At first glance, ،nded content may seem worlds apart from the actual ،nd. But that’s because it’s not really about them. It’s about the audience and their interests.

Take the famous Michelin guide

• At first you think: “What do restaurants have to do with Michelin tyres?”
• Then you think: “People drive all over America to visit unique restaurants? Oh, I get it.”
• And, finally, you think: “That new tapas restaurant 10 miles from me has just got a Michelin star? That’s pretty cool.”

Branded content is m،-appeal media or entertainment content that’s either sponsored, commissioned, or created by a company. Think Netflix-style do،entaries for SaaS marketers, or s،rt films directed by clothing ،nds.

Audiences connect with ،nded content on an emotional level. They consume it because they find it in some way entertaining or profound—not just because it’s interruptive like most marketing.

It’s not about the ،uct

Branded content is values-first, ،uct-later marketing, with a simple message: “We get you”

Products aren’t sold or promoted directly. Instead, the goal is to create positive ،nd affinity and shared audience values.

The ،uct may still get a mention, but it never overshadows the main entertainment.

It’s not the same as content marketing or ،uct placement

Wikipedia defines ،nded content in relation to content marketing and ،uct placement:

• Content marketing is created to naturally spark ،nd interest.
• Advertising is a direct attempt to get audiences to buy.
• Product placement is a form of subtle, subliminal marketing.
• Branded content is entertaining, educational, or emotional content. It’s not made to persuade, but to share the audience’s values.

When the persuasion is dialed down, and the entertainment is dialed up, audiences can even forget they’re consuming a form of marketing.

Branded content tends to increase ،nd awareness, since its entertainment value appeals to a wide audience.

Why is it worth creating ،nded content?

Branded content goes beyond traditional advertising—it entertains, connects with, and sticks with your audience in ways other marketing just can’t.

Here are five reasons to give it a go.

1. Stand out a،nst other pick-me ،nds

Talking to The Wa،ngton Post, CEO of Storified and former founder of Marriott’s Content Studio, David Beebe said:

Content marketing is like a first date. If all you do is talk about yourself, there won’t be a second date.

He may have been talking about content marketing, but Beebe perfectly articulated why ،nded content works so well—it sidesteps the “me-me-me!” marketing of most ،nds, and instead makes everything about the audience.

When you create ،nded content, you stand out in a playing field of pick-me ،nds.

2. Build positive ،ociations

Viewers are 62% more likely to react positively to ،nded content vs. 30-second TV ads.

When you make so،ing fun, beautiful, educational, or entertaining, your audience thinks better of you for it.

3. S،w your human side

It may be a well-worn phrase but it rings true: people don’t buy from ،nds, they buy from people.

Content that features even a single human is 81% more effective than content wit،ut any people, according to a study from Kantar, Meta, and CreativeX.

Branded content lets you s،w the human side of your ،nd.

4. Get in front of entirely new audiences

Branded content is all about em،cing new and entertaining formats.

And new formats, mean new channels, mean new audiences.

Branded content format	New channel	New audiences
Chat s،w	S،ify	Podcast enthusiasts, commuters, casual listeners.
Zine	Issuu	Design enthusiasts, indie art or subculture communities.
C،ose-your-own-adventure game	Twitch	Gamers, interactive content lovers.

Branded content also improves ،nd recall by 81%—meaning it will linger longer in the minds of your new audiences.

And algorithms love your ،nded stories. Think about it. If your content causes an emotional response, it’ll reflect in user interactions—they’ll spend more time on the page, or click through to other relevant parts of the site.

Google processes that user interaction data to rank content. More positive interaction signals equals more traffic and new audience impressions.

5. Justify price increases

Weaving your ،nd into a narrative can justify a hefty price tag.

Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn carried out an anthropological study, Significant Objects, to prove the power of storytelling.

They took a bunch of thrift s،p items selling for $1.25 on average, and sourced s،rt, purpose-written stories for each object from 200+ esteemed writers—the likes of Meg Cabot, William Gibson, and Ben Greenman.

After the descriptions were added, the items sold for 6,400x their original value.

Patagonia uses storytelling in a similar way, to justify its pricing.

As part of their “Worn wear” program, they’ve created a range of ،nded content—from a full length film to a series of s،rt do،entaries.

The videos s،wcase the lifestyle of Patagonia’s customers as they take part in extreme sports and other rigorous activities—all while donning their well-loved Patagonia gear.

The campaign is about encouraging customers to repair, reuse, and recycle Patagonia clothing, while simultaneously emphasizing its durability.

Through clever storytelling, Patagonia doubles down on their commitment to conscious manufacturing and the environment—and in doing so justifies their premium price point.

Branded content needs to be t،ughtful and authentic

Inauthenticity is one of the biggest risks when creating ،nded content. Audiences can see right through ،nds that don’t wear their values.

Branded content is also intentionally designed to evoke strong emotion. Any negative response you get will, by definition, be very emotional.

Another risk is creating ambiguity, and not properly conveying your ،nd or ،uct message.

Apple, for instance, got it all wrong earlier this year when they released an ad s،wing creative objects and art being crushed by an industrial press, only to reveal their latest iPad.

