Branded content is a form of marketing that involves sharing content, like articles, infographics, videos, social media posts and more, that tells a story about your brand. Unlike other forms of marketing or advertising, branded content does not directly promote your products or services. Instead, it creates connections with your audience by sharing what’s at the heart of your business.
The key to branded content is expertly crafted storytelling that shines a light on who you are and what you stand for, communicating your brand in ways that will connect deeply with your audience.
Step 1: Identify what your brand wants to say
The first step in creating engaging branded content is looking within. Begin by asking:
- What does your company stand for?
- What sets you apart?
- What are your core values?
- Most companies have a mission statement — what’s yours?
If you don’t have a clear handle on the answers to these questions, it’s the first thing you need to nail down before you proceed with any branded content. Next, think about how your product or service reflects those values.
- Why does my brand do what it does?
- What pain points am I hoping to solve?
- What makes my brand unique?
- Why you?
Step 2: Understand your target audience
Who do you ultimately want to reach with your content? Current customers who might need a little nudge or reminder of why they love your business? New customers who haven’t tried you yet? The disgruntled few? At Brandpoint, many of our clients hope to reach all of the above. And that’s okay. What’s most important is knowing that audience inside and out.
Who are they? What are their values? What other brands do they support? Knowing your target audience can help you create branded content that will help resolve their pain points or answer their questions. And about that…
Step 3: Create content that solves problems
Now that you know what you want to say and understand your target audience, you are in the perfect position to create content that helps your audience. Whether you’re just trying to raise awareness or push a particular product through storytelling, the main thing to think about is: Is this content useful? Will it solve a problem? If not, how can we position it to compel readers to click on that link, find out more, or realign with your company?
Our team of writers creates many types of content for our clients, including:
Feature articles: Feature articles are narratives that tell a story, typically about a person, event, trend or idea. They can be thought leadership pieces, case studies that highlight success stories, or pieces on timely topics of interest highlighting your business.
Listicles: These are articles that typically include several bullet points. The Top 10 Travel Destinations for 2024. Ways to Turn Your Bathroom into a Spa. Tips for Getting Your Teenager to Talk at Dinner. They’re fun, informative and easy to read. Listicles are among the most popular, engaging pieces of content we produce.
Infographics: Infographics use imagery and words to tell a story in a visual way. Long on graphics and short on words, infographics are especially effective for brands with data-heavy topics that can be distilled into an eye-catching visual to better engage consumers.
Videos: Videos should be short, punchy and to the point, and can include live action, animation or a combination of both.
Multimedia: Multimedia content is a powerful way to tell a story through a combination of text, voice, video and other formats. We use pull quotes, slides, polls, stats and more.
Don’t know which type is best suited for your message? We’ve got your back. During the creation process, many clients choose to have a collaboration meeting with our writers. As part of this conversation, we talk about your message, your ideas of how best to get it out there and angles that will produce high engagement rates.
Step 4: Use storytelling to tell your story
You’re not an expert writer? No problem. That’s what we’re here for. At Brandpoint, our professional writers and editors are the experts in creating powerful, impactful branded content. Our team produces carefully crafted storytelling that shines a light on who you are and what you stand for, communicating your brand in ways that will connect deeply with your audience.
Our team is made up of professional journalists, many of whom have worked at the very publications where your content will appear. They know how to write and edit a story like a journalist because they are journalists. So your message will not scream “Advertorial!” to the reader.
That’s a critically important part of our success. And, that’s not just our opinion.
A recent study by Toolkits and National Research Group found that 71% of consumers say that engaging content from a brand makes them trust it more … but that same number, 71%, say poor quality content from a brand makes them trust it less.
A similar study by Nielsen found branded content produced 86% brand recall, and that number goes up if the content is written by professional journalists and distributed through major publishers.
Connect with your audience using branded content
Brandpoint is the undisputed leader in creating and placing branded content for a reason. Our average results are 1,000 print and online placements, with a site audience of 140-170 million. Engagement? 3,500 clicks per article. We guarantee those numbers. And they’re on the low end. No other agency on the planet can guarantee results like that.
How do we do it? With our unrivaled publisher network built over 25-plus years, we have ongoing partnerships with the most elite publishers in the country including Tribune, Hearst, LA Times and many more. Many of those partnerships are exclusives.
We are granted those partnerships because our publishers know we produce stellar, powerful, journalistic-quality content that stands seamlessly alongside their own.
