Earlier this week, I had a great time participating in the @ProfNet brand journalism Twitter chat. I joined journalists and PR professionals from around the world to talk about what brand journalism is and how it’s affecting traditional journalism. See a summary of the chat on ProfNet. I’ve compiled the following key themes that we discussed.
What is brand journalism?
- Stories written by the brand – about the brand and its industry
- Content that increases awareness, promotes and educates about a brand
How does brand journalism differ from content marketing & native ads?
- It’s a subset of content & marketing – the storytelling piece
- It’s controlled content
What skills are key to creating effective brand journalism?
- Writing in news style
- Being transparent
- Grabbing the reader’s attention and holding it
- Researching to get a good understanding of audience
- Speaking in the brand “voice”
- Reporting
What’s something most companies do wrong when it comes to brand journalism?
- Overestimating audience interest in their brand
- Not asking, “Why would they care about this?”
- Too much self-promoting
- Selling in any way
- Controlling the message too tightly
Examples of good brand journalism:
- Red Bull’s Red Bulletin
- American Red Cross and other disaster nonprofits
- Forbes BrandVoice
- GE
I hope this chat highlights some areas you may not have considered when it comes to brand journalism. Many thanks to ProfNet for including me in this discussion!