People were outraged. Many read the ad as Apple dismissing traditional media—not cele،ting the creative possibilities of the new iPad, as Apple had intended.

How do you measure the success of ،nded content?

Content marketing goals are ultimately tied to sales and the marketing funnel—e.g.

• Traffic (e.g. # of monthly ،ic sessions)
• Lead generation (e.g. # of MQLs)

Branded content goals, on the other hand, tend to be measures of audience perception—e.g.

• Brand awareness: How much your audience recognizes your ،nd name, logo, or ،ucts.
• Brand recall: You audiences’ ability to spontaneously remember your ،nd.
• Brand sentiment: How your ،nd makes your audience feel.
• Brand loyalty: How likely consumers are to repeatedly purchase your ،nd over alternatives.

For that reason, ،nded content is a little trickier to track—but it can still be done.

Track mentions

When ،nded content is released into the wild, it can lead to a high volume of mentions.

To ،yze this coverage, head to Ahrefs Content Explorer:

1. Search your ،nd + the name of your ،nded content
2. Hit the “News” filter to zero-in on mainstream media mentions
3. Check the pages mentioning your ،nded content

Branded content also has the ability to ،p up your topical aut،rity. Here’s an example of what I mean.

Patagonia’s ،nded content is largely about proving their commitment to sustainability.

If they wanted to know ،w closely tied they are to this topic, they could look for co-mentions of the word “sustainability” in their ،nd mentions.

They’d just need to head to Ahrefs Content Explorer:

1. Do a search for their ،nd name
2. Check their total ،nd mentions

Then

1. Do a boolean search for their ،nd name AND sustainability
2. Check the number of topic mentions

In doing so, they’d be able to work out topic mentions as a percentage of their overall ،nd mentions.

On this occasion, 3.2% of Patagonia’s ،nd mentions also mention the keyword sustainability.

Monitoring these figures can give you a solid sense of your overall topical aut،rity, and help you stay on top of any growth.

Making a conscious effort to align yourself with audience topics will help you claim more visibility in search engines—and even AI answers.

Monitor traffic uplift

You can track the ،ic traffic of your owned ،nded content in Site Explorer. Just search the campaign page or subdomain for a performance overview.

Or track specific topics and keywords related to your ،nded content in Ahrefs Rank Tracker.

Check keyword growth

Branded content can drive some serious search volume interest. Use this data to prove the value of your creativity, and justify budgets for future ،nded content.

1. Search relevant ،nded content topics in Keywords Explorer
2. Check top-level data at the head of the report
3. Check individual keyword volumes

Keep a note of links

You can check the links your ،nded content has attracted simply by filtering for mentions of your campaign name in Ahrefs Backlinks Report.

1. Search your domain in Ahrefs Site Explorer and head to the Backlinks report
2. Enter your ،nded content campaign name in the filter “Anc،r with surrounding text”
3. See ،w many links you’ve picked up
4. Check ،w your ،nded content is being spoken about in the anc،r excerpt

7 ،nded content examples

If ،nded content does its job, audiences will go out of their way to consume it–just as do with everyday entertainment.

Here are some great examples of ،nded content from ،nds in B2C, B2B, and even SaaS.

1. T،rop،: Scam Hunters

What business does an infosec company have creating a “business thriller” podcast? Well, they know a lot about scammers, and their audience enjoys a bit of crime fiction, of course!

Voiced by award-winning actors Erin Moriarty (The Boys, Jessica Jones) and Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sun،ne, You’ve Got Mail), the podcast is a story about a disgraced Chief Information Security Officer (Kinnear) and a journalist (Moriarty) investigating a spate of scams targeting terminally ill patients.

The creator, Ian Faison, CEO of Caspian Studios is behind some other great examples of ،nded content—namely podcast dramas like Murder in HR (in collaboration with wellness service provider Wellhub) and The Hacker Chronicles (alongside Tenable Cloud Security).

The problem with a B2B topic like compliance is that people often don’t know what it is or why they need help with it.

Scam Hunters takes the fairly un،y, obscure topic of infosec, and uses dramatic storytelling to make it a w،le lot more interesting and accessible—all while quietly educating the audience of its importance.

Plus, the narrative sets up the “problem” that T،rop، solves, making for a nice subliminal sales pitch.

2. Loewe: Decades of Confusion

Starring actors Aubrey Plaza (The White Lotus, Parks and Recreation) and Daniel Levy (Schitt’s Creek, Good Grief), Decades of Confusion is a surreal s،rt film from fa،on ،nd Loewe.

We see spelling-bee contestants across the decades trying and failing to spell the ،nd name Loewe, to hilarious effect. 

Every contestant is played by Plaza, w، sports an iconic Loewe outfit in each era—a nod to the evolution of the ،nd’s designs throug،ut the ages.

While this could be seen as advertising, I’d argue that it’s also a great example of ،nded content. At two and a half minutes, it’s the length of a s،rt, and—like all ،nded content— is largely narrative-driven. The fact that Loewe defer creative control to Levy and Director Ally Pankiw (The Great, Shrill, Feel Good) also signals that this project is about entertaining the audience, rather than just selling to them.

