Why is the investment of time and resources to build a brand community worth it? Because, quite frankly, it’s not a small investment — success ultimately lies in playing the long game. Just like building authority as a brand takes time, so does winning audience trust and converting them to loyalists: it takes patience on top of a sound strategy.

Missing the point on the purpose and value of a digital community is a common mistake; correcting it starts with thinking past statements like “we want to be on TikTok” or “we want to be like Duolingo” and understanding what each brand’s community (and thus content formula) looks like.

The front-facing result of a brand community is easy to see and identify. Millions of followers are a nice number to boast about; however, that says nothing about the community impact on your business if other factors about the interests of these community members, their engagement levels, and their advocacy, amongst others, aren’t considered.

A strong brand community offers the potential for:

• Increased brand loyalty
• Organic brand ambassadors
• Medium for consumer feedback and new ideas
• Connection with current customers

Let’s define what that means and how you can get there.

What Is a Brand Community?

A brand community is where the people who love, support, and buy from your brand can gather to interact with you. This is often a digital community that is made up of social media accounts, open forums, and/or discussion groups (amongst other formats), but this extends to community events as well (e.g., pop-ups, in-person events, brand activations, etc.).

These people are not made up of only brand loyalists and returning customers; they include those who haven’t purchased from you yet but still find themselves interacting with your content and talking about your brand. This is because building a brand community goes beyond filling your top-of-funnel and into building brand equity.

The 95:5 Rule provides a realistic framework for how marketers should be thinking about the community they are trying to target. The focus is not solely on the 5% of people who are ready to purchase but on the 95% of those who are outside the current market. This is because the people will move themselves from the 95% to the 5% when they are ready to purchase.

Our job is not to make them ready to purchase (they could have just bought whatever you were selling, or it may not even apply to them yet). Instead, our job is to make sure everyone in that 95% knows and remembers who we are, so when they do move to the 5%, we are the first ones they think of. Developing goals for brand communities means focusing on reach (which translates to acquisition) and engagement (which translates to retention).

This means your efforts are going to be broader, bolder, and, thankfully, a lot more engaging. Your primary goal is to be remembered, focusing on getting attention rather than selling immediately. Messaging and communication around “buy now” or “benefits of x product” are only going to apply to that 5% of people who are ready to purchase, which means you are greatly narrowing your opportunity.

By reaching a broader audience of current and future customers, you are creating a long-term relationship, making you top of mind when they are ready to make a purchase. By investing in community-building, you are investing in the 95%, a.k.a. your future purchasers.

A brand community is built around shared interests, and that interest is not always about your brand only. If you imagine your brand as a person, what would that person like to do? Where would they like to go? What types of conversations would they engage in? What would their tone of voice be? What would they care about?

If you are building your community from scratch, then you will need to use your buyer personas as an indicator of the community interests, but your community persona is going to look like a much broader version of this. For example, your buyer persona may be a 30-year-old named Rachel who works in corporate finance and goes to workout classes on the weekends.

However, your community persona may be young females who are active and most likely work in a corporate setting. Chances are, the people in your community are going to be similar to the people who are in your organization, and the person running this community must fit the culture you are curating. 

For example, Rare Beauty’s community persona is not only makeup lovers but also those who prioritize wellness, mental health, and accessibility. They gear their social efforts towards this group, and they went a step further in their community building with their Comfort Club initiative, providing a way for them to own a space for their community to gather – see what we think of Rare Beauty’s brand-building initiatives!

How to Build a Brand Community

The Role of Your Team — and Lead Creators to Rally Them

Believe it or not, content creation efforts across social channels take more than just a designated team of creators, designers, writers, and marketers. In most cases, social environments aren’t always the most brand-friendly to begin with; viewers tend to connect and trust peers (read: creators) more than abstract corporations.

Rather than treating this as a disadvantage, though, it’s important to consider it as an opportunity: it means that to win at social, humanizing the brand is crucial.

This is where the mascot-driven brands have gotten it right: associating the brand with a personable character that feels relatable is one way to go about it. However, there is a more authentic way brands can build authentic connections with their viewership — and that’s through their own people.

Whether it’s through serialized skit series with real team members or mini mic series that give the humans behind the brand a voice, video formats that bring in real people and pull the curtain for the audience to peek behind the scenes, create that relatability that brands often struggle to manufacture.

Who will manage the effort of building the brand community? Having a primary leader to steer this effort in creation, strategy, and community management is extremely important. This person should essentially be your community personified, someone who understands the interests, pain points, and communication styles of those whom you are trying to connect with.

This is ideally done with an in-house creator who can own this process. There can and should be other faces on your socials; however, you need at least one person (ideally, a team) who is dedicated to directing those efforts, rallying the other team members, and keeping the pulse on what the community wants.

Great examples of community ownership are Duke from Shinesty and this creator from tldv.io.

Steps to Building Your Brand Community

1. Identify Community Persona

When establishing your community persona, you are looking at your Total Addressable Market. This is the largest circle of people you can talk to, the 95% of people who could be a customer in the future but may not even know who you are yet.

To identify their interests, start by looking externally and internally.

External research includes competitor analysis, trend analysis, who has interacted with the content of said competitors, and what the broad interests related to your brand are.

Internal research includes identifying social listening, who has interacted with content you have made so far, and (this might come as a surprise) what your internal team interests are — often, your internal team can be a great reflection on those who would be interested in you.

For a brand like Oura, they have established interests in data-driven health, they know that their audience probably pays attention to pop culture and major moments (offering trending topics they can plug into), and their audience is specific in their interest of restful and purposeful wellness over hustle culture.

2. Establish Brand Positioning

As mentioned earlier, when brands create content on social media, they are at an automatic disadvantage to individual creators because viewers are much more likely to buy into and engage with an individual creator than a brand. This is why it’s important to establish your brand voice online and the value that you will bring to your audience.

