Why People Use and Engage with Digital Content Globally

Niels Schillewaert, PhD

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, InSites Consulting

@niels_insites

#ARFannual17

Vicki Draper

Director ResearchAOL, Inc.

@DraperVicki

Erica Carranza, PhD

VP, Consumer Psychology,Chadwick Martin Bailey

Why do people use & engage with content?

NORMATIVEEFFECTIVENESS

DATA(ALCHEMY)

DIGITALANALYTICSFROM CMS

CUSTOMCATEGORYRESEARCH

PRE-TESTINGTECHNIQUES

(MAXDIFF& TURF)

CUSTOM EFFECTIVENESSMETHODOLOGY

STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT LAUNCH

EXISTINGPRIMARY

RESEARCH

ANALYTICSDASHBOARDS

HUMAN TRUTHS WERE MISSING

Surprisingly, it’s an unknown in the industry

Very little actual data about the effectiveness of and best practices within content marketing (but tons of opinions…)

No models grounded in anything defensible

• Example: ‘Content falls into three categories: Inspire, involve & inform’

Tons of advertiser sentiment data and media research, but not much focusing on motivations, needs, emotions, or anything that helps define the canvas for programs

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So we completed research to answer the question:

Why Do People Use & Engage With Content?

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Exploring content moments

Tell us about the last time you…

• Read an article or blog

• Read a listicle (e.g., top 10 ways to…)

• Watched a video

• Viewed a photo gallery or slideshow

• Browsed or researched products

• Sought information (e.g., directions)

• Viewed social media posts

1: Segmentation

2: Segmentation of moments

CONVENTIONAL:Segment people

MOMENTS-BASED:Segment occasions

Vs.

3: Anchored in the psychology of habitsTo optimize sponsored content, target a specific habit (i.e., type of “content moment”)

Go to NYT online.

What’s happening in the world?

Feel focused and in the

know.

