A majority of today’s customers has shut off conventional marketing. People tend to skip advertisements in magazines, change the TV channel once the ad break starts, use ad blockers while surfing online in order to avoid pop-ups and other ads, or simply ignore traditional marketing since they are used to being spammed wherever they are.

Branded content marketing deals with this challenge. In comparison to conventional marketing, content marketing aims to provide customers with relevant, valuable information instead of just pitching and advertising the company’s products. 

Tell stories and inform customers instead of pitching products

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. (The Content Marketing Institute in «What is Content Marketing?»)

For marketers, branded content is a very effective way to generate buzz around products. Examples of this kind of marketing are magazines, videos, blogs, podcast,  and so on… They all intend to inform their customers, to tell stories, but with the ulterior motive of selling by connecting a brand with that content.

Instead of just enumerating product facts, content marketing not only aims to inform customers, but also to influence the customers feelings and behaviors.

Nike’s short film «The Last Game» is an amazing example of content marketing done right. Viewers are thrilled by a story about two types of football. The diverse, brilliant, creative and safe game is threatened by a team of clones who see football as a job, not as a game. An animated team of the greatest players of our time, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta, called «The Originals» plays a last game and «risks everything» to save «the beautiful game».

The video is not a commercial, but a branded story that arouses the customer’s interest.

So far, the video reached almost 70 million views on YouTube, which proves the following fact: Customers are more likely to share worthwhile content. A great example of how to create buzz around your product. At the end of the video, Nike encourages the viewers to buy «the latest gear to risk everything», like the players in the video did.

79% of marketers report their organizations are shifting to branded content. (Forrester Research, 2013)

Branded content is easy-to-share. Customers trust informing and entertaining content significantly more than regular advertisements. Would you be more likely to share an entertaining like Nike’s «The Last Game» on Facebook, or a regular advertisement pitching one of Nike’s products, mentioning facts and prices? We all know the answer.

Delivering branded content is very effective in today’s digital world. It is more relevant to customers, generates more leads (since it is not ignored like conventional ads) and is easy and likely to share.

PUSHTech™ – your partner in delivering branded content

PUSHTech™ is your partner when it comes to delivering branded content to customers. We offer a direct and precise tool for sending information about product innovations and activities to customers, dealers and vendors. The flexibility of PUSHTech™ multichannel platform allows you to customize the channel, timings and customer experience. Increased response rates can be achieved through correct delivery timing and personalized message content.

Send messages to motivate consumers to interact and engage with your brand. The PUSHTech™ platform has been designed with marketers in mind, the administration tool is user-friendly and supports a wide variety of user scenarios and message types, allowing you to be as creative as you want and to stand out in comparison with competitors.

What are your experiences with branded content marketing? Share your thoughts in the comments! 

More info: Download our FMCG Whitepaper