Does your brand implement these 4 types of content?

Content and marketing

In our previous blog post, we explored what content marketing is. We talked about its importance and why it should be included in your budget. While content marketing is important, it is nothing without content to market. There are a variety of content that your brand can create and it is important to know how you can market that across channels. In this blog, we will look at the types of content your brand should be creating. 

What are the types of content?

Content is something that your brand expresses through a medium for your target audience to see. The medium is as important as the message. If you are trying to target a particular audience, you need to know the medium to reach them through. For example, a television ad does not make sense if your target audience is the younger crowd. However, the actual content you put on the right target platform is also important. This is where the 4 types or brackets of content play a role. Categorizing your content helps you understand which type of content works best for which platform.

Paid content: Advertising

Paid content is one of the most common ways to drive sales. You pay a media company to host a few ads for your product/service’s marketing. In traditional advertising, channels include billboards, handouts, newspapers, television, and radio. However, today’s digital world has expanded that to platforms like websites and social media. As a result, we have digital marketing.

Earned content: News coverage

Earned content, or earned media is a common phrase we hear in the Public Relations industry. This means that your brand earned its reputation or earned an opportunity to be featured in the news. This could be through media relations, press releases, or through ground-breaking news.

Shared content: Social media

This might be the most important type of content in the current scenario of working from home. Shared media is user-generated content and social media. YouTube and Reddit are good examples of user-generated content. Shared content is evolving with time. More and more newer platforms are being built regularly such as TikTok and Clubhouse. 

Owned content: Your content

Owned content or owned media is content that your brand creates. This includes websites, blogs, employee stories, webinars, and emails. In simple terms, owned content is what your brand has control over. You are able to create, edit, and distribute the content as per your preference. 

Is it really that simple?

Yes and no. While we now know the 4 types of content and what they consist of, we should know how to target and market them. In our next blogpost, learn about how these 4 types of content overlap and intersect with each other. Here is a snippet:

Earned content and shared content intersect to create paid content. For example, an influencer who talks about your brand through sponsorship is paid content. But they talk about the brand on social media, making it shared content. You also created this content through a relationship, making it earned content.