branded content

Offer Your Brand Perspective on Industry News

To create branded content on topics of interest to your audience look no further than current online industry news. Then offer your brand perspective in a blog post, newsletter article or social media. A search for Industry News will result in lots of listings. But to find current news use Google > News > Past week. Many of the results are press releases published for media and public consumption.

When I google Food Service Industry News I see the National Restaurant Association Launches New ServSafe 6th Edition Food Safety Program. Read the release and create your own original content describing some of the best food safety practices used at your company. How is that important to the integrity of your product?

More examples from search:

US Foodservice: The Future of Foodservice in the US to 2016 – What trends do you see in your foodservice operating environment that will be influential in the next few years?

US Sports & Entertainment Foodservice Market Trends Analyzed in New Study Published at MarketPublishers.com. For food service providers to sports events, how are you improving the fan experience through food selection? What trends are you seeing?

CareerBuilder and the National Restaurant Association Team Up to Bring More Resources to Industry Employers and Job Seekers. The release states: “Under the two-year agreement, CareerBuilder will become the exclusive provider of recruitment and job search services for National Restaurant Association members as well as its state restaurant association members.” What do you see as the benefits of this? How do you find the best candidates?

US Foods, America’s Second-Largest Food Distributor, Chooses Ai2’s ProSel for an iPad Sales Force Solution Deployment. How do your territory sales managers give presentations to customer? Have you solved challenges in order-taking and content management using mobile apps?

And for those brands sensitive to sustainability issues: McCormick Achieves Net-Zero Energy Use with Constellation Energy. Their distribution center in Belcamp, Md., now generates more electricity than it uses. What sustainability initiatives have you launched and found to be successful at saving costs or adding benefits?

Trade magazines are a good source of credible industry news. Review your favorite industry magazines for ideas. Yahoo! Directory is an easy search for all types of industry news magazines. My search for food service industry magazines included: Directory > Business and Economy > Business to Business > Food and Beverage > Restaurant and Food Service Management > Trade Magazines. Or, you can Google [Industry Name] Magazines. Check out the news page, articles, blogs and newsletters from these publications for ideas on how to add your brand’s perspective on the industry news. Look for columnists within a trade magazine who cover the types of topics your audience is interested in. Find bloggers in your industry through Technorati and online trade publications. When you don’t want to write a full article or post you can leave a comment or tweet. On Twitter add an industry hashtag (#foodservice). Don’t let your subject matter expertise go to waste, offer your brand perspective.

This approach to creating branded content can be used by any size company in any industry. Are you running out of ideas to engage your audience?

2012 Content Strategy Trends for B2B

B2B companies will continue to rely on quality content in varied forms to differentiate themselves and their products during 2012. The website is still home base for most companies, but social media and branded content are augmenting their online presence. Marketing budgets are increasing in these areas. Companies are looking for business professionals who can develop content using a strategy that makes sense for their business.

To build relationships online B2B companies are adapting.

Websites

On websites prospects are looking for your location, contact information, what you do, a clear message, and easy interaction (click to chat?). Those not familiar with the company head for the About Us page first after reviewing the Home page. They also want to know who your customers are.

For 2012 you may want to consider using a lighter tone in your content to engage prospects. Be genuine and use simple language. Keep evolving with the design of your site to see what works best as your offers or strategies change. Ways to add interest might include a blog, twitter feed, customer reviews/ratings or videos featuring your customers.

Social Media

For some B2B companies, social media is becoming a customer service outlet. It is on the social channels that they receive feedback and respond to customer inquiries and comments. Using social media this way can strengthen SEO ranking.

According to a recent survey of B2B marketers conducted by the Content Marketing Institute Twitter outdoes all other channels for content distribution with 74% of B2B content marketers using Twitter followed by LinkedIn (71%), Facebook (70%) and YouTube (56%).

Other content statistics from the survey show the following increases in usage:

Blogs: 45% increase
Case studies: 32% increase
Videos: 36% increase
Webinars/webcasts: 25% increase

A study conducted in 2011 by the Custom Content Council and ContentWise shows that branded content (content produced by a brand that is driven by narrative, not commerce) represents more than 50% percent of the total marketing budget. Why use branded content? The most often cited reason was to educate customers. Branded content has lots of forms including guides with exclusive tips, books, videos, newsletters and blogs that address a particular topic of interest to an audience.

For 2012, more branded content will be used by marketers of all sizes. Nearly three quarters of respondents to the survey believe it is more effective than magazine advertising. Sixty-nine percent think it tops direct mail and public relations.

Content Strategy

Content strategists help companies create and position their content. Strategist Ahava Leibtag predicted that in 2012 more companies will rely on content curation (the vetting of information for customers), delivering and displaying content (think mobile devices) and integrating marketing and communications (social media people trained in customer service).

What becomes apparent is that in 2012 investing in quality content delivered by professional content providers is a good business strategy.

2012 Content Trends for B2B Companies

B2B companies rely on quality content to differentiate themselves and their products. They will continue to do so during 2012. The website is still home base for most companies, but social media and branded content are augmenting their online presence. Marketing budgets are increasing in these areas. Professional content providers are employing content strategies proven effective in reaching prospects and building relationships that matter.

Websites

Prospects are looking for your location, contact information, what you do, a clear message, and easy interaction (click to chat?). Those not familiar with the company head for the About Us page. They also want to know who your customers are. For 2012 you may consider a light, not so serious tone. Be genuine and use simple language. Keep evolving with the design to see what works best as your offers or strategies change. Ways to add interest may include a blog, twitter feed, customer reviews/ratings or videos featuring your customers.

Social Media

For some B2B companies social media is becoming a customer service outlet. Feedback and response are important. It’s another way to strengthen SEO ranking. According to a recent survey of B2B marketers conducted by the Content Marketing Institute: Twitter outdoes all other channels for content distribution with 74% of B2B content marketers using Twitter followed by LinkedIn (71%), Facebook (70%) and YouTube (56%).

Branded Content

In 2011, a study conducted by the Custom Content Council and the branded content newsletter ContentWise showed branded content (content produced by a brand) represented more than 50% percent of the total marketing budget in responding companies. The most often cited reason for using branded content was to educate customers.

During 2012, it seems branded content will be used by marketers at companies of all sizes. Nearly three quarters of respondents believe it is more effective than magazine advertising. Sixty-nine percent think it tops direct mail and public relations.

Content Strategy

Content Strategist help companies create and position their content. Ahava Leibtag predicted that in 2012 more companies will rely on content curation (vetting of information for customers), delivering and displaying content (think mobile devices) and integrating marketing and communications (social media people trained in customer service). Content curation is being talked about a lot these days.

What becomes apparent is that quality content created by professional content providers is a good business strategy for 2012.