If you’ve already broken your New Year’s resolutions, you’re not alone: research shows that 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by the beginning of February, with only 9% of people seeing their resolutions through. Whether it’s a personal or professional goal, one thing is certain for success: consistent action backing the motivation.  

 The marketplace is heavily saturated with hundreds of brands vying for a consumer’s attention. For a motivated advertiser to stand out meaningfully, an actionable investment must be made into branded content. Graduating from a trend, branded content has solidified itself as a major player in the media landscape. In the wake of a global pandemic and social justice movements disrupting advertising as we know it, we saw an increase in spending on branded content and influencer initiatives given its powerful ability to connect and build consumer trust.  

 So, how do brands maintain this nine-percenter status and stay the course with such an important marketing tactic? Here are four common pitfalls to avoid in order to ensure your brand breaks through the clutter and secures a branded content win: 

 Not continuing the investment. 

Consumer media behaviors are evolving, making the muting, and skipping of messaging more convenient. To deprioritize branded content would mean an incomplete marketing mix, missing out on key opportunities to build upon traditional messaging via authentic, non-interruptive experiences that audiences choose to engage with. 

 “I” mentality. 

The power of branded content is that it begins with a rephrased question: not, “what must we as a brand say about ourselves?” but, “what are the needs, wants, and passions of our consumer?” Only then can consumers connect to brands’ relevant propositions, values, and truths in an organic and meaningful way. 

 Needing to get it perfect. 

Branded content isn’t about perfection but authenticity. 90% of millennials say that brand authenticity is key when making purchasing decisions. Leave the overly polished pieces for traditional messaging and stick with fostering genuine connections within your branded content.  

 Electing for the hard sell over culturally connected stories. 

Brands that connect to culture and communities with intentionality succeed in building lasting consumer relationships that ultimately drive brand loyalty. 

Let this New Year be a perfect time to make a change and freshen up those investment tactics. Just remember the not-to-dos that can help keep your brand on the right side of the resolution statistics.   

– Kim Mercer