The marketing challenge 

It’s no secret that the world of marketing presents many fundamental challenges. From balancing self-promotion with the search for vital revenue streams, the constant battle to maintain an honest and trustworthy brand image can be difficult, frustrating, and dangerous when wronged.  

Luckily, there are many techniques and strategies that, when employed, can ensure you and your business stay on track – from successfully networking your partners to employing strategic PR campaigns.  

One technique that all businesses should utilise to maximum effect is the inclusion of content pieces that promote and displays your company’s culture.  

While especially important for tech for good and sustainable businesses, promoting company culture brings a wide range of benefits for all businesses. Effective culture pieces not only supports your overarching mission, but builds authenticity in your brand.  

What are culture content pieces?  

Culture pieces are intended to display the environment, core mission, and values of your business. Examples of this include interviews with current team members about their role, the latest business news such as events and social gatherings, awards, and so on. The goal is to display an honest depiction of your business; to give your audience the chance to peek behind the curtain and get a sense of how your culture embodies your company vision.  

In our guide below, we’ll take you through six essential tips to make sure that your culture pieces are engaging, genuine, and connect with your audience. 

In a nutshell: six essential tips to create effective culture pieces: 

• Use your team’s voice 
• Tell a story 
• Consider using a Q&A format 
• Choose a theme 
• Make it a series 
• Don’t forget your company’s personality 

Tip #1 – Utilise your team’s voice 

There are several ways to effectively integrate the voice of your teammates and colleagues into your content. One common strategy is in allowing team members to write their own pieces or conducting interviews with various colleagues.  

Using your team’s natural voice has two key advantages. 

Firstly, using your team’s voice breathes natural life into your culture pieces. This gives your audience the chance to see that any workplace culture you’re promoting isn’t skin-deep, and that you hold your values and ethics close to heart.  

Another great benefit is that this also propagates a great internal culture. Your team will feel like they’re being heard and that they have a direct impact on the image of the company – generating trust and respect in equal measure.  

For more information on how to build a consistent and effective brand personality, read our article here

Tip #2 – Tell a story 

When your audience chooses to read culture pieces, they aren’t looking for the latest whitepaper or product sheet. They want to read about the lives and stories of your colleagues and company. They want to gain an insight into the people behind the business.  

Effectively telling a story is a great way to do just this. A story on one of your colleagues could include information about their background, their reason for joining the team, and the journey that led them to this company.  

Through any story you write, the key is to let the subject’s personality shine through to give the content a natural, genuine feel. 

Tip #3 – Consider using a Q&A format 

A Q&A format can be an effective way to convey a genuine insight into the culture of your business. If your teammates don’t want to write it, there’s always the option of ghost-writing or dictation.  

The most important aspect of writing a Q&A format is that it really feels like you’re getting the interviewee’s true viewpoint and opinions by using the direct, first person voice. Plus, it’s a quick win for your marketing team as it doesn’t require any heavy editing or writing.  

Tip #4 – Choose a theme 

Choosing an overarching theme for your piece prevents it from losing structure, meaning and tone. Nobody wants to read a random jumble of insights and thoughts from a team member.  

The potential for themes to decide on is limitless. From advice pieces to a wider range of informal team insights, a well-chosen theme that has value to your audience will provide a solid foundation to kick-off from. 

Once you’ve chosen the theme for your piece, don’t stray from it. The core value of a theme is to provide a backbone for your piece – sticking to one will provide clear, engaging, and well-established content.  

Tip #5 – Make it a series 

Culture pieces aren’t a one-time thing. Writing culture pieces frequently promotes a clear culture and consistent messaging. It shows the culture is truly embedded in your company, not just for show. 

One great way to establish a structure for your content is to consider building a content schedule. One example could be: releasing one culture piece that utilises your team’s voice every month. This way, your entire team will feel heard and involved, and you gain the chance to develop a brand image of consistency and reliability. 

If you’re stuck for ideas on what content pieces to develop every month, a newsletter or blog may be a great starting point. 

Tip #6 – Don’t forget your company personality  

While utilising your team’s voice is an effective technique to conveying your business culture, there are some dangers to look out for. 

You need to ensure that these content pieces don’t directly conflict with your brand personality – the tone, image, and language consistently used when speaking as a brand.  

If a teammate’s voice isn’t directly supporting your brand personality, your entire brand image may seem inconsistent and conflicting.  

Keeping the message of your team member at the core is still essential – just equally ensure that your teammate’s written views are in-line with those expressed as a company.  

If you like this, why not read our ultimate guide to marketing for tech for good businesses

Culture matters  

In this article, we’ve covered six core techniques to create engaging and insightful culture pieces into your content strategy: from introducing interview pieces to creating relevant and effective themes. 

To learn more about how businesses can create an effective marketing strategy, read our ultimate guide here – or for any further queries, why not contact us?