Content is king - only if it lands!

CEO of leading tech communications firm, TQ Group, Elbé Smith believes that content is one the most important ingredients in driving engagement between customer and product and creating a positive user experience with your brand.

With over 90% of information transmitted to the human brain visually, organisations in sectors like corporate, finance, retail and mining are increasingly realising the value of visually pleasing digital content and sophisticated multi-media audio-visual campaigns.

“The Covid pandemic has accelerated the 4IR and as a result, today’s consumers are digitally and visually sophisticated. This means that communications firms are seeing the need to take their content offerings up a notch,” says Smith. “Cutting-edge content, informed by data on how, when and for how long viewers engage with the screen or piece of content, has given companies greater awareness of customer intent at various touch points along the sales journey. This lets them tailor compelling content that resonates at each stage of interaction, driving conversions and meaningful positive engagement with the brand, and leaving customers with a lasting positive impression,” she says.

Detailing the impacts of modern analytics techniques and their integration into the world of communications, Smith explains that Anonymous Viewer Analytics, or AVA, has been around for some time. “Ever more sophisticated analytics systems and facial recognition tools are driving the effectiveness of in-store screens and helping organisations to better understand their customers and the content that they want to watch,” says Smith.

“While traditional AVA lets you know the age and gender demographics of your viewers, more sophisticated sensing technologies – such as those that track eye movements and measure engagement with content – really shifts the needle as far as knowing who is watching what piece of content and for how long”, says Smith. She adds that combining these insights with smart content triggering software means that only the most relevant content is being served to the viewer. “There is no longer any reason to serve up redundant or unwanted messaging,” Smith elaborates.

Veterans of Africa’s communications world, the TQ Group produces and manages the content, scheduling and technical infrastructure for over 3,700 in-store screens across the African continent, with notable clients including parastatals, major banks and NPOs. “Our approach combines creativity and storytelling with data and analytics to develop content across the digital spectrum, including in-store screen networks, social media platforms, workplace apps, and the like,” Smith concludes.