Why Content Quality Is Important For Franchise Websites
What is Content and Why Does it Matter?
We see it every day. It grabs our attention, influences our decision-making, and shapes our world. But what exactly is “content” and why is it important for franchise websites? Let us explain: content is a broad term that generally refers to any type of information provided by a website or other digital format, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Well-made, strategic content tells the story of your brand and conveys meaningful and insightful messages about your vision and culture. It can attract, engage, and retain an audience, and promote brand awareness. It’s no understatement to say content is one of the most valuable assets in a company to build strong relationships with your target audience. Ultimately, that means more money coming in for your business.
So what are some forms of content marketing? Many you already know: websites, articles, blogs, newsletters, social media posts, emails, videos – the list goes on. The world of content marketing is constantly evolving, making it one of the most exciting times for businesses to get innovative about reaching their target audience and attracting new customers. But it has to be done right. To get started with content marketing, it’s important for businesses to identify who they want to reach, determine the right format to reach that audience, and then follow a strategic plan to carry it out.
When done right, effective content marketing can have incredible results that give brands a competitive advantage. According to Demand Metric, businesses with blogs receive nearly 70% more leads than other companies. Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing, and 80% of people appreciate learning about a company through custom content. There’s just no better – and cheaper – way to reach customers in the digital age than an effective content marketing campaign.
Creating Quality Content for Franchise Websites
Brand Journalists is the premiere franchise content marketing agency in the industry, which has helped countless businesses boost their visibility and attract quality franchise owners. Our content development has generated more leads by focusing on quality content delivered in an intentional, strategic campaign. Let’s dive deeper.
“The goal of content marketing is not to create content you can consume in 30 seconds or less,” says Thomas Scott, CEO and founder of Brand Journalists. “It’s really to get somebody to slow down and think thoughtfully about what this choice is that they want to make as a franchise owner.”
SEO Content
SEO, or search engine optimization, is one of the most effective content marketing strategies out there, but creating quality content that resonates with readers is no easy task. In short, SEO is the process of getting traffic from search engines, but the true skill is making sure your content appears at the top of search result pages. Put simply: your brand needs to be seen, and when done right, effective SEO puts your brand at the top of the list.
To a reader, SEO content may seem like web copy or blogs, but in fact are highly researched and well-thought out strategies to direct users to and through a website. What’s more, to make quality content, it not only depends on unique wording and keyword use, it also depends on fitting Google’s algorithms. Just for example: Google prefers to rank blogs around 1,000 words higher than blogs with 500 words, which is why when searching for a recipe online, you have to scroll past someone’s life story before finding the actual recipe. Our content writers are experts at the ins and outs of SEO to make sure you rise above the rest.
“SEO is not about rankings, links, landing pages, or programming tricks. SEO is about following Google’s core mission (because people use Google far more than other search engines): to deliver the most relevant results to people searching for information,” Scott says. “But making effective use of SEO today is not just being found, that’s step one. It’s also about providing content that your customers want to read — content that reads like a magazine article rather than a medical journal.”
Video content
Let’s face it: we’re at a point in society now when people, for the most part, would much rather watch something than read about it. That’s why effective, engaging, and interesting video content is so important. Indeed, one study found videos are shared 12 times more than links and text posts combined. And effective video marketing doesn’t even have to be complicated: it can be a 30 second video posted on social media, or even a short GIF.
Brand Journalists has a team of professional storytellers that create compelling videos about your brand, which has proven to expand your website’s reach and resonate with potential franchise candidates. More than anything, video content gives your brand a voice and strikes users in ways that text simply cannot. It’s why video marketing has become a critical part of any business’s franchise system.
“Prospective franchise owners love documentary video because it gives them the most amount of information in the shortest amount of time and creates a deep emotional connection with a brand,” Scott says.
Podcasts
It’s all the rage: podcasts. But podcasts have also broken into content marketing as an effective platform that engages users. Considered a lesser known type of content marketing, podcasts can still be of great use to a strong franchise brand. People simply like to hear executives talking about their business or current franchisees explain what it’s like to run a franchise.
Brand Journalists is fully equipped to facilitate podcast creation. Instead of having to invest in all the tools and researching content to talk about, Brand Journalists does all the work. You just have to show up and tell your story! And the best part? Podcast creation is far more affordable than other forms of marketing.
“At Brand Journalists, our goal in everything we do is to get entrepreneurs to engage with your brand’s story on an emotional, gut level, and there’s no better tool for that than a podcast,” Scott says. “Podcasts allow subject matter experts, brand presidents, or even enthusiastic franchisees to share their experiences in a personal, relatable manner.”
Experts in Content Quality
Brand Journalists is the premier franchise marketing agency that helps franchise brands with quality content in SEO content marketing, video production, podcasts, and more. Since Brand Journalists was founded in 2008, we’ve worked with more than 180 franchise brands to help them grow and expand their footprint across the U.S. In doing so, we’ve helped recruit more than 10,000 new franchisees! Our highly specialized team are experts when it comes to working with individual plans to come up with a content marketing strategy that is right for you. And, in doing so, spread the story of your brand to thousands of potential franchise owners. To learn more, make a request for more information here.