It should be very clear what type of content is on brand and what is not. Your brand may approach content in a funny way, a sympathetic way, an authoritative way, etc.

Think about your ideal audience scrolling through their favorite social media platform, and they scroll onto your content. It should be very clear without even seeing the handle that you created that content because the tone, style, and even the creator are recognizable.

This goes back to the importance of having a lead creator who is steering the efforts and has their finger on the pulse of a community, similar to how an individual creator has the pulse on theirs, so they can manage that brand voice and digital presence.

Establishing your brand voice is done by finding ways to merge brand values, community interests, and entertainment value into each piece of content. In order to organize this process and establish the yeses and the noes of your content ideas, you want to establish content buckets.

3. Create Content Buckets

Content buckets, also known as content pillars, are the categories of content that you will share with your audience that have been created based on your community persona and your brand positioning and values. These can be separated, for example, by the value you are bringing or the different shared interests you have identified.

NoGood has different content buckets for each channel (IG, YouTube, and TikTok), and a few of ours are Growth Marketing, Brand Analyses, NoGood Culture, and AI and Tech. We focus primarily on content that educates on marketing or entertains by sharing our internal culture.

Through our content experimentation, the NoGood social team established that our team members were our greatest asset. We developed content series, including an office interview series and an office reality show, with the latter gaining over 10M+ views and driving over 30,000 followers. Below is a breakdown of how we did it and the lessons we learned from starting this culture-driven content show.

The NoGood Reality Show: A Case Study

How We Built It

The NoGood Reality Show, which has garnered over 10M+ views and gained over 30,000+ followers, was brought to life from a single video. We had the idea to take the common annoyances of office life — experiences that a future community of experts across marketing, design, data science, sales, content creation, and more deal with — and film them in the form of a reality TV show.

But what this ultimately evolved into was the understanding that:

1. This format gave us a perfect medium to introduce characters and build off of storylines,
2. The audience enjoyed the common characters and would react to the content with previous “episodes” in mind, creating regular viewers,
3. This was the perfect blend of entertainment and showing the internal NoGood culture of creativity (and creator talent) through comedic sketches.

As we created more videos, the experimentation with different content styles, storylines and delivery methods allowed for further refinement of how this format aligned with NoGood’s brand the most. While it opened up more experimentation, it also allowed us to continuously retrace the lines that defined who NoGood was and was not as a brand.

While we had many pieces going out to test those boundaries that we can now confidently categorize as good pieces of content, not all of them perfectly aligned with NoGood or our community. It takes this type of experimentation to figure out who you are by figuring out who you are not.

Content Categories

In our experimentation, we gained the understanding that two types of content could fit under this “skit” umbrella.

“Behind the Scenes” content where the audience feels that they are witnessing a behind-the-scenes look at office life at NoGood.
Example: Work Enemies Get Sent to HR.

And timely content where we can act fast in order to put our hat in the ring on trending topics using the skit delivery format.
Example: Coworker Buys a Stanley Cup during the Stanley Cup craze, and If the Office Were Mean Girls during the Mean Girls movie release hype.

Lessons Learned During the Building Phase

1. Not all content is for every channel

As much as we wanted to share the reality show on every channel, TikTok and YouTube did not have the same performance metrics as Instagram. This caused questions about what content should go where and led us to develop our channel-by-channel segmentation strategy.

2. Not every idea is for NoGood

As stated before, we went through a lot of experimentation to see what kind of skits worked, what format of editing was the best, what skit scenarios did well, and what topics were relevant to include. During this process, we even identified pieces of content that performed well but we later realized were not aligned with our brand. This is part of the process, and it is a good thing!

3. The talent matters

If you are looking to build a content format like this, it is imperative to cast your talent well. The role of creators in your content is very important, and having a single creator who steers the ship is going to make this much, much easier.

You should showcase many people on your team, but not everyone is a creator. You need someone who can produce and direct the process, help the team understand their roles in each piece, and manage the brand image of that content.

4. Let the community lead what you create

We very quickly had viewers reacting to the content and even commenting “easter eggs” on other videos. For example, this video introduced a narrative of Sarah (creator) having a pet raccoon. This raccoon is now referenced in the comments often, and we will write scripts that give a nod to the raccoon storyline for the viewers who are in on the joke.

Additionally, the comment section will drive ideas, and we can take the questions the viewers are asking and the narratives they are building in the comments to build more characters and storylines. For example, there was a growing theme of the audience seeing a love interest between the two main characters, Sarah and Chris. So, playing off of this joke we created a skit for Valentine’s Day to play off of this work enemies narrative.

This reality show has opened up opportunities to incorporate and work with brands, bring people outside of the social team to the forefront, and comment on culturally relevant topics in a fun and entertaining way.

Great Community-Building through Culture-Driven Content

The brands below started their digital brand-building journey at the height of TikTok growth, which is no longer the case.

Are you seeking alternative strategies to build communities through vertical video on other platforms?

The Ordinary

The Ordinary regularly creates content with these strategies:

1. Featuring their internal team, especially those behind creating the products, to humanize the brand and bring people inside the Ordinary World.

@theordinary the icon/scientist that created our #Niacinamide serum.. could work on his lipsync skills tho 🙏 #theordinary ♬ YUH IM A MOTHHAA – Trendsetter ⭐️

2. Understanding the feedback on the products they are getting from the community and how they are using them, not just how The Ordinary recommends using them (they also use this as a feedback loop to the product and marketing team to change formulas and messaging based on what they hear from the community!)

@theordinary we’re NOT over exfoliating in 2024 🙅‍♀️ #theordinary #fyp #skintok #glycolicacid #ahabhapeelingsolution ♬ original sound – FLOPETTE

3. Engaging in conversations with those who comment 

@theordinary bestie, i have some news for you… #theordinary #cleansers #fyp #skintok ♬ original sound – Zirkia Sampson

Notion

Notion was one of the originals creating “unhinged” content on TikTok. Here are the strategies they regularly use:

1. Showcasing their team (including what they do). You can’t identify a single creator for them because it’s very clear that many, if not all, of their employees are in on the fun. 

