It’s a well-known fact that content marketing is the king AND queen of internet business. If you’re not creating content to serve your audience, you don’t really have a business. But, it seems to me, that many people only equate content marketing with writing blog posts, and that leads to the (mistaken) belief that content marketing might just be dead after all.
In truth, there are many faces of content marketing. If you pay attention to what you see online every day, you will see content marketing in action all around you. It is used to grab attention (ads), qualify an audience (opt-ins and surveys), and build a customer base (blogs and newsletters) and drive brand advocates (social media) just to name a few. When it comes to marketing, almost anything you want to accomplish can be done with content marketing.
There are several types of effective content marketing that you can incorporate into your marketing efforts. You might even be doing it already without realizing that it’s content marketing that you’re doing. Of course, it goes without saying, that to use content marketing successfully, you need to figure out your goals, understand your audience and your products, and act consistently. In other words, it’s just like any other undertaking in your business and you need to plan and act accordingly.
Here are 8 common faces of content marketing to consider using:
Your Blog
A blog is probably the most common face of content marketing. It should act as your home base and the place where you add your information and posts first. The goal of all your other content marketing should be to get people back to your website and blog in order to see your offers and purchase your products and services.
Your Email List
Your email list is another common face of content marketing. The messages you send to your list all have one underlying purpose: to inform and educate your customers on your products and services, and those products and services you recommend that help them solve their problems.
Videos, Webinars, and Workshops
If you’re not creating video content for your marketing efforts, then you’re missing a huge slice of the content marketing pie. According to this infographic on Oberlo.com video is the type of content that consumers want to see most on social media. And most customers want to see more video from companies.
Hubspot also recently released a guide to What Video Marketers Should Know in 2022 that includes even more stats you might find interesting if you’re at all skeptical about what impact video has on your content marketing efforts.
Live webinars and workshops as tools for learning also utilize live video and I can say from my own experience that this has been very popular. My Publisher RoundTables and bonus workshops always have a high attendance rate, and even more people watch the replays which has a huge effect on the way I can relate to my customers, and they can relate to me. And that’s all content that can be used and reused in various formats.
Other Graphic Content
Images are huge for content marketing success. We talked earlier about video content, but still images like photos, infographics, and even memes or word art can help to get your message across to your audience, and to those you’d like to become your audience.
Interviews and Podcasts
Talking to people is a great way to add fresh content to your site. Interviews and podcasts are hugely popular and you can use them to market both your own products and affiliate products you promote.
Ebooks and Reports
While a lot of people kind of look down on ebooks as being old-school, there is still a huge place for them in content marketing. It can be much easier for your audience to read longer content offline and this is where ebooks and reports come in handy. Plus you can use them either as lead magnets to grow your list, or sell them as standalone products.
Checklists, Cheatsheets and Other Printables
This is by far my favorite method of content marketing. It’s so easy to create a checklist or other type of printable that you can offer as a content upgrade for your blog post, or just as a lead magnet to entice people to sign up for your newsletter. They also make great bonus material for affiliate marketing or even for your own customers after they make a purchase.
Social Media Posts and Updates
Everything you post on social media can be considered content. For the most part, the things you post on social media will be sharing what you created for your blog or website and will include other types of content but using social media content to persuade your audience is a no-brainer because that’s where your audience hangs out.
Final Thoughts
Content marketing is one of the most effective forms of marketing you can do online. And there are as many faces of it as you can think of. Start with the types of content I’ve shared with you here and add to it as you grow your business and define your own style of content that works for your audience.