The best techniques to help produce optimal results for branded content campaigns
Branded content campaigns are stories that encompass your brand’s values and attracts your target audience through engaging messaging and education. By incorporating your brand as a resource for information and containing an educational factor, these articles will reach audiences and give them new insight about your business and what it does.
Multiple articles in a timespan helps your business create and build momentum through content.
Read more about branded content campaigns »
Target a Relevant Audience
- Identify your goals, objectives, and target audiences.
- We'll take your story as a business and reach people who you want to reach. We will achieve this by doing a needs assessment, understanding the history of your business and working with you to make sure your content is being told in a way that connects with the ideal audience.
- We'll further promote your article across our related channels on our site and in relevant newsletters.
Have a Powerful Message
- The content should position your business an expert in your industry.
- Stories can be told through a multitude of ways, some being customer success stories or community causes & corporate social responsibility initiatives.
- Simplify your messaging with concise and direct headlines and subheads.
- The headline and subhead alone should effectively convey the value that the article offers to the reader, showcasing how your company can provide a clear and valuable service to them.
- Include an introductory and closing statement that features a clear, direct call-to-action.
Drive Engagement
- Use keywords in your article
- Include a variety of URLs throughout the article. This makes your article a more user-friendly resource and also boosts the article's SEO performance.
- Offer a promo code or special offer for the reader (optional).
- We'll be sharing your article on social media. To boost the article's exposure, make sure to repost our posts and share the article on our own channels.
Design
- Include several images that align with your article.
- Photo captions are encouraged; photo credits are required.
- Horizontal photos are strongly preferred.
- There should be one very strong "hero" photo that will be used as your article's thumbnail on the stlmag.com, social media posts, etc.
Branded Content Best Practice Examples
Beyond Housing
Addressing the source of the St. Louis region’s challenges—once and for all
Pageviews: 1,600
Timeframe: May 1—16
Saint Louis Art Museum
A preview of the Saint Louis Art Museum's 2023 exhibitions
Pageviews: 4,817
Timeframe: November 14—May 16
Why these articles work:
- The headlines are attention-grabbing, enticing the reader to click on the article.
- The headlines will work well on social media posts.
- Each article begins with a captivating introduction, effectively establishing the article's purpose and providing immediate value to readers, compelling them to continue reading.
- The articles incorporate several relevant photos throughout, enhancing the visual experience. Many of these photos are in a horizontal format and accompanied by engaging, informational captions.
- The articles contain many links to the advertisers' respective websites. This transforms the articles into user-friendly resources and enables readers to easily access additional information and take next steps, such as purchasing tickets.
- Both articles are broken up into well-defined sections, giving the article a clear structure. This approach creates a nice rhythm and allows readers the flexibility to selectively explore specific parts of the article according to their preference.
Social Media Example
Visit Effingham shared their branded content article on social media
To maximize the exposure of their branded content campaign, Visit Effingham utilized their own social media channels (beyond SLM's social posts that were included in the package). In addition to sharing the article on Facebook, they reposted the Instagram stories we created, resulting in additional shares and increased visibility. This strategic move helped extend the reach of the campaign, ultimately maximizing its impact.