@notionhq Walk, walk, fashion, baby. Starting our Monday right with a Notino #OOTD ✨ #notiontok #notion #notionapp ♬ murder on the dance floor sped up – ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇx 🎧

2. Understanding and capitalizing on the Notion Culture, since it’s very clear the type of person who uses Notion is also the same type of person who would work there. 

@notionhq Just ✨Notion✨ things #notion #notionapp #lifeatnotion #notiontok #notionforlife ♬ original sound – Notion

3. Creating a digital community that gets excited about their updates and using their content as a constant communication channel to them. 

@notionhq “When is the Notion affiliate program going global?” Today babes 💥💸 ##notion##notionapp##notiontok##notionai##notiontemplate##affiliate##affiliatemarketing##makemoney ♬ stop using this audio to sexualize people – venus

Honorable Mention: OpenTable

Though OpenTable is still in the process of building a more two-way communication channel with their digital community on TikTok, their recent videos interviewing their team members about restaurants they are trying is a good example of using the brand culture and the team to create content that then resonates with your ideal audience.

@opentable What restaurant do YOU want to try this year?! #opentable #opentableapp #opentablereservations ♬ It's Time – Foliage

Building a vibrant brand community transcends traditional marketing strategies and often goes against a typical data marketer’s instincts. A strong brand community is a testament to a brand’s commitment to fostering genuine connections and cultivating long-term relationships with its audience.

By embracing shared interests, brand authenticity, and especially entertainment value in content creation, businesses can establish thriving communities that serve as pillars of brand advocacy. As we can see from the examples provided, using your team culture is a key strategy in building your digital one.

Now, has anyone seen Sarah’s pet raccoon?

Build and Scale your Community Across the Largest Social Platforms

Partner with the award-winning architects behind social media’s most viral moments and creative trends.

The post How to Build an Engaged Brand Community With Culture-Driven Content appeared first on NoGood™: Growth Marketing Agency.

Healthcare companies can take advantage of TikTok’s ability to reach and engage with a diverse audience of young consumers in order to raise awareness on health issues, redefine how the new generation looks at healthcare, establish a new avenue for recruitment, and establish a new communication channel for medical advancements and news.

Overcoming marketing challenges in the healthcare industry using TikTok

Traditionally, according to Forbes and We Are Amnet, healthcare marketers have struggled with challenges such as public perception of the industry, audience targeting limitations, and balancing authority with relatability in their creative messaging. TikTok, unlike other platforms, can position a company in a way that is similar to a friend in a group chat. The digital culture of this platform allows brands to be a part of the conversation instead of trying to yell from a megaphone.

Let’s explore how TikTok can combat these three particular challenges.

1. Public perception of the industry

According to Maestro Health, 50% of 1,000 U.S. consumers aged 25 years and older surveyed feel the quality of care they receive is equal to or greater than what it costs. Chief strategy and product officer at Maestro Health, Nancy Reardon, stated, “While cost is an industry-wide issue, providers and health plan administrators must work on better communicating (or as we like to think about it, marketing) to patients and members.”

The goal for this would be to build a community through a channel that is widely used by consumers, offers an easy and accessible method of communication, and innately causes the consumer to see the brand as a friend rather than just a service provider: TikTok. Merely having a TikTok account would cause a mindset change showing that the brand is tapped into the latest trends and understands the current digital landscape. How the brand uses the account (which we will go over later in this article), however, would determine if they can shift the public perception.

2. Audience targeting limitations

Although targeting across any digital platform is going to be limited due to privacy regulations, TikTok’s algorithm has a unique ability to find and curate these small communities within the platform and serve the right content to the right audience. There is #chronicillnesstok, #diabetestook, #crohnstok, and pretty much a “tok” for every corner of healthcare. By utilizing content buckets and TikTok SEO strategies you can organically reach this audience, creating an even more meaningful connection.

3. Balancing authority with relatability in creative messaging

In many traditional marketing mediums, the healthcare industry has maintained a more formal voice. Though healthcare companies should have an authoritative sector of their brand voice, in the current digital landscape, that same voice won’t work everywhere. A platform like TikTok allows brands to take an informal approach to the way their audience sees them. Jokes you maybe wouldn’t make on LinkedIn fit well into the TikTok culture.

This is a place of self-deprecating humor, self-awareness, and breaking through the fourth wall. The strings should be a lot looser on this platform, and they must be in order for a brand to thrive here.

For TikTok specifically, there is more regulation around the community guidelines and restrictions for paid advertising. Here is a quick overview of the restrictions to keep in mind:

• Ads for pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and medicines must target 18+ users and comply with local laws of the target country. Over-the-counter or prescription drugs must be approved by the regional regulating authority and may not contain misleading or inaccurate claims. We do allow advertisements for brick and mortar pharmacies and online pharmacies that are certified by a third-party licensing organization such as the NABP or LegitScript or regional equivalent. Proof of licensing may be necessary for approval.
  Ads promoting weight loss/management fasting products or services.
• Ads promoting weight loss/management supplements (including fat burning pills, appetite suppressants, weight loss or detox teas or lollipops).
• Invasive cosmetic procedures such as rhinoplasty, face/lip fillers and microdermabrasion cannot be advertised on the platform.

Though TikTok especially is a much more flexible channel in terms of personality and humor that can be used, brands still want to follow community guidelines to prevent any account shut downs or penalties.

Identifying the target audience on TikTok for healthcare companies

According to Wallaroo Media, 80% of TikTok users are between the ages of 16-34. This platform, though not only for young people, is primarily made up of Gen Z and young Millennials. Therefore, the content should be catered to this audience, and healthcare companies should keep this in mind when strategizing how to use this platform. TikTok should be used as the channel to reach the younger generation, curate the current messaging around the industry, and create loyalists from the future (and present) consumers.

