Whatever sector or niche you happen to run your business in, it’s going to be crowded – after all, if you decided to start a business doing what you’re doing, so have lots of other people. That’s a good thing in most ways because it means more people have the opportunity to do what they want to do and be their own boss, but it’s not so great when it comes to competition and trying to get noticed – there’s a lot to get past and through if you want to be seen.
So how can you stand out and get the people you need to notice you to see you’re there? How can you ensure your brand isn’t just another name in the sea of advertisements people are bombarded with each day? It’s all about branded content – it’s a hugely powerful tool you can use to create meaningful, lasting relationships with your audience who are the people who’ll be helping you grow your business at the end of the day.
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The thing to remember about branded content is that it’s not about hard sales tactics and flashy ads and marketing – it’s about storytelling, giving value, and being authentic. It’s also about creating the right content that’s going to resonate with the right people (that is, the people who will want to buy from you). If you can do that, you’ll be on the right path, so with that in mind, let’s take a look at how you can do it and use branded content to build a stronger connection with customers – read on to find out more.
What Is Branded Content?
It’s important to understand exactly what branded content is if you’re going to use it in the right way, so we’ll take a little look at that now. Essentially, branded content is any content (which could be blogs, videos, social media posts, podcasts, or even printed materials like flyers or books) that’s created by a brand or for a brand (or both, as is often the case). And the entire reason for creating it in the first place isn’t to sell, at least not directly, but instead it’s to give people the information they need, as well as make them interested in what you’re doing, so they come to the decision to buy from you anyway – without the annoying hard sell.
If you’re not sure what we mean, try to think of it as the content that makes people feel something about what you’re doing and what your brand is all about – it could be a story that inspires them or makes them think about happy times in their own lives, for example, or it might be something that makes them laugh, and so on. As long as it’s real, well-thought-out, and gives your audience some value, it’s going to help massively when it comes to selling whatever it is you want to sell.
Know Your Audience Inside And Out
To get your branded content really working well, you’ve got to totally understand your audience and know as much about them as possible – if not, how are you going to create content they’ll be interested in? So who are your target market? What are the challenges they’re facing? How can your business solve their problems (or at least make things easier for them)?
You’ll need to spend quite a lot of time researching your customers because the rest of your marketing and branding will rest on what you find out, and rushing through this part is only going to mean you don’t get the results you want in the end. Plus, it makes your branding a lot easier when you get down to it. The best ways to find out as much as you can include looking at demographic data, conducting surveys, and engaging with them as much as you can wherever it is they spend time, especially when it comes to social media. It’s really worth doing this well because the more you understand your audience, the easier it is to create a brand they’ll love – and that’s what’s going to make you successful.
Here’s an example to get you started. If your audience includes entrepreneurs or small business owners, you could create content around time management, business growth tips, or you could even make some physical resources and print your own quality books to sell to anyone who wants to know what to do and how to do it. As you can see, all these things would really help your target market, and at the same time you’ll be earning their trust and they’ll want to know more about what you do – and they’ll come to you first in the future.
Create Stories They Can See Themselves In
Branded content really does well when you link it to storytelling, so you don’t need to shout about how great your business is (which doesn’t go down all that well these days and isn’t that much fun to create content around anyway), and instead you can just tell a story. The key is to create one that matches what your audience is looking for and the people they are, so again, it’s the research that really counts here.
Let’s think about the entrepreneurs and small business owners again – if you’re talking to them, you can tell stories about how small business overcome challenges or share some real-life customer insights and how people found you or how you’ve helped them. Behind-the-scenes content is always fun because not only is it easy (you’re not changing anything or creating anything new), but it can also show your potential customers exactly how you do things, which can make them more excited about your products and services. Plus, it’ll show them you’re human and there are real people behind your business, and that counts for more than you might think, especially compared to the big corporations that people are trying to get away from.
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Use Different Platforms For More Reach
You can’t help but notice that there are plenty of different platforms out there for your customers to use – and that means you need to use the same platforms, which could mean using more than one (and probably will). In fact, if you use different platforms, you’ll get better reach, so it’s got to be something that’s included in your marketing campaign, and branded content is a fantastic way to do it right.
Blog posts are a good place to start (and a good way to add branded content to your site) because you can give people really good advice (and stories) that go quite in-depth. On the other hand, social media posts are shorter and much more concise (they might just be an image or a meme), and they’re great for catching people’s attention and getting them to take some action, or at the very least remember who you are when they need you in the future. And the thing is that podcasts, email newsletters, and all the various forms of printed marketing materials can all offer their own ways to connect with your audience, which means you shouldn’t ever have a problem doing that and building your business as a result.
The best thing to do is to just experiment with the different formats you’ve got access to so you can find out what works best and what your customers like the most. Once you know, you can start focusing on those ideas and narrow down what you’re doing, although it’s always wise to have ideas waiting and ready to go just in case something changes, as it often does in business and in the way people consume their information.
Make Value A Priority
Your audience wants to connect, and they want content that, once they have connected, solves a problem – that’s it, that’s all you need to get right. In other words, you don’t need to create a whole sales pitch that tells people what to buy (and you don’t have to disguise that pitch as something else because people will know – they’re easy to spot). Instead, if you focus on value as a priority and then sales as a second bonus thing, it’s going to all feel a lot more natural, and that’s going to be a positive in your customers’ eyes.
If you can create branded content that educates, entertains, and informs – or even inspires – you’ll sell a lot more than if you were to just push a particular product in people’s faces and tell them it’s a great thing to buy. It’s a gentle approach, but it’s one that really works, and if you create some tutorials, FAQs, quizzes, and so on, as well as your other content, you’ll get people engaging with you and valuing what you’re saying to them and what they’re getting from you. It might be a longer process, but it’ll generally create more loyal customers and they’ll spend more with you, so it’s an idea that tends to pay off well over time, and it’s definitely an idea you should include in your marketing.
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