Your brand’s reputation and credibility is an important part of how you are received by key audiences. A brand that is credible will have better relationships with consumers and a strong loyal customer base.
Credibility can also help you overcome a crisis faster and gain important word-of-mouth recommendations. Overall, brands that are considered credible have an easier time growing the business and gaining new customers. But building that crucial credibility requires a strong, strategic approach to owned media.
An owned media strategy takes advantage of the content you have control over. That could include blogs, newsletters, personal publications, emails, websites, and even social media.
Taking advantage of those channels and creating an owned media strategy allows you to build your brand’s credibility. But which types of content are the best options when creating your owned media strategy? Let’s examine the right kind of content to promote while boosting brand credibility.
In today’s world, readers trust influencers more than they trust brands. That impacts buying behaviors, which in turn means that brands need to adapt their owned media strategies.
Influencers have very loyal fan bases who listen and respond based on what the influencer suggests. Influencer content can be shared on your owned media channels, helping to combine both the power of owned media and influencer impact.
Influencer content can include unboxing videos, product reviews, shout-outs, and even advertisements. When the content on your owned channels includes a recommendation from an influencer, audiences are more likely to listen.
It also boosts your brand’s credibility. If an influencer promotes your brand, your brand is tied to their credibility and reputation among audiences. The audience of the influencer becomes your own audience, and your content channels gain more viewers as a result.
Authoritative content is a content marketing strategy that proves to readers that you understand your industry and can provide them with answers. When you demonstrate authority, you become an industry expert. Both search engines and readers look to you as a source of information.
It can help you grow your content readership and gain more followers across social media. And, most importantly, authoritative content puts you ahead of your competitors and lets you lead the industry.
Examples of authoritative content might include detailed blog posts, educational ebooks, how-to articles, or product and service buyer guides. By giving clear details and insider information to readers, you build up a content platform of authority. When readers want a credible brand, they look for content from industry experts and thought leaders.
Another type of content that is important to boost brand credibility is shareable content. Shareable content refers to content pieces that inspire readers to want to spread that information among their own networks.
Readers trust their networks and will look to friends for brand recommendations. The more your content is shared, the wider your reach and credibility are among new audiences.
Shareable content is often thought of as social media content. Social media posts have the ability to be shared with the click of a button and can quickly gain traction.
Optimizing your social content can help improve your shareability. You can try having infographics, images, and videos that garner mass appeal. You could also try posting quick, memorable copy snippets that are more appealing to share than article links or dense paragraphs.
Linkable content is content specifically created to attract high domain authority publications to link to your information. This type of content is more likely to be viewed as authoritative and, in turn, can boost your domain authority. When readers see your content being used externally, they are more likely to trust your brand and its insights.
In order to be viewed as a credible source, you need to provide trustworthy content. That can include independent research, unique information, and claims backed up with data. Creating well-crafted, well-informed linkable content will increase your chances of being shared and gaining new audiences.
Another example of content you want to boost is interactive content. In today’s world, readers have a relatively short attention span. In order to capture their attention and spread the credibility of your brand, the content you create needs to be engaging. Interactive content doesn’t mean it needs to be loud and bright, but it does need to be interesting.
Interactive content like quizzes and calculators on your website has high engagement rates with users. You can also use videos, GIFs, and graphics to gain the attention of readers and increase engagement.
This content is also more likely to be viewed, commented on, and shared on social media platforms. That increases the reach of your audience and allows you to control the message you send to viewers. When you have control over the content, you can use that to improve your brand’s credibility.
When you have the right owned media strategy, you own your industry. By taking advantage of the owned media channels you have, you can build your brand’s credibility.
Rather than letting another source tell your story, you can have control over the content. And, when you have control, you can ensure that the content you share is authoritative, shareable, linkable, and engaging.
