Evolving Growth of Branded Content on the Web

Content on the web is what drives brands’ awareness and reputation. Using well-placed hyperlinked keywords and content written on what readers are searching for can do wonders for a brand’s online search rankings, brand mentions and more. And when that content is matched with excellent social media marketing work and geo-targeted distribution channels, greater levels of brand engagement and awareness can be achieved.

Recent articles in TechCrunch and Mashable have highlighted new firms that are helping to grow a new category of businesses that work with content.

The web firm Contently was recently profiled by Mashable. In a clip, one of the co-founders described how there exists a void for brands who need content, and writers and journalists who can create content but lack either the sales skills of business savvy to freelance with the brands. Like Mint Social, Contently is using a project management system to help organize brand requests and strategies for content and freelancers who create the content.

Mashable wrote:
“Contently is a platform that connects brands seeking content with writers who can produce it. Writers are vetted through a series of edit tests and are paid competitive rates, based on the amount of research, interviews and expertise required to produce a post, and they build a portfolio on Contently to see how their posts perform and where they get distributed. Brands come on board because they want to create content, but lack the resources to do it in house.”

While Contently is aimed at producing new, original content for brands, a different tack is being taken by Hearsay Social, a well-funded ($21 million) venture. Hearsay Social describes itself as a ‘content exchange’ for business and local content. Social media pros working to feed their streams on a daily basis will be able to source and use brand-relevant content to distribute on behalf of their branded clients.

On Hearsay Social’s site, its exchange is described as …”content curation platform that allows marketers and salespeople to easily discover, curate, and post engaging updates to their profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+. Content Exchange empowers administrators to pull content from any RSS feed and input pieces of relevant content directly into the Hearsay social content library for local distribution.”

Techcrunch profiled Hearsay Social and wrote:
“Hearsay Social customers can now go to the Content Exchange and browse articles, photos, and videos, based on location, date, or content. If they find something that will be relevant to their customers or fans, they can add their own comments, then share it on all of their social media accounts.”

Understanding how content gets placed on the web by brands and agencies is an important subject for many of us working in social media marketing. It’s no accident that content and ads ‘follow’ you around the web and that frequently-searched content is noted and logged by advertising agencies.

Mint Social has been successful working in this environment for several years now, and it is evident that content-driven marketing is expected to grow even higher in the coming years. It’s exciting to see this continuing growth, one in which brands and content producers working together with ad targeting and social media marketing to revolutionize the way content is created and distributed on the web.