Branding is something that all companies must focus on – regardless of size, industry, or target customer. And in an ever-changing industry like healthcare, the perception of our brand can dramatically impact our company’s success. 

While you might focus heavily on branding guidelines in your advertising materials, it can be a little harder to apply tangible brand principles when creating content marketing pieces.

So, as you set out to create your content library for the rest of 2019, here’s a short list of branding mistakes to avoid!

1.     Not simplifying your message

As Don Miller, author of one of my favorite marketing books Building a Story Brand says, “when you confuse you lose”. Companies know the ins and outs of their organization and offerings and are excited to tell our prospects all about it. The problem is, sometimes we’re sharing so much that our prospects become more confused, or worse – bored. It’s important to clarify our message and offering. That way, customers and prospects know what to expect and can more easily understand the offer.

2.     Losing focus on your brand’s mission

As you start building a content library, ask yourself, does each piece of content and advertising in your campaign promote or reinforce your brand’s mission? In this content-driven world, it’s easy to feel the pressure to produce mass amounts of text. And while you do want to release content on a regular basis, your brand will be better served by creating less content that is of the right quality.

3.     Not using visuals

First impressions are usually lasting ones, and eye-catching visuals can help bring more visitors to your content. As an extra incentive, data shows that content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without relevant images!

Clarify your message, question the mission of your content, and include eye-catching visuals. All useful tools and ideas to make sure your branding stays on point and delivers the intended message.

Brand journalism. What the heck is it? How can your brand benefit from it?

Brand journalism is a mix of content marketing, public relations and corporate communications. Rather than directly promoting a brand through traditional marketing methods or focusing on making a sale, brand journalism – sometimes referred to as “marketing through journalism” – focuses on building stories and other content that highlights a company or organization’s value from a different viewpoint.
Brand journalism’s goal is to garner affinity from prospects and current clients.
“A 5% increase in retention can boost profits 75%.” Have you heard this statistic from Bain & Company? It’s been frequently quoted since the study was conducted … in 1990. Clients are more likely to stay with you if they like your brand and like how the brand talks to them.

It’s said all the time that brands are becoming publishers. If your brand isn’t working to herald a narrative for its benefit, no one else is!

Here are a few great examples of brand journalism:

Advocate Aurora Health

UPS Longitudes

Red Bull Imagination Series

So many brands struggle with brand journalism, thinking it takes a stable of writers, bloggers, videographers and producers. Most organizations already have all the resources they need to start publishing right now. Many great brands outsource the content to freelancers or industry publishers.
Next time you are opening your email, browsing LinkedIn or on social media, start looking at all the content your favorite brands deliver. You will start to notice the very best brands are drawing you to them, not just amplifying the same old message.

If you would like to discuss some ways your organization can build the audiences you need through brand journalism, please drop me a note! I’d love to discuss how we’ve done this for best-in-class Suppliers, Distributors, IDNs, Hospitals and Physicians Offices.