“Am I Creating Fake News?” And Other Questions Marketers Should Ask Themselves

At a recent industry seminar on brand building, the presenter pointed out that before we even walk into work in the morning, we have already been inundated with a number of marketing and brand messages.

I didn’t believe him at first, but then started to think about my morning routine. An Amazon Echo wakes me up in the morning with just enough time to grab a Quaker granola bar before heading out the door. On the train, I read Politico’s morning news roundup before grabbing coffee at Starbucks. While I haven’t counted the exact number, I walk past at least a half-dozen retail stores and businesses before getting to my office. You get the point.

There is no escaping brand overload. And we as marketers must recognize that buyers—  consumers or business executives, alike —are overwhelmed with content that they are desperately trying to tune out.

So how do you stand out from the marketing crowd and make an impression? Start by asking yourself these three questions:

Am I drowning my customers with too much information? As B2B marketers, we get energy working with complex topics like accounting, the business of health and insurance. And while our instinct is to gravitate toward meaty marketing collateral (admit it: you too love a good market trends survey), customers increasingly want shorter, snappier content. Whether you are creating content for a website or developing a byline for publication, think short and sweet…and visual!

Is what I’m sharing actually meaningful? With thousands of press releases published every day, we are all guilty of sharing fake news…be it a new hire announcement that isn’t really noteworthy or a statement about an evergreen topic that doesn’t contain a new point of view. Rather than wasting time and resources on content that won’t move the needle, spend that time honing in on what differentiates you in the marketplace and sharing content and collateral that highlights your unique position and perspective.

Am I doing all I can to support social media? Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn are showing us that paid and organic content can happily coexist…when that paid content is seamlessly integrated into the user’s feed. What’s more, users are increasingly receiving native ad content without major disruption to their social experience, due in part to more high-quality posts. Putting dollars—even a small amount—behind well-designed social content can help take your channel to the next level and create more meaningful connections. (Fun fact: consumers who read native ads that they identified as high quality reported a significantly higher level of brand trust.)

What efforts will you take to drive more impactful brand engagement?

Connect with Morgan
Email: morgan@blissintegrated.com
Twitter: @morganfine_PR
LinkedIn: Morgan Fine

Photo credit: Alejandro Escamilla, Unsplash