While the methods of promoting products are changing, the principles of marketing remain unchanged. Customers still want to know how the brand provides a benefit in their lives. Define the brand benefit for the customer and you can begin to create content that matters to them.
The world’s most valuable brands provide a clear benefit to the consumer:
- Apple –Technology to make life easy
- BMW – The ultimate driving machine
- Disney – Family entertainment
- Coca-Cola – Beverages that make you smile
Apple can tell the story of a consumer doing their banking on an Apple phone and suddenly consumers want that phone so they can get the same easy benefit. Apple content may encourage the consumer to download a free app or share the story of how an Apple technology enhances lives.
BMW fans and customers can leave stories about their BMW experience on the BMW Twitter feed. Shared experiences make the BMW customer part of a connected community that helps to increase loyalty.
Disney creates one-to-one content and provides opportunities to engage with the brand through touch points that allow the customer to build an ultimate vacation experience that is uniquely theirs.
One of the many ways Coca-Cola engages with their 90+ million Facebook fans is through encouragement to share a smile. The Coca-Cola bottle cap Valentine campaign was a way to send a Coca-Cola Valentine to a Facebook friend and in the process, share a smile.
The goal with your content is to tell the brand benefit story in a creative and compelling way and by doing so move the customer to either inquire, share socially, or go purchase – and in some cases, all three.
Does your content marketing strategy create consumer engagement?