Content creation is a top priority for 80% of marketers, according to the State of Inbound report. With figures like these, it’s hard to ignore the pull of content and making great content a key part of your marketing strategy. Content is one of the main ways through which you connect with your target audiences, and inturn, sway their purchasing decisions. Whether you’re writing a blog post, putting out a social media post or releasing a video-series, the one thing that binds your content together is your branding. In this blog we discuss what makes content good, why content is important and how branding plays an important role in the content creation process.
What is great content?
Remember the last time you read an Instagram caption that made you chuckle? Or a YouTube advertisement that you actually did not want to skip and that you watched till the end? These brands hooked you in with their content and created a favourable impression with you. What was it that caught your attention? It could have been a witty, tongue-in-cheek headline or a beautifully shot video with a captivating opening scene.
Great content is original, memorable and engaging; it should inspire, entertain and inform. Some types of content provide useful information for users to be able to make a good decision. For example, a dental clinic may put up a blog post that weighs the pros and cons of the various teeth replacement options available, driving organic visitors to their website. If you own a healthy grain bowl deli, creating a low-carb recipe series on Instagram will engage those looking to eat healthy and help you gain a following in the community.
Why is great content important?
Standing out from the white noise of marketing is especially important when people are exposed to up to 10,000 advertisements every day. Useful, engaging content helps you attract new potential customers, as well as keep existing customers continually satisfied. There are several reasons why creating content should be an integral component of your marketing, these include:
- Gains trust of your customers
- Drives traffic to your website
- Establishes your brand
- Keeps your brand as a top-of-mind choice
- Helps you obtain greater market share
Quality content gives your target audiences the impression that your product or service is also of high quality and can be trusted.
How do you create great content with branding?
The first step to creating content is to examine your branding. Because only with a watertight branding strategy can you hope to create content that is consistent, inline with your brand identity and will resonate with your target audiences. First, understand what your target market wants to see, hear and read and what will get them to respond favourably to you. Start with market research. Through this process you understand your target audiences, their likes and dislikes, as well as the type of content your competitors are creating and how consumers respond to this.
After carrying out market research, you can then get started on creating your brand strategy – a guiding document with which you can ensure all the content you put out is consistent with your brand identity. This starts from the very foundation of your brand: its vision, mission, values. From here, your brand personality takes shape too.
Without strong branding, you will lack a distinct brand identity – which then translates content with an inconsistent brand voice. This could decrease the quality of your content and affect how consumers perceive your brand. When you avoid these pitfalls of bad branding, you avoid alienating your target consumers.
Create compelling content by first creating a strong brand with BDSA
Lots of brands rush to create content without first taking a step back to consider what their brand identity is and what it represents. Stand apart from your competitors by only delivering thoughtful content backed by a strong brand strategy. BDSA, a brand consultancy agency based in Singapore, has deep expertise in developing brand strategies.
We offer brand consulting services through a 3-stage process: Brand Discovery, Brand Strategy, Brand Translation. Our social media marketing services also ensure you are able to create a social media content calendar that lets you deliver great content to your target audience.
We also assist you in applying for Enterprise Singapore’s SME marketing grants that provide local firms with a leg up in a competitive business landscape. Contact us today to learn more.
