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.
Branded Content within a marketing strategy
Branded Content is positioned as one of the best strategies to improve the company's image, because by generating content that transmits its values, as well as its emotions or feelings, it greatly increases the chances of building customer loyalty among its audience.
At the same time, Branded Content is a tool that is closely linked to Storytelling. Some people think that it is the same thing, but it is not, they get confused because they are not very old terms. In fact, the Branded Content technique can use Storytelling to create content.
Another technique with which Branded Content is often confused is Product Placement. This technique, which is typical of advertising strategies, consists of including or presenting a product or service of a company in an audiovisual space. It uses the different features of the company's brand to advertise the product or service.
what are the characteristics that define Branded Content?
Like any other marketing strategy, Branded Content also has its own main characteristics, some of which are:
- Showing the company's brand values: It is not so much focused on showing the products or services offered, but rather the values that define the company.
- Generate impact on the user: It focuses on generating notoriety in society, so that society comments and talks about the company's brand, so that it does not go unnoticed. Mentions show that this type of strategy is being carried out correctly, as the fact that the company is mentioned, for example, in a conversation between friends, shows that there is notoriety in society.
- It uses the tool of Storytelling: It is used because the objective is to attract and connect with the audience, which is why emotions and feelings are appealed to through a story that represents the essence of the company.
- Flexibility: The Branded Content technique is very flexible, which means that it can be presented in many different formats, not just one, but several can be combined to make up the story or content that the company wants to show.
- Co-creation: Branded Content can be co-created content. In fact, it is common for the company to contact professionals in the world of audiovisual content. Together with them, they generate the content that suits their needs and that they want to show to the audience. Moreover, co-creation does not only occur with these professionals, but also with some of the company's customers. Customers provide their experiences and, in this way, they also become co-creators, as the company uses them to create its branded content.
- Use of emotions and feelings to attract the audience: Not only to attract, but also to persuade, to convince that it is the best way to meet your needs. It is one of the most used and effective resources that exist.
- Create content that users really want to consume: It is used as added value, i.e. to produce content that the audience is really interested in so that the company can reach them.
what are the advantages of Branded Content for a company?
A company can benefit from multiple and excellent advantages thanks to Branded Content. Some of them are:
- Virality of the company: Given all the formats in which the content that is created can be presented, the channels through which this content can be distributed are also diverse. Thanks to the possibility of sharing the content generated through multiple channels, the virality or its possibility is greatly increased. Most of the time, the channel through which the content is usually disseminated are social networks .
- Empathy with the company: When such a connection is made with the audience through emotions or feelings, the audience is likely to empathise with the company's brand, its values and processes. Empathy is a strong reason for the company to be remembered by the audience, to be engraved in their memory.
- Getting closer to the company in a natural way: It is a non-invasive strategy, which means that it does not cause rejection by users. With Branded Content, the company manages to attract users in a natural way and makes them want to know more about the company.
- Better positioning of the company: Thanks to the values transmitted with the Branded Content technique, the company's image and positioning are optimised, and what characterises the company and the objectives it aims to achieve are engraved in the users' memory.
- Loyalty with the company: The audience's response is positive and a loyalty between company and client is established. The company gets the user to trust it and turns him into a client. The most difficult part, and one that must not be forgotten, is to maintain this loyalty and ensure that the client does not leave.
- Gaining traffic on the corporate website: Through this technique, a large amount of traffic can be generated on the website, which favours the beginning of the user conversion process.
did you know about this marketing technique? What do you think? It is one of the best options to gain, retain and keep customers. If you develop it within an Inbound Marketing strategy you will discover all its benefits. Do not stay behind and introduce your business in the world of Branded Content, give a quality twist to your content, focus attention on the customer experience.
