Content Marketing formats that every marketer should know

The success of content marketing depends upon the kind of content a company produces and how well it resonates with its target audience. Over the years, content marketers have come up with different forms of content marketing to promote their products or services. Each form has its own pluses and minuses and is customized to meet customer requirements.

Here’s a description of the popular content marketing formats and why they should be used.

#1. Text-based Content Marketing

The most popular format used for content marketing is text. It is easy to create, is economical and satisfies both human and search engine requirements. The customers find answers in the content while search engines mine the content to deliver relevant results.

Some of the common text-based content marketing tools are:

a. Blogging: Company blog posts are a great way to announce product improvements or product launches. The best examples of such announcements are blogs created by tech companies such as Google, Facebook or Apple where they share product developments.

There is a huge global audience hungry for such information. Bloggers and news services monitor such postings closely, and quickly convert such announcements into their own posts, which they then publish on their blogs or websites. It is like a tech company casting a stone, and the ripples spreading rapidly across the internet. However, a company has to have size and its products the reach for content marketing to deliver.

The remaining companies have to depend upon search engines to index their content. Let’s say a patient is experiencing a ringing sensation caused by accumulation of wax in the ear, and there is a pharma company that produces ear drops to dissolve the wax. How does the patient discover this product?

This is where content marketing kicks in. The pharma company needs to create a blog post that answers the patient’s information needs and is search engine optimised for easy discovery.   Such content can be produced in house by the public relations team or outsourced. Once written, the article can be published on the company’s website to be indexed by the search engine.

Over time, the company can build a large repository of useful articles around the products that it manufactures. The articles become a bait to bring prospective customers to the website. The company can then showcase its products, generate leads or even make actual sales.

The length of blog posts can range from 500 to 2,000 words for easy browsing and customer retention. Each blog must be focussed on a single topic, and should be well structured to improve reader engagement.

b. E-books: E-books have emerged as a smart way to generate leads. Prospective customers are dangled the bait of getting a free E-book that promises in depth research findings, industry insights or any other useful information. In return, the customers are asked to submit personal data such as name, company name, size of company, email address etc. This data then becomes a useful start point for lead nurturing.

The success of E-books depends upon the value of content. They must satisfy customers, especially B2B customers who are both discerning and demanding. Common knowledge cannot be recycled in the garb of free E-books. The content should have business value for e-books to build brand authority.

c. White papers: A White Paper is the most advanced form of text-based content marketing. It reflects expertise and works as an authoritative guide on business, industry or matters related to the government.

White Papers delve in depth on their respective subjects. They are informative, exclusive, describe challenges and provide solutions. The goal is to educate current and prospective B2B customers to invest in a product or service. They are mostly written as a case study, a backgrounder or a document that offers solutions.

Like E-books, White Papers are also used to generate B2B leads and build authority.

d. Newsletters: Newsletters were an important part of company marketing even when Internet did not exist. The only difference is that the newsletters then were physical and sent through postal mail. Today, newsletters are digital and are sent through email clients to the mailboxes of existing and prospective customers.

Newsletters serve three key purposes: provide relevant company information, drive traffic to company website and promote sales.

The success of newsletters depends upon design. A word of caution here: customers should never be spammed with newsletters. Instead, companies should use email clients such as Mailchimp that offer opt in facility.

# 2. Video-based content marketing

More and more companies are turning to videos as an important content marketing tool. They are getting videos created both for being published on the company website and for being shared on social media platforms.

Video marketing can take two routes. The first is direct. In this case, companies publish videos about their products, their facilities, their processes, their employees, their customer experiences etc. These videos provide valuable information to customers but they rarely go viral.

The second type of company video is crafted intelligently. Its goal is to provide an immersive experience. These videos are more fun, lighter and entertaining, and more likely to be shared. Such videos delight existing as well as prospective customers and lead to increased brand recall. The messaging and brand building is very subtle.

#3. Podcast-based content marketing

Podcasting is still to evolve in India as a potent content marketing tool. In the West, especially in the US, marketers are turning to podcasting as an affordable and informative way of brand building. Several companies create podcasts of their own. Such podcasts largely focus on product explainers, customer experiences, industry trends or case studies. The goal is to create audio stories that can lead to an emotional connect with the customers.

Companies also invite business leaders as guests because guest podcasts with proper marketing pull in more listeners. They can also be converted into social media quote posts or tweet threads to attract new customers.

# 4. Content Marketing on Social Media platforms

The most powerful content marketing happens on social media platforms. Brands create highly engaging text, image and video stories for posting on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Such marketing provides brands an amazing opportunity to connect with their existing and potential customers and build relationships. They can leverage these relationships to raise brand awareness, build communities and brand loyalty, gather feedback, test new products, generate leads and drive traffic to their websites.

However, for social media marketing to succeed brands need to create content that is engaging and shareable.  This can only happen when brands craft a well thought out content creation strategy. This journey starts with brands selecting the platforms where their customers hang out. The next four steps are content planning, content creation, scheduling and publishing.  Finally, it is important to analyse the success rate of social media strategy. For this, social media data needs to be analysed and studied carefully.

A good social media strategy must also include social media listening. Brands must devote time to listen to customer complaints and sort them in real time.

You should also not forget live video.  Brands invite celebrities to interact with their customers through live shows. The views of such live shows run into millions.

# 5. Infographics-based content marketing

Infographics combine words and images to create highly visually appealing and easily understandable documents. The magic of infographics lies in breaking up and organising complex chunks of data or facts into comprehensive, compelling stories.

They not only enable brands to relay relevant information about their products or services in an easy-to-read format but also enable customers to consume that information in double quick time. Most important, they provide tangible information that can be easily understood.

Quote graphics are another smart way to grab consumer attention. When made well, they are visually arresting and highly memorable.

Related report
8 key elements of actionable Content Marketing Strategy
Why Content Marketing is your best bet to grow business