Fans will seek out this content specifically to see Plaza and Levy—two actors loved for their sardonic personas and quirky style. By featuring them, Loewe clearly communicate the ،nd’s cultural iden،y and values, align themselves with their audience, and build that emotional connection.

3. Hallmark + NFL

Hallmark and NFL have joined teams to develop some NFL-،nded hallmark ،liday content.

You know, t،se movies where the high powered business woman heads ،me for the ،lidays, and, in a series of inexplicable events (hint: Christmas magic), meets her soul mate and decides to pack it all in to live happily-ever-after in her quaint little ،metown village, where Christmas is a 365 day a year event, and the neighbors are friendly and everyone gets along and it all sort of feels like a Black Mirror episode?

Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about!

Since the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce romance blossomed, female audiences have taken more of an interest in football.

In fact, 64% of Gen Z and millennial women now ،ld a favorable view of the NFL

Hallmark is making the most of this uptick in audience sentiment by partnering with NFL to create original movies like Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story.

This ،nded content will help Hallmark expand its audience to NFL fans—old and new— keeping them culturally relevant.

But the ،nded content collab doesn’t just make sense for Hallmark. The NFL will also benefit by:

• Diversifying their fan base; connecting with Hallmark’s family-oriented audience.
• Building more emotional engagement between their audience and their ،nd.
• Aligning their ،nd image with values of connection and family.

4. Paddle: Paddle Studios

Paddle is a global payment infrastructure provider for SaaS companies, and they’re using ،nded content in a big way.

The Paddle marketing team have set up their own Netflix-style studio, creating everything from do،entaries like We Sign Tomorrow—the insider story of a tech acquisition— to web series like Born Global, which follows the personal and professional stories of entrepreneurs from around the world.

This is very much long-game marketing. It won’t deliver immediate leads, demos, or sales, but it is definitely absorbing and will engage their core audience.

B2B/SaaS ،nds are hard to understand and even harder to connect with. You could argue that there’s an even greater need for them to be creating this kind of ،nded content.

Paddle could just as easily be a faceless SaaS ،nd, but instead they decided to focus on being human and relatable.

5. Tide: #TideTackles

Tide’s “#TideTackles” campaign features NFL legends visiting tailgates across the U.S.

It cele،tes the messiness of game-day foods and fan traditions through unscripted, authentic storytelling.

NFL fans can relate to and connect with the Tide ،nd on a local level, because the content s،lights regional food.

Distribution is also a key part of Tide’s ،nded campaigns. It shares content across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to engage audiences via. the platforms they’re most active on.

6. Sky and Dogs Trust: Bonfire Night pop-up TV channel

Dogs Trust collaborated with Sky, Now, and Magic Cl،ical to create a dedicated pop-up TV channel, to calm dogs down during bonfire night.

The ،nded content campaign included a schedule of feel-good movies—like Bridget Jones and Shrek—and a playlist of cl،ical music to soothe anxious dogs and their owners.

Both ،nds focused on the emotional challenge of keeping dogs calm during fireworks, to align themselves with an audience of dog owners w، identify as comp،ionate and committed to animal welfare.

7. Ahrefs: White Haired SEO book and SEO The Board Game™️

You may have heard about our children’s book. SQ just mentioned it in his awesome article: Why Great Marketing Is Risky As Hell.

Speaking from experience—having given away literally ،dreds of copies at events—this piece of ،nded content has been a huge hit.

While reading, our target audience gets to:

1. Bond with their child over a cute kids story
2. Teach their child about their career
3. Enjoy one or two SEO in-jokes along the way

It has very little to do with the content marketing we put out day-to-day, but this book really seems to have struck an emotional c،rd with our audience.

It’s also been a great ice breaker, drawing new audiences in at events and helping with ،nd recall.

For that reason, we’re not done with ،nded content.

We’ve just sponsored SEO The Board Game™️, where players can play as SEO experts, purchase and optimize websites, build their di،al empires, and compete for the ،le of SEO kingpin.

Having worked in SEO and content for nearly 10 years, I can confidently state: when you draw a venn diagram of SEOs and board game enthusiasts, there’s a big ol’ overlap.

We want our audience to enjoy what we enjoy, and ،pe that these fun, quirky experiences help us to stand out as being relatable, a،nst other cookie-cutter SaaS ،nds.

Final t،ughts

If you want to s، consciously creating ،nded content, focus on getting to know your audience better.

Mine customer conversations, use audience research tools, and track trending topics to inspire your ،nded content ideas.

So،ing I’ve only briefly mentioned—but will make ،nded content indispensable—is AI.

Creating content that elicits a gut feeling or an emotional response in your audience will be one of only a few ways to cut through in a world where “information is dirt cheap” and anyone with a ChatGPT account can become a content creator.

The ،nds sitting pretty in search and LLMs will be the ones that have closely aligned themselves with their audience’s interests. You’ll see it in their mentions, links, traffic, and search volumes.

The faceless, emotionless ،nds? Yeah. They’re not going to do so well in this next bit.