What content should healthcare companies put on TikTok?

First, there are two main lenses that should be used to figure out what content to put out on TikTok. Across any account, you want to consider

Content Bucket: The category of content you are talking about (e.g.: Health education, current health news, relatable industry topics, etc.). This answers the question, “What are we going to talk about?” and serves as guardrails to align your content with your brand values and interests across other platforms as well.

Content Delivery: How are you presenting the content? Through a vlog, trending sound, direct-to-camera, skit… You get the idea. This answers the question “How are we going to tell the story” and this can greatly affect how your audience receives the information. You could be talking about the same topic but in two different delivery formats and your audience may be much more receptive to one over the other.

Second, all brands should identify what their personality looks like on a platform such as this one. On TikTok, you may be known for the crazy stories working in healthcare, for jokes that call out relatable experiences within the industry, or for being the first to break news or advancements. In any regard, we encourage you to reach into the funny, quirky, out-there parts of your personality. Simple education content will not cut it. You have to deliver it in a fun way, make a joke about it, be uncannily timely with the content, or a mix of all of these in order to see the results you are looking for.

Health communities on TikTok

Something that makes TikTok unique is its curation of niche communities. The TikTok algorithm is very good at creating these “Tok” corners for consumers to find videos related to their interests/experiences. For example, “T1Tok” is the community around Type 1 diabetics and their families. Creators who talk about Type 1 Diabetes and use keywords and hashtags such as #T1, #Type1, or #T1D can connect with other people in this community to share tips, struggles, and relatable experiences.

If healthcare brands cater to a specific niche of people (Examples: Chronic Illness, Diabetes, PCOS, ect) then they can do keyword research on TikTok and find out more about what these communities are talking about, what trends they are paying attention to, and what topics they are interested in. This not only helps to inform the content strategy but can also serve as a place for community research for advertising, website copy, and other marketing and product development purposes.

Example videos for healthcare companies

There are several angles a healthcare company can take to posting on TikTok, so here are a few examples to visualize what your brand may align with.

Heartwarming content

The healthcare industry can be a bit of a scary place, but if you can be a light in the dark that is a great corner of the internet to sit in! People love to see people win, hero stories, etc. and sharing those stories in an exciting way is a great way to gain views and brand awareness. For example, MDLawrenceWerlin used their fertility clinic’s fun way of announcing patients’ pregnancy results to share wins and provide encouragement for those struggling with fertility. This provided a great way to approach a hard subject with lightheartedness and positivity. 

Education with a twist

Like we said, a simple educational video is not going to gain the views and engagement you are looking for, no matter how interesting the topic is. TikTok, and most platforms for that matter, is saturated with educational content, so you have to put your own spin on it. Medicine Explained does exactly that while also remaining completely faceless. Instead of just sitting in front of the camera and talking about subjects like “Can I swim on my period?”, this account uses a visual + voiceover format to tell a story while they talk on the subject.

Work culture related

A large part of TikTok culture is humanizing a brand and creating content that is relatable to a group of people. This is why behind-the-scenes content of work culture and skits/memes relating to the experience of a workplace do very well. For example, @Nurse.John has created an entire platform by portraying funny skits about the crazy experiences of being a nurse.

However, this doesn’t have to be approached with skits. This can also be done through short, meme-like content using trending sounds. For example, this video by Children’s Hospital New Orleans shows a funny work-related experience in a bite-sized video using a trending sound. Trending sounds are not just for “the kids” and are in fact a tool that healthcare companies can use to connect with their audience.

How to leverage trends and TikTok culture

Though trending sounds may seem intimidating for brands to use, particularly brands that have traditionally had very restricted messaging, they can be an easy-to-use tool to reach new audiences and communicate brand personality in a unique way. Trending sounds can be done through lip-syncs, popular dances, or even “mini skits”. The key to using them well is understanding the joke or purpose behind the trend and then spinning it in a way that is applicable to the brand.

Here is an example from Nationwide Children’s Hospital of how this can be done well. This trend includes a specific song and the creator making a sort of this or that game on the screen. These types of gamification trends are a prime opportunity to create engagement with the audience and explore new ways to convey information. They have used this trend to create a fun, educational video on when to go to urgent care vs. the emergency room. This is not only helpful and vital information, but they also delivered it in a way that was native to the platform, fun to watch, and they did the trend correctly (which is arguably the most important!).

How to use TikTok for cross-promotion

Short-form video does not and should not solely be used for TikTok. Especially if you are already creating content, brands should leverage their content on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. The audiences on these platforms tend to be different from one another, so we recommend tracking the content that does best on each and delegating your content accordingly. Be sure to pay attention to platform culture and content length restrictions when delegating to get the most out of your content. For more information on cross-platform promotion, check out this blog post!

Short-form video platforms, specifically TikTok, can be the answer to the restrictions that the healthcare industry has traditionally had with other marketing mediums. Though there will always be advertising limitations, the culture of TikTok gives brands the flexibility to be a bit less sterile and have a bit more fun.

The post How Your Doctor is Leveraging TikTok Healthcare Marketing appeared first on NoGood™: Growth Marketing Agency.

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This gives them a lot of visibility to their large audience of over 2 billion monthly users. TikTok, on the other hand, has over 1 billion monthly users.

What are the key differences between other short-form video platforms and YouTube Shorts?

1. Built-in audience

YouTube Shorts is part of YouTube, which has over 2 billion active users each month, making it a major advantage. This means that Shorts creators have access to a built-in audience that they can potentially reach with their content from the get-go. YouTube creators can reach a worldwide audience because the platform has users from different regions and languages.

2. Monetization options

YouTube offers various methods for creators to monetize their shorts content. These include ads, channel memberships, Super Chat, and Super Stickers. This gives creators more flexibility and control over how they earn money from their Shorts. In the past, YouTube has been known for giving creators more freedom to make money. This attracts creators who already have a following on another app and want more flexibility.

