Every writing profession has its own demands. The tricks and techniques learnt in one field may have to be entirely unlearnt for another. Conversely, the shift may demand a judicious amalgamation to build upon the strengths of both. For journalists who are making the shift to branded content, it’s a fine balance between hanging on to your journalistic mantras and doing things in a ‘brand’ new way.

Brands want you to tell compelling stories. Period. The good news is they believe in the power of content; after all, content will always be king! So you need to leverage your strength of writing engaging content and help brands tell their stories.

To change or not to change?

Tonality

Every brand has a bespoke tonality. You need to understand its identity and adopt its tonality while creating content. Whether the brand wants to be a friend or a mentor, your job is to mould your writing in line with it. You cannot hold on to one specific style of writing as you did when you were a journalist.

Focus

Brands today are trying to become more consumer-friendly rather than merely marketing their product or service. For example, an insurance company would want their content to educate customers on the benefits of insurance in general, so that they become a guiding voice for them. This is where the journalistic writing style can be leveraged, since it aims to cover a broad information base with a sprinkling of product inputs.

Facts

If you are a stickler for facts and accuracy, it’s a big plus in content marketing as well. Customers don’t want brands to lie to them. Moreover, the digital space only makes it
easier for consumers to verify claims made just to market products and services. So, do your homework and be as transparent as possible. Your journalistic ethics will come into play here.

Style

Journalists are often taught to structure their piece with the inverted pyramid technique – essential event details first, narrative details later. This is because a consumer may not have the time or inclination to go through the whole article.

Branded content, on the other hand, follows the theory of the marketing funnel. With the mass of ads floating around, the consumer has to be eased into the product narrative with details relevant to them. They can’t be overwhelmed with an upfront marketing pitch.

Scope

Journalism tends to create specialisation in terms of beats such as sports, business, politics, and entertainment. Content marketing, on the other hand, involves a wider scope of research and writing work. This multidisciplinary approach requires you to keep yourself abreast with multiple domains such as technology, finance, and retail – in addition to your current area of work.

Adapt

Branded content is an evolving field. What you do today may not work the following year. Test something – If it works, great; if it doesn’t, move on. Don’t get stuck to a certain way of doing things. Adapt to changing times.

You need to make your own rules when it comes to branded content. Who would have guessed two years ago that brands would leverage stand-up comedians and use humour to build brand awareness? But it has become one of the most successful mediums today.

So don’t restrict yourself. Think out of the box; in fact, forget the box. Follow your instinct. Try something new. You may just set the next trend!