In marketing, there is more than one way to skin a cat. This is because when it comes to planning digital campaigns and producing content, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. What works for one may completely tank for another.
For instance, different types of content like feed based, search engine based, viral/trending work best depending on a number of factors, such as the target audience, the goals of the campaign, and the resources available to put together the campaign.
They are all means to the same end but marketers like to take the path of least resistance, one that will convert online engagement into concrete conversions and sales in quantified terms.
And different strokes work for different folks, people!
There are three different types of content distribution channels that marketer use to peddle their content bank:
1. Feed-based content:
Feed-based content is content that is administered reading the online behaviour and preference of the user. Based on the user activity and interests, feed-based content is delivered to users in a personalized pastiche through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Visual content and graphics are highly effective in feed-based platforms.
In this medium, visual communication help spread the word as well as the reach of digital campaigns by leaps and bounds.
According to a study by Buffer, posts with images receive 150% more retweets and 89% more likes on Twitter compared to posts without images.
It must be noted that feed-based content works particularly well for reaching audience who are already familiar and engaged with your brand or harbour an interest in the relevant industry.
The case study of Cadbury Dairy Milk and its marketing tactic makes the case in point. In 2021, Cadbury Dairy Milk launched the “Say It With Silk” campaign on Instagram that actively invited the users to participate and order personalized silk bars to be made with customized messages engraved on the chocolate bars for their loved ones.
The campaign relied on feed-based content, with Cadbury sharing user-generated content featuring the personalized silk bars on their feed. The campaign was a massive success, generating over 20,000 entries and increasing brand engagement on Instagram.
Apart from this, Zomato’s #OrderForAFriend Campaign in 2021 also amped up its product positioning. By encouraging users to place orders for their friends and to share visual clippings of their experiences on Instagram, the food delivery platform made waves by leveraging the feed-based medium.
As a matter of fact, a report by Hootsuite found that Instagram Stories are used by over 500 million users daily, making them a highly effective way to reach a wide audience through a feed-based platform.
Zomato precisely took advantage of this and fashioned its digital campaign to rely heavily on feed-based content, strategically sharing oodles of user-generated content featuring the food packages ordered for friends on their feed. As a result, #OrderForAFriend was a massive success, generating entries, brand participation on Instagram, and exponentially multiplied food orders for Zomato left and right.
2. Search Engine- Based Content:
This is the kind of content that is especially tailored to appear in search engines such as Google, with the singular goal of outperforming the ocean of content, rank high in search results, and drive the scooped traffic to the desired website.
According to a study by BrightEdge, organic search is the largest source of website traffic, driving 53.3% of website traffic on average for businesses.
This suggests that churning out search engine optimized content can be an effective way to surge website traffic and reach a wider audience.
Search engine-based content can also be effective for getting hands on those users who are actively searching for information connected to your brand or industry.
Let us explore some Indian case studies that demonstrate how search engine-based content work like a charm in making digital campaigns a resounding success:
- Amazon India’s “Great Indian Festival” Campaign: In 2021, Amazon India kick started its annual “Great Indian Festival” campaign, which significantly made use of search engine optimisation (SEO) to corner the market and drive traffic to the website.
The campaign offered a plethora of discounts on a diverse range of products and catalogues. In addition to sweetening the deal with offers, Amazon India optimised its website to become an e-commerce magnet by generously using relevant keywords to improve its search engine rankings.
In a study by Google, it was found that 50% of B2B search queries today are made on smartphones, and mobile searches related to “best” and “reviews” have grown by over 80% in the past two years.
Evidently, the survey hints at the need of producing high-quality search engine-based content that is optimized for mobile search.
Hence, no wonder, the “Great Indian Festival” campaign was a towering success that dexterously generated billions of website visits and increased the number of orders placed on Amazon India.
- Byju’s “Fall in Love with Learning” Campaign: In the year 2022, edtech platform Byju’s launched its “Fall in Love with Learning” campaign. The reason it became a buzzword on Google was because the campaign depended heavily on search engine optimization to garner engagement on its website.
The campaign also offered users a free trial of its learning app to get leads in addition to bunching a number of relevant keywords to improve its search engine rankings.
A report by the Content Marketing Institute found that 72% of B2B marketers use content marketing to generate leads, with search engine optimization being a key component of their strategy.
Thus, following the search engine- based content marketing, Byju’s “Fall in Love with Learning” campaign was a show stopping hit, setting the stage for millions of website visits and escalating the number of app downloads for Byju’s.
3. Viral/Trending based content:
According to a study by Fractl, the average piece of viral content generates 77% more backlinks than a typical piece of content.
This is the type of content that creates a digital wildfire in the forest of online world. Viral or trending content spreads quickly and widely across the internet, either through the social media sharing or the word-of-mouth grapevine.
One of the biggest advantage of a viral content piece is that it wraps a large audience around its finger, commands a formidable influence on many minds and helps make long lasting impressions in digital campaigns.
For instance, in a study by BuzzSumo, it was found that content that generates high levels of social media engagement in the shape of shares, likes, comments, also tends to rank highly in search engine results, suggesting that viral content can have a promising impact on both social media and search engine visibility.
Thus, viral content can effectively do the combined work of search engine based content if it somehow manages to latch on the trending bandwagon of internet sensation.
Here are some examples of digital campaigns that skyrocketed owing to them achieving epic viral proportions on the internet:
- Fevicol’s “Subah Uthke Kuch Naya Banate Hain” Campaign: In 2021, Fevicol came under the spotlight when it launched its DIY digital outreach named “Subah Uthke Kuch Naya Banate Hain” that urged the internet to share their do-it-yourself stories related to home improvement projects on the platform.
Thanks to its participatory nature, the campaign went viral as it reinforced the inclusive theme of building intimate bonds with the Fevicol brand. Thousands of users participated and shared their creative ideas on social media.
A report by Socialbakers found that viral content on Facebook generates an average of 258% more engagement than non-viral content.
This indicates the potential for viral content to dominate social media activity, effectively justifying why Fevicol was able to amplify its brand awareness and secure a massive victory in its online advertising endeavor.
- Swiggy’s #SwiggyVoiceOfHunger Campaign: In 2021, food delivery app Swiggy launched the #SwiggyVoiceOfHunger campaign on social media, which encouraged users to share their “hungry” voice on the platform.
The campaign went viral, with millions of users participating and sharing their voice recordings. Naturally, Swiggy saw a colossal increase in its online presence, with users chanting its name on social media in a fit of heightened allegiance to the brand and its espoused social cause.
- Zomato’s “Ordering vs. Cooking” Campaign: In 2020, food delivery app Zomato launched a series of ads on social media that compared the experience of ordering food with the experience of cooking. The ads were humorous and relatable, and quickly went viral on social media, driving significant engagement and media attention.
As a result, Zomato saw a 60% increase in brand mentions on social media during the campaign.
Thus, even though viral content is highly conducive to brand promotion, feed-based and search engine-based content are no less of trailblazers.
In general, a well-rounded digital campaign will likely incorporate a mix of these different content distribution channels, tailored to the specific goals and audience of the campaign. It’s also important to track and analyze the performance of different types of content to determine what works best for your brand and adjust your strategy accordingly.