3. Licensed music library

YouTube Shorts also offers a licensed music library of over 250,000 songs that creators can use in their videos. This is a major advantage compared to other short video platforms. Many of them have stricter rules for using music or limited music choices for creators. We have all been there where we try to find a song on another platform, and it doesn’t have it, or you’re unable to use it due to licensing. YouTube Shorts really said “that is not cash money at all”.

4. Searchability

Shorts are easy to find on YouTube. They show up on the homepage, in search results, and in the Shorts tab. This makes them more discoverable and searchable than other platforms. YouTube is easier to optimize for discoverability compared to other platforms with complex SEO structures.

YouTube Shorts is a great platform for creators as it provides a clear path to success. Not to mention, YouTube has much more experience serving the right content to the right audience. 

How to Start Creating YouTube Shorts

Obviously, in order to create YouTube Shorts, you must first create a YouTube channel. However, there are two ways you can go about creating content for this platform.

1. Creating in the platform

To start creating Shorts using the YouTube app, you’ll need to enable the Shorts camera feature. To do this, go to the YouTube app on your phone, tap the “+” icon, and select “Create a Short.” Use the Shorts camera to record your videos, keeping in mind that Shorts are limited to 60 seconds. You can record multiple clips and stitch them together later if needed.

Then, use the editing tools in the Shorts camera to add filters, text, music, and other effects to your videos. Once you’re happy, upload YouTube Shorts to your channel by selecting the “Upload” button on the Shorts creation screen. Here is where you can add a title, description, and thumbnail to make the video more inviting to watch and searchable. 

2. Uploading videos created off the platform

If you already have a presence on another short-form video platform, you can easily download those videos (without the watermark of course) and repurpose them on YouTube Shorts.

You will notice that the audience may be a bit different from your previous platform, so you will want to experiment with what content works best and then be more selective with what you bring over. 

Best Practices for Creating YouTube Shorts

1. Use eye-catching thumbnails

Thumbnails are the first thing viewers see before they decide to watch your video. Make sure your thumbnail stands out and clearly conveys what your video is about. Use bold colors, clear fonts, and high-quality images to make your thumbnail eye-catching.

YouTube is usually a more click-bait platform so feel free to use dramatic titles and images to entice people to watch. Don’t forget, the thumbnail and the caption are two different areas to maximize SEO. You can use a different title on both to convey different messages.

For example, the title might be “Three Reasons NoGood is SoGood” and the Thumbnail might say “Check Out the Best Marketing Agency in the WORLD”. I would for sure watch that video. 

2. Utilize trending topics

YouTube trending topics and delivery methods are going to look different from what is trending on other platforms. Pay attention to what content is doing well and what content you are seeing on the homepage.  Like any other social media platform, timeliness is on your side. Being one of the first to discuss a big event, news release, or new products in your niche boosts viewership. One of my first viral videos was when I found out Betty White died. Horrible day. 

3. Create engaging and unique content

Like any platform, your content is the cornerstone of your success. If you create engaging, entertaining content that provides your audience value, that will win over any strategy.

This value can be through your delivery method, camera presence, or the actual topic of the video. Approach this content like you would any other platform. Does your content provide entertainment, motivation, or education in some way?

4. Engage with your audience

Respond to comments, ask for feedback, and encourage viewers to like and share your videos. To understand what your community wants, pay attention to what they like and talk to them about it. Take advantage of the captions and the comment section to ask questions, poll your audience, etc. 

How to Monetize Your YouTube Shorts

To get paid with YouTube shorts, you need to join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). To be eligible for the YPP, you need to meet the following requirements:

Either…

1. Have at least 1,000 subscribers
2. Have at least 4,000 watch hours in the past 12 months

OR

1. At least 1000 people subscribe to your channel
2. Gain 10 million public Shorts views in the last 90 days.

Once you meet these requirements, you can apply to join the YPP and monetize your YouTube shorts.

To monetize your YouTube shorts, you need to enable ads on your videos. You can do this in your YouTube Studio dashboard by selecting “monetization” and then turning on the “shorts” option.

 How much you earn depends on factors like ad length, format, and viewer location. YouTube pays creators a portion of the revenue generated from ads shown on their videos, and the amount can range from $0.01 to $0.05 per view. This means that for 1 million views, a creator can earn anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000, although this is just an estimate and the actual earnings will vary.

How to Create on YouTube Shorts, TikTok, AND Instagram Reels

How can brands make short videos for different platforms without using too many resources and still being strategic? If you are creating for one platform, there is no reason you shouldn’t be using that content on other platforms.

It’s best to start with a primary platform for your content plan and then repurpose that content for posting and experimentation on other platforms. For example, if you are already creating on TikTok, either save the raw file of the video or download them from TikTok using a tool like Musicaldown, and repost them on YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and even Facebook Reels and Pinterest.

You will quickly learn what content does best on each platform, and you can then strategically decide which videos you choose to repurpose where. Additionally, you can play around with hooks and editing styles on each platform to determine what each audience engages with. A listicle video that uses a greenscreen may work on TikTok, but that same list in a vlog form showing the different items may work better on YouTube. 

Should You Create YouTube Shorts?

Absolutely, especially if you are already creating content on other platforms. YouTube is a proven platform with enough history to know what they are doing in terms of the algorithm and monetization standpoint. In any case, it is wise to have a multi-platform presence for any brand to best build a community and have multiple channels for audience reach.

If you need help producing short-form videos that enhance your brand presence and add value to your marketing strategy, we are here to help.

The post YouTube Shorts Guide: Creating Viral Content appeared first on NoGood™: Growth Marketing Agency.

What is a content creator?

A content creator is anyone who is creating “content”, or anything that contains information, through any media or channel. Now that is quite broad, so let’s break it down. This usually means they write blogs, produce audio, design graphics, or create videos that entertain or educate in some type of way and they share that information through a digital platform such as a blog, social media platform, or streaming service. However, this does not necessarily mean they have an audience.

