Sealing the Deal: 5 Steps to the Perfect Brand-Content Match

In an increasingly competitive market, it is understandable that companies want to focus on short-term marketing to for lead generation. But they do so at their peril! When the going gets tough, it’s more important than ever for B2B businesses to build motivating and distinctive brands, supported by valuable content that reinforces their identity.

We know that achieving the best results requires a balance between short-term tactics and long-term brand building. The optimal marketing balance follows the 60:40 rule: 60% of efforts should focus on brand building, 40% on direct response¹. One will not work without the other – and our experience is that too many insight businesses are underappreciating the value of long-term brand building².

In a B2B environment the 60:40 rule is even more important, as 95% of the time your potential customer is not in the market to buy³. So, your tactical direct marketing is falling on deaf ears.

Brand identity and content are two sides of the same coin: a strong identity with distinctive brand assets, will help set your insights company apart from your competitors. Content is an extension of your brand. A consistent and clear brand with relevant content illustrates to your clients that you are an expert in the field and uniquely positioned to address their pain points. It creates salience.

However, a disconnect between your content marketing and your brand will dilute your messaging, lose you salience and cause confusion among your target audience and lose you sales in the long-term.

The key is in brand-content alignment. But it’s hard to do!

Here are our 5 key ideas for making sure your content marketing is relevant to your brand and clients.

1. Understanding Your Own Brand Identity and Messaging

There are many topics and content trends that you might want to talk about. You might want to join the sustainability bandwagon. You might want to jump on the AI trend. You might see a lot of your competitors doing this. But hold fire! If you want to be different and memorable, you need to BE different. It is crucial to consider whether the topic is relevant to your brand messaging. If you think about:

Your mission: what impact does your company aim to have? Your values: what principles guide the work you do?

Your value proposition: what makes your company distinct from your competitors?

Then chose the topic that is relevant and appropriate to your brand, not simply a buzzword.

2. Know Your Campaign Objectives

Your marketing strategy needs to be aligned with your business objectives. While this point seems obvious, it’s easy to lose sight of objectives. Setting them straight from the very beginning will guide your marketing strategy, keep your team aligned, help drive tangible business outcomes and give you a means of measuring the success of your marketing against your objectives.

Goals could include:

Building brand awareness amongst potential clients (think about how to measure this).

Establishing thought-leadership which positions your company as an expert in your niche.

Nurturing leads by illustrating your distinct abilities to address challenges.

Growing current relationships with your existing clients to reinforce your value. Or a mix of all the above!

3. Know Your Audience and What They’re Interested In

Knowing your audience is the foundation of any successful marketing strategy. But it does not have to be complex. To know your audience is to understand their needs, including - but not limited to - asking these simple questions:

Who are they? What’s their job title? Who do they report to?

What do they care about? What are their pain points? Can you address them? 

What do they want to know? What types of insights, trends, or industry knowledge are they seeking?

Addressing your client’s needs with your content will make you not just relevant to them, but also position your brand as a reliable resource who truly knows the market and its challenges.

4. Focus On Your Brand’s Actual Expertise

Focus on your key strengths; the content that you produce should demonstrate your knowledge, skills and solutions to reinforce your brand’s distinctive benefits. Don’t be afraid to repeat your key messages—given the overwhelming amount of content people consume, repetition helps ensure your message sticks and sinks in.

Ask yourself:

What is it we are excellent at?
What is the best way to showcase our solution or insights?

5. Choose the Right Channel

Different objectives call for different channels and formats.

Self-funded research, white papers, and industry reports, demonstrate in- depth knowledge and credibility.

A conversational, approachable tone might be best for blog posts, podcasts, or videos, which allow for a more accessible, human connection with your audience.

A bold, innovative tone may shine through in webinars, interactive infographics, or opinion pieces that push the envelope and engage clients in an inspiring way.

Matching your content type with your brand’s tone of voice ensures consistency across all platforms, thus, reinforcing your distinctive brand identity.

Aligning content marketing with your brand is about reinforcing what your company stands for and what resonates with your audience. By having a thought-out strategy with these key points, your content marketing can be a powerful tool to build long term salience and underline your brand’s distinctive proposition in the insights industry.

References

1 https://ipa.co.uk/knowledge/documents/the-long-and-the-short-of-it-presentation 

2 https://www.marketingweek.com/b2b-marketers-short-long-goals/

3 https://marketingscience.info/the-955-rule-is-the-new-6040-rule/