What Is Branded Content And How Can It Boost Your Online Reputation?

That content is king is something we have been hearing for a long time, but is it still king in 2021? The answer is yes. Content is the most effective way to give any brand a human identity, generate leads and therefore increase sales. And now that consumer expectations have changed and it is more difficult to connect emotionally through conventional advertising channels, it has become even more important. Learn what branded content is and how it can help you improve your brand’s image.

What is branded content?

It is important to realise that branded content is more than just a one-off advertising campaign, it is a fundamental brand building tool. Branded content is defined as “any content produced in whole or in part by the legal owner of the brand, which promotes the brand’s values and makes its audience choose to engage with it voluntarily thanks to the entertaining, informative and/or educational values of such content.”

Thus, the brand, instead of being associated with advertisements, which are often ignored or rejected, begins to be associated with information and entertainment, which have more value for consumers.

5 Keys to a good branded content strategy

Creating original, quality content capable of capturing the customer’s attention is no easy task. But here are a series of keys that can help you achieve a good branded content strategy.

1. Give storytelling the importance it deserves

There is nothing like a good narrative to catch the audience’s attention. When a story connects, when there is empathy between the viewer and the brand, it stays in the memory forever. There is something about the emotional connection that a good story creates that allows it to linger in the memory far longer than a single sentence or image.

2. Offer more experience than products

The objective of any brand is to sell, but to achieve this you always have to put yourself in the customer’s shoes and think about what they need. Nowadays, it is not enough to show them the products and services, but it is also necessary to detail what they provide them with. People nowadays buy experiences rather than material things.

3. Opt for proximity

People are in need of a more human and less virtual proximity. So keep this in mind in your strategy, make your content more personal.

4. Work on resilience

If there is one word you cannot lose sight of, it is resilience. You must know how to adapt to changes at all times. It is not about losing your essence, but about refreshing it and adjusting it to the new demands of the customer.

5. Invest in social commitment

You must not only commit to your customers, but also to the environment, health, the economy or any social issue that is relevant, and you must do so in an honest way. Users want to be part of something that makes a positive change in the world.

What benefits of content marketing are there?

Today much of the advertising is saturated and creates rejection. And the solution to generate brand communication that provides value is to make people feel attracted to brands. This is what branded content achieves. Here are some of its main benefits.

• Create engagement: empathy is the hallmark of branded content. Creating branded content that stems from the real concerns, interests and habits of the potential customer completely transforms conventional communication. Content that connects emotionally with the consumer will help them feel more connected to your brand image.
• Increase interaction: varied and quality content will achieve more interaction with your brand. Interacting with customers is essential to make them aware that there is a team behind a brand.
• Avoid rejection: content marketing is designed to be relevant, to generate curiosity and interest. And, in any case, not to generate animosity. It does not speak from the ‘I’ of the brand, but from the ‘you’ of the user, from their motivations, interests and desires.
• It generates brand followers: little by little the user understands that the brand makes his life a little easier and better. This generates a stronger bond with the brand, which will end up making them prefer it to similar alternatives.