Content marketing has become a buzzword, and for good reason. It is one of the most cost-effective ways of marketing your business and offers a much wider reach than conventional marketing. Content marketing is also easier to get done in-house and has emerged as a popular form of advertising, marketing and brand building for small and growing companies. It is best used to enhance brand awareness, build a brand reputation and encourage customer loyalty.
However, when not done the right way, content marketing can become a money pit. Here are some ways you can use content marketing to build your brand.
Use thought-provoking images
Yes, content marketing usually evokes images of long form textual content in our mind but people now want more visual content. Video content, particularly, is in great demand but you can generate the same buzz and excitement around your brand by publishing images. They are easy to create but to truly stand above the rest they need to be exceptionally creative and thought provoking. One of the brands that is using extremely memorable, clever and lovable images to build its brand reputations is Oreo. The brand always uses simple but very witty imagery where its cookie features prominently with smart taglines that make their content go viral. Who can forget the rainbow colored Oreo cookie in support of LGBT rights?
Follow the example of publishers
Instead of thinking of about your content marketing team as a marketing division, think of it as a publishing division. Make sure you create and publish content that even journalists wish they had written. There is always room for original, interesting and unique textual content. Red Bull’s approach of using targetted textual content, besides video diaries and live event tweets, has paid off well in retaining the attention of its customer base and establishing itself as a hip brand. Red Bull publishes a magazine Red Bulletin and has a whole website dedicated just to the content its publishing department generates without any promotional material whatsoever about the brand. This has worked so well for the brand that now Red Bull has become synonymous with extreme adventure sports.
Promote user generated content
Most brands make the big mistake of thinking that all their content must be created in-house or by content marketing firms that they have hired. However, if you want your brand to connect with customers more deeply and to increase engagement with them, one of the best ways to do so is to ask users to create content for you. Kraft Foods started content marketing before its competitors even realized that having a website was essential. Kraft customers submit recipes and food related articles, and the website consists of almost entirely user generated content that is extremely popular among customers.
Consider different types of content
When you start content marketing to build brand awareness, don’t just stick to one type of content. Make sure you have something for everyone and every channel of content marketing – if not all at least most of them. SlideShare presentations, Pinterest boards and pins, podcasts, webinars, etc. are just some of the popular types of content that brands tend to overlook.
Photo by Ingridarcher Ingrid Archer licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