Motivations Behaviors Outcomes

Methodology

US Research, 2015

• Respondent n = 4283

• Moment n = 7300

Global Research, 2016

• Respondent n = 31999

• Moment n = 55845

Respondent n=4005 n=4000 n=4008 n=4002

Moment n=6929 n=6955 n=7195 n=6841

Respondent n=4005 n=4004 n=4028 n=3972

Moment n=7177 n=7032 n=4003 n=6849

Fresh ideas

Relaxed & Inspired

Primed for further action

INSPIREFEEL GOOD ENTERTAIN

UPDATESOCIALLY FIND

BE IN THE KNOW CONNECT COMFORT

Heartwarming Experience

Happiness & relaxation

Cheered & inspired

Amusing escape

Relaxed & happy

Replenished

Stay on top of pop culture and friends

Relaxed & happy

Reset after a mental break

Answers to questions

Focused & motivated

Ready to act

Be updated about the

world

Focused but frustrated

Armed with information

Visual/buzzy content

to share

Happiness & excitement

Entertained & ready to

share

Gain support & understanding

Frustrated & anxious

Understanding/

personal insight

INSPIRE BE IN THE

KNOWFIND COMFORT CONNECT FEEL GOOD ENTERTAIN

UPDATE SOCIALLY

Read an online article or blog post

8% 27% 13% 16% 13% 11% 4% 15%

Watched a long online video 8% 4% 7% 11% 18% 12% 26% 9%

Watched a short online video 8% 3% 6% 11 % 18% 14% 27% 11%

Read an online article in the form of a list

15% 9% 14% 15% 17% 10% 10% 10%

Viewed an online photo gallery or slideshow

15% 4% 7% 12% 19% 17% 13% 11%

Browsed a product or service category or gathered product

information online26% 4% 28% 16% 8% 10% 4% 4%

Got information online 12% 41% 21% 11% 8% 8% 5% 7%

Looked at what was being posted on your social networks

8% 9% 4% 8% 1% 18% 11% 34%

Content formats vary substantially by segment

Topics vary substantially too

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Topics INSPIREBE IN THE

KNOWFIND COMFORT CONNECT FEEL GOOD ENTERTAIN

UPDATESOCIALLY

Autos or other vehicles 13% 1% 39% 14% 9% 10% 6% 9%

Politics 0.0% 47.8% 4.9% 15.6% 9.8% 4.4% 3.4% 14.1%

Beauty 36% 0% 20% 10% 9% 15% 7% 3%

Food 42.1% 0.0% 20.9% 10.3% 15.6% 5.8% 4.5% 0.8%

Travel 38.2% 0.0% 18.0% 11.0% 13.2% 10.5% 6.1% 3.1%

Home 40.9% 0.0% 31.2% 10.0% 8.6% 5.2% 2.6% 1.5%

The challenge: How to connect with consumers given different types of moments

INSPIREFEEL GOOD ENTERTAIN

UPDATESOCIALLY FIND

BE IN THE KNOW CONNECT COMFORT

A portfolio approach

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INSPIREBE IN THE

KNOW FIND COMFORT CONNECTFEEL

GOOD ENTERTAINUPDATE

SOCIALLY

Beauty 36% 0% 20% 10% 9% 15% 7% 3%

A portfolio approach

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INSPIREBE IN THE

KNOW FIND COMFORT CONNECTFEEL

GOOD ENTERTAINUPDATE

SOCIALLY

Beauty 36% 0% 20% 10% 9% 15% 7% 3%

Inspiration to try a new approach

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Topics INSPIREBE IN THE

KNOW FIND COMFORT CONNECTFEEL

GOOD ENTERTAINUPDATE

SOCIALLY

A public figure or celebrity 9% 11% 6% 7% 5% 9% 16% 37%

Beauty 36% 0% 20% 10% 9% 15% 7% 3%

Inspiration to try a new approach

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Topics INSPIREBE IN THE

KNOW FIND COMFORT CONNECTFEEL

GOOD ENTERTAINUPDATE

SOCIALLY

A public figure or celebrity 9% 11% 6% 7% 5% 9% 16% 37%

Beauty 36% 0% 20% 10% 9% 15% 7% 3%

Fashion or style 44% 0% 6% 12% 9% 17% 6% 7%

Health & wellness 17% 0% 45% 17% 4% 12% 2% 3%

Dating & relationships 13% 2% 5% 30% 7% 18% 12% 14%

Career 22% 4% 24% 26% 4% 13% 4% 4%

Social issues 1% 27% 13% 19% 12% 11% 4% 14%

Global Content MomentsCan Content Moments and Management Be Approached Uniformly?

GERMANY : distributed and varied

JAPAN : concentrated and binary

Content moments per country

HUMAN, NOT CULTURE DRIVEN

Q: Without looking it up, did you notice any brand sponsorships or ads when you were [Content Moment]?

Brazil and US which have the highest word of mouth

and word of mouse

GERMANY and JAPAN are similar in the sense that

content is shared the least Shared online

Shared in person

Content sharing per country

% That noticed ads or brands

during moments

Q: Without looking it up, did you notice any brand sponsorships or ads when you were [Content Moment]?

In GERMANY ads/brands gets noticed less during

content moments

While BRAZIL, JAPAN easier with high rates of ad

observation during content moments

Brand and ad observing per country

% That use adblock

software or plug-ins

Q: Do you use adblock software/an adblock browser plug-in?

Rising phenomenon

but GERMANS use more ad-blocking software

= content management more important

Ad blocking per country

Performance

Content marketing programs aligned to the moments on Aol are proven to drive affinity

82%

59%53% 51% 53%

49%45%

85%

68% 67%63% 62%

56%53%

INSPIREFEEL GOOD BE IN THE KNOW

FINDCOMFORT CONNECTENTERTAIN

+3.4% +8.7% +14.3% +9.4% +8.3% +7.3% +7.2%

Source: AOL Custom Content Research 2012-2015Sample Size: Total N-20,442 across 115 Tested StimuliUpdate Socially is not included due to low sample sizeAll lifts have statistical significance at 90% confidence level

Brand Affinity Pre vs. Post (T3B)

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LiveExperience

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TestExperience

LiveExperience

LEVEL OF INCLUSION

OF FORD BRAND

PRE-ROLL, FULL VIDEO [A]

PRE-ROLL, FULL VIDEO,

POST-ROLL [B]

WAY/BIT TOO MUCH 12% 13%

JUST RIGHT 68% 78% A

WAY/BIT TOO LITTLE 20% B 9%

Increased Brand Presence Was A Benefit To Viewers

(n=300); A/B denotes significance at 95% confidence

The Emotional Good-will Carried Forward To The Brand

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14%

13%

17%

24%

21%

23%

21%

26%

29%

30%

Pre-roll then

Content

Pre-roll then

Content then

Post-roll

*

*

*

*

I feel Ford cares more about American

industry than other auto

I feel more positively about Ford

I have a better impression of Ford

I learned something new about Ford

I am more interested in the F150

(n=300) I *significant at 95% confidence

CLICK HERE TO EDIT HEADLINE

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Aligning to why people engage with certain topics can lead better performing creative

Thank you