If you follow the world of Internet content, then you probably had a feeling that there was going to be a point where there was too much content and not enough readers. MarketingProfs.com did a study that looked at 13.8 million pieces of content that was posted online from January 2013 to December 2014. What they found was that, over the course of that period of time, engagement with content dropped 60 percent. It is a startling number to people who make their living generating and posting Internet content.

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Is it time for content creators and website owners to panic? No, not at all. But it is time for websites that offer content to generate revenue to realize that things have changed in the interaction between a website and its audience. The days of simply putting up a good piece of content are gone and rapidly being replaced with a more aggressive marketing tactic.

Marketing Across Multiple Platforms

Forbes Magazine talks about the shift in digital marketing away from focusing on desktop or laptop platforms and towards a concentrated effort across a variety of platforms. While the standard publication website is still the anchor to any good content offering, there needs to be fresh content on the mobile apps as well as associated websites in order to engage customers.

Internet users are no longer satisfied with seeing the same article on a mobile version of a publication site that they saw on the main website. The mobile site needs to have its own content and develop its own marketing approach to talk directly to the audience it attracts. Content creators now have to start looking at separate approaches for all of their platforms instead of modifying one approach to fit all of the various channels it uses to reach its audience.

Content Needs To Be News Worthy

For many years, content creators would write content that was generalized in its approach and writing style. But as engagement continues to drop, this sort of generalization is no longer viable. The Guardian tells us that journalists, or a journalistic approach to content writing, offer the best way to increase engagement and build an audience.

Journalists understand the importance of balancing entertainment with information and that style is what can increase engagement over a long period of time. In this age of “give me the information now” audience needs, the idea of delivering content that gets right to the point makes a lot of sense.

Stop Generalizing Content On Social Media

AdAge.com reminds us that social media’s actual engagement rates for corporate branded pages are very low. Facebook has maintained an engagement rate of between one and two percent for years that makes it a very bad marketing investment.

One of the ways that content creators have found to drive more engagement through social media is to focus content on social media in much the same way that content would be focused on an actual website. Identify a target audience on social media and then tailor the content around that audience to increase engagement and excite your audience.

The content you create and the engagement it inspires is a constantly changing dynamic. If you do not start analyzing your audience and begin offering content in a way that appeals to it, then you will struggle to generate revenue. But if you work to increase engagement using contemporary marketing methods, then you can take advantage of the vast pool of Internet consumers that are available.