Building Authority: A Content Creators Playbook For Brands

"Wow, that company is crushing their SEO strategy"

Said no one ever. 

SEO is mostly an invisible competition between websites and companies. 99.99999% of your customers will never know or care about your website's domain authority or how many times you rank first in search results.

People do, however, see your authority, engagement, and audiences across social media. 

LinkedIn, X, Substack, and Medium have become playgrounds for ideas and building true domain authority. Individual content creators leverage these platforms to grow massive, engaged audiences and drive consistent revenue.

When I shared the Distributed Content Strategy white paper with peers, many commented on how this method works as a thought leadership strategy for individuals but not necessarily brands.

I disagree. Last week, I spoke about how brands can productize and humanize their content. 

Instead of approaching content as a broad strategy delivered by the brand, why not design a more segmented approach from multiple sub-brands, each speaking to different personas within your ideal customers?

SEO Isn't Dead: It's Overcrowded and Filled With Spam

I've written hundreds (possibly well over a thousand) articles across multiple industries. The research often uncovers millions of websites competing for the same keywords.

With AI tools, competition has increased significantly, making the crowded SEO landscape even more competitive. 

The most engaging content is product-related, use cases, strategies, frameworks, and customer stories. Sadly, this content doesn't always rank, so companies don't prioritize it when it's actually the most likely to convert because it demonstrates the product's benefits and social proof.

While this content doesn't perform well in search results, it's prime for social media platforms and newsletters where people are hungry for ideas, products, or services to enhance their work or lifestyle.

This type of content is also better served by individuals rather than brands. 

The Rise of Trustworthy Content Creators

The Edelman Trust Barometer consistently shows that people trust "people like themselves" (i.e., influencers, individual content creators, or peers) more than brands or institutions. 

The 2022 report highlighted that individual influencers, particularly those seen as knowledgeable or relatable, often have more credibility with audiences than traditional brand messages.

Hootsuite's 2023 Social Trends Report highlights that user-generated content (UGC) and influencer partnerships drive higher engagement rates than brand-generated content. The study also noted that audiences engage more with "authentic content," often created by individuals rather than brands.

Other studies, including Nielsen's 2021 Global Trust in Advertising Study,  Social Media Examiner's 2023 Industry Report, and the Ipsos 2023 Global Trends report, all reiterate the same thing—that individuals often have more direct influence over consumers than brands do, primarily due to the trust and relatability they can cultivate.

How Brands Can Use The Content Creator Playbook

Companies and brands are slowly beginning to adopt this content-creator strategy by making key players produce newsletters and blog content with their expert insights and advice.

One could argue that Warren Buffet is the OG corporate influencer, with his famous Berkshire Hathaway annual letters inspiring business people, entrepreneurs, investors, writers, and many others.

Early Facebook employee and billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya publishes a weekly newsletter on Substack, "What a Read This Week..." offering free and premium subscriptions. He's also one part of the All in Podcast foursome, discussing business, tech, politics, and current events every Friday.

For years, marketing professor, investor, author, and entrepreneur Scott Galloway has published newsletters and articles for his companies and personal projects. This content raises his profile and promotes whatever project or business he's working on.

Simplifying Content Creation For Busy Thought Leaders

Many will argue that it's challenging to get these knowledgeable thought leaders to sit down and produce an article or newsletter—once, never mind, consistently every week!

In the Distributed Content Strategy white paper, I outline a method I've used successfully to create content requiring only 60-90 minutes of a thought leader's time. 

Instead of trying to get someone to write, you interview them on a call about a specific topic and use the transcript to produce an article. Sixty minutes should give you 1,000-2,000 words.

Zoom and Google Meet allow you to record meetings and produce a transcript. I use ChatGPT or Otter.ai to polish the raw transcript and convert it into an article. The beauty of this transcript-to-blog method is you retain the speaker's voice, tone, cadence, etc., so it feels authentic.

Creating Niche Content Brands 

Producing high-quality content using industry and company thought leaders enables brands to build authority and trust by humanizing their content. 

As I outlined in last week's newsletter, How to Productize Your Content, humanizing your content builds customer rapport. And, as I've demonstrated through multiple studies above, "...individuals often have more direct influence over consumers than brands do..."

However, this content doesn't have to come directly from the brand or individuals within the organization. Brands can use content conduits to connect with and build audiences. 

Instead of sponsoring content creators or influencers, make or buy them. Consider how studios identify talent and create movies and TV shows around them. You can do the same with long-form content.

For example, Hubspot uses The Hustle (created by Sam Parr and sold to Hubspot for $27 million) to communicate with readers interested in business, technology, and entrepreneurial news with a fresh and engaging tone. 

The Hustle is known for its witty, concise, and sometimes irreverent style, making it a go-to source for young professionals, entrepreneurs, and business enthusiasts who want to stay informed about current events in a digestible format.

This audience will likely require marketing software at some stage, so Hubspot is building a meaningful relationship through a content niche. Besides the Hubspot logo, the company doesn't promote its products, but the newsletter creates strong brand affinity. When readers need marketing software, Hubspot is always on the shortlist for consideration.

Any brand can create a content brand within a niche their ideal customers care about. This content doesn't always have to align with your content or the brand. Instead, you want it to align with your ideal customers—create content they care about. But, like Hubspot, let them know you're the sponsor so you build trust and authority.