Social Media Week NYC 2014 – Notes on Branded Content Strategy

Branded Content Strategy Panel Session at Social Media Week

The Tuesday “Creating an Adaptive Branded Content Strategy” panel session at Social Media Week New York City had a great turn out. And the panelists, from MWW, Buzzfeed, Livestream and Razor, shared their thoughts and insights about building and promoting branded content for multiple channels that works. Here are some key takeaways.

Content for All Platforms

The session kicked off with a general discussion of the different social media platforms. Digital marketers should focus on building branded content that can be used on all social platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, and even Pinterest. Making sure the content is created for desktop and mobile is also important.

While we may be wary that the audience may see the same content on different platforms, and thus feels bombarded, it is important to keep in mind that consumer utilize different social media for different purposes. Therefore, the chance of one person seeing the same content on another platform is small.

Creating Branded Content

A large part of the panel discussion focused on creating the right content that will get audiences engaged without feeling as if they are being forced advertisement. This means the content needs to provide value and interest the core target audience, instead of focusing on the brand itself.

Getting the audience intrigued first is priority, whether by a video or an article. If the piece of the content captures the audience, they will likely click to the site out of interest. And while getting views for a piece of content may not lead directly to a sale, studies have shown that the number of views translate to sales in the long run.

Promoting Branded Content

To get the content out, a brand should be part of the conversation and use what the consumers are already talking about, instead of trying to push for their own conversation. Make sure the content is aligned with marketing strategy, and promote it through social media and paid ads. To measure the success of content, determine what your KPI is, such as the number of Likes on Facebook.

For an example, Budweiser’s puppy love commercial during the Super Bowl was focused on getting the brand to stand out amongst the other advertisements, so audience engagement through Twitter during the Super Bowl was a key metric.

Reaching out to influencers on forums is a cost-effective way to promote content for those without a large budget. Finding influencers who are willing to share your content will help lead to additional users to share the content elsewhere. If the core audience is engaged, they will likely become advocates of the product or brand, and help get the message out.