What is an influencer?

An influencer is someone who not only creates some type of content but also has a somewhat large audience that they have sway over and can therefore influence them to take action such as make a purchase, etc. These influencers have built online communities that know, like, and trust them, so much so that if they feature a brand or a product, they can persuade their audience to convert and support the brand. So yes, they do create content, but they also have an audience to promote that content to — and their hottest commodity is their reach and audience.

However, having an audience is not the only value.

How to Use a Content Creator vs. an Influencer

When planning your digital marketing strategy, both content creators and influencers have separate but important purposes.

How to Use Content Creators

Content creators can be used in several different capacities, particularly on social channels. However, any work done with a content creator is intended to be used on your own platforms whether that be your socials, blog, or other channels.

1. As a Consistent Brand Face/Representative 

As a brand you can hire a content creator to make content on a regular basis for your social channels. This person acts as a face/liaison for your brand and your community. A good example of this is Erin Confortini who is now the primary creator for Ditch.io. This is a great way to have someone who is authentically connected with the brand act as a voice to your audience online. This also allows the creator to have more interaction with the community and understand their needs, language, and culture more.

2. As a UGC Creator

Content creators are also there when you need a few pieces of content to fill out your

content schedule or ad campaigns. You may have a few creators creating a couple of pieces of content a month to put on your social channels, or you may have them create a few ads for your next campaign. Either way, this interaction usually includes a brief and someone managing that creator and the overall strategy.

How to Use Influencers

Remember, influencers are technically content creators as well. Therefore you can work with them in the above capacities, but you can also take advantage of their audiences through influencer partnerships.

An influencer partnership refers to a collaborative relationship between a brand and an influencer. It involves working together to create and promote content that aligns with the brand’s objectives and resonates with the influencer’s audience (both of which are important for success!).

In an influencer partnership, the brand typically engages an influencer who has a significant following and influence within a specific niche or industry. The partnership can take various forms, depending on the goals and preferences of both parties. This can include:

1. Sponsored Content

The brand pays the influencer to create and promote content that features or highlights

the brand’s products, services, or campaigns. This can be in the form of social media

posts, blog articles, videos, or other types of content that the influencer specializes in.

2. Product Reviews and Endorsements

This is when the brand sends the influencers their products to test and use and the influencer then shares their honest opinions, feedback, and recommendations with their audience, potentially driving awareness and interest in the brand.

Example: Influencer Emily Leah was gifted these pieces from Abercrombie and she created this video showing the pieces.

3. Brand Ambassadorships

In a long-term partnership, the influencer becomes a brand ambassador, representing and promoting the brand on an ongoing basis. They may create content, participate in events, and act as a spokesperson for the brand within their niche. This is great for influencers that you have consistently worked with in the past and/or are already connected in your community.

4. Affiliate Marketing

This is when the influencer shares trackable affiliate links or discount codes with their audience. When their followers make a purchase using these links or codes, the influencer earns a commission or receives some form of compensation from the brand. This can be the only term in the partnership agreement or it can be in addition to a sponsorship.

An effective influencer partnership leverages the influencer’s credibility, authenticity, and rapport with their audience to promote the brand’s message, products, or services. It is important for the partnership to be transparent and aligned with both the influencer’s and the brand’s values and goals, so we encourage you to provide a detailed brief but allow creative freedom since the influencer knows their audience best.

How to Find Creators to Work With

Ready to launch some content? Here is how you find the right content creator or influencer for your brand.

You can find content creators through agencies, outbound research, the TikTok Creator Marketplace, or posting opportunity on job boards or casting sites. A few important factors to consider when choosing a content creator…

1. Does their voice and delivery style match the brand voice?

Finding a content creator that fits your brand is similar to casting for a role. They are acting as a representation of your brand, so the way their voice should match or compliment the brand’s in some way. For example, if your brand is much more serious and informative, a sarcastic creator probably isn’t the way to go.

2. Do they reflect your audience or someone they would listen to? 

The creator doesn’t need to perfectly match your audience but they should make sense. If you are a brand focused on mothers, a young creator with no children won’t be able to speak to that audience in the same way another creator would.

3. What is their creation range?

Content comes in all shapes and sizes. Video creation can mean comedic sketches, informative videos, or even trending sounds. Blog writing could be educational, sarcastic, satirical, etc. You may want someone who specializes in the comedic space, or you may need someone more well-rounded.

NoGood has a team of internal creators and a network of creator partners we work with to create the best content for your brand. If you are looking for a content creation partner, you came to the right place.

How to Find Influencers to Work With

Again, influencers can be found in similar ways as content creators through agencies or by reaching out individually to the creator. All of the factors for a content creator apply, but you have to think of some other factors as well when you are engaging in an influencer partnership that involves their audience.

1. Do they have an engaged audience?

Follower count does not necessarily mean a loyal following. Someone with 1M followers may not have the influence to action that someone with 100K could have. This can be measured through the creator’s engagement rate and through a qualitative analysis of their account.

2. Do they have experience promoting a brand before?

Though not a necessary requirement, taking a look at previous collaborations or brand features they have done will give you an idea of how their audience reacts to them and what could be a key to your collaboration being successful.

Including the factors mentioned for the content creator, will give you a good idea of whether or not this influencer is a good fit for your brand.

As you are looking into your influencer marketing strategy, we highly recommend engaging multiple influencers at a time for your campaign in order to maximize how many people your brand is exposed to and the potential for them to hear about you more than once.

And of course, if you need help launching your influencer marketing campaign — we’ve got your back.

So, Can a Content Creator Be an Influencer?

Yes, a content creator can be an influencer. However, not every content creator is an influencer. It’s worth noting that many content creators do build a following because they are good at creating content, so don’t write off an influencer if you are looking for someone to create content for your channels.

As you are building your digital strategy, remember to consider what kind of partnership you are looking for and what creator would best represent your brand. There are many ways to engage with creators whether it be as a brand ambassador, on a sponsored post, or to regularly create content for your brand’s channels. The most important key to success is ensuring the content is authentic and provides connection between your brand and your audience.

