How to Use the Brand Journalism Model in Marketing

Last Updated May 29, 2019

Decades ago, people became so familiar with the language in marketing messages that they stopped paying attention. Savvy consumers learned to quickly tune out blatant commercial slogans or any content that seemed focused on selling them something.

Younger Americans, bombarded with marketing messages on television and the internet since childhood, have grown up developing the ability to ignore traditional advertising.

That’s where brand journalism comes in and it has changed how businesses approach potential customers. Rather than selling to them, brand journalism provides consumers with the information they want and, in some cases, need to know.

What is Brand Journalism?

Brand journalism takes many of the tenants of journalism and applies them to content created by businesses to engage both current and potential customers.

Some of those tenets include:

Creating fact-based, accurate content
Adopting a journalistic style to impart information
Creating content that is relevant to consumers making buying decisions
Telling stories related to a business and its products and services

A travel and tourism company, for example, might offer informative articles on the history of certain locations as well as entertaining travel stories from those who have been there.

It’s an old-fashioned win-win situation. Businesses who use brand journalism create a more meaningful relationship with consumers. And consumers, rather than getting bombarded with sales slogans, get information that helps them make decisions. Or, at the very least, broadens their knowledge about a topic.

The following are some of the steps needed to use brand journalism when practicing content marketing.

Know Your Audience

You can’t create content that speaks to your audience unless you know who they are and what they like to do. For example, a restaurant that offers conch fritters, a great beach view and a casual atmosphere would not want to create content on high-end French cuisine.

A quick way to understand what your customers are interested in is simply to ask those you already have. What do they want to learn about and experience? What information could you offer them that would make their visit to your website more productive and meaningful? What type of content would they find entertaining?

Create Content Ideas

This can prove to be the most difficult area. In many cases, businesses do not have the resources to build a content team. Instead, they turn to outside consultants or agencies for help.

But while developing a detailed content strategy and producing articles or videos demands certain skill sets, coming up with ideas often just requires taking the time to sit down and think about it. The only tool you will need is a pen and piece of paper.

Place the main topic you want to write about in the center of the piece of paper. Then, begin to “free associate” some words and phrases that leap to mind. You will be amazed at how fast you can think of them. Not all will be workable as a brand journalism content piece, but it’s a place to start.

For example, if your business runs rental properties near the beach, some ideas that come to mind include:

Beach gear you need (i.e. flip-flops, t-shirts, ice chests, towels, portable beach chairs).
Fashionable swimsuits.
Sunglasses.
Rules at the beach.
Ice cream!
Best snacks at the beach.
Sunblock – what do you really need and how often to apply?
Animals you might see in the ocean (and the ones to avoid!)
When is the heaviest tourist season?
Best restaurants in the area.
How not to look like a tourist.

Of course, all those won’t turn into content pieces. But some have real promise, and all are topics a person renting a house near the beach might want to know more about.

Use Different Types of Content

It’s a smart move to use brand journalism in many ways. While an article with bullet points and plenty of headlines to break up the copy (such as the one you are reading) is typically great for the majority of content, there are other forms as well. They include:

How-To Articles: For example, in the cosmetics industry, this may include makeup and beauty tutorials.
Listicle: A listicle is exactly what it sounds like – a list of related items the reader is interested in knowing more about. They work especially well with tips and hacks, such as an article about “9 Tips for Meal Prep” for a grocery or food services business.
Video: If you have the resources, video is a powerful storytelling tool. You’ll need the right equipment for filming and editing unless you outsource the work. Consumers across every demographic will watch video. It’s easy to consume and provides a strong emotional connection.
Customer Testimonial: The best source of information about the services you offer come from happy customers. Consider writing up an interview story with a highly satisfied client who is eager to talk about their experience.

Post Content Regularly

Another key to brand journalism across industries is consistency. To keep customers returning to the site, they must have new content to read or watch. Finding the time to do this is one of the most common challenges with content marketing. To keep yourself on task, create an editorial calendar that details what content you’re going to publish and when. Follow the schedule detailed by your calendar, posting content as frequently as you can manage. It’s no less critical than any other marketing you do for your business and needs to be treated with the same respect.

Use Analytics to Measure Your Success

While brand journalism and content marketing can provide an opportunity to reach new customers and continue a strong relationship with those you already have, measuring success is essential. Since analytics is a key component of any marketing strategy, it is therefore also integral to monitoring your brand journalism efforts.

According to the Content Marketing Institute, there are many key performance indicators you will want to measure to determine the reach and engagement of your content, including unique visits, geography, mobile viewership, time on page, bounce rate, heat maps and more. Not only measuring these KPIs but analyzing them can help you dig into what’s resonating with your audience – and what’s not.