Today’s consumer wants to connect to brands more personally, and they are looking to align themselves with brands that share the same social, ethical and practical ideology. Shareable content strategies can help your brand make the connection.
One of the ways an intelligent brand can connect with a consumer is to collaborate with them on the stories and messages that are important to them by creating shareable content that promotes the same values and priorities of their customers.
So the gig is up as far as content that tries to influence consumer decisions; the audience has tuned out and will not engage; they do not care about your brand. Instead, their focus is on their personal connections, goals and priorities, and innovative brands will collaborate with them on that purpose.
Examples of shareable content
Dove
For the last decade, Dove has been at the forefront of the “Love Yourself” message. The latest social media awareness campaign is right on brand for them. It’s important, it’s important to its customers and its works to bring a connection to the next generation of customers. It aligns itself with the values and concerns of about everyone, and it’s as sharable as it gets.
Nike
Nike was recently pushed from the top brand on Instagram by National Geographic (also a very cause-focused brand). This AFLW ad touches on themes of gender equality, fitness, gay rights and personal success. They create content that bridges such a wide range of important things that are important to their target audience.
You don’t need a million-dollar budget to create shareable content.
A cafe in a coastal area could focus on highlighting the problems single-use plastics bring to marine life. It could give them a competitive edge with their surf-loving community over international chains still using plastic.
A Skateboard clothing brand could start an online survey asking skaters to rate the best skate parks in the area.
A local live venue could encourage local garage bands to submit demo videos. Then, they could get the public to vote on the submissions. The top votes could win the opportunity to open for their next big headliner.
Ways your content can become significant enough to share
Create an article or a video about how one of your customers uses the products you sell. Make sure your customer in one hero, and they will share it, and the product is another hero, so your supplier shares.
Validate your Audiences Priorities. What’s important to them, and what messages do they want to share? Then, create it for them so that it becomes part of their story and make it easy for them to add it to their conversations. Check out my article on Cause Marketing
Make useful content. Solve a problem. Provide a step-by-step solution that is easy to follow and easy to share. For example, New York Times did a study and found that 90% of users will assess the usefulness of the content before sharing it.
Watch trends. People like to be the first to hear, the first to understand and the first to tell everybody else about it.
Always ensure…
- It aligns with the values and passions of your audience
- Encourages action or engagement
- Encourages your followers to share
I have over twenty-five years of experience in creating content for marketing. I began creating campaigns in Street Machine marketing for a custom paint company. Feature cars on the front cover, “how-to” articles in the middle and sales catalogues in the back. The methods and innovation have changed a lot but connecting to the customer is still the goal of marketing.
If you would like to discuss your business’s content marketing strategies with someone with a broad range of skills and experience, Use the form below to book a free consultation session.
