“Brand journalism is a modern marketing imperative.”
We are moving beyond the old adage ‘content is king.’ Fresh and regular content alone is no longer enough. Producing quality content with a newsroom mentality must now be a priority in your marketing strategy. Content marketers are increasingly taking a journalistic approach to content creation, recognising the value of high quality, well researched and edited content in brand marketing.
We live in a different world in 2015. It’s mobile, digital and multi-platform environment calls from a radically difference approach to content creation and communications from 10 years ago. Compelling storytelling and engaging copy are now central to selling your brand, and why all content marketers should be producing what we now know as Brand Journalism.
Brand Journalism
“Organisations must refocus their thinking from “What do we want to tell people?” to “What is newsworthy to our audience?”
Telling the story of a large, multi-dimensional brand is no longer as simple as creating an individual ad. Brand journalism is about weaving a strong narrative around the brand, bolstered by hard facts, accurate copy and a little journalistic flair and magic.
A steady flow of engaging, relevant and integrated content, which adds value to the brand and builds on an evolving brand story, is extremely valuable. We are not just talking about regular blog posts, either. This can extend across your publishing platforms – social media, videos, advertising, and even live events.
“Brand journalism captures and speaks to the interests of interconnected consumers who want customised, connective content.”
The Newsroom Approach
“There used to be a great divide between the advertising and editorial departments of media outlets; they operated in separate silos and never the twain shall meet. But those days are gone.”
When it comes to rolling out key information in a compelling and engaging way, within strict time constraints, it can be beneficial to take a newsroom approach to content creation. If you keep to a few simple rules, you’ll make sure your key message reach your audience on time and to the highest quality possible:
1. Good Writing
Journalists know their audience, and can create well-written, clear and coherent text that they people want to read. Professional writers are skilled at taking large amounts of information and distilling it into a structured piece that is thorough, but digestible and engaging at the same time. It’s a fine line, and it is a skill to tread it successfully.
2. Thorough Research
Keeping on top of industry news and developments and a nose for a good story are essential skills for a journalist. They are also extremely valuable for content marketing. Valuable brand journalism is relevant, interesting and well researched.
3. Diligent Editing
The task of crafting staff contributions and ideas into accurate and publishable content calls for the finely tuned skills of an experienced editor. Attention to detail and a critical eye can take your content to the next level. Spelling and grammatical errors reflect poorly on your business and can seem unprofessional. Everything that is published under your company banner, on all platforms, should be rigorously checked by someone with the skills of a newsroom sub-editor.
4. Fact Checking
When reporting on company news, or relaying information to customers, it is vital that the message is in line with stakeholder values. A good journalist will always check and double-check the facts to make sure that there can be no negative fallout or misrepresentation. The content marketer must do the same.
5. Eye-Catching Headlines
It pays to take a journalistic approach to creating headlines that are eye-catching, clickable and encapsulate the theme and content of the article.
Brand journalism is a unique opportunity to connect with your customers using valuable and inspiring content that they will want to consume. It is at the heart of what we do, and we deliver each of our content creation packages and content marketing strategies with a strong newsroom mentality.
Want to know how our writers, editors and marketing professionals can help you tell your story? Get in touch today!
