What makes memorable content? How do the great content writers, digital influencers, and online creatives consistently produce excellent work? Why do some written blogs, news articles, and audiovisual content elicit such an immense impact on the digital community, becoming part of the internet-based collective consciousness via online discussion and sharing on social media?

Everyone has a particular perspective, a unique lens from which they view the world, a subjective taste in the content they engage, enjoy, and remember. However, there are certain overarching stylistic themes and data-driven methods for creating memorable content that the digital audience is likely to find interesting, valuable, and meaningful. Like most great accomplishments in the digital universe, making top-class content requires a mix of creative skill and statistical analysis.

While memorable content is usually crafted by the hand of an inspired writer or digital designer, their refined ability to express is enhanced by employing strategic style and focusing on subject matter that appeals to their audience. When digital talent is guided by proper metrics with the goal of creating something valuable for an audience, brilliant content can wield incredible influence. If you want your creative content to be memorable and your marketing strategy to be data-driven, use these five keys to create something your audience won’t soon forget.

Before you even begin writing, designing, or capturing audiovisual content, you should define your target users, think from the perspective that audience, and establish specific goals you would like to achieve. Your creative process should be guided by strategic objectives and based on what you would like the user to do as a result of engaging your memorable content.

To draft an effective content marketing initiative, answer these basic questions:

• What value are you providing to your audience through your content?
• What does your target audience like? Dislike?
• What do you want your audience to remember?
• What is your call to action? What step do you want the user to take after interacting with your content?
• What is the best form of content to deliver your message and encourage user action?

The fundamental concept of success in content marketing strategy is measured by the degree to which user action matches the objectives of the content creator. You should have specific goals, then create content to meet those goals. Make sure your call to action (CTA) is clearly defined, obvious, and easy for the user to accomplish when engaged with your content.

The modern attention span when exploring the internet of today is overwhelmed by a deluge of content, easily distracted, and difficult to grab in the first place. In years past, digital content could more easily garner attention and sustain user engagement because computer processing power was slower and desktop interaction is more easily held. Today content is engaged on mobile, and mobile users move through content much more rapidly.  As a general rule, if your audience isn’t captivated after 3 seconds, they’re jumping ship.

This 3-second rule is an important one, as the hardest barrier to digital outreach via content marketing is drawing users into your work in the first place. If you’re writing a blog, make the value proposition of reading it obvious in the title.  If you’re sharing audiovisual content, make the first few frames stand out from the crowd.

Human memory is mutable, cognitive focus takes energy to sustain, and people take repetitive patterns for granted. For example, if you heard a constant buzzing sound without tonal variation, you would eventually cease to notice it. The sound would simply blend into the background as a part of your perception. However, if that buzzing sound went off and on in alternation, you would always be aware of its presence. This concept highlights the impact of variety on the human mind and the importance of contrast in creating memorable content for your audience.

Differentiated content gets remembered. Surprising content evokes an emotional response. Unique content with a fresh take on something is shared on social media. You can even create a steady pattern and then break it intentionally to focus attention and memory on that specific part of your content.

Words interpreted by the brain during the linear process of reading is slower and requires a greater amount of sustained mental effort. Just as images are more intrinsically interesting and mentally accessible than written words, audiovisual content like video is more engaging than static images. If you can include an interactive element for the user, such as clickable buttons on an image or indicators overlaid on a video, the amount of enticing sensory data communicated to the user is much more likely to be remembered.

The 10% rule is a well-known concept in the world of public speaking and business presentation. The basic idea is that an audience will likely remember only 10% of any given presentation, which can be easily and logically applied to the world of digital content. Because users will forget more than they retain from your creative work, make sure they remember the part you want them to.

There are various ways to accomplish memory retention within the context of your online content itself. By utilizing tactics like attention triggers, memory magnets, and decision drivers, you can draw mental emphasis towards the most important, valuable information included in your work. Users may forget 90% of what they just read or watched, but you can make sure they are much more likely to remember the thesis of your content. We only have so much attention to go around, so create your content accordingly.

Sources

Bertoldi, Alessia. “Neuroscience of Memorable Content.” SlideShare, 11 Dec. 2015, www.slideshare.net/alessiabertoldi/neuroscience-of-memorable-content.

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