How to Create Content to Build Your Brand

In today’s digital world, content is the bridge between your brand and your audience. As such, it’s become a useful tool for internet users to discover you, understand what you stand for and for them to decide whether or not to trust you. Creating content strategically is one of the most powerful ways in which you can build a recognisable, strong brand, over time. While it’s best for you to contact a professional to create your content for you, like us here at Kumo, there are some pointers that you should be made aware of, and they include the following:

Know your audience

Strong brands will speak directly to their specific target audience, not everyone on the internet. Firstly, you need to identify your target audience. Find out who it is you’re aiming your content at. Look at everything. Look at their ages, their genders, their jobs, where they live, what they buy, the social media platforms they use – everything. Some other ways in which you can go beyond basic demographics are to build an audience profile. This means defining the following things:

• Goals
• Aspirations
• Objections
• Pain points
• Fears
• Preferred content formats
• The language and vocabulary they use

Choose the right content platforms

Your content doesn’t need to be absolutely everywhere, despite common belief. Instead, you should be carefully choosing your content platform and running with it, unless something changes. While you need to keep ahead of trends, you should choose specific content platforms that work for you, your brand and your industry. 

To do this, look closely at your target audience, as already said, and then go from there. For example, if your target audience is men and women between the ages of 45-60, then TikTok wouldn’t be the best platform for you to showcase your content on. Why? Because the main demographic for TikTok are males between the ages of 25-34. 

Doing a bit more digging and research, it’s evident that Facebook remains the most used platform for those over the age of 50. Choosing the right content platform could be the difference between getting maximum exposure and not receiving any. With this in mind, you should consider the following content platforms, but cross-check them against your audience demographic:

• Blogs
• Websites
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Facebook Reels
• Instagram
• Instagram Stories
• YouTube
• YouTube Shorts
• TikTok
• Emails
• Newsletters
• Podcasts
• Infographics
• Leaflets
• Posters

Define content pillars

Firstly, let’s talk about what content pillars are. Content pillars are the main themes your brand consistently talks about and works towards. They’re designed to create clarity and cohesion. For this point to work for you when it comes to creating content to build your brand, you first need to identify what your individual content pillars are. 

Some examples of content pillars that could be relevant to your brand include: education (how-tos, tips and tutorials), authority (insights, opinions, trends), storytelling (personal experiences, brand journey), Proof (case studies, testimonials, results) and engagement (questions, polls, community polls). To be effective, you should be aiming to run with between 3-5 core pillars. 

Create value-first content

You might be wondering what’s meant by ‘value-first content’. Essentially, it’s content that’s made with the aim of building brands. Instead of focusing on the art of selling to customers, it focuses on helping them. This is where informative, accurate and useful content comes into play. If your audience gains value, even without buying anything from you, then the trust will naturally grow as your client base does. So, what are the different types of value-first content? 

• Content that teaches the audience something
• Content that the audience will find useful
• Content that shares a lesson from experience
• Content that offers a framework for people to use, such as checklists, guides or templates
• Content that answers common questions in your niche

Develop a consistent brand voice

One of the best ways to build your brand with content is to develop a voice that is consistent and natural. Your brand voice is how people will recognise you. It will also be the difference between clients making a connection with you and keeping you at arm’s length. 

For instance, a customer might feel more at ease with a brand voice that’s friendly and approachable as opposed to a brand voice that is stuffy and formal. However, developing your brand voice is one thing

But keeping it consistent is another, and that’s where the hard work begins. Customers need to know that the brand they’re connecting with will always be there. It creates a sense of familiarity. So, how can you build a brand voice and how can you ensure its consistency?

• Use a consistent tone
• Use consistent language
• Decide the formality of your tone
• Repeat signature phrases 
• Keep touching on signature concepts
• Stay authentic
• Don’t copy the trends

Tell stories to build emotional connection

Anecdotes are the perfect way of bringing in new readers and evoking emotive feelings. Facts, although useful and informative, do just that – inform. A story, on the other hand, adds a human element to the content you’re writing. It enables you to connect with the audience that you’ve worked hard to find out about. If you’re wondering about gathering some brand storytelling ideas for good measure, then take a look at our list:

• Company origin story
• Behind-the-scenes moments
• Customer transformations
• Failures and lessons learnt
• Milestones
• Small wins
• Sponsorships
• Charity events 
• Charitable donations made
• Community events 

Create a sustainable content system

Burnout can destroy a brand. This can often happen if you have a content creation model or system that has no structure or that hasn’t been planned to a high enough standard. By transforming your content system into one that is streamlined and functions properly. This means that you’ll be instilling longevity into the work you’re doing. 

But how can you build a simple workflow that benefits you? Firstly, make notes. This can include written words, lists, voice memos and flashcard prompts. Secondly, do some content batching. This means creating several pieces at once that can be distributed evenly as the weeks or months go on. 

Thirdly, repurpose some of the content you already have. This means taking an existing content piece and transforming it into something entirely different. Finally, schedule the content you have made. Use tools and calendars to make sure that blog posts, infographics, videos, podcasts and more are going live when you want them to. 

Kumo is proud to provide digital marketing services to clients throughout the country. Regardless of the industry you work in, we will be able to carry out exceptional SEO, PPC, content writing and website design services, to name a few. If you want to propel your business into the spotlight, then get in touch with a member of our friendly, knowledgeable team today – we endeavour to do everything we can to help you.