Content marketing is a more sophisticated alternative to traditional advertising that provides value to the audience. Whether the content is an article, video or radio segment, its purpose is to establish trust and rapport with the target reader, viewer or listener.
Of course, while content marketing should be all about benefitting the audience, marketers also need it to promote a brand, product or service. But how best to do this without turning off your audience?
Strategically placed brand mentions are the best way to ensure your content remains relevant, useful and engaging while maintaining brand credibility. Here are some best practices to keep in mind when incorporating brand mentions into your content marketing:
One piece of content = one brand mention
The old saying “less is more” has never been truer. A Pressboard study of 300 pieces of content found that when a brand name appears multiple times, it negatively affects reader engagement. When an article only featured one brand mention, readers spent an average of 69.6 seconds reading it. Reading time fell dramatically as more brand mentions were added.
By keeping a light touch, you’ll prevent your audience from disregarding your piece because it feels too much like an ad. The 1:1 ratio can be considered the golden rule for maximizing the effectiveness of your content.
Include the brand after 100 words
The same Pressboard study showed that engagement is also negatively affected when the brand is mentioned too early. They found that readers spent 12 more seconds on articles with the brand mention at least halfway through the article, as opposed to articles with a mention in the first 100 words.
You need time to build interest and establish credibility. Hitting your audience with a brand mention before they’re fully engaged is a surefire way to get them to stop reading. If you’re working on something shorter, like a radio segment (or ANR), aim for your mention to be in the bottom half or third of your content.
Use your expertise to provide useful information
Any brand mention needs to be relevant and provide value. What does this mean? To be relevant, you need a good reason why your brand is being mentioned. Is it an authority on the subject? Does it have special tips or insights to offer? If the answer to these questions is no, you’ve failed to establish relevance and need to rethink the angle for your content.
Value means offering your audience something that benefits or interests them. Is your brand bringing something new to the table that no other brand does? Does your product offer a unique way to solve an audience problem? Again, if the answers are no, you’ll want to re-evaluate the alignment between your topic and brand.
A great example of relevant and valuable content marketing is an article about 2021 gardening trends that mentions a national home improvement store. The store would be mentioned as an expert in a good position to recognize the latest trends and techniques.
A terrible example of content marketing that fails to provide useful information. For example, if the content is talking about something that has been available for years and people are already familiar with. In this case, the article wouldn’t be sharing anything new, noteworthy or beneficial to the reader.
Effectively placing brand mentions in your content pieces is both art and science, and something Fifth Story has spent decades perfecting. If you need help or ideas on how best to include brand mentions in your content, reach out to us at info@fifthstory.com.
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