The theory of psychological reactance suggests people naturally want to be independent and often feel the urge to resist social influence. In other words, we don’t like being told what to do.
As you plan your marketing activities, keep in mind that conventional advertisements can feel like a direct order. Although they get the point across, your audience may resist the message. Instead, consider adding a more subtle promotional technique, like branded content, into your overall strategy. In this article, we’ll go over how branded content marketing can help explain the unique appeal of your product or service, in a way that’s appealing to potential customers.
What is branded content marketing?
Branded content marketing involves creating content to inspire a connection with your company. Unlike traditional advertising methods, branded content abstains from explicit sales pitches. Instead, this marketing strategy focuses on telling a holistic story about your brand and aims to establish an emotional connection with consumers to create customer loyalty. Branded content can take many forms—anything like written articles, videos, podcasts, or social media posts.
Brands may create their own content with in-house teams or agency partners, or they might form a paid partnership with an influencer or established media company. Let’s say you sell camping equipment. You could enlist an outdoor enthusiast blogger to explain the benefits of spending more time outside in a post. The blog will clearly indicate the post is created in collaboration with your brand without explicitly mentioning you in the article. But the post will closely match your company’s values, helping audiences connect your brand with those principles.
Why is branded marketing beneficial?
Valuable content captures your audience’s attention by offering something that interests them. Telling the story behind your products can humanize your brand and spark an emotional response. For example, sharing a story about your founder’s path could forge a connection with your audience, helping them relate to your brand on a personal level and appreciate your business values. This narrative can serve as a powerful tool to convey the passion, challenges, and dedication that have shaped your company.
Branded content can also help distinguish your brand from competitors. No matter how wonderful your brand’s product is, it may look similar to other brands at first glance. Standing out from the crowd is difficult in today’s increasingly saturated market. But sharing your story can increase the public’s understanding of your brand, which in turn can help your specific brand stand out in the marketplace.
How to create effective branded content marketing
Marketing content can be as complex as a feature film or as simple as a blog post. The creation process depends on your goals and the type of content. Here are a few steps to begin creating branded content:
- Conduct audience research.
- Set clear goals.
- Hone your story.
- Pick a platform.
- Work with collaborators.
- Optimize and share.
- Measure your success.
Let’s take a look at each step in more detail.
1. Conduct audience research
Understanding your target market can help your team create branded content that sticks. Use demographic information and behavior data to gain insight into your audience’s preferences. This will then let you create content tailored to customer interests, increasing the chance that it will be more meaningful to your customers.
2. Set clear goals
Define branded content success for your team. Outline what you hope to achieve with your campaign. Common goals for branded content include increasing sales, building awareness, and boosting engagement.
3. Hone your story
Once you understand your audience, choose the best angle for your story. Develop a narrative that sparks interest and subtly promotes your brand’s values while also speaking to your customers’ pain points and needs. For example, if you’re running a makeup brand, you can promote a message that your sustainably sourced products are there to enhance consumers’ natural beauty.
4. Pick a platform
The best platform depends on the type of content and your customer base. Content created for an audience over age 40 may find more success on Facebook, while long-form videos work best on a YouTube channel or streaming service. If a media company is distributing your content, work with them to select the best channel.
5. Work with collaborators
You can create content in-house, work with an ad agency, or partner with a media company. Many large media companies, including Vox Media and Atlantic Media, have divisions dedicated to producing branded media.
Partnering with media companies can have additional benefits, such as featured placement on their websites, which can attract consumers. In this case, the media company marks the content created as an advertisement or sponsorship, ensuring readers can distinguish it from editorial material.
6. Optimize and share
Optimize your content by following your distribution platform’s best practices. Some platforms have specific policies for branded content. Instagram-branded content, for example, must adhere to specific rules regarding placements.
7. Measure your success
Keep track of your content after posting. Some metrics include video views, article reads, or click-through rates. Analyzing performance and its impact on your goals can help your team improve branded content efforts moving forward.
Examples of branded content marketing
Branded content can take a wide range of forms. Check out these real-life branded content examples for inspiration on just a few:
Blendtec
This clever content from commercial kitchen supply company Blendtec is a series of videos depicting Blendtec blenders pulverizing everything from cellphones to Tiki torches. This project uses humor to showcase the strength of Blendtec blenders in a memorable way. The absurdity of this campaign made it viral—many “Will it Blend” videos have more than 10 million views.
Nike
Nike’s Breaking2 project is a brilliant example of how branded content can be culturally relevant and remain true to brand values. This documentary-style film follows the path of several athletes as they attempt to run a marathon in less than two hours. The story weaves the athletes’ tales together while highlighting Nike’s commitment to breaking barriers. Nike co-created this project with National Geographic.
Apple
Apple created a multifaceted Shot on iPhone marketing campaign to showcase the power of the iPhone camera. It features several types of mediums, including videos, photography, and a live event. As part of the campaign, Apple turned to their existing customers and asked them to submit macro photography shot on an iPhone. The user-generated content ended up in advertisements and drove strong engagement.
Apple also used an iPhone to film a launch video for their new product and created a separate behind-the-scenes story about making that video. This campaign used artistic content generated by users to underscore its message that Apple is the best choice for creative professionals.
IKEA
The IKEA Home Tour series is a successful branded content campaign that proves you don’t need a huge budget or a famous film director to make something great. IKEA Home Tour takes the format of a home makeover show. In each episode, a team from IKEA helps someone organize and decorate their living space with IKEA products. IKEA Home Tour combines a popular video format with brand messaging and product placement.
Branded content marketing FAQ
What channels can you use to distribute your branded content marketing?
You can distribute branded content through multiple social networks, including Instagram and YouTube. This type of content also appears on blogs, newsletters, or paid advertisements. The most effective distribution channel depends on the type of content and your target audience.
What is a branded content strategy?
A branded content strategy is an approach to promoting your brand through storytelling. Strategies may include paying publications or influencers to create content or producing pieces in-house.
Is branded content marketing the same as content marketing?
Branded content marketing and content marketing both focus on creating high-quality content but differ in execution. Content marketing aims to provide customers useful information about a company’s products. On the other hand, branded content uses creative messaging to tell the brands’ story.
What makes a branded content marketing campaign good?
Strong branded content is relevant to both the consumer and the company. The best branded content examples consider the audience’s needs and tell a compelling story while staying true to the brand’s values.
