Branding matters. In fact, it's one of the big keys to your clients' success. They have to set themselves apart from their competitors by establishing their brands as the most authoritative, most helpful, and most with-it option. For a brand to grow, it's got to be recognizable, and content marketing can go a long way when it comes to offering consistent messaging, color schemes, language, and logos.
Let's look at the ways you can enhance your clients' branding through content marketing.
1. Set the brand’s tone through your words and messages.
Each post on the company's blog should match the vision established for the brand. Think about what you want people to think of when they hear your client's name. This image should match the industry but have a nuance that is unique to the company. For instance, Whole Foods Market’s blog has a down home feel to it, which is absolutely appropriate for a health food market. Bloggers from the company often write in the first person about their own forays into cooking. This format works well for their brand. What will work for your clients?
2. Build relationships with potential and existing customers.
In the past, marketing has been strictly one-way (from marketer to consumer), but blogs and social media give business owners a rich opportunity to converse with their customers. Allow people to comment on the blog, and then respond! If necessary, hire someone or assign an existing employee to monitor the blog and respond to comments. Just make sure that whoever is responding is well-versed in the vision of the company’s brand, and it doesn’t hurt if that person has impeccable grammar and spelling.
3. Show the brand’s savvy through images as well as words.
Well-chosen, nicely-put-together words are key to branding, but the overall appearance of the blog is also essential. Choose quality images to go along with your post, and make sure the images all have a similar feel. If most of your images come from a professional photographer and then one day you stick a cheap clipart image in a post, people are going to be confused. Consistency is extremely important while you’re helping to build a brand.
Infographics can be powerful tools for branding. Using your chosen color scheme, font, and style, present interesting statistics about your client's industry, products, or services. When you post an intriguing infographic on social media, your message can end up going viral, reaching potential customers you couldn't have reached any other way.
4. Show up in the right places.
Pinterest is not the best place to market your line of custom motorcycles. Why? Because Pinterest is not where you will find your potential customers. On the other hand, Pinterest is perfect for getting exposure for a cupcake brand. Find out where potential customers are and then start joining conversations and representing your client's brand. Hashtags can help you to join relevant conversations. Once you find your sweet spots, post reliably and regularly.
Your content marketing can be one of your best tools for establishing your clients' brands. Remember to first come up with a vision, and then stick to it as you post timely pieces with lovely images. If you respond to comments, you’ll keep customers coming back for more, and you’ll establish your clients as authorities in their industries. Use social media to showcase your content marketing in the right places, the places where potential customers hang out, and people will soon begin to recognize your client's brand and all that it stands for.