One of the big draws of content marketing is building your brand. But brand building isn’t always easy to assign a dollar value to.
Does that make it any less important?
Absolutely not.
On the contrary, it’s critical.
To illustrate this point, we can draw a common thread through coworking, Nike, Michelin Star ratings, and liquor stores.
Think about any Nike campaign you’ve ever seen. How often do they talk about the specs of their shoes? The carbon fiber insoles or their newest Flyknit technology?
Rarely, if ever.
Instead, they focus on building a lifestyle surrounding their shoes. A feeling you get when you think of their brand or wear their products.
Intuitively, you probably understand exactly what that is, too.
Nike is a piece of Americana that’s rooted in performance. It embodies the spirit of being passionate, driven, committed to excellence, and giving 100% to whatever you’re doing.
And Nike really walks the talk (no footwear pun intended).
Think back a few years.
Remember when Nike took a strong stance in political activism with its long-play support of Colin Kaepernick, whom it kept silently on the payroll for two years while NFL teams shunned him for kneeling during the national anthem?
Then, out of the blue, they released their campaign with the slogan, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”
What does any of that have to do with shoes or athletic wear?
Well, besides the athlete connection, not all that much, at a glance—but also everything.
Nike isn’t selling you shoes or clothes. It’s selling you a lifestyle. A feeling. Something its consumers want to be a part of and feel FOMO about if they’re missing out.
And its products are the mechanisms that connect you to that lifestyle.
What business could a tire company possibly have in rating the world’s finest culinary experiences?
Well, back in the early 1900s, the founders of Michelin Tire wanted to drive demand for cars and, in turn, their tires.
But, with only a small number of cars on the road, they were clever enough to know that the everyday person didn’t know or care that much about cars or tires, nor did they have any interest in learning about them.
So, they created the Michelin Guide: a magazine that included maps showing, among other things, the best restaurants along popular driving routes in France—along with instructions for how to repair and change tires, by the way.
Today, this concept has become globally recognized as a gold standard for culinary quality. And it probably helped sell a whole ton of tires in its time too.
Up here in Canada, many of our government liquor stores offer free magazines that share lifestyle-driven articles and recipes with a loose tie-in to wine and spirits.
And that’s because liquor stores know that most people aren’t all that interested in learning about the new liquor brands the store carries or the bottles that are on special that week.
But they know people will pay attention if it’s all bundled in a package they get value from.
The point is this: in most instances, it’s a lot harder to get people to care about products or services than it is about a lifestyle or something that entertains, inspires, educates, or amuses them.
And that’s the power of brand building.
So, what does any of this have to do with coworking?
Everything.
Like Nike’s shoes and apparel, Michelin’s tires, and liquor stores’ beer, wine, and spirits, your offices, desks, and chairs are your commodity. The same core offering that every other coworking space in your market is offering.
The product you’re really selling is the unique experience of working at your coworking space:
The smartest businesses in the world know that their best chance of captivating their audience is by focusing on something bigger than the commodities they sell. Instead, they understand how those commodities lend themselves to something more profound and make that a focal point of their branding.
Doing so gives you a platform from which you can reach people in a meaningful way—one that makes them feel something. It lets you stay top of mind and stay relevant.
And that’s what generates sales.
So, when you’re building a content marketing strategy for your coworking space, think about how you can make it about more than just your coworking space.
Don’t just focus on selling a space or a service. Focus as well on creating a brand that aligns with your ideal members and communicating that far and wide.
If you're interested in putting the power of content marketing to work for your coworking space, contact us today for a free consultation.