The Many Faces of Content Marketing

What Types of Content Marketing Should I Use?

Failing to diversify proves to be one of the most common marketing mistakes made when it comes to content and inbound marketing. Many organizations place all of their eggs into one basket – typically a blog. Blogging, as critical as it is to your content marketing efforts, represents only a small portion of the types of content that will attract visitors to your website. While doing any content marketing creates more results than doing none, not investing in a strong content mix always leads to poorer outcomes.

The aim of content marketing must always be to deliver interesting, useful, insightful, or fun information to your target audience. Ideally, you can create a mix of content that engages visitors in multiple ways. You may need to step outside the comfort zone of blogging and moving into a multimedia content approach that encompasses everything from text based content like blogs, eBooks, and white papers while incorporating video, infographics, audio and even interactive content like quizzes. Written content will always be an integral part of your content marketing mix as it aids in your organic search presence, but to set yourself apart in a crowded marketplace, visual and interactive content must play a pivotal role in your efforts.

Not everyone engages with content in quite the same way, and although you may be providing the right information in your content to attract your key demographic, relying on a single form of content excludes some users while causing you to miss the opportunity to participate in more meaningful interactions with your audience.

Blog Posts

From the much-loved listicle to the informational how-to, the blog post is a classic for marketers in every industry. Well written and conceived blogs have great resonance in your marketing efforts as they boost SEO power and help you show up in search engine results when potential customers search for topical, discussable information related to your service or product.

Whitepapers

Whitepapers provide more in-depth technical information and provide a perfect vehicle for telling more complex stories in a concise format. Whitepapers can be a great outlet for presenting case studies in which you introduce your audience to the problem, present how your product or service provided a solution, and the outcome achieved. When wanting to demonstrate how your business can help overcome a specific challenge, a whitepaper can help tell the story in a relatable way.

Interviews

Often used as a means to gather testimonials or quotes, many marketers use interviews as a tool for gathering insight from industry influencers. Stories of other individuals working within your industry or the industry of your audience add legitimacy to your content while offering the ability to get your content in front of their audience as well.  Interviews tend to be an amazingly flexible form of content, and you can present them to your audience as a video, podcast, text – or all three!

Videos

Videos are one of the most consumed content types, yet many businesses still are not using them. With today’s technology, you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on videos for your content marketing strategy. You can still produce great videos like how-tos or interviews with your computer or even iPhone. There are numerous types of videos you can make, from testimonials to product demos. No matter what you choose, it’s important that the videos reflect the overall style and voice of your brand.

Infographics

Many individual’s learning styles lean heavily toward visual content – and let’s face it; if we can get the same information from a quick image, we prefer that to reading a lengthy blog. Infographics tell a story by showing key statistics, processes, facts, and short-form text in a visual, easily digestible format.

Podcasts

Podcasts can be like radio shows designed just for your audience. As an audio only format, podcasts have a flexibility that any visual content – whether video or text, can’t beat. Podcasts can be taken on walks, listened to during a commute, or even put on in the background as your potential customer works through their to-do list. When regularly posted, podcasts have proven power to attract an audience of near-customers. As far as what to feature in a podcast, consider using interviews with influencers and customers as your core content.

E-books

While white papers are more for robust technical information, ebooks provide an outlet for long form storytelling and content. By curating your blog posts and linking them together to form a narrative, you can quickly create an e-book that will drive conversions without spending tons of building completely new content. Ebooks often attract buyers who have already moved to a more active stage in the funnel. At this point, they have begun seriously looking into their options. Use this content type to get in front of them and demonstrate your expertise.

Quizzes

Online quizzes provide an interactive format to engage your audience. With a variety of quiz plugins or software programs on the market, you can easily create and upload quizzes to your website with little to no development work. When generating a quiz, think of ideas that will help your buyer see you as the expert. You could ask questions about your industry, products, or news that will impact them. Be sure to position yourself as a resource to help buyers at all stages of their information gathering and purchasing journey.

Ready to Diversify Your Content Marketing Strategy?

Do you want to maximize your content marketing results? It starts with building a highly crave-able, conversion creating content engine filled with a variety of content types. Let us help you upgrade your editorial calendar with a mix of content that showcases your expertise and leads buyers to select you.