A Guide to Content Marketing and Brand Storytelling

Rethink Ads 

Content marketing is a newer, more effective way to advertise digitally without becoming a distributive presence in the online world. This tactic can be used simultaneously with digital marketing efforts without oversaturating ads. It offers a way for your users to engage with your brand by offering valuable and relevant information. Not only is content marketing less disruptive to an online user's experience, but the longevity of ads makes content much more cost-effective. As long as a piece of content is up, viewers may read it, enjoy it, and search deeper into your content and may end up digging through your products and services. Content introduces your brand, your voice, and your story. 

In order for your content marketing to work your goal should always be to show them content that offers valuable, entertaining, informational, and enriching content that adds to their life. This content should offer more than just facts or numbers to be entertaining and speak to your target audience. This will ensure that you stand out from your competitors and share more than your products and services. 

Brand Storytelling 

Telling your brand story offers your potential customers a way to connect with your brand. It offers a more narrative-based way to give value to your company and its content by attaching it all to your brand story. The best way to create value for your company is to share your brand story in the most authentic way that offers customers insight into your values, mission, and goals within the industry you are in. By doing this, you can also find your target audience that connects to your mission and therefore creates a stronger emotional connection between your brand and a customer.

One great way to tell your brand story and share what your company values is by incorporating your customers in your story. However, before you share your brand story through different channels, you first have to create it. The first step to this is to jot down your ideas. Brainstorm the goals that you have for your brand and the impact you want to have on a customer's life. This allows you to envision your customer base and map out their journey to finding your products or services. This can allow you to form an idea of your target audience and further define your tone. 

Answer these questions in depth: 

• Who are your customers?
• What are their needs, desires, and pain points? 
• How do you step in as a brand and help them along their journey? 
• What impact do you have on your customer’s life through your products or services? 

Now you have content for your story that you can share through every medium. Use these answers to tie them together and write out a brand story. Utilizing this story throughout your marketing shows your commitment to your values and goals. Consistency through content shows authenticity. 

One company that does very well is Nike. The brand not only markets its products but also its customers' stories and how they tie in. Nike may sell shoes and equipment but they market a story in which you can see a customer or popular athlete and their journey through training, wins, and even losses. Through this storytelling, the brand is associated with a passion for sports and is tailor-made for any athlete regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. All of their content ties into this story which connects the brand to its target audience. This allows for the brand to not simply be a name but to be a story for anyone. 

The content that you create and share through your brand story should be useful and also send the correct message that aligns with your brand. Educational content is one of the most commonly shared content marketing strategies. The internet has become an informational space for all. Nowadays, even brands have the opportunity to inform and educate their customers. Users looking for information can be either looking for a quick answer or a deep dive. Your content can be that answer!

There are a variety of ways that you can offer educational content; it can be in the form of a blog post, e-book, online video, e-learning course, or even a quick social media post. The type of informational content that you share should also be tailored to your audience. The world of online learning is endless, your content can become a part of it and offer solutions to the problems your users are searching for. 

Deciding on Your Content

In choosing what content to create and share, it is important to tailor your topics to the audience that you are targeting as you did in your brand story. You must not only consider your industry when doing this but you have to dig into the minds of the potential customers you are attempting to reach. Just as you considered when creating your brand story, you have to ask yourself: What questions do they have? What are their pain points and what they are looking for? Answer all these and always remember to tie in your brand. 

The way to create content that drives traffic and attracts leads is to create your brand’s content marketing strategy. This works best when you have a well-defined plan to research your target audience, understand their pain points, understand their questions, create content and implement it. Some of this planning may be to research your competitors as well as topic and keyword research. 

Now that you have your strategy and goals in mind, you have to create your content! It is very important to write content that has no errors and is easy to read and understand. Including images also helps the readers to break up a wall of text and make long-form content more easily digestible. This is where storytelling comes in again. Your brand has a voice. It may have a mission statement, values, and an established tone. Your writing at all times must stay consistent. This will not only establish credibility but enhance brand awareness. 

Conclusion 

As the saying goes, content is king. The most successful brands utilize the strategies listed in this blog to create global brand awareness through none other than a brand story and content marketing. Storytelling is the key to skillfully crafted content marketing strategies. It offers enriching human connection through narrative storytelling as opposed to numbers and data. Find out how to create an enticing story and market your brand through content with our creative copywriters at Web Concepts Media. Speak face-to-face with a storyteller now and find out what digital marketing strategies will work best for you with a free consultation.