8 Reasons You Need Branded Content In Your Marketing Plan

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• What Is Branded Content Marketing?
• 8 Reasons You Need Branded Content in Your Marketing Plan
• 2 Best Examples of Branded Content
• Key Takeaways
• Conclusion
• FAQs

Today, as more people block banners, ignore traditional advertising and skip ads, brands and companies are beginning to rethink their marketing strategies. They are looking for new ways to reach out to their audience. One popular strategy that has emerged out of this is branded content marketing.

Branded content advertising is all about building trust and connection with your audience. In this article, we will discuss what is branded content and eight reasons why you need branded content in your marketing plan.

What is Branded Content Marketing?

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Branded content advertising is a technique that does not sell a brand to the audience. It focuses on helping brands to make a connection with their audience. It’s all about the customer and how consumers can build trust with brands.

Branded content, today, also means content that is produced or funded by the brand for a certain advertising platform like Instagram and Facebook. Facebook defines branded content as ‘a creator or publisher’s content that features or is influenced by a business partner for an exchange of value’. This does not take away from the core value of branded content which is to create brand awareness by associating it with content that adds value. Remember that promotional content and branded content is slightly different. 

It’s important to understand that content marketing and branded content marketing are not the same. Content marketing is a broader concept. It consists of different types of content that a brand creates. On the other hand, brand marketing is designed to focus on a specific type of content.

8 Reasons You Need Branded Content in Your Marketing Plan

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Now that you know what is branded content advertising, here are eight reasons why you need branded content in your marketing plan.

1. Low costs

Since branded content is different from traditional marketing, it is a low-cost option that has become great for brands that do not want to spend too much on marketing campaigns. Work can be easily managed in-house, and companies do not require a huge budget for branded content. There are also no costs for advertisements, making it a great option for your brand.

2. Better audience reach

Today, customers are smart enough to know when a brand is trying to sell something. Also, customers have become impatient, which is why they are more likely to ignore banner ads or other promotional content. People do not engage with content that they cannot resonate with. Hence, branded content marketing comes with the advantage of better audience reach.

3. Generates an emotional connection

Branded content marketing is all about creating exciting stories that customers can enjoy. It’s about building an emotional connection with the audience. With branded content, you can associate emotions with your brand, making the audience remember the brand for a long time.

4. More authenticity and trust

People use content for everything. However, consumers do not want to see repetitive or old content posted online. People are continuously looking for brands that are trustworthy and authentic. When you use branded content, you show customers that you’re always willing to help them. It’s a smart form of content where you invite your audience to learn and also engage, thus helping to build trust.

5. Quality conversions

If branded content is done well, it will show your audience that you have a lot of valuable knowledge. You can become the ‘go-to’ brand that customers reach out to for direction, help, and clarity. Once you’ve established your position as the right brand, people will be more likely to reach out to you and eventually convert to sales.

6. Greater loyalty

Branded content isn’t all about connecting with new customers; it allows you to strengthen relationships with your existing clients as well. Thanks to meaningful and emotive messages, brands can show their customers what they are all about. Thus, setting the path for loyalty.

7. Increases engagement

Branded content is designed so that it provokes a response from the audience. It helps to generate engagement with the brand at a deeper level. Since branded content is put across in proper sharable formats, it will eventually increase engagement.

8. Promotes traffic and leads

Although branded content is more about metrics and notoriety, when done well, it can promote traffic to your website and also help to introduce them into the conversion funnel as well.

2 Best Examples of Branded Content

Here are two brand content marketing examples that have shown success. 

Dove – Show Us Campaign

Dove sent out a message that called for women who felt they were different, but we’re proud of the differences. The women were asked to send in videos or pictures and their stories. Dove soon received thousands of responses that they turned into connectable stories.

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Heineken – A Wid Lager Story

Heineken, the popular beer brand, came up with a fantastic brand marketing strategy where they collaborated with National Geographic. Both brands created a documentary that explained the history around ‘Wild Lager’. The video was not only the perfect format for the campaign, but the smart collaboration also allowed Heineken to broaden their reach.

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Key Takeaways

• Since branded content is different from traditional marketing, it is a great low-cost option for brands.
• People do not engage with content that they cannot resonate with. Hence, branded content marketing comes with the advantage of better audience reach.
• With branded content, you can associate emotions with your brand, making the audience remember the brand for a long time.
• When you use branded content, you show customers that you’re always willing to help them. It shows them that you are a customer-centric brand that does not only focus on profits.
• Once you’ve established your position as the right brand, people will be more likely to reach out to you.
• Branded content isn’t all about connecting with new customers; it also allows you to strengthen relationships with your existing clients as well.

Conclusion

Branded content is a very powerful strategy that you can use to connect with your audience, share your brand message and stories. All big brands are now using branded content to reach a wider audience. But the size of the business does not matter; if you have a great story to tell, then you can use branded content to tell it.

FAQs