In the last installment of Vitamins, we talked about Content Shock, a phenomenon rooted on the expanding volume of online content and the market’s limited capacity to consume them.

Every single piece of content that you produce for your brand has a role to play. But how can it serve its function if your consumers do not see it anyway? We reached out to Mark Schaefer who coined the term ‘Content Shock’ and shared our video with him. To our delight, he gave us a resource that would prove useful to content creators today.

Here are 4 hacks that marketers can use to beat make content stand out in a heavily-saturated marketplace:

1. Create content that the audience would want to consume.

If you find that you have no choice but to compete in a content-saturated market, then you should create value for your audience through your brand. Irresistible materials come in the form of content that offer new information, novel ideas, and entertaining yet informative executions. Your audience should be able to snack on your content and use them as soon as the material ends. By offering your audience a benefit that your competition misses out on, you will create a solid community of followers who will be excited to consume the next material that you produce.

2. Find your place in the world.

How do you find opportunities when others have already snapped them up? You just have to know where to look. Not all content spaces are highly-saturated. At least, not yet.

Content-heavy spaces are often filled with repetitive ideas and executions which are most-likely launched by the competition. As it turns out, the best way to beat them is not by competing in the same game. Find out what your competitors are doing and veer away from it. Find content niches where supply is low yet demand is high, and claim it for yourself.

Create content that solves new problems and come up with ideas that your competition hasn’t even imagined yet.

You can also maximize your opportunities by tapping a separate market. If all brands are targeting a certain demographic, then you should explore other emerging markets that will eventually grow.

3. Pay if you must.

Paid amplification tools and distribution options are your friends. Don’t be afraid to invest on them and use them to capture the right amount of attention for your content. It’s a sad fact of life, but ads with bigger budgets have bigger chances of getting their content noticed. More money means more eyeballs and more impact.

Consider the amount of time that you use to create your content and make sure that you allocate the same effort for promoting it. Jump in on the game as early as you can because prices for this kind of high-demand tool will eventually shoot up.

4. Use Content Shock to your advantage.

Here’s something shocking: Content Shock may be the solution, not the problem. This is particularly true for brands and creators who are already leading authorities in their preferred content markets. If you already dominate your space, then you should do everything in your power to shock out the competition. Produce more content to make it harder for smaller players to join the game. Take up a bigger chunk of your audience’s attention to make it harder for them to watch materials from your competition.

Of course, the power of these hacks heavily relies on how well you know your audience, and on how you can maneuver your content space. By being empathic on what kind of content they consume, you will be able to offer materials that will suit their needs, behaviors, and habits. By being up-to-date on the evolution of your content ecology, you will be able to adjust your strategy.

To recap, here are 4 hacks that marketers can use to beat Content Shock:

1. Create content that the audience would want to consume.
2. Find your place in the world.
3. Pay, if you must.
4. Use Content Shock to your advantage.

For more tips, hacks and how-tos, watch out for the next installment of Vitamins.

Vitamins by VCS is a series of vlogs/blogs that provide tips and hacks for growing a business and creating content for your brand. You can watch the full series by following us on Youtube (youtube.com/vitalstrats) or visiting our IG TV channel (instagram.com/vitalstrats).

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