8 Types of Content for Content Marketing Success

Content marketing is the key to generating new leads and sales. However, with the increasing number of businesses leveraging content on the internet, the competition is fiercer than ever. Therefore, you must rethink your content marketing strategy and incorporate more types of content in your marketing mix.

The question then becomes, how do you know what type of content will work best for your business? In this article, we will discuss the power of creating different types of content.

Before we get into various content formats, let’s take a look at why content marketing is such an essential tool: 

• Content is one of three main SEO search ranking factors. 
• Content can help you build trust and authority in the industry. 
• Content can help you show expertise to prospective customers.

There is no single type of content that appeals to every visitor. That is why you should use multiple content formats for your strategy.

1. Blog Posts

When done correctly, blog posts can help you establish authority within your niche and improve your search ranking. When it comes to blogging, Buffer is one of the best examples of how to use blogs to fuel growth. 

When they started out, they published guest blogs multiple times daily on prominent sites. This single strategy helped them acquire their first 100,000 users.

On their own blog, the company focused on writing for the people who influenced their customers, producing high-quality and shareable content.

The results of Buffer’s blogging strategy? They are now a  highly recognized and trusted brand, with over 400,000 users and around one million followers on social media platforms.

Another company that shows best the power of blogging is Hubspot. Their in-depth blog posts helped many customers solve their issues regarding content marketing. In addition to their amazing blog posts, they are now creating more educational content, such as ebooks, in addition to their blog posts and webinars. We can conclude with certainty that their blogging strategy is working, as they are one of the leading content marketing companies nowadays.

2. Video

Video content is trending in 2018, and according to Google, video content is a trusted source for 40% of millennials. Video is also one of the content formats that generates business revenue. Research conducted by Aberdeen Group shows that companies that use video content get 66% more leads per year than the ones that don’t.

With great video content, even the boring industries can turn out to be fun. One of our favorite examples is Blendtec – a blender company that found a way to make blending interesting by trying to mix weird stuff. The Will It Blend series became so popular online thanks to their videos, resulting in a 700% increase in sales in a three-year period.

Nowadays, Blendtec’s YouTube channel has almost 900,000 subscribers, and the campaign is still popular.

There are numerous ways that you can use video in your content strategy. For example, if your product needs a bit of explaining, create a video to do that. Explaining what Bottle Cutting Inc. sells using just words is not easy, and the video on their homepage is a wise approach.

Furthermore, you can create videos to showcase features of your products or services or to help customers set up a product.

3. Infographics

Infographics are among the most shared content online and 84% of those who use infographics to market their business find that content format effective. When using infographics, it is extremely important to get the graphic elements right.

Besides being famous for its blog posts, Hubspot is also famous for creating amazing and helpful infographics like this one:

Fortunately, creating infographics does not require any special design skills. Thanks to tools such as Infogram and Piktochart that make it easy to create infographics. You can also download Hubspot’s 15 free infographic templates for PowerPoint.

4. Images

You may be aware of the importance of good and high-quality images for your content strategy, but let’s take a look at a few facts. Every minute, 15,000 GIFs are sent on Messenger, and 46,200 Instagram posts are uploaded. Therefore, whatever you do, make sure your images stand out!

Just because you are an iconic brand doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have amazing content. Take Gucci’s Instagram as an example:

And the fans love it: Gucci has over 23 million Instagram followers and more than 17 million on Facebook.

5. Case Studies

Case studies are a very effective content marketing tool for winning new businesses. Using them allows you to show what you’re doing right, build trust and authority, and highlight your competitive advantage.

OptinMonster is a lead-generation software that converts abandoning visitors into subscribers with its dynamic marketing tools. To prove the performance of their tools, they create case studies such as these:

6. Ebooks

Ebooks are a great way to quickly create downloadable content; when done right, you can use them as a lead magnet. Hubspot uses ebooks as lead magnets to collect customer information, such as their email address, in exchange for a newsletter.

Chelsea At HerPaperRoute also uses this technique to get newsletter signups. For example, they created a book with thousands of Instagram hashtags. Who wouldn’t want to give their email for that data?

7. Webinars

According to ReadyTalk, webinars (or online seminars) are an excellent content format because between 20% and 40% of those who attend webinars become qualified leads. Webinars usually consist of a presentation and a brief Q&A session. They help you show off your expertise, and you can also demonstrate products and services so that attendees actually know how to use them.

8. Newsletters

Newsletters are great for two things:

• Showcasing the content that you have created (for example, new blog posts or videos)
• Recovering abandoned carts.

In case you sell products online, you’d want to use newsletters to recover your abandoned carts but also to inform people about new collections, promotions, and other relevant things.

Choosing the right content for your business can be tricky, but it can help grow your business significantly. Use one of these types of content (or a few of them) to raise awareness about your brand and generate more leads and sales! 

If you need help figuring out the best types of content for your business or creating a content marketing strategy, contact us today. We’re ready to help you!