Yesterday, I saw a blog article posted on Google+ by a business coach that basically stated, content trumps branding and that you can virtually ignore your brand strategy because content is more valuable to your customers.
It was an interesting concept and it got my wheels turning, so I read the post.
The blog post highlighted Joe Polish’s argument that content is the main thing that builds a brand because it delivers value to your customers. If you just create great content, branding is a by-product. Click here to read the article for yourself
Although I agree that content creation is extremely important, I determined that I disagree with that statement overall.
I determined that branding and content are two halves of a whole. They both need each other to be effective. Let me explain my perspective.
Content needs Branding to be effective
Branding is a critical component of your business that must exist before you create content. Branding can be many different things, but it really all comes down to two things (1) Brand identity, how you are perceived by the marketplace, and (2) Brand messaging, how your brand communicates with the marketplace.
Done correctly, your brand identity & messaging should speak and appeal to your ideal customer. Your brand identity and messaging should be the the foundation for all of your content. Every piece of content that you produce should be an extension of your brand. All of your published content should be created in a way that speaks to your ideal customer and target market.
If you don’t have any branding in place and you simply aimlessly create content, you will not build a successful business long term. You must have a strategy behind your content creation that’s in alignment with your branding.
Branding needs Content to be effective
Content is an essential component to marketing in the digital age. Just like Joe Polish mentioned, content is a vehicle to deliver value to the marketplace. There’s no doubt that content is an essential component to building a brand. Content creates brand affinity (likability) and brand awareness.
When you create valuable content and publish it to the world, people have the ability to share that content with their networks and people they think will like it too. The best way to generate this ripple effect is to know your audience and deliver relevant information to them.
Content allows the marketplace to interact with and get to know your brand. People do business with people and companies they like, know, and trust and content is a great way to initiate that process. When you produce great content that people can use and apply to their business or personal lives, the law of reciprocity comes into play and people are more likely to do business with you over the competition.
To say content is better than branding is to focus on a single part of a complex equation.
What are your thoughts?
I’m curious to hear what your viewpoint is on this topic. Do you agree the linear approach where small business owners should overlook branding because content is more valuable? or do you agree with the more holistic approach where both work together to make each other more effective?
Let me know your thoughts by commenting below!
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