Whether YouTube ads, Google ads or shopping ads - advertising should sell. Users know this and therefore dedicate only a short attention span to online content. In addition, companies reach the same target group again and again which makes it difficult for them to win new customers. This is exactly where tangential content comes in. We show what tangential content is, why it often works better than direct advertising and how companies develop it successfully.
Tangential content: how companies benefit
What is tangential content?
Tangential content is based on the mathematical term "tangent". This describes a straight line that touches a curve at a certain point. Tangential content describes the intersection between a company's sector and a related thematic area. This means that tangential content is not directly related to the brand and therefore has no advertising character. They intentionally include the sales aspect to visitors.
Why tangential content often delivers more than branded content
Advertising content is unmissable for users. Tangential content, on the other hand, has no direct sales character. Companies profit from it this way:
More trust with users
For customers to buy a product, they must have confidence in the brand. Companies can rarely gain this trust from users through direct advertising. Users only build trust in a company when they receive content that offers them real added value without advertising. They then make a positive connection between a useful and informative text and the brand. This creates the necessary trust that ultimately motivates them to buy.
Arouse emotions in users
In the best case, content awakens a feeling in users that they are looking for. Direct advertising rarely achieves this. The sales factor is simply too present. Tangential content suppresses the advertising character and hits the nerve of the user on an emotional level. Companies can emotionalize almost any topic as every target group has its own wishes and problems that concern them. The challenge of tangential content is to respond to these needs.
Build backlinks faster
Tangential content is especially interesting for publishers because It is not direct advertising. In this way, they can strengthen their credibility and trustworthiness. For companies, this means that they can quickly win over publishers with tangential content and thus build backlinks.
Increase range
By enabling companies to address topics in their content that are only indirectly related to them, a new target group opens for them. They can gain the trust and thus the interest of users who have not previously come into contact with the brand. This also keeps the content that companies publish fresh and relevant. After all, if you publish the same content over and over again for the same potential customers, you can lose motivation in the long run and therefore lose quality. Companies that rely on tangential content in addition to classic advertising are as a result building up a diverse content library.
Outrun on the competition
Many marketers do not dare to deviate too far from their content line. Companies that make tangential content an integral part of their online marketing strategy can gain an edge over the competition.
Develop tangential content correctly
To successfully develop tangential content, companies should follow these steps:
Define Buyer Personas
In order to work out which tangential content is suitable for a brand, companies should first draw a picture of their target group that is as concrete as possible. They can do this, for example, by defining buyer personas. Buyer personas represent one or more ideal customers who fit the products or services of a company.
Identify relevant topics
Companies can then develop tangential content based on Buyer Personas. The content should meet the needs of the Buyer Personas - without being promotional. In this context, the focus of tangential content can also be on current topics. Companies can, for example, position themselves on a current topic or an event and thus arouse the interest of users.
Researching keywords
In a next step, companies should find out how their target group searches for the devised topics on the web. To do this, they should conduct detailed keyword research that reveals all important and relevant search queries.
Testing tangential content
Before companies’ approach publishers with their tangential content, they should first test it with their own users. On social channels, they quickly find out how well the generated contributions are received by the followers. Companies can do this via simple posts or sponsored content ads on Facebook. This quickly shows them whether and/or how they need to optimize the content before they pass it on to publishers.
What can tangential content look like in practice?
Tangential content can look like this in practice: A backpack manufacturer no longer wants to market its various models in classic advertising only. The company ran out of ideas many years ago. It no longer knows how it can continue to advertise the backpacks in a fresh and interesting way. And: the company wants to expand its target group and win new customers.
Therefore, it publishes country-specific travel guides. These offer readers real added value by providing inspiration for their next trip or important information for their upcoming vacations. The content only indirectly touches about the company's own products. It is not directly promotional. In this way, the backpack manufacturer is addressing new users online who have come across the company's blog while researching a vacation destination.
Successfully tackling tangential content with SeedingUp
Tangential content is appropriate to effectively generate trust, reach and relevant backlinks. At SeedingUp, we know how to successfully make tangential content part of an online marketing strategy. We not only help companies to develop their content, but also connect them with the right publishers. These publishers cleverly place the content on the right channels. The result: companies develop new target groups, increase their traffic, and thus boost sales.
