21 Insights from 100K+ of ContentWRX Effectiveness Data
Our ContentWRX software has collected data from more than 160,000 people about content effectiveness.
When we first crossed the 100,000 threshold, we celebrated with 100K Day. And a lot of analysis. We regularly dive into this data to gain broad insights into what makes content work. And here we share 21 of those insights with you.
Make Content Findable or Die
In content as in life, first impressions often make or break you. If people perceive finding your content as a negative experience, they will view EVERYTHING else about your content—whether it’s useful, relevant, and accurate, for example—more negatively. And, they’ll be much less likely to meet their goals.
Content perceived as hard-to-find scored 53% lower in effectiveness than easy-to-find content.
86% of people who easily found content also felt the content they viewed was accurate.
96% of people who perceived content as easy to find also perceived the content as useful.
Why is content hard to find? Here are the top reasons reported:
What makes content easy to find? One frequently reported reason was email. A personalized email can connect the right people with the right content easily.
If content was perceived as easy to find, 93% of people were able to accomplish their goal.
Update Content NOW
If people are lucky enough to find your content, make sure the content comes across as updated and, consequently, accurate. Otherwise, people will not trust and act on your content.
The main reason people perceived content as inaccurate was that it seemed outdated.
Accurate content helped 82% of people to accomplish their task.
Relevance Gets Results
Broad articles or vague thought leadership doesn’t cut it. People want content that resonates with their specific questions, needs, decisions, or tasks.
Content that people viewed as relevant scored 241% higher on ContentWRX evaluations than content perceived as irrelevant.
When people perceived content as relevant to their needs, 91% of them also reported accomplishing their goal.
53% of people who said content was not useful also perceived the content as too general to meet their needs.
78% of people who did not perceive the content as relevant indicated the content seemed intended for someone with different needs.
Only 1% of users who said content was not useful said the content was too advanced. Don’t be afraid of giving people all of the information they need.
Trusted Opinions of Content Matter
Expert recommendations and social media reviews strongly influence people to view the content as effective.
When people visited a site because of an expert recommendation, their effectiveness score was 7.9% higher than average.
Positive social media reviews led to an average increase of 5.5% in effectiveness scores.
People were most likely to indicate content was useful if it was recommended by an expert or social media.
Curious about how ContentWRX can help you?
Learn more at contentwrx.com.
Contact us for a free consultation.
Related Articles + Publications
Content Relevance and Usefulness: Why You Need It and 4 Ways to Achieve It