Interactive Taxonomies + Audience Engagement

Building a digital content taxonomy has become an increasingly important component of broader integrated digital marketing strategies as businesses look to not only produce ongoing original content but also seek to more effectively leverage [existing or historical content].  With an ever widening array of stakeholders, audiences and customers to engage with, there is a growing need for effective content life cycle management. 

The content taxonomy gets interesting when it’s extended to application within interactive video.  In the case of interactive content, virtually any form of content can be directly linked to the video (eg links, information, videos, images etc). Having a taxonomy of related and high value content for the interactive video (that can be drawn from existing, repurposed or newly created content) allows for great asset utilisation through the connection and deployment of related content within the video.  It allows you to provide a carefully curated journey for the viewer by linking in specific elements and topics that relate directly to the respective video content.  Put simply, it allows you to provide all of the priority information, content and direct actions for the viewer so they don’t need to search for them and you don’t lose them down the rabbit hole on 3rd party platforms. 

What this gives the viewer is a more user friendly experience, it shortens the steps or clicks required and prolongs the engagement with your hosted content, page, account or asset.  By focusing on integrating relevant or repurposed content from your broader digital content taxonomy, you’re ensuring that for your internal and external audiences their requirements are being supported and it’s contributing effectively to them interacting with the content to their benefit. Integrating supporting assets and content from your overall content taxonomy also helps to direct the audience to specific resources that will assist in educating them on the brand and boosting engagement.  You’ve then got the opportunity to review the engagement data to inform how both the content and the overall taxonomy you’ve applied within the interactive video can be modified and improved to boost engagement. 

Content Should be Marked “Recycling”, not “General Waste”

In this age of seemingly endless abundance of content, it’s easy to be lured into the fallacy that once produced, content is redundant and destined for general waste.  But a more prudent approach may be to review instead what content assets within a business could be better utilised to enable more consistent communication across broader internal and external channels (targeting both internal and external stakeholders, audiences and customers).  

Content can be used in its existing form or the messaging could be utilised to create additional high value content such as video. Social channels naturally also play a key role in the distribution of this content to specific audience sectors or in a wholesale capacity.  Rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater, as content is recycled and repurposed into higher value content, look to measure engagement and targeting to specific audience members within various stakeholder groups and across social audiences. 

The content analysis or audit may extend across internal and external platforms and marketing channels.  From a cost efficiency and resourcing perspective, historic content can be further leveraged thereby lessening the requirement for continuous production of new content, in turn boosting efficiencies for the resources producing the content.  Through leveraging and utilising existing content assets, the volume and cadence of effective content will be boosted.

In the case of interactive video, content asset utilisation can be maximised through repurposing components of the content or adopting the content in its entirety.  Virtually any form of content can be directly linked to the video within the viewing experience (such as links, information, videos, images and the like).

By reviewing internally what existing content and information can be repurposed into higher value content (Eg written pieces that could become video interviews) or integrated to assist in educating various audiences or providing them with key information or calls to action, the viewer is able to experience a curated journey and there is greater visibility of success and performance through the establishment of content and engagement metrics that can extend to each individual piece of repurposed linked content within the interactive video.