What is branded content? The alternative way to friendly advertisement.

Nowadays people are bombarded with advertisment and information from the Internet. So to find an alternative way of advertising, digital marketers now have used branded content strategy to connect with the audience.

But what is branded content? And how different is it from conventional advertising? Pimclick dive deep into the characteristics of branded content and how you can use it in your strategy.

What is branded content and its characteristics?

Branded content is a marketing technique that embraces creating content both directly and indirectly to a brand that creates a link between the audience and the brand. And it’s not a new thing. Branded content has been around for decades. But the reason we see more and more of them is that it is an effective way to introduce people to a brand without being too intrusive.

Although the definition of branded content is very simple, there are seven characteristics of it that you can see in every branded content.

1. Brand values, not product values. 

Typically branded content doesn’t aim to introduce consumers with products and services a brand has to offer. Branded content goals are more subtle and intangible. It focuses on making people recognize the brand and its values.

2.  Aim to create a conversation around the brand. 

Branded content’s primary goal or secondary goal is not to generate sales or conversions. It usually aims to impact the audiences and kickstart conversation about the brand more. That’s why branded content’s KPIs are reached, impression, or mentions.

3. Makes people want to consume the content. 

Branded content tries to turn this actuality and design content that users want to watch or read. Because commonly we think of conventional advertisement as a price to pay to consume the content that interests us. Hence the added value of branded content comes in the form of entertainment.

4. Emotionally Attractive

Advertising brands with the use of emotions and feelings have been used for decades, and it’s still an effective way to attract consumers. That’s why branded content doesn’t aim to create logical reasons why this brand is better than others. Instead, brand content seeks to connect the audiences more on an emotional level.

5. It makes use of storytelling. 

In essence, what this type of content seeks is to tell a representative story of the brand to the viewer, with protagonists, as well as a beginning, middle, and end.

6. It can be presented through multiple formats and diffusion channels.

Branded content has no limitation on how it should present itself. That’s why you can create branded content with various formats you see fit. It could be videos, podcasts, articles, video games, etc. Some brands even use multiple formats and platforms in their strategy to maximize its reach to users.

7. Content can collaborate.

Oftentimes brands will collaborate with celebrities or well-known influencers to create the most outstanding content. And some branded content has pushed users to be part of the collaboration as well.

Conclusion

 

By now, you should have a better understanding of the conversation funnels and the purpose of each stage. It is vital for your business to develop a structural and strong funnel that turns your audience to actual sales. Hence, the smallest improvements could drastically impact your final goal. Moreover, improvements can also be made to your conversion funnel to understand your customer’s needs better.