With content marketing, you can create and share online material that stimulates interest in your products or services without outright promoting your brand. It draws people to your brand by informing them about something they already want to know. Knowing which type of content marketing to use is critical to success.
Content marketing isn’t a sales pitch or a form of spamming a consumer with content not relevant to their needs. A key attribute of content marketing is that it’s not an interruption or attempt to steal the person’s focus. It should genuinely be solving a problem or teaching them something. Like a popsicle on a hot day.
It makes someone want to seek out your content versus avoiding it. Click here for a more in depth explanation of what content marketing is.
The five types of content marketing list below can be used by almost every business.
Infographics
Infographics can be effective for content marketing because they can easily be shared across multiple platforms.
Researching the right keywords, coming up with a strategy and planning a design are the first steps to take before making an infographic. Make sure it’s visually appealing. We suggest utilizing a robust tool like Adobe Creative Suite or Canva to make awesome infographics.
Once you have your infographic, you can post it to sites such as Pinterest and Instagram with related links that take potential customers back to your website.
Blogs
What’s the difference between a regular webpage and one that utilizes content marketing? The one that is content marketing gives its readers valuable information that holds their interest. It’s not about you. It’s about the reader and what they want and need. This can be done in the form of a blog section.
An example of a successful content marketing blog is one that provides several different articles on specific topics. This targets a niche audience that could turn into potential customers. It also shows that you’re an expert on these topics and a source to turn to when needed.
Podcasts
Almost everyone has a favorite podcast they listen to, which gives you the opportunity to target a new audience.
You can reach listeners who have never heard of you before just by uploading a podcast to iTunes. Once they listen for free, this opens up the door for them to subscribe or purchase your product. Get their buy in before you ever talk to them.
For example, if you’re an expert on gardening and share a bit of your expertise in a podcast, you can then lead people to the books you’ve written or the paid courses you offer.
Videos
Similar to podcasts, people are consuming content through videos. You can use content marketing to create videos that help consumers who are seeking out specific needs or products.
Say you’re a cosmetologist who has launched their own teaching services. A way to content market those services would be to create informational YouTube videos showing a handful of your specific skill sets, and linking back to your paid services.
This is done with the intent that viewers will click on those links, driving traffic to your website.
You don’t have to have a fancy camera or professional crew to be successful with this form of content marketing.
Books
Like the above examples of content marketing, books can be a vessel that help lead people to your specific product.
This can create a chain reaction: Consumers visit your website, subscribe to your newsletter, take a course, and then become a valued customer.
According to Forbes, whether or not people actually read your book, you can still introduce and promote yourself as “Author of…” This allows an additional avenue to grow brand trust and authenticity.
While these certainly aren’t the only types of content marketing you can use to expand your clientele, they are a good starting point for growing your business.
Just remember, content marketing shows your target audience that you are knowledgeable, authentic, relatable, trustworthy, and industry savvy. It also helps improve business visibility and awareness through expanded search engine opportunities.