5 December 2020
13 Min Read
Or branded content is high-quality journalism now
If you didn’t hear about the credibility crisis towards large institutions, media sources, and even financial giants, it seems you didn’t have a deep dive into the decentralization world. The more large corporations fail, the more credibility those voices that sound quieter but own preciseness and their tone have.
Today we will talk specifically about this. How a growing number of projects “search for” and create their identity using something called brand journalism. How we get more new players, and how projects with various directions start to push their news policy. And how they bring to heel the most diverse transmission facilities, values, and products from social media to fully-featured media.
The most essential thing to discuss is why it’s a great opportunity and an open field for crypto projects of all shades.
What is brand journalism?
First of all, let’s deal with this strange hybrid creature, the constituent parts of which, are still at a trans-Neptunian distance from each other for many.
Brand journalism is a kind of tough mix of marketing and journalism, in which both forces become something like a brand ecosystem. That means journalism, content marketing, PR, and creatives fall into one whirlpool, giving more output.
All of this serves as a powerful foundation for incendiary, engaging content that people really want to read. By creating unique content, companies are more likely to benefit from the increased credibility that comes with authenticity.
The second large advantage: readers prefer interacting smoothly and sharing original brand content.
For instance, Red Bull is an illustrative example of brand journalism that has grown into an entire holding called Red Bull Media House. There are already enough resources for the composition of the dream – magazines, Internet radio, TV, and even music. In this way, the brand creates its own high-quality content, broadcasting its values through it. In the world of cryptocurrencies, Binance is a potential Red Bull in the world of crypto. But only potentially.
It is clear that classical journalism is based on pillars different from brand journalism. It is not only about the importance of information, but also about objectivity.
But! If you are making content for the purpose of some product and within the product values, you need to give estimates and generally be biased. That means “violating” the basic principles of journalism.
Let’s imagine that you have your own crypto project, for example, a cross-chain platform. What can you do in this case?
For example, launch your own TG channel with unique content and a tone of voice that is impossible to forget. It doesn’t matter if it’s rough, light, or a mixture of Jamaican slang. Thanks to it, everyone will know that you are the crypto beast that produces such content.
Many projects simply use Medium to report about the new products of their project, make some kind of announcement, etc.
But it is clearly not enough, because, in order to claim authority, you need more than news about your brand.
Brand journalism as a marketing feature
In recent years, effective marketing is increasingly mimicking journalism. What does it mean?
In the field of cryptocurrencies, many directions are only gathering way. For example, NFT is now on the upgrade, and this is just the beginning. If you have a project from another blockchain branch, it doesn’t mean that you need to build a wall around yourself and not talk with the audience about other directions. On the contrary, if you now share your opinion about NFT, then as time passes, having launched your own project in this area, you can already reckon on a small audience.
What is the value?
People’s perception of brands is now changing increasingly. Many users evaluate them the way they estimate other people. That means it is not always about the product, but also about values, attitude towards the audience, and, the most important thing, how much the brand involves this audience in the life of the company.
So what are the core values of brand journalism?
Let’s look:
Qualitative information created by using journalistic skills;
The brand becomes the reader’s lawyer by providing filtered, unique content;
The content is created directly within the brand (no matter it is about the brand or about something else, it is always conveyed as the “point of view” of the brand), that means there can’t be any copy-pastes;
Transparency of content in technical terms of the used sources;
A reflective look at some fields, for instance, blockchain. You do not just get some neutral fact, but you have a circumstance already analyzed by a professional opinion
Have you seen something similar in the crypto field? We haven’t so far. That means you need to hurry up because the first one to become alike the Red Bull in the crypto field will increase the audience, push the product forward, and just make a huge change in the state of affairs.
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Brand journalism in use
We’ve already mentioned one of the most illustrative examples, but Red Bull was also such an option at the limit (at that moment) that the company can reach.
How can you implement such an approach if you have a crypto project?
1. Feel free to post your opinion on social agendas and how people can influence them with crypto. Well, if you have an interesting point of view on other events around your field or beyond. Do not be afraid to trumpet about it under the guidance of the brand;
2. Grab more territory, but in range of your competence and brand values: news, IR summary for crypto projects, maybe NFT games, and their impact on the economy;
3. Talk to the audience about everything, not focusing on the crypto, but also don’t forget that you are speaking on behalf of the core crypto project.
There are many channels for communication: Telegram for educational content, Medium for long reads. Few crypto projects use Instagram today. Good visual and valuable content on this platform will work for you like hot cakes.
Summary
The goal of content marketing is to give a specific value to readers, but brand journalism is much more complicated. Yes, it includes the goals of content marketing too. In some sense, if you have already taken up this juggernaut, then it should bring to heel content marketing too.
Brand journalism takes aim at far-reaching consequences. It needs to make a serious impact on the audience and fix in people’s minds something like “we are not just an NFT game, but we can also talk about social or tell you a cool story about how our ecosystem helped a thousand lucky ones to grow rich”
Well, now think about that it’s an open niche, that nobody has even come close to breaking out. If you can interest the audience in this way, you may think that you have loyal brand advocates, who will help to raise the round.
Are you ready to take on such a prospect?