I have been sitting on some thoughts about how content works within your overall brand and economics of your business.

I have feared diving into this topic that seems vague and not quantifiable - brand.

Who doesn't want to see one dollar go out and ten dollars come back in?

But not all investments are direct response plays that have an immediate reaction.

This is also true when comes to brand marketing.

Just because you won't see an exact response today, does not mean the content doesn't convert or isn't valuable.

I fear many companies are focused on direct response, paid media without stepping back and building the brand story.

I made a terrible drawing the other day, but the sentiment still stands.

If you build a brand and story, you won't be afraid of ad performance.

Now I am not saying throw out all of your mechanics of paid media or that paid media is bad.

You need paid media.

But you also need so much more outside of those ads.

That's what I want us to think about today.

1. Education

We squeeze the viewer into buying in the urge to want to convert at a higher rate.

So even though you lowered your customer acquisition cost, was it worth it in the long run?

People are willing to skip critical parts of educating the customer about the product in a rush to get the conversion.

This creates a bad expectation for the customer.

The person buys from your company, but doesn't like the product or is not passionate about the product.

You got the sale, but they never come back.

A strong company is one that can RETAIN customers not just get new ones.

Many companies are focused on getting new customers because they have a leaking bucket with many customers not coming back after the first purchase.

Retention marketing is not easy, but education will help.

For people coming to see your product for the first time, you need to explain to them why your product can help them or what makes this product different.

Most companies do this - where many companies fail is to give deeper insights on their product.

Once you buy once, you don't need the periphery education. You already know the basics.

You need something more that will capture your attention.

Brands need to invest in long-form content in video, audio, and writing formats.

The reason why brands don't invest in that type of content is that organic content takes a long time to build and can be expensive upfront.

But wouldn't you rather keep the customers you have versus trying to get new ones? 

Educational content can help raise the lifetime value of a customer by increasing retention.

To be honest, the customers that stay on longer will be more inclined to share with friends who also will also have a good lifetime value.

Oh, by the way, all this great educational content is organic and public which will help people learn about your product, therefore, lowering your customer acquisition.

I know I am dumbing down the numbers and complexities here, but my point is simple.

To invest in brand and build a brand that will be healthy and attractive to people, you need great education.

2. Emotional lifestyle content

Let's stop thinking directly about your product for a second.

Who is buying your product?

Where are they using your product?

How are your ideal customers using your product?

What should the customers feel when they use their product?

What do you want your customers to imagine when thinking about your product?

Websites that convert customers are not only ones that educate them on the product, but also make them feel something emotionally to buy.

We all know that we buy emotionally and then rationalize with facts and data.

The emotion we feel or the story we imagine - THAT IS BRAND!

You need imagery that is going to make people feel something about your product.

You want videos that take people to another world.

The customer probably will eat your protein bar or sip your fancy drink while working from home, but make them believe that they will be on an epic hike or on the beach with friends.

Take a second to know the story you want to tell and then look at your content.

Do you have the lifestyle content that will attract people to your brand and connect with them with emotions and stories?