Think of your favorite piece of video content over the past year. Odds are, you didn’t think of a commercial. You probably thought of a TV show, a movie or even a piece of branded content. When it comes to branded content, it’s important to remember that it’s not the same as advertising.

Consumers are savvy, they know when they’re being sold to and with technology, we can avoid watching anything that interrupts our desired program. So, the key is to create something people actually want to watch and share. Genius, right?

With that in mind, here are fice simple tips that too often get sacrificed at the expense of advertising.

Don’t force feed the product to your viewers.

Branded content should reveal something about who you are and what you stand for. It should not be used as an overt tool to hit your audience over the head with product placement and promotional language. Use other tactics for the selling, this one is for building loyalty and ultimately advocacy.

If you’re going to use a click-bait title, you better deliver.

Titles are important. Sure, using some click-bait elements might be necessary to generate initial interest. But, keep these realistic. Don’t use the title to go over the top in terms of what the video is going to deliver. You might see a short-term boost in eyeballs on your content, but if you make an outlandish claim in a title that your video can’t deliver on, you’re going to damage your long-term credibility. Content marketing is a long-term play to build relationships with consumers. So, create something that will engage viewers, build loyalty and ultimately advocacy. Don’t abandon your audience’s trust. It’s not worth it.

Partner with the right influencers.

All of our lives are public nowadays. As such, if you’re going to partner with any influencers for a video project, make sure it’s with someone who has a real connection to your brand or risk having it ring hollow or even cause backlash. Don’t just go with someone, because of their follower count.

Have a promotional plan in place.

If you create the best video in the world but nobody sees it, did the video even get made? With social platforms constantly changing their wonky algorithms, it’s not enough to just produce high quality video content. If you’re investing in video content, you also need to invest in a strategy and a roll out plan to ensure that your content even has a chance to be consumed.

Remember your target audience.

We all need to keep something very simple in mind: we’re speaking to consumers, not fellow marketers. As such, it’s no surprise that agencies and brands are tapping into people who come from outside the bubble of the marketing world for video support. People from networks, film and journalism have a slightly different perspective and skill set than classic marketers. Their storytelling expertise paired within the framework of marketing can help develop authentic connections with consumers through quality branded content. Just remember who the content is for.

 

 

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