9 Ways To Utilize Branding In Content Marketing
anitasambol
anitasambol
Content marketing has experienced a rapid rise in recent years, with 91% of B2B marketers and 86% of B2C marketers now utilizing this advertising technique. However, less than half have a documented content marketing strategy in place, which means that vital aspects are likely to be overlooked, forgotten, or simply left behind, resulting in a failure to derive true value from this type of promotion.
When we think about content marketing, we think about promoting a specific product or service, or even the overall brand itself, through content. What we don’t always think about is how content marketing can be used to promote other aspects, such as the underlying values of the brand, helping businesses to connect with audiences on a deeper level. We don’t always think about ‘branding’.
Here are 9 ways to utilize branding in content marketing, creating branded content that really works:
1. Form a connection
Touching on emotion can be a highly effective way of forming a connection with your audience, showing a level of business/consumer understanding that perhaps cannot be demonstrated in other ways. UK department store John Lewis succeeds in doing this year after year with their eagerly anticipated festive TV ad, basing their stories on the feelings and emotions of families in the weeks before Christmas.
2. Demonstrate potential
Branding in content marketing can be used to show just how your products/services can make a real difference, without the ‘hard sell’ that often accompanies other forms of marketing and promotion. Sports drink brand Gatorade did just this when they released their short film “The Boy Who Learned to Fly”, telling the story of Olympian Usain Bolt, suggesting a connection between Gatorade and power.
3. Show passion
It’s one thing to tell your audience that you love your industry, but it’s quite another thing to show them how dedicated and committed you are to the field. One brand who has succeeded in showing their audience is technology firm Cisco, who developed the My Networked Lifeonline platform; a way for technology lovers all across the world to publish and share videos highlighting their connection to tech.
4. Improve visibility
Target audiences are statistically most likely to convert, but that’s not to say there aren’t other audiences who may also be interested in what a business has to offer. By exploring wider issues beyond standard business associations, it’s possible to reach new people, in new places. A great example is Red Bull, who expanded out from the energy drink audience into a sports/aviation audience with the Red Bull Air Race.
5. Highlight your USP
A great way to use branding in content marketing is to highlight your USP and show audiences exactly why you’re different. It can be used as a chance to really be clear about who you are, and what you’re all about. Persil, a part of the Unilever company, did this with their ‘Dirt is Good’ campaign, resonating with a select audience — primarily mothers — and showing a commitment to providing them with solutions.
6. Be memorable
Content marketing — particularly branded content — is a chance to do something different; something to stick in the minds of the audience. This is your chance to be memorable, with the aim of improving brand/product recall. Leading the way here is international pizza giant Dominos, who have launched the Domino’s Wedding Registry, selling delicious-looking gift cards for brides and grooms who love fast food.
7. Get creative
By taking a creative approach to branding in content marketing, businesses can show off a competitive edge. Thinking outside the box, brands can do something different; something their competitors would never dream up. We’ve seen this done by hotel chain Marriott, who were so creative that they actually created an entire movie, “Two Bellmen Three” starring fictional bride and groom Jun Lee and Mi Na Kim.
8. Boost loyalty
When brands are transparent in their marketing, it helps establish a greater level of consumer trust. After all, no one wants to be lied to. Branding in content marketing can help. Just take a look at building block manufacturer Lego, who now have two Hollywood blockbusters under their belts: The Lego Movie, and The Lego Batman Movie. It’s very obvious we’re being marketed to, but we don’t mind. It works!
9. Leave them wanting more
Businesses can use branding in content marketing to boost loyalty and keep customers coming back for more, especially if they act a little mysteriously, just like tech firm Samsung. Samsung developed the short film “Hearing Colors”, which takes a deeper look at the strong connection between human and technology. However, Samsung failed to insert itself into the video, leaving viewers asking ‘who did this?’.
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While these 9 ideas can significantly help brands to get the most from their content marketing campaigns, it is important to carefully consider your approach to branding in content marketing. The concept, although massively successful for some, has found itself the subject of controversy, with experts claiming that select brands are actually losing touch with their audiences through their basic and non-effective ‘point and stick’ approach; pointing to an idea, and sticking a brand logo on it. In order for branding in content marketing to succeed, there needs to be a natural or inherent association between the business and the content, making branded content a worthwhile addition to a marketing strategy.
About the Author
Anita Sambol is a content strategist and graphic designer at Point Visible. She has years of experience in designing graphics for web and running social media and content marketing campaigns. She loves cooking and football.
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