In today’s digital landscape, marketers face the persistent challenges of cutting through the noise and building meaningful connections with their target audiences. Increasingly, the most successful marketers are turning to serial content to address these challenges, with remarkable results.

The idea of serial content – an approach in which a brand shares engaging ideas and material on an ongoing basis, with a pre-planned cadence and content calendar – is not new. But as consumers’ preferred communications channels and expectations about how they connect with brands have continued to evolve, so too have the most effective approaches for serial content.

A content marketing plan that brings fresh insights from thought leaders and experts on a regular basis can deliver tremendous value for both your organization and your stakeholders. From boosting brand awareness to building communities and accelerating adoption, a consistent flow of value oriented content can help your communications strategy directly advance your business strategy.

Before You Serialize: Establishing Your Organization’s Perspective

In many respects, the best serial content strategies are simply an extension of a well-conceived thought leadership strategy: Instead of just deploying engaging perspectives on a one-off or ad hoc basis, a serial content plan enables brands to deliver those perspectives with a regular basis, with a cadence that keeps audiences engaged.

So before we dig into serialization, it’s important to ask: What does your organization have to say? Who are you really talking to? And how will you provide meaningful insights to their lives?

As with any engaging thought leadership plan, starting with a clear perspective that enables you to deliver high-quality material is critical. Identifying the topics that you can and want to comment on, and the channels and spokespeople that you have at your disposal to bring them to life, will be the foundation of any effective content strategy.

It’s worth remembering that “high-quality” doesn’t need to mean high-cost or high production value – it means providing relevant, authentic, informative content and insights, drawn from the expertise that your organization already has. If your organization can deliver something of real value to your audiences – something insightful, authentic, educational or entertaining – your audiences will be eager to read it, watch it, and share it with their own circles. That kind of buzz gets your brand in front of new eyeballs, expanding your reach and, more importantly, boosting your credibility.

By establishing a platform that aims to educate and engage your audience, you foster a relationship built on trust and expertise.

Engaging Audiences, Building Communities, and Activating Advocates

Once you’ve established your perspective and your platform, activating and serializing it can take place across a wide range of formats. Content such as videos, podcasts, blog posts, newsletters and social media posts, unified under a cohesive vision and brand platform, are ripe for serialization.

By serializing your content, you reinforce your brand as an active and reliable voice in your industry. And by featuring thought leaders and experts, visually exciting brand assets, and compelling creative not just once but on an ongoing basis, you demonstrate not only your expertise and your perspective, but your consistency and your reliability. You establish yourself not just as a one-off “thought leader” but as a trusted source of knowledge on an ongoing basis. At RF|Binder, we’ve seen the value of this approach time and time again, through our work with clients like MarketAxess, and First American, among many others.

Serial content also allows brands to showcase their personality and style, humanizing their brand. Audiences look forward to new installments, engaging with your content and sharing it with others. This type of following becomes a community of brand believers, and can help drive organic growth.

For some brands, serial content can dovetail with other types of activations, and in some cases it can even lean on outside sources for content. Oatly’s recent ‘Cooking with Oatly’ Audition Series offers a great example: Backed by a finding that 71% of Americans would consider swapping in plant-based products in place of dairy when cooking or baking, Oatly challenged talented chefs to cook their favorite meals while swapping in the brand’s dairy-free milk. The approach generated an influx of positive, brand-aligned content that showcased product versatility alongside humor and practical cooking instructions. The program inserted the brand into conversations about current dietary trends and dramatically increased the brand’s organic reach – not just once, but on an ongoing basis.

What Does Serial Content Look Like for Your Brand?

Serial content is not one-size-fits-all, and different organizations have taken markedly different approaches. The format, frequency, and messaging must align with the type of relationship the brand is trying to cultivate—be it a professional partnership or a loyal consumer base. B2B companies, for example, tend to focus on establishing long-term trust, thought leadership and education, while B2C companies often seek to entertain, inform, and drive quicker purchase decisions.

But at the core, many of the most successful serial content strategies share similar features: They draw deeply from the specific role that the organization plays (or seeks to play) in its stakeholders’ lives, they tap into existing experts and internal resources, and they focus on delivering real value for their target audiences.

Some general best practices for serial content include:

• Draw on the expertise that your organization already has. Your organization’s leadership, spokespeople and subject matter experts have perspectives and insights that matter to your audiences. Identify those experts and areas of expertise.
• Focus on providing real value to your audiences. Make them laugh. Make them think. Build credibility. A strong serial content strategy works best as a top- and middle-of-funnel marketing tool. The objective should be to foster trust, awareness and positive associations with your brand now so that customers will think of you when they are ready to make a purchasing decision.
• Lean into the specific role that your organization plays in your stakeholders’ lives. Your target audiences have a wide range of needs and interests, but they may be more receptive to input from your organization on some topics rather than others. They may also have significant preferences about the channels, cadence and spokespeople through which you share content. All of these have direct bearing on your serial content strategy.
• Set realistic expectations about content cadence, and stick to your plan. Elevating your existing content plan to a serial content plan means taking a longer view and planning ahead. Consider what you can produce and how quickly and consistently you can do it.
• Activate your advocates. Don’t be afraid to lean on experts (or relevant non-experts) outside of your organization. Authentically building relationships and showcasing outside perspectives within the context of your brand can expand your reach and elevate your reputation.

By consistently featuring industry experts and thought leaders, brands can build meaningful connections with their audience while establishing themselves as the go-to authority in their field. This approach not only fosters a loyal following but also creates anticipation for each new installment. Moreover, meaningful content seeds your marketing pipeline, because when your audience is ready to act, they’re more likely to think of and ultimately choose your brand, thanks to the value you’ve already provided and the mindshare you’ve cultivated.

Ready to dominate the content landscape? Reach out today.