The classic B2B marketing rule of 7 is that it takes at least 7 touchpoints with your brand before a purchase will take place. But that can increase massively depending on the complexity and cost of your product or service. So how can you make those touchpoints as engaging and effective as possible? This is where branded content steps in, offering a unique and powerful way to connect with audiences through knowledge sharing. By focusing on value-driven storytelling and creating meaningful experiences, branded content can significantly enhance your brand’s visibility and reputation.

In this article, we’ll explore the importance of branded content, delve into innovative strategies for crafting compelling stories, and share best practices for distribution and measurement to make your content resonate with your target audience.

Understanding branded content

Differentiating between branded content and traditional advertising is essential to understand the unique advantages it offers. Traditional advertising often relies on persuasive techniques and direct calls to action to drive sales.

In contrast, branded content focuses on storytelling and creating a narrative that resonates with the audience’s emotions and experiences. This form of content marketing emphasizes authenticity and engagement, making it a crucial tool for brands looking to stand out in a crowded market.

By leveraging the power of branded content, businesses can create lasting impressions and foster deeper relationships with their customers.

In the next sections, we will explore how to craft compelling stories, innovative strategies to implement, and best practices to make your branded content strategy effective and impactful.

How to craft your business’s story

Creating a compelling branded content strategy starts with a clear and authentic story that resonates with your audience. Here’s how to get started:

1. Identify your core values: Begin by defining the values and messages at the heart of your brand. Your content should authentically communicate these values to form genuine connections. This involves introspection about what your brand stands for, its mission, and the impact you want to make. By grounding your content in these core values, you ensure that your storytelling is consistent and meaningful.
2. Know your customers: Understanding your target customers’ interests, challenges, and desires is crucial. Tailored content that speaks directly to their needs builds stronger relationships and increases engagement. Conduct thorough research to gain insights into your audience's demographics, behaviors, and preferences. Use this information to create detailed audience personas, which will guide your content creation process and help you deliver messages that truly resonate.
3. Don’t be afraid to literally tell a story: Leverage the power of storytelling to create emotional resonance. Narratives that reflect real-life experiences or challenges faced by your audience can significantly boost engagement. Share stories that highlight your brand’s journey, customer success stories, or even behind-the-scenes looks at your company. This humanizes your brand and makes it relatable, fostering a deeper connection with your audience.
4. Champion user-generated content: Encourage your customer community to share their own stories and experiences with your brand. This enhances authenticity and builds trust through peer recommendations. User-generated content can include customer reviews, social media posts, or testimonials. By featuring this content, you not only show appreciation for your customers but also provide potential customers with real-life examples of your brand’s impact.
5. Expand outside of written content: With high engagement rates, video, podcasts, and audio content can be excellent mediums for branded content. From expert interviews to industry insights or discussions on trends and challenges, leveraging any of the above approaches can bring your brand’s personality to life. Though, don’t forget about the particular value that written content has, both for shareability and for being an easy avenue for your users to also contribute to your library.
6. Engage through community management: Utilize a customer knowledge sharing platform to host your content and build an engaged community around it. Creating a centralized space allows customers to interact, share their experiences, and provide feedback. By sharing and co-creating knowledge with your customer community, you can build stronger relationships and maximize customer lifetime value. Discussions and exclusive events can all be part of this strategy, providing valuable opportunities to drive deeper engagement and collaboration beyond the content you create.

Distributing and getting eyes on your content

Creating exceptional branded content is only half the challenge. Ensuring that your content reaches your target customers requires strategic distribution across the right channels. Here are some effective ways to maximize the visibility of your branded content:

Choose the right platforms

Selecting the right platforms is crucial for reaching your target audience. An online community platform can be powerful place to centralise your branded content. Creating a one-stop shop where customers can search and discover existing content or start a discussion to tap into the community’s expertise supports every customer mindset. To avoid a top-down, broadcast style of sharing content, a platform built for knowledge sharing allows you to engage directly with a targeted audience interested in your niche. Certain platforms offer robust community features that facilitate deeper interactions and foster a sense of belonging among members. Leveraging these communities helps in building stronger relationships and ensuring your content reaches an engaged and receptive audience.

Beyond where you host your content, sharing links on other channels can help you increase the reach of the content you share. Each platform has its unique style and audience expectations, so it’s essential to tailor your content accordingly. For instance, Instagram and Pinterest are ideal for visually-driven content, while LinkedIn is perfect for B2B content and professional insights. Understanding where your customers spend their time online will help you choose the most effective platforms for distribution.

SEO and content discoverability

Optimizing your content for search engines can significantly improve its visibility. Use relevant keywords and phrases naturally within your content to help it rank higher in search engine results. Consider the following SEO best practices:

• Keyword research: Identify and use keywords that your target customer will be searching for. Think about the full customer lifecycle and what knowledge they might need at every stage.
• Meta tags: Optimize meta titles and descriptions to improve click-through rates.
• Internal linking: Link to other relevant content on your site to keep readers engaged and improve SEO.
• Quality backlinks: Earn backlinks from reputable sites to boost your content’s credibility and search ranking.

Leverage email marketing

Email marketing remains a powerful tool for content distribution. Share your branded content with your email subscribers as part of a regular content series. This helps keep your audience engaged and encourages direct interactions. Consider the following strategies:

• Personalized emails: Tailor emails to different segments of your audience for more relevant messaging.
• Content teasers: Use snippets of your content to entice readers to visit your website for the full article.
• Regular newsletters: Maintain a consistent email schedule to keep your audience informed and engaged.

Cross-promotion

Collaborate with other brands or content creators to cross-promote your content. This can involve guest blogging, co-hosting webinars, or sharing each other’s content on social media. Cross-promotion helps you tap into new audiences and build mutually beneficial relationships.

Measuring the success of your branded content

Evaluating the effectiveness of your branded content is essential to refine your strategies for better results. Here are key metrics to consider:

• Engagement metrics: Track likes, shares, comments, and time spent on your content to gauge audience interest and interaction levels.
• Conversion rates: Monitor how effectively your branded content drives actions, such as signing up for newsletters, making a purchase, or downloading resources.
• Audience growth: Measure the growth of your audience on social platforms and subscriptions to assess the reach and impact of your content.
• Community engagement: Use a community management platform to track member interactions, engagement within community forums, and feedback. These platforms provide valuable insights into how your branded content resonates with your community, offering detailed analytics on participation and engagement.

Driving long-term success with effective branded content

Effective branded content is essential for capturing and retaining your audience's attention, ultimately driving long-term success and growth. By implementing strategic distribution methods and measuring the right metrics, you can create meaningful connections with your audience. Here are some best practices to ensure your branded content strategy is impactful:

• Consistency is key: Maintain a consistent brand voice and aesthetic across all content. This helps build brand recognition and loyalty, ensuring that your audience knows what to expect from your brand.
• Quality over quantity: Focus on producing high-quality content that offers real value to your target customers. Quality content is more likely to engage and retain your audience than a large volume of mediocre content.
• Be adaptable: Stay responsive to audience feedback and be willing to adapt your content strategy based on what resonates with your audience. Continuous learning and adaptation are crucial for long-term success.

At Zapnito, we believe that a well-executed branded content strategy is key to effectively sharing and co-creating knowledge with your customer community. Start incorporating these best practices today to see a positive impact on your brand’s visibility and customer relationships.

And if you’d like more support in creating, organizing and sharing branded content in a personalized knowledge hub, consider booking a personalized demo of our platform. We can help you understand how our services and technology can empower your progress towards greater business growth.