According to experts, the average person today can see as many as 10,000 ads in a single day.
That’s a lot.
The good news? That creates an opportunity for businesses that can leverage non-intrusive, relevant content to drive leads to their offers.
That’s where branded content marketing comes in.
In this guide, we’ll explore:
- What branded content marketing is
- How it’s different than traditional advertising
- The step-by-step process to build and launch a branded content marketing strategy
What’s branded content marketing? And how’s it different than traditional advertising?
| Branded Content Marketing | Traditional Advertising | |
| Approach | Storytelling and value-driven content | Promotional and product-focused messaging |
| Objective | Build brand awareness and affinity | Generate immediate sales and conversions |
| Format | Engaging and informative content | Ads in various media formats (TV, print, etc.) |
| Engagement | Focus on fostering interactions and dialogue | Passive consumption of ads |
| Trust and credibility | Establishes brand authority and trust | Consumer skepticism and ad avoidance |
| Metrics | Track engagement, sentiment, and conversions | Measure reach, impressions, and click-throughs |
Using branded content involves creating valuable content that aligns with a brand’s values, goals, and target audience. Marketers aim to produce meaningful content that is coherent with a brand’s principles, objectives, and desired viewership.
While traditional advertising typically interrupts the audience, the best branded content aims to provide entertaining, educational, or inspirational pieces that people consume voluntarily.
An example of branded content may be a cooking appliance manufacturer that creates a series of online cooking tutorials and recipe videos. They may feature popular chefs or food bloggers using the brand’s products to prepare delicious meals.
This enables the brand to build authority and credibility in the culinary space. It creates a positive association with it, as viewers see how its products can enhance their cooking experiences through enjoyable content.
The main benefits of branded content marketing include:
- Increased brand awareness: By creating valuable and engaging content, brands can generate exposure and recognition. It allows businesses to showcase their expertise, values, and unique selling points. This makes them more memorable and distinct in consumers’ minds.
- Enhanced customer engagement: When done right, branded content is a way to foster deeper connections with your target audience. This encourages them to interact, share, and participate in conversations surrounding the brand.
- Building trust and credibility: By delivering content that educates, entertains, or solves a problem, branded content marketing leads to stronger brand loyalty. It makes consumers perceive the brand as a reliable source of information and solutions.
- Effective targeting and personalization: It allows businesses to tailor their messages and experiences to specific audience segments. By understanding their preferences and needs, businesses can create personalized content that resonates with them and leads to higher engagement and conversion rates.
- Amplified reach and virality: Engaging and shareable content can go viral, extending the brand’s reach far beyond its existing audience. When content resonates with viewers, they’re likelier to share it with their networks. This leads to increased brand exposure and organic growth.
How to create branded content and launch the perfect marketing strategy (step-by-step)
Step #1: Building a solid brand foundation
Creating a great branded content strategy starts with building a strong brand foundation.
Let’s explore each element in detail.
Conduct market research and audience analysis
Understanding your audience is critical to effectively reaching it with your content.
We’ve created a free customer avatar worksheet to guide you on that. It includes all the questions about your audience’s demographics, interests, behaviors, and pain points.
You can answer them by conducting research, surveys, interviews, or focus groups.
You can also try AI tools like ChatGPT or Jasper. They can provide insights and knowledge about your audience that you might not otherwise think of.
Define your brand identity, values, and messaging
Clearly define your brand personality, mission, and vision. They should align with your audience’s beliefs and preferences.
Let’s say you’re building a fitness apparel brand targeting health-conscious millennials. You may center your identity around promoting an active and healthy lifestyle.
Next, establish consistent messaging that communicates your brand’s unique selling points and key messages. Craft a voice that reflects your brand’s personality, whether it’s friendly, professional, authoritative, or playful. This will serve as the foundation for your branded content.
In our example, your messaging could emphasize your apparel’s functionality, comfort, and style while highlighting your commitment to helping individuals reach their fitness goals.
Create a brand story that resonates with your target audience
Adding storytelling elements to your brand messaging will help you emotionally connect with your audience. Your brand story should reflect their aspirations, values, and desires.
It should outline your brand’s journey and highlight its purpose, what it stands for, and how it positively impacts your audience’s lives. Make sure your content is authentic and inspiring to create a memorable and impactful brand narrative.
By weaving storytelling into your content, you can engage and connect with your audience on a deeper level.
Step #2: Developing your content strategy
Once you have built a strong brand foundation, it’s time to build your strategy.
Here’s how to do it:
Set clear marketing objectives and goals
Define specific objectives that align with your overall business goals. They should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
Some common successful branded content campaigns include increasing or improving:
- Website traffic
- Brand awareness
- Social media engagement
- Lead generation and conversion
When picking them, remember that quality is more important than quantity. It’s way better to have a small and highly engaged audience that resonates with your offers than a large and unqualified one.
By setting clear objectives, you can establish a roadmap for your marketing content and measure its effectiveness.
Select the proper content formats and channels
Identify the content formats that resonate the most with your audience and align with your goals.
