Interactive Interview: Forrester Research, Rapt Media on the influence of emerging content tech

by Jen Bergen |

Rapt Media CEO and founder Erika Trautman recently sat down with Forrester Research principal analyst serving Jim Nail to discuss the influence of emerging content technologies on personalization, consumption, data, and ROI, and the shifting content marketing landscape.

In the interactive interview, Erika and Jim cover a wealth of topics from why consumers’ self-guided discovery of content matters to how technology is changing online video consumption to the challenges marketers face with content creation and measurement. Here's a look at the five areas they discussed:

1. Content tech vs ad tech: The complexity of the content ecosystem and the growing tension between content and advertising

Shifting from traditional advertising to content-driven marketing requires a balancing act. Even though advertising is still the primary way consumers find out about brands, products, and services, they don’t exactly trust those messages like they did in the past. Now, consumers have more control and can discover information on their own.

It’s important to balance the scale to achieve success: help consumers discover through advertising and then allow them to navigate and pull more information on their own, creating trust with the brand through what’s called the “gratitude effect,” which halos over and establishes connections and relationships between the brand and the consumer.

2. Content marketing: Key pain points and challenges marketers face with content creation, distribution, and optimization

Content marketers today typically look to distribution patterns to understand and evaluate performance. Now there are new technologies that help marketers understand what’s working in the content itself versus just measuring success based on distribution channels.

New data from our Future of Content survey report clearly supports the idea that content tech is the key to showing ROI, driving better engagement, and personalizing content at the point of creation. After all, what business marketer would say metrics don’t matter?

3. Online video: Why it matters and how technology is changing video consumption

Neuroscience supports the growth of video because the human brain is fundamentally wired to respond to video and visual images. Not only is video easier for the brain to process than text, it also conveys emotions better than words — a key component of creating connections and establishing trust.

Technology is changing consumers’ expectations because they want to be in control of their own experience. Findings from the Power of Choice survey report indicates consumers would spend more time watching video if they could participate, showing how crucial it is to offer interaction points.

4. The Interactive Advantage: Moving beyond traditional, linear content formats to create personalized, engaging content

The pull of interactivity lets consumers connect with specific messages within content that are most relevant to them. The interactive advantage creates a form of personalization through choice, offering an array of information that lets the consumer focus on what they want.

Interactive content helps marketers understand how the consumer is interacting with a company or brand throughout every phase of the customer journey, closing the gap to create trust and quantify audience segments and behavior patterns to understand what is motivating your customer.

5. Rapt Media: Giving content marketers the ability to create personalized, customer-centric content experiences

Self-guided discovery is an important aspect of content consumption today. At the same time, challenges with push advertising come from lack of credibility, ad-blocking, and the rise of content marketing. Rapt Media gives content marketers the ability to create explicitly personalized experiences that invite consumers to find the content they deem most important.

Explore the interactive video to learn more about the future of content, technology, data, and return on investment.

ABOUT ERIKA
ERIKA TRAUTMAN, CEO & FOUNDER, RAPT MEDIA
Since 2011, Erika has worked to build a business that is positioned at the top of emerging video technologies. In addition to sharing the stage with tech luminaries like Sheryl Sandberg, Erika has solidified an A-list customer portfolio including powerhouse companies like Toyota, ABC News, Warner Bros., Samsung, Vodafone, Maybelline, Philips, HBO, Mashable, and Conde Nast Entertainment.

ABOUT JIM

JIM NAIL, PRINCIPAL ANALYST, FORRESTER RESEARCH
Jim Nail is a principal analyst at Forrester Research serving B2C Marketing Professionals and leads Forrester's coverage of online video, the evolution of television advertising, the digital transformation of advertising agencies, and marketing optimization.

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