Many a time branding through social media or digital branding might be a risk factor. Then the question arises what kind of risk factors are there in digital branding? Imaging if someone tries to defame your brand through social media, imagine if your strategy goes wrong and it creates a negative buzz about your brand, then what will you do? As social media is a platform where buzz can be hyped within a fraction of seconds then imaging if the buzz is negative. If you put your hands in a bag which is full of social media tools you’ll find a tool known as content marketing. Smart marketers understand that traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective by the minute, and that there has to be a better way.
As rightly said by Doug Kessler, “Traditional marketing talks at people. Content marketing talks with them”. Basically, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent. The essence of this content strategy is the belief that if we, as businesses, deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty. And they do. Content marketing is being used by some of the greatest marketing organizations in the world, including P&G, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and John Deere.
But why is content marketing used for image makeover? And is it so effective? Let’s take some of the examples whose digital strategy went flop on social media. The strategy of L’Oreal’s social media presence took a huge hit when it was revealed that they created a fake blog. Push marketing in the social media space is always a bad idea, especially when it’s this blatant. It was an innocent mistake. The Red Cross’s social media specialist (who was an intern) meant to send this tweet from his personal Twitter profile – not from the @Red Cross account. Like Dominos, however, the Red Cross did a great job of owning up to the mistake, and even poked fun out of themselves in a later tweet. It was a big goof, but not a total fail. Push marketing rarely works as a social media strategy. Instead of releasing a standard press release, use a multitude of social media channels to interact with your audience. Doing so makes your message much more likely to be spread and have an image makeover. Brand makeovers needn’t be only in response to dire circumstances. In fact, successful companies of all sizes should revamp their image periodically, says Allen Adamson, managing director of the New York office of Landor Associates and author of Brand Digital. An example of “Jack in the Box” on Damage control Six months after food poisoning killed four, “Jack in the Box” diners and sickened hundreds, sales were down 40%. Two years later, a makeover saved the company, whose revenue has tripled since 1995.
How to create a content strategy?
In a recent study done by the Content Marketing Institute, 42% of B2B companies consider their content marketing efforts effective, up from 36% the year earlier.
• Determine Objectives for Content Marketing
• Measure Your Content Marketing
• Define Your Audiences
• Research Audience Needs
• Create a Content Execution Plan
• Create a Content Amplification Plan
To be effective at content marketing, it is essential to have a documented content marketing strategy. According to the Roper Public Affairs, 80% of business decision-makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement. 70% say content marketing makes them feel closer to the sponsoring company, while 60% say that company content helps them make better product decisions.
Content is essential to supporting loyal, trusting relationships between brands and consumers. 82% of consumers feel more positive about a company after reading custom content. And 90% of consumers find custom content useful. 61% of consumers say they feel better about, and are more likely to buy from, a company that delivers custom content. Content is a leading driver of brand engagement on social media and motivates consumers to take action. Interesting content is one of the main reasons people follow brands on social media. 60% of people are inspired to seek a product after reading content about it.
These are some of the stats about content marketing and how content marketing is being used for image makeover of the brands. Content marketing can help an organization be more proactive in how we address both consumer and business needs, and be more responsive to behavioural shifts and emerging trends. With encouraging signs of growth across the industry and bullish attitudes from marketing leaders, there’s never been a better time to enable our owned media channels to start working harder for our business with a strategic content marketing program. And at the end an excellent quote given by Bill Gates “Content is the King”.