At Silverbean, we practice what we preach. We've created the 10 Commandments of Creating Brilliant Branded Content, to help you avoid becoming a content marketing sinner and deliver consistently excellent content that complements your digital communications strategy and brand. Created by Lisa Kelly and Vicky Cawthorne from our Content team. For more information on their expertise, visit our website: www.silverbean.com

1. Avoid making a deadly sin with your brand's online content.
Silverbean's 10 Commandments of Creating Brilliant Branded Content
will help you to create successful content that your audience, and
future customers, will worship.
T H E
10 COMMANDMENTS
O F
CREATING BRILLIANT
BRANDED CONTENT

2. I
THOU SHALT
�NOW THY AUDIENCE

3. 3 | THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CREATING BRILLIANT BRANDED CONTENT
Before you even begin writing, ask yourself:
‘Who on earth am I even writing for?’.
Knowing your brand’s audience, and their needs and
interests is crucial for creating content that really
matters to them, and finding an appropriate tone of
voice for your brand that they really can identify with.
As the old adage goes, it’s not what you say, but how
you say it, that makes all the difference.
1. THOU SHALT KNOW THY AUDIENCE
it's not
what you
say, but
how you
say it.

4. II
THOU SHALT
CARRY OUT A
CONTENT AUDIT

5. 5 | THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CREATING BRILLIANT BRANDED CONTENT
If you've previously dabbled in the world of
content, be critical and analytical of your past
attempts by carrying out a content audit.
Which of your content pieces worked well –
or didn’t? Was there a particular theme or topic
area that resonated with your readers? Were your
audience motivated by a certain type of content?
Google Analytics data will help your content audit to
be objective, and don’t be afraid to rework or even
remove content which isn't performing.
2. THOU SHALT CARRY OUT
A CONTENT AUDIT
ifitain'tbroke,
don'tfix
it.

6. Record the following information in a spreadsheet to kick start the content audit process:
6 | THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CREATING BRILLIANT BRANDED CONTENT
Title Time on page Date published
URL Inbound links An action point2
Page views Social shares1
Page bounce rate Conversions
1
including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and Google+
2
e.g. rework, add imagery, include template, keep existing content
2. THOU SHALT CARRY OUT
A CONTENT AUDIT
Completely new to online content? Then the next step is where
the majority of your inspiration should come from...

7. III
THOU SHALT COVET
THE CONTENT OF
THY NEIGHBOUR

8. For inspiration to help shape your unique and
original content strategy, look no further than
your competitors.
Use content marketing tools like Buzzsumo to analyse
their content and spot themes that are relevant and
successful with your audience, as well as to determine
how frequently you should be posting and the best
length, format and style for articles. Look for stand-out
content pieces and think about how your brand can put
its stamp on that topic using the Skyscraper technique.
3. THOU SHALT COVET THE
CONTENT OF THY NEIGHBOUR
8 | THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CREATING BRILLIANT BRANDED CONTENT
Luckily content
marketing tools
like BuzzSumo
will do most of the
legwork for you

9. THE SKYSCRAPER TECHNIQUE
9 | THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CREATING BRILLIANT BRANDED CONTENT
Step 1: Find link-worthy content
Step 2: Make something even better
Step 3: Reach out to the right people
3. THOU SHALT COVET THE
CONTENT OF THY NEIGHBOUR

10. IV
REMEMBER
THE RESEARCH,
TO KEEP IT HOLY

11. The best content out there is informative
and addresses unanswered questions for its
audience, so find inspiration and insight from
QA sites such as Quora and Answer the Public,
and look to industry relevant forums.
Thorough keyword research should also be undertaken
as part of your idea generation process, but rather
than targeting high volume phrases, look for more
conversational longtail search queries (e.g. ‘how to...’,
‘where can I...’) to combine specific phrases for your
industry with a sense of usefulness.
4. REMEMBER THE RESEARCH,
TO KEEP IT HOLY
11 | THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CREATING BRILLIANT BRANDED CONTENT

12. V
THOU SHALT PLAN THY
CONTENT CALENDAR

13. Failing to plan is planning to fail, so think
ahead with your content by mapping it out
at least a few weeks in advance – but ideally
three months.
This allows you to plot in coverage for new product
launches, industry and brand events, and take into
account your key selling periods, but also to carry
out thorough research for each individual blog
post. However, don’t be a slave to your content
calendar; allow yourself to be reactive too so you
can keep your content fresh and relevant.
5. THOU SHALT PLAN THY CONTENT
CALENDAR
13 | THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CREATING BRILLIANT BRANDED CONTENT
C O N T E N T

