Branded content, which in Spanish means "branded content", is a technique used in marketing and is especially relevant in the Inbound methodology. It consists of creating visual content that is linked to your company's brand. The objective is that thanks to this content the company connects with the user and potential client, attracts them and establishes a relationship of trust.
what are the keys to branded content?
- Conveying brand values: The company aims to create branded content that identifies it and makes an impression on the audience. To do this, it uses its values, conveying them and making users empathise with them.
- Branded Entertainment: This is known as Branded Entertainment, a kind of appeal to users who are truly interested in the products or services and which moves away from the conventional way of producing advertising, closer to Inbound and away from the traditional forms that were followed with Outbound.
- Social networks: They are a fundamental tool within Branded Content, as they open up a multitude of ways to expand the company's branded content. For this reason, it is very important that all companies have their social networks up to date.
- Smart devices: We need to be updated and be aware of new technologies, which is where smart devices such as smartphones or tablets come into play. Thanks to them and an Internet connection, we can make use of social networks and the dissemination of branded content through them.
what is a brand manager?
A brand manager is the person in charge of looking after the image of a brand in the market. He or she is also the professional who manages the brand strategy of a company, ensuring that its mission, vision and values are transmitted effectively. His or her main functions are:
- He/she manages the entire brand strategy or branding. He/she must know in depth what the brand is like and what values it has, which is why it is often said that the brand manager represents the brand.
- Defining and redefining the strategy, based on research into the company, the market, the competition and the consumer, and, once they know everything about the brand, they define and redefine the strategy that will try to convince potential consumers and the rest of the public that the brand's values are what it claims to have.
- Involve employees: Another very important task of the brand manager is to achieve that unique connection between the brand and the professionals who work for the company, i.e. that they all share the brand culture, beliefs, norms and values that have been defined in the strategy.
- Analysing results: The brand manager must know which campaigns are working well and which are not, whether the company is making or losing money, how a certain communication has affected the sales of a related product, etc. Managing reputation: Finally, the brand manager must know which campaigns are working well and which are not.
- Reputation management: Finally, the brand manager must have to come to the brand's rescue if a problem arises, i.e. take control of the situation.
what is a content manager?
A content manager is the person responsible for the content strategy of a brand. That is, within the marketing department, he/she is in charge of managing, creating, improving and editing the content of the company's website, through the development of a content strategy that allows to achieve the objectives set. Generally, the content manager is not the one who directly develops the content, but rather his/her main function is to define the strategy and coordinate the rest of the team. The main functions of the content manager are:
- He/she is the main person in charge of managing the content of the entire company. He/she leads the team and decides and develops the brand's digital content.
- The first thing a content manager must do is to define the objectives, which must be aligned with the goal or goals of the overall digital marketing strategy.
- Create a style guide: All branded content should follow the same guidelines. Content is part of the company's branding, so it should all be consistent with each other. The content manager should write a style guide so that all employees know the rules and style when creating content, whether it is written or in audiovisual format.
- Data reporting: A content manager analyses and measures data from previous campaigns, does SEO research and reviews audience behaviour, and understands website analytics to see if content is working or if changes need to be made.
- Select the best tools for content creation. There are many different tools to make the job easier, and it is the content manager who is responsible for studying and choosing the most appropriate ones. Some popular tools for content creation are: Canva, Semrush, Hubspot, Content insight or Wordpress.
- Creation of an editorial calendar: It is necessary to draw up a content plan indicating the types of content to be created, the publication dates and the people in charge of each task. This calendar must be available to all employees.
- Supervision of the team: As the person responsible for the content strategy, he or she is in charge of supervising and guiding everyone in the team, from the writers to the graphic designers.
