Oftentimes content serves a specific purpose. Whether the content in question is an email campaign or a billboard, to increase engagement in the current customer base, find leads, or raise your brand’s profile, it’s likely that you have a certain purpose or goal in mind. But for every single piece of content you create, it’s important to keep the bigger picture in mind: whatever intended purpose any individual piece of content has, it will also work to shape your brand. By taking full advantage of that fact, you can maximize the benefit of content creation for your company and utilize some of the most powerful tools in successful brand creation. Let’s take a closer look.
In defining the voice of your brand, you’ll actually be defining what your brand is, what it stands for, how your audience perceives it, and more. But, before infusing the voice of your brand into copy and messaging, you need to decide what you want that voice to be.
Once you have chosen a voice to represent your brand, it’s time to carefully determine tone. Tone is the way in which something is said (or in the case of most marketing content, the way in which it is written). There are places in marketing for a wide range of tones, from humorous to serious, angry to joyful, inspirational and yes, even pessimistic. It all depends on what your goals are for content and how you want to use that content to contribute to the overall voice of the brand.
social media is an integral part of content marketing. One of the reasons why social media has become such an essential part of marketing is because it allows for customers and brands to directly interact in a way which did not previously exist. Being able to keep an audience engaged with your brand is the most powerful way to promote and strengthen it, and by utilizing voice to create a compelling social media presence you can connect with your audience on a personal level. You can also engage with them directly as a brand through commenting, contests, giveaways, and much more. The overall effect is to create a brand that is known and emotionally connected to the audience you most want to reach.
In some ways influencers and collaborators, such as guest bloggers, function just as much as celebrity spokespeople once did. They bring with them a whole audience of fans and followers of their own. But unlike celebrity spokespeople of days past, influencers and collaborators bring much more powerful opportunities to promote your specific brand. Britney Spears was a great choice to sell Pepsi in the early 2000’s merely because so many people in the early 2000’s were a fan of Britney Spears. Fans would happily tune in to the ad campaign to see her, but she had no direct connection to Pepsi. Whereas having an influencer that is specific to the niche industry that you are promoting allows there to be a connection to a base that is specifically targeted to the ideal audience. While there are still many industries that do not have major influencer presences on social media, there are always valued industry experts who, through guest blogging or sponsored social media posts, can introduce your brand to their audience.
If you’re thinking about your content marketing strategy and need help getting started, contact Zero Gravity Marketing today!