With the rise of new media and changes in the way we create and consume content, one term has been getting a lot of attention: branded content. It is directly linked to a strategy of bringing companies closer to their public and creating relevant material.
The goal is to change the dynamics of advertising a company, abandoning the traditional forms of advertising. With a much more flexible and adaptable approach, branded content is somewhere in between marketing, information and entertainment, and it aims at creating an identification between the consumer and the brand through an association of values.
The development of this strategy must be carried in a way that uses the multiple available channels and formats we have nowadays, and also in a way that explores the potential offered to us by mobility.
Do you want to know more about branded content and its importance for prospecting customers for companies? Keep reading!
What are the basic differences between branded content and traditional advertisement?
Many companies are still focused on a traditional model of advertising which is concentrates on exposing the product or service in a massive media vehicle. But digital marketing offers a more direct approach, searching for the ideal public of a brand, wherever they are. Contrary to traditional media, which has the goal of reaching the greatest number of people possible, digital marketing works with targeting and monitoring.
As far as branded content is concerned, monitoring the content after publishing it is extremely important, because the goal is to understand how consumers are behaving towards that campaign – if it is being shared, spread and commented upon. The objective is to keep the campaign organically active for the longest time possible.
For that organic engagement to be possible, the brand has to deliver a content that exceeds expectations and, at the same time, is connected to the principles and values of its target public. The goals have to be creating customer loyalty regarding current consumers and prospecting new leads.
How can you make a branded content strategy?
There is no formula for the creation of a certain branded content strategy, because one of the characteristics of this model is being surprising regarding its approach. But there are certain points that can help you maximize the potential of this strategy.
Go for monitoring
The first thing you can do is monitor your publications after publishing them, because it is necessary to understand what happens to the material after the public gets in contact with it in order to keep it active for the greatest amount of time possible.
Offer the surprise factor
Another important point of branded content is the surprise factor, which can be decisive at the time of prospecting qualified leads. Many brands choose to use entertainment for getting this effect and so they use references of the pop culture – but it is key for these elements to relate to the brand and not seem disconnected.
Be relevant
Content that is void will not create a connection to the target public, and so it will not result in sharing and mentions. Relevance is crucial for this strategy to be successful and for the brand to end up stronger and not weakened after the campaign.
Know your public well
There is no branded content without a specific segmentation. The company will only be able to create the surprise factor and deliver something relevant if it knows who they are delivering it to. Only this way is it possible to start a dialogue with the consumer.
What is the difference between branded content and content marketing?
There is a lot of confusion regarding these two strategies, mainly because both of them have to do with the creation of engaging content, multiple channels and with targeting their actions towards a specific public. But there are outstanding differences between them.
Content marketing is aimed at conversion through the production of rich material, focused on attracting a user who, depending on the stage where he is, can either identify he has a problem or find a solution to it by means of your company’s product or service. The goal is to build a good funnel so that more qualified leads are reached.
In branded content, the focus is attracting customers by means of an identification between them and the brand, something that makes the brand memorable for the target public, meeting their values and ideals.
What are some cases of success regarding branded content?
There are several national and international success cases of companies which adhered to branded content. Here we will present you two impressive examples. See bellow.
Nestlé
A little less than a decade ago, Nestlé created a campaign called “Animal Crew”. This campaign consisted of Nestlé offering the possibility for the consumer to adopt a stuffed animal. The dynamics was the following: whenever a customer would buy a product by Nestlé, he could choose to pay R$ 27 more and “adopt” one of the available stuffed animals – MC Teo, Badu, Zíper, Dante, Dinho, Odorica, Zita, Tato or Zen Zen (names of the characters).
Much more than selling stuffed animals, the goal was to promote an action for preserving the environment and promoting sustainability, which created a connection to the customer that would go beyond advertising a product. The consumer would start identifying a concern about the future in this brand and would attribute this value to the credibility of the company.
O Boticário explores the father-daughter relation
O Boticário is a Brazilian company that explores branded content pretty well and also its impact on social media, specially Twitter. On father’s day, 2015, the company developed a campaign that was aimed at bringing the brand closer to its consumers during the launch of the perfume called Uomini Origem. The focus was onto the relation between fathers and sons, with a video that brought details of the family closeness.
The surprise of the video was a prank with the journalist, Rita Lisauskas. She was hired to mediate the talks between fathers and sons, but she ended up being surprised by the presence of her own father, Afonso Lisauskas, in the studio.
This plot twist resulted in an excellent father-daugher talk, with an exchange of ideas about the influences they had on each other’s lives. The tone of the campaign was to show how fathers help mold children in a peaceful environment.
The campaign was obviously a success. It touched the feelings of consumers and added this value to the brand and to the new product, on such an important day as father’s day is.
Social media allows companies of several sizes to create their own branded content strategies with creativity and an engaged team. If your company does not have a team that can do it, you can count on a specialized partner, such as Action Labs. We will focus on the quality of the leads generated from your campaign and on maximizing the expected ROI, thus delivering the best results.
We hope that, after reading this post, you have understood the importance of a good branded content strategy to a company. The goal goes beyond creating content, it is also to connect the brand to its target public through a common value, which will then create an engagement that will keep the campaign active for the longest time possible.
Did you like this post? Do you want to know how to create a branded content strategy in your own company? Then, get in touch with us right now and find out how to do it!