The post What is the Difference Between a Content Creator and an Influencer? appeared first on NoGood™: Growth Marketing Agency.

First of all… What is “content”

First, what is digital content?

Content encompasses any materials created for the means of sharing, educating, or engaging. These could be blogs, social posts, ebooks, videos, podcasts, brochures, quizzes, newsletters, emails, case studies, memes… the list goes on.

Is content marketing the same as influencer marketing?

Short answer is no… let’s explore the two.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is the creation of “content”, which includes blog posts, ebooks, podcasts, social posts, videos, or any medium of sharing information or value for the purpose of furthering brand awareness, customer outreach, and consumer engagement. The ideal life cycle for this marketing technique is a brand shares the content through its respective channels, a potential customer sees that content and finds value in it so they choose to engage with it, which could mean following the brand, liking the content, simply consuming it, ect. This starts a relationship with that customer and deepens their interest in the brand. They then see more content that the brand is putting out, and become more interested, and look into the product or how to engage further. They then purchase, become a customer, hopefully share content of their own to attract new customers thereby creating a growth loop, and so on and so forth.

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing though different from content marketing works hand in hand with your content strategy. We will go over that later in the article, but influencer marketing is the use of influencers to promote a product or service. This is typically done by the influencer creating content that they share on their respective social channels, but it can mean they create content for the brand’s social media as well (this is much more in line with content marketing however, just using their face for recognizability). Influencer marketing capitalizes on these creators already built audiences that already have trust in that creator. The audience is more likely to take action seeing their favorite influencer endorse a brand than the brand speaking about itself.

What is the difference between an influencer and content creator?

It is important to understand that all influencers are content creators, but not all content creators are influencers.

An influencer is someone who has built an audience on a certain channel, typically on social media, and can then use that audience to influence actions or interests.

A content creator is someone who creates engaging and/or entertaining content in various mediums to be used on different channels.

An influencer uses content to build their influence and therefore typically has the skills to create content for various purposes on the channels they are familiar with. However, a content creator doesn’t necessarily have an audience. In the past five or so years we have seen a rise in UGC creators, who have learned that they can make money without having an audience to influence. Brands need content to share on their channels and it is becoming more and more clear that this is a job you can’t hand to your most recent intern for you to get the results you want. There is strategy and a skillset behind it all.

What is the relationship between influencer marketing and content marketing? Differences between the two..

Purpose

The purpose of content marketing is geared to top of funnel brand awareness. The more content you are putting out that is strategically geared towards your audience’s interests, the more engaged they will be with your brand, the more trust they will have in the brand, and the more likely they are to think of your brand when they are ready to purchase and/or act on your other bottom of funnel marketing strategies. Influencer marketing can be geared to any area of the funnel with the right strategy. The point is to use the influencer’s audience to obtain your goal whether that be accounts reached (top of funnel brand awareness), traffic sent (middle of funnel action), or purchases made (bottom of funnel action), just for a few examples.

Effort

Which is easier, making the content in house or utilizing influencers to make it for you? That is really going to depend on your team size and your marketing budget. Content marketing involves ideating, creating, strategizing, and reporting learnings from just a surface level. However, don’t underestimate the time it takes to gather influencers, negotiate rates, follow up on contracts, chase the content, ensure brand guidelines, ect. when running an influencer marketing campaign. Each should work in tandem with each other to create a holistic content strategy.

Cost

Typically, content marketing costs up to 62% less than traditional marketing. Influencer marketing costs vary depending on the audience size of the influencer. Below is a chart with estimates on how much influencer content may cost for a TikTok video, but even this should be taken with a HUGE grain of salt. Influencers’ pricing varies dramatically from person to person, even if they have a similar following. You may find two influencers who have 1 million followers and one of them costs half as much. Due to limited transparency in this area and no hard industry benchmarks, having a budget range per influencer should be expected.

Benefits of Influencer Marketing

Brand Awareness

The primary benefit of influencer marketing is leveraging an audience that you don’t have to build. This is the age old word-of-mouth marketing but on a broad, digital scale. Influencers allow you to get your brand in front of a lot of eyes, and all of a sudden a whole new group of people knows that you are on the scene.

Strengthens Consumer Trust

Influencers have sway because they have spent a lot of time and energy building reliable trust in their audience (which can be measured in engagement rate and conversion rate). When you associate yourself with certain influencers, you are associating with that trust. Because their favorite influencer talked about your brand, they will trust that your brand can be relied on.

Increases Brand Reach

What is cheaper and has more impact? A billboard where you know thousands of people drive by every day, or a TikTok video with an influencer that has a minimum of 500,000 video views per video? Now think if you partner with multiple influencers with varying but slightly overlapping audiences? All of a sudden your consumer pool just got a whole lot bigger, and your name is all over their feed.

Boosts ROI

On average, for every $1 they invest in influencer marketing businesses generate $6.50 of revenue. Think of them as mass sales agents who have not only the ability to persuade, but authentic relationships built with thousands of potential customers.

Helps with SEO

Influencer marketing is an efficient way to drive website traffic and create quality backlinks that then lead to qualified leads and increased purchases. Influencers can share your website link through their own link in bio, their stories, or even their email lists.

Benefits of Content Marketing

Increased brand credibility

Content is not only King, it’s currency. Through content you can build a meaningful relationship with your consumers, and express your brand’s values, thoughts, educational materials, and messaging. When a consumer is learning about your brand, they are headed straight for your social channels, your blog, and your digital presence to make the first judgment.

Improved customer relationship

Your social media in particular is like a giant focus group. Here you can not only share your product and talk about what’s important to you, but you have a tool to listen to what is important to your customer. Bring them in on your next launch by doing polls on Instagram stories, or create videos where they learn their [Brand Name Here] horoscope and comment their results. You can comment back to them and open a dialogue that could give you insights to drive your next efforts. This allows your consumer base to see you as not only a resource, but a friend.

