Prospecting with Purpose: 6 Steps to Win More Branded Content Business

The market for branded content has never been stronger — or more misunderstood. The 2025 Borrell Associates research shows content marketing is a $85+ billion industry with over three-quarters of spending in digital formats, growing more than 5% year over year. For local media companies, that’s incredible news. It means opportunity is everywhere — but only for teams who know where to look and how to pitch with purpose.

As someone who’s spent years helping media organizations grow their digital revenue and branded content programs, I’ve learned that success starts long before the proposal. It begins with how you prospect, how you listen, and how you connect the dots between your assets, your audience, and your advertiser’s needs.

Here are my top tips and takeaways to help you and your team win more branded content business — starting this quarter.

1. Target the Right Categories First

According to the latest Borrell data, the industries spending the most on branded content are automotive, finance and mortgage, telecom, real estate, restaurants, medical, and higher education. Each of these categories invests billions annually — and they need trusted local media to tell their stories. Other categories to consider are ones where they have a story to tell and/or the product they sell needs explanation. 

These categories are ideal prospects because they rely on credibility and connection. They want to educate, empower, entertain and inform their audience — not just sell to them. That’s what makes branded content the perfect solution.

Quick Action: Make a top-10 list of businesses in your market in these sectors. Then, prioritize outreach to the ones already advertising — they’re more likely to see branded content as a natural next step.

2. Lead with Insights, Not Inventory

When prospecting, most reps start with “what we sell.” The best branded content sellers start with what the advertiser needs.

Use insights from your own audience and analytics to demonstrate why your platform is powerful. Local media audiences are trusted, loyal, and engaged. They look to you as a trusted source of news and community information they care about, and to learn more about the world around them. No other competitor can offer access to your audience through content - bring the best of the best of your assets to each presentation, backed with insights about how your highly valuable audience will give your prospect the exposure they need. 

Quick Action: Build a one-slide “Why Us” deck with audience demographics, reach, and trust metrics. Show advertisers that your audience is their audience — and that branded content is how you connect the two.

3. Sell the Problem You Solve, Not the Product You Offer

When you pitch, don’t talk about “native articles” or “videos.” Talk about what branded content does:

• Empower: Teach audiences how to make better decisions.

• Engage: Spark conversations that build loyalty.

• Entertain: Keep audiences coming back for more.

• Inform: Position brands as credible experts in their fields.

  
  

This framework resonates with decision-makers across every category — especially marketers who want to demonstrate thought leadership and share their story. Focus on how you can uniquely match your highly valuable audience with their brand messages and price accordingly. 

Quick Action: In your next client conversation, ask: “What story do you wish more people knew about your organization or business?” Then build your branded content recommendation around that answer.

4. Use Data to Drive the Conversation

Content marketers are younger, more digitally savvy, and 3x more likely to have a full-time marketing role. They’re not guessing — they’re measuring.

That means your proposals need to include metrics that matter: engagement rates, dwell time, click-throughs, and lead attribution. Showing how branded content performs alongside display, search, and social elevates the conversation — and your credibility.

Quick Action: Share a recent campaign example where branded content drove measurable outcomes — like increased web traffic, leads, or brand recall.

5. Position Your Media Assets as a Force Multiplier

Advertisers told Borrell Associates researchers this year that the most valuable thing media companies can do is “utilize what you already own.” They said, “Any monkey can buy native ads, but being mentioned or featured by a trusted media outlet is priceless.”

That’s your superpower. You’re not just selling placement — you’re selling association, reputation, and reach.

Quick Action: Pitch branded content as a way to amplify what advertisers already do — and leverage your owned platforms to give their story credibility they can’t buy elsewhere.

6. Prospect with Confidence — and Curiosity

Every business has a story. The question is whether you’re the one who helps them tell it.

Start with the industries investing the most. Ask better questions. Use your data and insights to connect their brand’s purpose with your audience’s trust. And remember — branded content isn’t about selling space. It’s about building relationships, shaping perception, and driving results.

When your sales team prospects with insight instead of instinct, you don’t just close more deals. You elevate your entire brand as the premier storytelling partner in your market.

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About the Author:

Shannon Kinney is a seasoned startup Founder and Executive with over 30 years of experience in digital marketing. She has been at the forefront of digital transformation for media companies since 1995, and has consulted with and presented to media companies large and small worldwide. She is considered a thought leader in the online space, and is a highly sought after keynote speaker, advisor and consultant. With deep experience in sales, marketing, online product development and leadership, Dream Local Digital is her third nationally-scaled digital marketing solution company. She founded the company in 2009 “to bring the power of online marketing to small and medium sized businesses ”. She has a wide and highly engaged network of leaders in media, technology, and startups worldwide, and has developed Dream Local Digital to be a widely recognized brand as best of breed in online marketing. She has helped more than 75,000 small and medium sized businesses and media companies through her work with Dream Local Digital. She spent many years on the Local Media Foundation and Local Media Association boards and is passionate about their mission to create sustainable business models online. 

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The Branded Content Project is designed through a strategic partnership between Local Media Association and the Local Media Consortium with funding from the Knight Foundation to help facilitate additional growth, engagement, and revenue success for more publishers of all shapes and sizes.