Content Marketing Ideas for Growth
Tuesday, May 14th, 2019
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard all of the hype about content marketing. It’s an important part of your overall marketing plan. For certain businesses, it may be the most important part. Diverse content can introduce new audiences to your brand and products. Keep your content fresh and varied to keep your audience from getting bored. There are so many opportunities for unique content beyond your typical social media post or email blast. If you’re not mixing it up you may find yourself stuck in a content rut. Read on for some some content marketing ideas. We want to help you incorporate different types of creative content in your marketing plan. You may have not even considered some of these ideas as content, but they are.
20 Content Marketing Ideas
- Infographics – Infographics provide an eye-catching mix of a design and copy. Analyze something quickly and concisely or show statistic using an infographic. It’s an ideal way to present data in a visual format that is interesting for your audience. Infographics are made for ease of reading and are often shared on social media. Best of all, they are a great way to show your expertise on a particular subject. Create your own infographics with software such as Befunky, Visme, Snappa or Canva.
- Short Video – We all love a good short video, there’s no denying it! Oh, and we share those shorts at an amazing rate. Don’t worry about buying expensive equipment for a quick video. Your smartphone can take a decent short video.
- Longer Videos (YouTube) – You just can’t ignore the statistics. YouTube has over a billion users, which is almost one-third of total internet users. 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week. This is one of our most important content marketing ideas. Invest in video and do it now. What types of content translate well into videos? Product demos and tutorials, testimonials and reviews. Presentations, interviews, behind the scenes, and vlogs (video blogs) work as well.
- Live Streams –Channels like Facebook Live and Periscope are enabling brands and individuals to go live whenever they’d like. Reach your audience immediately with live streaming. Content that is best for live streaming includes things such as new product announcements, grand openings and live behind the scenes looks. Similarly, Q & As, how to’s, special events, special announcements and breaking news make for great live streams.
- Podcast – Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular. Podcasting is a great way to build a strong and lasting relationship with your audience. To do a podcast right, you need to commit. It’s going to take some time and effort. Stay consistent once you get started. Begin by choosing your niche and your topic idea. Then come up with a catchy title for your podcast. You’ll also want to design a look for your podcast for advertising purposes. Write a podcast description and select music. You will also need some equipment to get started, including a quality microphone, an audio interface (if you have an analog microphone), headphones and editing software. This will depend on the type of computer you are using. Finally, you need to pick a reliable podcast hosting provider. You can select your host based on your budget, the simplicity of use and integrations, and support. If you’re interested in looking more into podcasting, but are unfamiliar, we suggest some additional research.
- Webinar – Hosting a webinar can help position you as an expert in a particular field. With the right content, a webinar can help you to sell your products and services. Webinars can help to keep an audience engaged and generate leads. Just like podcasting, a webinar needs a commitment on your part to be successful.
- How to Guides – We’ve all Googled how to do this or that at some time or another. How to Guides are a popular way for consumers to learn how to do something free of charge. Therefore, a how to guide can be of great value to a consumer. Whether you’re a financial institution providing a guide on purchasing a new car or a retailer compiling a guide on putting together a new wardrobe on a budget, you’re sure to get many readers.
- Whitepapers – A whitepaper is an authoritative and informational document that contains very detailed information on a particular topic or product. They are typically data driven and pretty lengthy. While whitepapers can be labor-intensive to complete properly, they can be extremely influential in marketing. Although they are not for every business or brand, they can help the right business become a thought leader in an industry.
- E-books – While a white paper has a more academic tone geared to a niche audience an E-book has a more casual vibe. E-books can be useful for various topics. They create greater awareness and enable you to go into greater detail. Depending on the topic, they often appeal to a wider audience that a whitepaper.
- Case Study – A well-written case study can be an invaluable asset when it comes to proving the value of your product or services. It’s a great way to tell a story. Case studies focus on a problem, a solution and an outcome. Once developed, a case study can be used in various formats, including blog posts, ads or even video.
- Blog – By now you know about the power of blogging. Blogging as a form of content marketing has tremendous SEO benefits. It also can bring in high quality leads via organic searching. A well-written blog can bring a more long-term ROI than many traditional marketing avenues. Once written, a blog can be used on your website, as well as all of your social media platforms. Businesses that publish regular content, such as regular blogs, receive much more web traffic. Not blogging? Contact Corcoran Communications to get started today. It’s the fastest way to improve your content marketing efforts.
- News Release/Newsletter –A well-written news release or newsletter can still help to spread the word about your company, products and services. When a press release gets editorial coverage, it can also help your business build links. Press releases can help to improve brand image, announce a new product or service, expand knowledge and more. It can be used on your website as well as all social media channels, giving you a big bang for your marketing buck. A newsletter is another great way to use content to create awareness. Additionally, a newsletter can provide useful information to your audience. Newsletters can be distributed via email, social media, website or good ole’ fashioned postal service. It’s just another method of using content to stay in touch with your audience.
- Checklists – The possibilities are endless when marketing with a checklist. 7 steps to follow when buying a new house, 5 ways to find the right preschool for your child, 10 ways to improve your diet. Just tie that list in to your brand and you’ve got a captive audience.
- Customer Testimonials/Success Stories –Nothing beats the value you get from an honest customer testimonial or success story. A satisfied client will usually be happy to give you a testimonial. The key is to ask immediately. Get them while they still remember just how satisfied they are. Make it as easy as possible for the customer to provide that testimonial. Ask the right questions to help them provide you with the information you’re looking for. One testimonial can be used in so many ways. It’s truly invaluable.
- Product Guides – If someone is on the fence about buying your product, an informative guide can go a long way in closing the sale. You can provide so much more information and detail in a product guide than in a simple ad.
- Photos & Images – Content created using visuals is more engaging than plain text and is important to overall success. Most importantly, people respond much more positively to images. Just be sure to select appropriate visuals for your piece of content.
- Emojis/Memes/ GIFs – People love them, so be sure to add them into your mix. Just keep in mind that they should enhance your content, not distract from it. Customize your own image for more reach.
- Animations – Animation is very stimulating to viewers. They can also be much more memorable and help you reach a larger audience. Again, they need to tie in well with your content. You can test out some animation software easily online, such as Animaker.
- Polls & Surveys – Getting feedback from your audience on questions can be a great way to keep them interacting with your brand. Use polls for serious feedback or just for fun. While Instagram limits its polling feature to Instagram Stories, Twitter lets you add a poll to any Tweet as you’re writing it. Facebook polls are the most in-depth social media polling option. Create polls easily with the “Create a Poll” button.
- Social Media Posts – Our advice as it relates to your social media posts is to stay consistent. Be authentic and share moments that matter. Enhance your social media marketing using the content marketing ideas we’ve mentioned above.
Creating and distributing valuable content can help you to build your brand and develop a loyal audience and large customer base. Take advantage of the content marketing ideas above to grow your business. Utilizing content in the creative ways we’ve mentioned can help you to achieve that goal. Keep your audience engaged and drive a greater ROI on your marketing efforts. When it comes to driving online traffic, content is skill king. Contact a digital marketing expert to learn more about content marketing
Tags: blog writer, blogging, content marketing, content marketing ideas, Corcoran Communications, digital marketing expert, email blast, marketing plan, social media marketing, social media posts, valuable content, well-written blog