Branded content marketing is something the best present-day marketers are using as a go-to technique, and there’s a good reason for it! When executed properly, This has the power to spark consumer emotion, drive customer trust and ultimately boost ROI.
So, exactly what is brand marketing all about and how does it work? We’re going to explore these questions so you can get ready to start creating the best content marketing brands strategy of your own!
What is Branded Content Marketing?
Brand marketing is a marketing technique that avoids selling a brand to its audiences. Instead, it focuses on helping them to make a connection to it. It’s designed to build awareness as consumers associate shared values with a specific brand.
It takes an opposite approach to that of traditional marketing as it helps to create a conversation around a brand. It’s much more consumer-centric and is a big part of how consumers build trust with businesses.
It’s important to note that brand and content marketing are different from each other. Content marketing is a much broader concept. It includes all different types of content created by the brand. Brand marketing, on the other hand, focuses on a specific type of content under the umbrella of the overall strategy.
It was created as a response to what has become an increasingly saturated market. The list of brands who participate in marketing is endless which is why many brands have turned to other ways to market their businesses.
Why is Brand Marketing Important?
So you’re wondering how branded content will help you business? Most simply put, it is important because it’s so effective. It can help brands to accomplish so much with digital marketing.:
- Storytelling
- Making a social statement
- Evoking emotion in audiences
- Utilizing various marketing mediums
- Focusing on a brands value and developing trustworthy relationships with consumers
Instead of coming off as promotional, brands are able to capture their audience’s attention. This ends up going a lot further as audiences convert based on what they feel is going to best fulfill their needs. It’s a decision they make on their own rather than something being put in front of them through a promotion or an ad.
How To Identify A Successful Branded Campaign
A good brand is one that’s able to create a content campaign that reflects what their target audience would normally watch or consume in media as closely as possible.
Additionally, good brands:
- Create connections to their audience through shared interests, ideas, and goals
- Take an approach to storytelling that encourages conversation
- Seek to entertain through their content and provide a memorable experience for their audience
- They utilize various platforms and cross channel distribution opportunities but also are strategic in which channels they choose to use
- Go after opportunities to collaborate with other brands that are authoritative and relevant to their own brand
Pros And Cons Of A Branded Content Campaign
We’ll keep this part short because it’s clear the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to creating a content marketing strategy! However, some of the cons you should be aware of include:
- Results take time
- You need skills and experience on your side in order to see results
- You need to be creative consistently in coming up with new content ideas
- Getting great results requires ongoing evaluation and adjustment. Content marketing is constantly changing and requires time and effort
While some might say these cons aren’t necessarily negative things, the pros of a content marketing campaign is to do a great job of showing why you need a brand marketing strategy:
- Costs stay low as work can be done in-house and there are no costs for things like advertisements
- You are better able to reach an audience who likes to avoid ads
- Brand awareness is built along with loyalty and trust
- Traffic and conversion rates increase as quality content attracts and persuades your audience organically
- It can be used to support other areas of marketing your brand such as SEO
4 Tips For Creating High-Quality Branded Content
You of course want your brand to be identified as a ‘good brand’, but how do you get there? Here are our four best tips for doing just that.
Create meaningful content
One of the best things you’ll do as a branded content marketing is creating content that favors quality over quantity. It has to be meaningful – no matter what type of content it is. It also needs to be the best representation of your brand possible.
To ensure your content aligns closely with your brand, consider your brand positioning and what goals you set out to accomplish. Not every content format is going to be best for your brand either. This is why starting with a brand marketing strategy is so important!
Choosing the right channel/content marketing platform for brands
Where you plan to distribute your carefully crafted content is a very important decision to make. Just like your content format, not every channel or platform is going to be best for your business.
This decision is best made by conducting research. What are your competitors doing? Is it working?
What platforms is your audience on? And what channels will work to best reach them? Are you writing blog posts, creating video content, social media posts, traditional advertising, product placements? There are so many different options for branded content, the choice is yours.
Asking yourself these questions and giving your most honest answers to them will help you to choose the best content marketing platform for your brand.
Maximize visibility for your content
Once you have created meaningful content, chosen the right format for it, and the best place to distribute it, it’s time to help it go the extra mile!
As a part of your content strategy, put a plan in place for how you’ll promote your content. This could be through social media, email, or simply just through your employees sharing it.
Great content is effective, but only when the right audience sees it.
Create content that stands out from competitors
Our last, but arguably most important tip when it comes to creating great branded content, is to create content that will stand out from your competitors. Sure, it might be simple enough to create and distribute content that other brands in your industry are creating. But getting creative with it is what’s really going to set you apart from competitors.
Think about what your brand has to offer that no other competitor can. Is it a better price? More great features?
Whatever it is that sets you apart from the crowd, use it to create your content. Not only will this help you to get a leg up on the competition, but it will also encourage you to create content that aligns even more closely with your brand.
2 Examples of The Best Content Marketing Brands
What better way to motivate you to start a content marketing platform for brands than with two effective success stories?
Entrepreneurs Organization
Our first success story is a campaign created by the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO). This campaign was created to help gain brand awareness, and it most certainly did the trick!
Members were invited to a “Truth Booth” where they were asked to take a shot of truth serum and provide answers to questions around their experiences with various business leaders.
The end result was a fascinating video (which was a great format choice by EO for this campaign) that earned over 400,000 impressions and over 5000 clicks. 55 leads and we can only imagine EO’s ROI was shooting through the roof!
Heineken
We all know Heineken as a popular beer brand, and it’s likely due to the fact they have such a great brand marketing strategy!
This memorable campaign for Heineken included a collaboration with National Geographic. The two brands created a mini-documentary explaining the history around Heineken’s new ‘Wild Lager’.
Not only was a video a great format choice for this campaign, but the collaboration also allows them to broaden their audience reach and create a compelling story.
Ready to Begin?
Add your brand to this list of brand marketing success stories and start creating a strategy built to perform!
If you would like help creating a branded content marketing strategy that will increase your brands’ revenue, Blue Water Marketing in Stuart Florida is here for you. Get in touch today to get started and get the impactful results you’re looking for.
