Address at the right moment

Based on an international study, AOL has identified eight "content moments" that help advertisers target customers.

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AOL on Thursday unveiled its "Content Moments" study, the result of a global survey* of more than 32,000 consumers on targeting by advertisers. Among the respondents were 4007 participants from Germany. Switzerland was not studied as a market, so the German results are cited.

AOL examined consumer interaction with digital content and derived eight categories from a total of 55,750 recorded situations that classify interaction moments: The so-called Content Moments. These categories apply to all consumers worldwide, regardless of country of origin or culture.

Individual motivations ensure a clear view of the flood of data

The "Content Moments. are intended to provide advertisers with a guide to help them find out how to address their target group with the right content at the right time. Data-driven marketing is also the keyword here: In order to provide the target group with precisely tailored content, advertisers have to evaluate more and more data and draw the right conclusions for addressing the target group. This includes socio-demographic data, historical information about previous user behavior and much more. "Advertisers and publishers are flooded with data about their target groups. But until now, a crucial piece of the puzzle has been missing: why exactly do consumers interact with certain content in the first place?" explains Markus Frank, Managing Director DACH at AOL. "AOL's global "Content Moments" study uncovered consumers' motivations and why they interact with certain content. In today's world, consumers often make purchase decisions very spontaneously within a few seconds and therefore it is important to reach them with the appropriate content at those moments when they are most receptive to it."

To understand the motivation of users at different moments, advertisers need to look at more than just the content itself - namely, the specific situations consumers are in at the time of interaction. Each content moment consists of four elements before, during, and after the interaction: (1.) the motivation to trigger the content experience in the first place, (2.) the emotions that play a role during it, (3.) the results achieved by consuming the content, and (4.) the topic of the content.

Depending on the constellation of the four components, the following eight Content Moments are created:

- Inspire - look for new ideas, try something new

- Be in the Know - Be up to date, find relevant ideas

- Find - search for answers or advice

- Comfort - Looking for support or insights

- Connect - Learn something new, be part of a community

- Feel Good - Improve mood, relax

- Entertain - Taking a time out or mental break, laughing

- Update Socially - Keeping up to date, taking a mental break

These Content Moments apply universally and worldwide. At the same time, they contain a high degree of nuance with regard to individual experiences: Consumers who are similar based on demographic and historical characteristics nevertheless seek different content depending on the situation they are in.

How do German Internet users consume content?

Germans spend an average of twelve minutes in a so-called content moment, in which they consume content online. Between 11 a.m. and 2 a.m., a content moment lasts the longest - 18 minutes on average - while in the morning, between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., a content moment lasts only eight minutes on average and is thus the shortest. The variations by age and gender are only slight. On the other hand, there are differences depending on the mobile device: as the screen size increases, so does the time spent in a content moment.

The more emotional the content moment, the longer consumers stay. The "Entertain" and "Find" content moments, in which the motivation for content consumption is relaxation, therefore tend to last longer - 16 and 14 minutes respectively on average for Germans - than the "Be in the Know" (average duration of seven minutes) or "Comfort" (average duration of ten minutes) moments, in which the main purpose is to absorb information. Furthermore, the content varies depending on the moment and the action following the content moment.

Content Moment "Inspire":

14 percent of Germans' Content Moments fall into the "Inspire" category. Above all, product searches and photo galleries or slideshows on the topics of travel, fashion and food are consumed in this content moment. 25 percent discover a service or product they are thinking about buying.

Content Moment "Be in the Know":

Eleven percent of Germans' content moments fall into the "Be in the Know" category. Consumers primarily use online information and articles about current events, the weather and politics for this purpose. 34 percent of consumers come directly via an app or landing page.

Content Moment "Find":

17 percent of Germans' Content Moments fall into the "Find" category. Top content includes products and online information, articles and blogs on technology, weather and health/wellness.

Content Moment "Comfort":

Three percent of the content moments of Germans fall into the "Comfort" category: In these moments, users consume content primarily via social networks. So it's hardly surprising that the sharing rate is highest after this content moment: 27 percent of respondents say they share the content online after the interaction.

Content Moment "Connect":

Five percent of Germans' content moments fall into the "Connect" category. Online videos from the areas of comedy, entertainment and fantasy are consumed in particular. Following these moments, consumers increasingly click on ads or download an app.

Content Moment "Feel Good":

16 percent of Germans' content moments fall into the "Feel Good" category. The top content includes photo galleries and slideshows as well as social networks. In terms of content, these moments are dominated by the topics of music, sports and games. This moment is the most likely of all to lead to the purchase of a product.

Content Moment "Entertain":

18 percent of German content moments fall into the "Entertain" category - making it the most common content moment. Consumers primarily engage with online games or online videos, and nine percent of consumers subsequently share their experiences with a person.

Content Moment "Update Socially":

17 percent of Germans' Content Moments fall into the "Update Socially" category. The top content includes social media, short videos and galleries or slideshows. The topics are primarily sports, friends & family, and games.

Advertisers who enrich their existing target group data with the insights from the "Content Moments" study know which content the consumer is receptive to at each specific moment, can play out their content more precisely and adapt their advertising message individually to the needs of the user.

To that end, AOL has developed a four-step approach that serves as a guide for creating content marketing campaigns:

1. the needs of the consumer determine the brand attributes, because the story should come to the user and not be expected that the user comes to the brand.

The topics and formats of the content as well as the content moments in which they are played out should vary. This helps advertisers reach more users.

3. the desired result should be precisely defined in advance. For this, advertisers should know the mindset of users and make it easy for them to interact.

Data and creativity should go hand in hand and complement each other: To achieve the greatest possible campaign effectiveness, the insights from the eight Content Moments help to inspire with creativity, in line with the consumer's needs.

*The survey was conducted in May 2016 by InSites Consulting & Chadwick Martin Bailey on behalf of AOL. AOL conducted the survey in eight markets worldwide: Brazil, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, Canada, USA and Spain.

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