Positioning your brand as an expert

Content marketing gives you the vessel to share your brand expertise and educational insights. If you are the one teaching about your industry, who will your audience trust to create a product related to that problem?

Generate website traffic

Every piece of content you create is another opportunity to drive people to your website. You can link directly in your content and in the bio’s of your social channels, creating tens, hundreds, thousands of pathways back to your website.

Can be used across all platforms

Content is not like a disposable paper towel. Each idea, each piece of content should be rinsed and repeated on multiple platforms. This not only reduces workload and idea exhaustion, but it creates multiple touch points for your consumers to hear your message.

How to use them together

Content marketing and influencer marketing are 2 sides of the same coin and the two strategies can work hand in hand to achieve your marketing goals.

First of all, understand what to use each for. Influencer marketing should be used to reach large and new audiences. Content marketing should be used to achieve audience trust and build brand credibility. Therefore, you can implement your content marketing strategy through your various channels while running an influencer campaign to reach new audiences. Additionally, brands can partner with these creators to obtain a bank of content to be used on their various socials and in digital advertising.

Both of these strategies serve as a means to ultimately get potential customers to your website. Your website is the center and each social channel and influencer partnership is a road to get there. Content in any regard is the ultimate currency for potential customers’ attention, and it can be used in multiple ways and across multiple channels.

If you are looking for help building out your content marketing and/or your influencer marketing strategy, here is a good place to start.

The post Content Marketing vs Influencer Marketing: How To Effectively Use Them Together appeared first on NoGood™: Growth Marketing Agency.

What is #deinfluencing

Deinfluencing is a movement meant to combat mass consumerism and irresponsible buying. We have seen products become popular over the years or trends spread across nations (if someone brings back the layered tank tops of 2009 I will personally find you), but TikTok has created a new meaning to the word “trend”. Products that go viral on that platform have a completely different kind of surge.

For example, Poppi Prebiotic Soda took to TikTok pretty early in the game and now has a following of over 250K and has gained almost 3 million likes on the platform. The brand “estimates that its digital marketing efforts in total are driving an 80% lift in offline sales, and that TikTok accounts for roughly 30% to 40% of that lift, based on other industry data the brand has seen.”

We have seen products like the Ugg minis, Charlotte Tilbury Highlighter Wands, Supergoop sunscreen, and many many more that have spread across the platform like wildfire driving thousands of dollars in sales.

However, this then created a problem.

The generation that fuels TikTok and heavily dictated the success of these products is now turning around and realizing the consequences of these mass trends. Consumers are bringing to light the overconsumption, irresponsible spending, and unsustainable habits that come from influencer after influencer pushing these products.

Below are some examples of these videos, but in a nutshell, the creator will “deinfluence” you to stop buying a popular product just because everyone is buying/talking about it. In @christina.mychas‘s video where she outlines products she stopped buying, Christina explains that she “bought those things purely to keep up”. 

The trend is meant to encourage people to stop and think before they make purchases. Though some creators are going in on products, the majority are not bashing these companies but rather explaining that not everything is for everyone.

Is this the end of influencer marketing?

Absolutely not – this is merely the newest evolution of what influencing means. There are a couple of things to note when we analyze this trend…

1. INFLUENCERS are also participating in this. Influence is influence, no matter what action you are prompting. The creators who are keeping up with their community and who understand the need for authenticity will use this as another means of connection.
2. If you watch some of these videos, they are turning more into “not that, but this” style, where the creator is essentially giving dupes for well-known and popular products. So really there is still a push to buy something, just from an angle of giving a true opinion rather than hopping on a bandwagon.

How should brands use Deinfluencing in their strategy?

If we take a wide lens to the marketing landscape, the deinfluencing trend was inevitable. Americus Reed II, marketing professor at Wharton, explained to Huffington Post, “What we often see in marketing, which is deeply integrated with pop culture, is a constant pendulum of trend and counter trend; an ebb and flow such that when one consumer sentiment goes extreme, there’s a natural course correction to move the other way and towards the ‘middle’”.

The information being given through this trend is gold in terms of consumer insights. As Madison Potter points out, “Deinfluencing is unique in the way that creators are directly telling brands there’s a lack of trust. It’s a chance for brands to listen to consumers and adjust their marketing efforts.”

So here are the three moves brands can make using these new insights…

1. Adjusting Ad Copy

You heard them! Pushy sales messaging that is impersonal and ingenuine isn’t going to drive any significant action. Consumers are looking for brands with personality, with a clear voices, and who pull back the curtain to speak directly to them, not at them. Don’t be scared to show your funny side or even dabble in some self-deprecating humor. Being able to understand your flaws is humanizing and will ultimately gain consumer trust, and therefore consumer loyalty.

2. Rethink Your Influencer Strategy

Pay close attention to the influencers you choose to partner with and how you are communicating with them on how to showcase your product. Are you paying attention to influencers who have organically talked about your product before? Does that influencer speak and deliver in a way that aligns with your brand voice? Does your creative brief give the influencer creative freedom so they can present your product in a language that is best for their audience? Like we said, influencing is not dead. Mass consumption is.

3. Invest in Community Engagement and Management

Your community strategy directly feeds into your growth and sales. Think about how you use your external channels (social, email, push) to engage your audience, and ensure you maintain a strong connection with them. If you are shouting to the masses and are not listening to their feedback, you will have no idea what their latest sentiments are, what trends they follow, what jokes will resonate, etc. All of this feeds into your ad copy, website copy, sales messaging, and more.

Hopefully, we have #deinfluenced you from thinking that influencing is dead. This is an extraordinary opportunity in terms of consumer insights for brands, and those who take the time to understand their community strategy will rise above the others.

The post Deinfluencing: Is This the End of Influencer Marketing? appeared first on NoGood™: Growth Marketing Agency.