Brand publishing doesn’t just drive traffic and boost search rankings — it can also advance your business model and increase operational efficiency.
As marketers may know,
the primary purpose of publishing digital content is to increase online visibilityand interest in your brand via organic channels like search engines and social media.However, as the
the practice of content marketinghas become more sophisticated in response to an increasingly nuanced and complex digital landscape, an additional, somewhat unexpected strategic benefit has emerged: intelligent brand publishing fuels operational advancement and growth.Historically speaking, success has been measured based on concrete performance metrics: site traffic, keyword rankings, conversions, and of course, new customers.These KPIs are obviously all still important. However, here’s why some of the brand publishing’s less tangible benefits are arguably just as valuable.
Evolving Your Business Through Creative Output
Ask any musician, athlete, or
Malcolm Gladwell — when it comes to driving improvement and growth, practice is the only non-negotiable ingredient.For businesses, brand publishing represents a form of this kind of deliberate practice, insofar as it represents a continual attempt to articulate complex ideas and solutions. This in turn helps generate operational improvements. Of course, this is somewhat difficult to measure, but that doesn’t make it any less true.For example, regular blog publishing not only keeps you up-to-date on industry news and trends, but can actually help your team discover new best practices and skill sets, which could ultimately yield new, monetizable services and capabilities.Moreover, getting a complex idea out of your head — i.e., ”how net neutrality is going to affect your business,” — instantly becomes a sales and/or networking asset.Chances are you’re going to refer back to that article in every related conversation you have going forward. Its very existence is hard proof of your expertise on a given subject, in that you’ve taken the time to conduct research and think through the problem.Related:
How to Design a B2B Website That Generates Real Results Why Perpetual Branding Is Smarter Than a Static Approach
Another thing I’ve noticed is that a majority of companies still invest a lot of time and energy into trying to develop their brand before putting it online. In an increasingly fluid and fast-paced online environment, this may no longer be the optimal approach.I’d argue that it’s actually better to brainstorm, talk, and try things out in perpetuity, publishing everything you come up with as you go — in other words, be completely transparent.When you work through the process of
defining your brandpublicly, you’ll eventually get to a point where you’ve organically rebranded without really anything really changing at all.Rebrands are expensive and have a relatively short shelf life. The moment you launch a new, static brand is the moment it starts becoming obsolete. Digital trends move too quickly for this to be a lucrative model.When your brand strategy is a living, breathing entity, it evolves with your business — and relevant trends — in real time. It becomes proactive rather than reactive. It’s easy to see how this approach, compared to static branding, generates far more value in both the long and short term.
