent and often higher.

Now, wouldn’t you rather have people read your great content instead of deleting it? And besides, who wants to be average?