14. VI
THOU SHALT NOT KILL
(THY AUDIENCE
WITH BOREDOM)

15. Forget the incessant self-promotion in your
content, and instead think about the key
takeaways for your readers.
As Jay Baer, author of YouTility says, smart marketing is
about help, not hype, meaning that your content should
be inherently useful for your audience, and not about
explicitly selling your products or services. This places
your prospective customers further down the sales
funnel: a single piece of content rarely makes for a sale,
but starts a brand-consumer relationship that you can
strengthen by continuing to deliver valuable content.
6. THOU SHALT NOT KILL
(THY AUDIENCE WITH BOREDOM)
15 | THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CREATING BRILLIANT BRANDED CONTENT
Smart marketing
is about help,
not hype

16. VII
THOU SHALT
CONSIDER THE
SEO BENEFITS

17. Quality should always be the primary focus of your content, but it's a
sin to forget the SEO considerations too. Always be sure to check:
7. THOU SHALT CONSIDER
THE SEO BENEFITS
17 | THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CREATING BRILLIANT BRANDED CONTENT
LENGTH:
Google prefers quality over
quantity, but aim to make each
of your articles a minimum of
250 words in length, as the
more relevant content you
have on your page, the better
chance you will have of that
page ranking for your key
words and terms.
KEY PHRASES:
To further improve visibility
of your content, include the
relevant key phrase that
you are targeting in the title
and first paragraph, without
appearing unnatural. Keep the
key phrase density of your text
below 3%.
LINKS:
Support the content on your
main site by creating ‘topical
hubs’, and place internal links
in your blog posts that point to
these hubs to help categorise
your content and rank better
for your key phrases and terms.
Also include links to relevant
publications and bloggers,
especially where credit is due.

18. VIII
THOU SHALT NOT STEAL
(THY NEIGHBOUR'S
CONTENT)

19. 8. THOU SHALT NOT STEAL (THY
NEIGHBOUR'S CONTENT)
19 | THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CREATING BRILLIANT BRANDED CONTENT
Taking inspiration from the blog content
of your competitors is fine, but under
no circumstances should you steal, or
replicate their content.
Not only is it lazy, but it’s detrimental to your
content’s SEO value too! Take the time to do
your own research, put things in your own
words, credit your sources, and check your
facts before hitting 'Publish'.

20. IX
HONOUR THY BLOGGER
AND THY INFLUENCER

21. Successful content is supported by a well-
planned promotion strategy.
WordStream spend 80% of their time on content
promotion and only 20% time on the creation of
fewer, higher quality stories - a figure which will
certainly get you thinking. Use the expertise of
bloggers and industry influencers to improve your
content’s quality and help with promotion – this can
be as easy as simply approaching them for a quote,
and may help ensure your content is shared.
9. HONOUR THY BLOGGER
AND THY INFLUENCER
21 | THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CREATING BRILLIANT BRANDED CONTENT

22. X
THOU SHALT MAKE THY
CONTENT VISUALLY
APPEALING

23. When your content is well-presented, the
reader will be drawn in to find out what it says.
Images and graphics are a great way of tapping
into visual content marketing - source them legally
from sites such as Getty Images, Shutterstock
and Canva, which also enables you to create
sophisticated, affordable graphic designs online.
If your content includes a lot of stats, make it
digestible by presenting it as an infographic;
alternatively if you haven't yet embraced video
content marketing, now's the time - Hubspot
research found that 63% of B2C marketers and
53% of B2B marketers plan to do so in 2015.
10. THOU SHALT MAKE THY
CONTENT VISUALLY APPEALING
23 | THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CREATING BRILLIANT BRANDED CONTENT

24. Vicky Cawthorne,
Content Marketing
Executive
Vicky has been writing copy and creating
content for over seven years, and has
worked on dozens of exciting brands
across a vast range of industries.
Nothing makes her sadder than
spotting a spelling error, or
happier than a well-timed pun.
victoria.cawthorne@silverbean.com
Lisa Kelly,
Social Media Content
Marketing Manager
With six years of experience
producing content on and offline
for well-known organisations and
leading publications, Lisa now
specialises in engaging social
media content. Bursting with ideas,
she finds nothing more satisfying
than seeing a creative piece
of content executed from idea
generation to completion.
lisa.kelly@silverbean.com
info@silverbean.com
facebook.com/silverbeanmarketing
twitter.com/silverbean
linkedin.com/company/silverbean
THE AUTHORS