TRAFFIC
with a cheeseburger ! In all seriousness though , this is an attempt by a global fast food chain to adopt a brand tone of voice and personality that it absolutely doesn ’ t have . Whilst the consequences here are laughable examples for marketing types like me , I think the consequences could be far more damaging from a brand perception perspective if done in online gaming . and free from spelling and grammatical errors will give users faith in you and your business . Brand identity matters , and your content marketing has the power to develop it , or to damage it . people that are outside of your target demographic , as what may be a perfectly resonant message with your target audience could be completely discordant , even offensive , to another .
Brief on brand Whether your content is being produced in-house or by an external agency , a good project brief is essential for hitting the right note . Understand your core motives and make sure everyone involved in the project is on the same page . Communicate openly and honestly , and be prepared for the likelihood that you project will change and evolve during the process .
As well as what you want to achieve , to stay on brand your briefing process must also facilitate an identity component . Try to be quantitative as well as qualitative ; otherwise too many intangibles may leave things too open to interpretation . A brief such as “ we want to be provocative and edgy ” works for a brand like Cards Against Humanity , but would we trust a high street bank with content that could be described like that ?
To help with this , we as an agency stick to a consistent briefing form with our clients . This includes some static checkbox items around values and feelings , as well as more open-ended interview-style questions .
Tip : Limit the number of choices you offer or need to select to define a brief , otherwise there can be too much overlap . Whilst it is possible to be fun and creative as well as serious and earnest ; stick to primary values and feelings – up to three at a time .
Getting it right So what does your content say about you ? Good quality content that resonates with your customers lets them know that you understand them , recognise their needs and care about their interests . If your content is consistent in tone and overall message , it will signal trust , reliability and credibility . Content that is thoughtful , well-written
That ’ s all well and good , but as creators it can be difficult at times to step away from our output and objectively assess if we ’ ve nailed the brief . So here ’ s a great way to test if your content is on brand …
“ If your content is consistent in tone and overall message , it will signal trust , reliability and credibility ”
Focus At the start of a campaign we strongly recommend setting up a focus group with around 20 to 50 individuals and road-testing around three content sample pieces for tone of voice . Select participants that are not already customers or identify as very familiar with your brand but still fit broadly into your demographic . Allow them to read and process hard copy versions of content concepts and complete an evaluation form that shares some common fields to your briefing form . You should keep the following questions front of mind during this process :
●●Are you getting strong overlap in brief input and evaluation choices ?
●●Is there a huge disconnect with your perceived tone of voice and your ideal demographic ?
Depending on the size and scale of your content plan , you might also want to consider a ‘ control ’ focus group of
Freedom in a framework If you follow the advice and process ideas we ’ ve provided here you can push the boundaries of creativity with your content marketing without fearing that your campaign is going to bomb .
Get it right and you will have an entertaining marketing asset that will have a consistent message which aligns with target users ’ expectations and assumptions about you and your brand . Be aware of what tone and what type of content your customers are likely to expect from you , i . e . what is appropriate and what fits your overall message . Don ’ t be afraid to show your brand personality !
NICHOLA STOTT is founder of theMediaFlow , a multi award-winning digital marketing agency that specialises in organic search and content marketing . Nichola has almost two decades of experience in digital communications and featured in the BIMA Hot100 Digital People of 2015 .
26 iGB Affiliate Issue 62 APR / MAY 2017