Beginners Guide: 13 Content Ideas To Try Right Now
Feeling a little overwhelmed at the mere mention of making “content”? Stuck for ideas? Take a deep breath, it's all going to be okay! By the end of this article you'll be feeling inspired and ready to hit the ground running.
Content Marketing is "a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services". Effective Content Marketing builds an engaged, active, and loyal community around a brand, and also generates business. But unlike advertising or other types of marketing, Content Marketing provides value.
With a world of possibilities out there, the types and variations of content marketing are limited only by your imagination and abilities. To get your creative juices flowing, here are:
13 Content Marketing Ideas
"How-To" Blog or Video
Demonstrate your knowledge and expertise in a particular area or skill that is related to your brand, industry, product, or service. "How-To" articles will also improve your SEO ranking and will drive traffic to your website (because most people ask Google if they don't know something).
Guest Interviews: Podcast or Articles
The benefits of inviting interesting people to take part in an interview are many. You will make new invaluable connections, your content will be shared with a wider audience, and it will increase your brand's reach and recognition.
Infographic / Statistics
Use compelling statistics that are relevant to your brand and turn them into an Infographic: the most shared content on social media. Be sure to make a visually appealing design that is easy to understand, and include your website or handle so people viewing it will know the source and competitor brands won't be able to steal and claim it as their own.
FAQ's Video
You know your customers better than anyone else - think of the common questions and queries people have about your product or services (or if you can’t think, go into Google and start typing words relating to your business ans see what the most-searched questions are). Now assign the most charismatic person in your team to answer these questions on-screen!
Ask Me Anything (AMA)
Live stream an AMA video on Facebook or Instagram and get viewers to submit their questions. This is a fantastic way to get audience interaction and give your brand a human side, as well as genuinely listen and respond to your audience and make them feel valued.
Carousel Explainer
Create an Instagram carousel for your audience which explains something they’d find interesting. Pick a topic that is relevant to your brand and make it informative and engaging — just make sure people will learn something new or be inspired.
Behind-The-Scenes Photo Gallery
Give your audience an exclusive look at what goes on behind closed doors. This shows your process and gives a great human insight into the day-to-day running of your business. These can be progress photos of a project you're working on, images of people on your team, office quirks, etc.
Reviews
By publishing reviews you give potential customers that highly-sought after trust through word-of-mouth reviews. People are much more likely to try a new product or service if it has great reviews — just make sure you use genuine reviews and include the name (and position if relevant) of who wrote it.
Downloadable Templates
People get great value from blank templates that will help them plan, strategize or perform a particular task. Think about what knowledge you have that you could turn into a template and present it in a visually appealing way. You can either put this on your website as an image or similar to an e-book, include an email entry form to allow the template to be downloaded (this way you can collect and nurture leads too).
Testimonials
If you have a particular client or customer who is happy with your work, then ask them to provide a testimonial. This can be done in the traditional way as a written testimonial blog, but if you want to maximise engagement you could make a short video that tells the story of their project and emphasises results. Be sure to but make it genuine nd authentic AKA avoid cheesy scripted advertorial-style interviews!
Competition
Make a competition with a cool prize that has user-generated content as a condition of entry: ie. create a hashtag and get people to take a photo and use this hashtag to enter. This way, your brand will reach an audience beyond your existing followers and you will be able to re-post user images to your own accounts (just be sure to include this in the competition T&Cs).
E-Book
Spend time creating a modern-looking and informative e-book that people can download from your website. This is also an awesome way to build an email contact list and lead nurture them in the future.
Case Studies
When considering a purchase, potential customers want to know they can trust you and that their money will be a good investment and a good fit for them. Case studies are your way of proving this. So shout from the hilltops about the challenge, method, solution, and results. Depending on your competencies (and on your product/service) you can make this case study an Infographic, photo, video, slideshow, article, or blog.
Righto, now you have 13 ideas to get started on. You’re welcome.
Always remember to:
Define your target market ie: audience
Create content that they find valuable
Convert this audience into customers
Now you are on your way to becoming a content marketing wizard. Go wild!