Your content doesn’t always have to showcase your brand for your marketing campaign to see some positive results.
So how exactly does someone publish great content that isn’t about themselves?
Brand Content: Do Readers say Yes or No?
The whole purpose of publishing information to your blog is to promote your brand. You know that and I know that …but readers can easily get tired of these endless self promotions.
While it is tricky delivering branded content that doesn’t appear to be all about you and your brand, this type of content is possible – and people are doing it with great success.
In fact, successful content marketers are doing this while hardly mentioning their own brands.
Brand Content and Expanding Your Target Audience
Hopefully, you are already well aware of who your target audience is. With that being said, you should know that heavily branded content will only appeal to a small number of people.
Most of them are already familiar with your brand. Keeping these people engaged is a great idea but you need to focus on content that will bring new customers.
Veer away from what others have deemed ‘marketese writing’ and remember when purchasing or composing your next blog post that readers are busy and want to see quick facts. When you start to make claims that promise greatness, don’t exaggerate.
Be sure that, while promoting your brand, your promises are not too far-fetched. Otherwise, you might harm your credibility.
While there is a time for both writing styles, studies have shown that objectively written blog posts generally out-perform promotional blog posts.
To determine the value of your blog post, take out all of the blatant promotional talk and common marketing expressions.
- How much of the text remains and does the post still have value to the reader?
- Are there some easy to read facts remaining?
- What will your reader walk away with?
Answer these questions before publishing your blog posts for a better idea of content creation that’s not ALL about you.
Advertising Blog Posts versus Content Marketing
There’s a big difference between advertising and content marketing. The lines of difference are fairly clear, although many see them as blurred. Rather than give a textbook definition of each, let me ask you this:
Have you ever been surfing the net, looking for a really good informational article on a topic, and all you can find are promotional blog posts trying to see you something? How fast did you back out of there and continue your search elsewhere?
Yep. My point exactly. It’s not supposed to always be about you!
Self-serving blog posts can harm your brand in several ways, as readers and followers will not empathize or relate with it. You can also expect few or no social shares or links because …let’s face it?
Who is going to share your content when everything you publish sounds like an advertisement?
Where do I start?
Tone down the product-oriented brand content, and shoot for something that is more enjoyable and informational for your readers.
Publish content that is educational or entertaining, which will help you secure repeat visits and, hopefully, new subscribers.
This subtle approach will actually build your brand’s credibility a lot faster (yes, crazy… I know) and secure more inbound links, thanks to readers who share excellent content that isn’t all about you.
