2. Brands Are People Too

The goal of good content strategy is for your communication not to feel like marketing. An organic initiative allows your audience to develop a human relationship with your brand. In order to foster this, you must begin to think of your brand as a person. I’m not suggesting we go through the “what car does your brand drive” sorts of agency stuff. Instead, think about how you make friends. Sure there may be some element of getting to know someone where you are explicitly asking them about their background and what tree they are, but it’s more likely that you’ve warmed up to people through the development of an implicit familiarity.

One of the easiest ways to get a sense of someone is to learn what they care about. These doesn’t need to be humanitarian causes – if you see someone reading a book about falconry on the train, you immediately start to get a picture of what they might be about. In that same way, deciding the things – beyond your brand itself – that your brand cares about, lays the foundation of a good content strategy.

The second layer to this is for each issue to establish a take. This is a bit of nuance that speaks volumes about the attitude and values you wish for people to associate with you. Take something as seemingly universal as dogs. Even within those who are pro-dog, the exact take on why you like them varies tremendously from one brand to another. It’s taking the time and mustering the bravery to develop a distinct take that draws the appropriate people to your brand and convinces them that your brand is someone they relate to.