Buyers no longer pay attention to traditional advertisements. A study released by Elite Daily found that only 1 percent of millennials would trust a brand after seeing a compelling ad.
So where do consumers place their trust?
Today, audiences turn to blogs, online reviews and social media before making decisions. That’s where brand journalism comes into play.
Unlike content marketing, brand journalism places people front and center, rather than the products that affect those people. Brand journalism aims to attract new audiences and guide them towards other messaging without self-promotion.
So how exactly can you shift to camaraderie-based content? Here are three factors to consider to appeal to your target audience with brand journalism.
1. Distribution
Does your brand have offices across multiple regions or continents? Consider scaling your brand journalism strategy like HSBC. It divided its content into regional or metropolitan editions.
Put bigger stories in the main edition, and smaller, more personal stories in the localized editions.
In this digital age, you’ll also want to take advantage of social media platforms to announce and spread stories to all of your audiences. Is your brand local to one DMA? Leverage more traditional methods, like word-of-mouth marketing, to get your content in front of new readers.
Use social listening tools to monitor what people say in response to rework your distribution methods, change story types or locate new ideas to write future content.
2. Medium
Once you’ve established goals for your brand journalism strategy, think about how you’d like to get your stories out to the world. Will you set up a digital newsroom to host everything or mail out a printed newsletter?
While budget and resources may also have a large say in how you approach content creation, make sure you focus on your target audience, too.
For example, Red Bull’s magazine, “The Red Bulletin,” is available in both digital and print versions to appeal to young males, whether on the go or at home.
Ensure whichever medium you choose to publish your content is easy to find, read and share.
3. Story Type
If you tell the right stories with the right mindset, brand journalism can build brand awareness and attract new audiences. But what you write is dependent on your approach and defined outcomes.
Nonprofits will be more likely to focus on beneficiary stories to establish credibility. For example, Project Walk Orlando shares stories about patients learning to walk after a spinal injury, making it easy for those with similar issues to build trust and relate to others.
Other companies may want to focus their stories on highlighting new research or building awareness for issues readers can easily relate to or are already invested in.
Whether you tie your brand’s stories to larger social concerns, or use brand journalism to respond to circulating rumors, double check that your content focuses on promoting information for your readers, not your brand.