Some of the most popular ones include:
- Blog posts
- Videos
- Infographics
- Podcasts
- Social media posts
- Interactive content
Next, select the appropriate channels to distribute and amplify your content.
This could include your blog, social media platforms, newsletters, or partnerships with influencers or publications. Ensure that the selected channels align with your audience’s habits and provide ample opportunities for engagement.
This is the time to return to the worksheet to find their preferences and behaviors.
Let’s say you’re targeting highly-educated, busy professionals. In this case, you’d probably benefit the most from exploring short-form content on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Create a content calendar
Develop a calendar to guide your content creation and publication schedule. It should outline the topics, keywords, formats, and distribution channels for each piece of content.
Establish a consistent publishing cadence that aligns with your resources and audience expectations. Consistency is key to building brand awareness and maintaining engagement.
Additionally, tools like Sprout Social and VidIQ can provide real-time data and trends from your audience. This enables you to incorporate a mix of evergreen and timely content to provide value in the long term while staying relevant to current events.
Step #3: Creating compelling content
Next, it’s time to create content that captures your audience’s attention and drives engagement.
Add storytelling techniques and incorporate emotional appeal
Craft your content using storytelling techniques to captivate viewers. Tell stories that resonate with their aspirations, challenges, and emotions. Use narratives, anecdotes, or case studies to bring your brand and its values to life.
Imagine you’re a travel company. You could craft a social media post telling the story of a traveler’s unforgettable adventure to create a deeper connection.
By incorporating humor, empathy, or inspiration, you can evoke a strong response and forge a lasting impression.
Integrate brand messaging subtly and effectively
Seamlessly integrate your brand messaging into your content without overtly promoting your offers.
Focus primarily on providing value and addressing your audience’s needs. And when possible, use a soft-sell approach highlighting how your offerings align with their desires and challenges.
This subtle integration ensures your content remains authentic and engaging.
Leverage user-generated content and influencer partnerships
Encourage viewers to create and share brand-related content. For instance, you could run a social media contest encouraging customers to share their brand experiences using a specific hashtag.
Then, feature it on your website and social media platforms to showcase their experiences with your brand.
That fosters a sense of community and engagement.
Additionally, consider collaborating with influencers or industry experts who align with your brand values and target audience. They can create content that promotes your brand in a relatable manner and put it in front of their followers.
Optimize for higher ranking
Ensure your content is optimized to rank high. That includes SEO techniques and strategies to improve visibility on social media platforms.
Each channel has its own rules to determine what ranks higher. But generally speaking, it mostly comes down to matching your content with search intent and providing high-quality content that generates engagement.
Additionally, leverage strategies such as backlinking and guest posting to increase your content’s reach and authority.
There are also several tools that can provide data-driven insights based on what’s currently ranking high for your industry. Some examples include Semrush for SEO, TubeBuddy for YouTube, and Missinglettr for social media platforms.
Step #4: Measuring and optimizing
Finally, it’s essential to measure your outcomes and continuously optimize your strategy. That includes tracking the right metrics and listening to your audience.
Establish and track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
By defining clear and measurable KPIs, you can track your progress and evaluate the impact of your branded content marketing efforts.
Go back to your marketing objectives to determine what you should be measuring.
For instance, if you want to boost social media engagement, monitor metrics such as:
- Likes, shares, and comments
- Following growth
- Social media mentions and tags
And if you’re trying to increase conversions, focus on:
- Form submissions
- Newsletter sign-ups
- Product purchases
Most platforms provide analytics tools with all the metrics you need.
By tracking them, you can identify the type of content pieces that resonate most with your audience and contribute to your goals.
Analyze audience feedback and sentiment
Gather audience feedback through surveys, social media listening, and customer support interactions.
Pay attention to quantitative (i.e., ratings and surveys) and qualitative data (i.e., social media comments) to understand audience sentiment towards your brand and content.
Analyze this feedback to identify areas of improvement, address concerns, and capitalize on positive feedback to refine your content.
Optimize your strategy based on data-driven insights
Last but not least, leverage the data and insights gathered to optimize your strategy.
That includes:
- Identifying patterns and trends in high-performing content to replicate successful elements in future campaigns.
- Regularly reviewing and evaluating your content’s performance against your established KPIs. This will enable you to identify areas to enhance engagement, reach, or conversions.
- Implementing A/B tests to compare different variations of your content and determine which performs better.
By embracing a data-driven approach, you can make informed decisions and achieve better overall performance.
Remember, the process of measuring and optimizing is ongoing.
As you gather more data, refine your strategy iteratively to adapt to evolving audience preferences, market trends, and business goals. That includes constantly evaluating and adjusting your content calendar, messaging, formats, and distribution channels.
Final thoughts
Branded content marketing offers a powerful approach to captivate viewers, build trust, and differentiate your brand in a crowded marketplace.
By following all the steps we’ve given, you can forge strong connections with your target audience and drive engagement, loyalty, and growth.
Should we add anything to this guide? Let us know in the comments!