If so, why different groups of people consume this commodity in different forms? Also, when people buy content from content writer, treating it like a commodity, they have little idea what they are getting because its intrinsic value can be judged only after it is published. However, the current trend goes in favor of content that is short yet covering a wide expanse of a given topic, yet is more personalized but certainly unlike the sentence that reads “A business letter should be like a lady’s skirt – as short as to evoke interest.

Or a more succinct piece that reads “I am sorry for writing such a long letter. I didn’t have time to write a short one”- Mark Twain.

However, studies reveal that online media consumption is becoming increasingly segmented. People expect different content experiences based not only on personal preferences, but also how they discovered that content in the first place. Publishers of the future will no longer view audiences as one cohesive whole, but instead as many distinct individuals, each warranting a personalized experience.

There is a lot more interesting data publishers can take advantage of to drive on-site engagement, increase monetization, and build an audience.

Imagine a future where the very “face” of the web actively changes to reflect the varied nature of how people discover and enjoy content online. It’s exciting to think about the challenges and opportunities publishers have as the web changes so fast, and how they might present it back to us – in a personalized way.

 

Who is responsible for turning content into commodity?

If you ask me specifically, I would put the blame solely on the SEO industry for the creation of this content commodity marketplace. There was a time in not too distant past when SEO gurus blatantly preached the sermon that winning at search resonates with producing large amount of content, irrespective of quality or value. Thank God, this hare-brained strategy has finally blown apart due to social’s far reaching impact on search results, as also the fact that content is never considered worth its salt unless it drives some form of conversion. To be more precise, it just becomes spam, one of the few harmless four letter words.

 

More diverse amount of content

As of now, there is more diverse amount of content for people to consume than ever before. They can now savor many different forms of online content that includes articles, blog posts, video, infographics and slideshows. Also, they can go through basic content, contributed content, syndicated content as well as branded/native content. People oftentimes ‘discover’ content! It is, therefore, no wonder that around 35-50% of people go through a whole article, as compared to 20% or less if someone had arrived through a link on Fcaebook. To put it more precisely, 4 out of 5 people that ‘discover’ an article through Facebook’s mobile app seldom go to the end of a story.

 

What has been found finally

 As online audiences continue to grow and diversify, it becomes imperative for content marketers to understand what resonates with their customers. One of the most important factors is how different age groups are likely to react to specific types of content. BuzzStream and Fractl surveyed over 1200 people from three generations – Millennials (people born in between 1981-1997), Generation X (born 1965-1980), and Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964) – to figure out how content preferences differ among these groups.

 

Primary takeaways

• Late Evening, between 08 PM to 11:59 PM, is when most people like to consume content. Try to post content during this time to reach the largest audience.
• More than a quarter of Millennials use mobile as their primary device for viewing content.
• All generations agree that 300 words is the sweet spot for article length.
• Generation X uses Twitter as a primary content sharing platform 70.4 percent more than Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers use Google+ as a primary content sharing platform 92 percent more than Millennials.
• Millennials prefer sharing memes 54.7 percent more than Baby Boomers. Generation X likes sharing slide-shares 49.6 percent more than Millennials. Baby Boomers prefer sharing images and videos the most.

 

Conclusion

Depending on factors both personal and contextual (such as the time of day and device type), people are poised to consume certain types of content and ignore others.