Brands everywhere have been investing heavily on their social media efforts.
But it’s only when you’ve actually jumped on the bandwagon do you realize that content marketing is serious EFFORT.
And while most brands are out there on social media, only some of them seem to get it right.
Lately, we notice a big difference in engagement rates been branded content, and a good content brand.
What’s the difference?
Well, branded content is outright selling of a product to you whereas non-branded content sells you an idea or worthwhile information, while subtly selling you the brand and its products.
In other words, branded content says ‘Here, check out our new product!’
Whereas, non-branded content says ‘Have you thought about this? Aren’t we right?’
If you can relate to this content, you relate to the brand. And now that you relate to the brand, you’re a lot closer to buying from them. This is what works in today’s market, as reflected by the engagement rates.
There’s a very logical reason for this. Your consumers are over-sold to. When it comes to content, the market is pretty saturated. It’s not that people are moving away from content or outrightly rejecting it, but they are more selective of the content they engage with. And once your content is branded, it straight-up loses its authenticity.
We’ve noticed that audiences are much more receptive to content when it comes from a brand but, is not branded.
Take a look at how Gucci took up this strategy and did a killer job at it.
Gucci recently resorted to using popular internet memes to market their latest watch collection, dubbed “#TFWGucci” that stands for ‘The Feeling When’.
It’s been a series of memes and we’re thoroughly shook!
Check out our favorite.
Now you’re maybe wondering, how is this content valuable?
Well, keep in mind that memes are all the rage now and creating memes related to your brand can draw large audiences to your brand, thereby scaling your engagement.
So when should you use Branded content or Non – Branded content?
As we mentioned earlier, branded content isn’t prohibited. In fact there’s content that should definitely be branded.
For instance, if you’re producing informational content that’s absolutely original, brand it. When you genuinely need to sell something, brand it. If you don’t want your content stolen, then brand it.
But that’s it.
For any other content, especially the content that you’re trying to get people to engage with; your brand shouldn’t be in the focus at all.
That’s when your content will get credibility; giving value to your customers.