100 Content Marketing Ideas
Content marketing is one of the most powerful ways to drive inbound traffic to your website. It attracts more customers, positions your authority and grows your reach. But how do you get started?
And what are the best content marketing ideas to land more customers?
This guide reveals it all...
HERE ARE 100+ CREATIVE CONTENT MARKETING IDEAS
1. News: This is one of the easiest to find content sources. The trick is to add your own opinion, interpretation and thoughts on how it impacts your industry or niche. Only cover news that is relevant to your audience, niche and/or local market. I am not a big fan of saying what has already been said 100 times unless I have something unique to add.
2. Audience Needs: What is the information your audience needs? Make a simple list of the type of information they need and write about it.
3. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): What are the top questions your audience has? You can write one post or often times an entire series of posts on just one of the questions. If you don't know the questions your audience has then you don't know your audience, period! If you don't know your audience, talk to them. Ask them questions. It will be the best time spent, trust me!
4. Solve Problems. What are the top problems or pain points your audience has? Provide answers and solutions to these problems!
5. Share Tips and How To Lists: People love to read content in easily consumable and sharable bits and bytes. This is why tips work great. There are some bloggers that complain about other bloggers who write lists. I say “who cares.” There is only one way to do social media and marketing and that is the way that works for you and your business. I write lists all the time and I'll tell ya, they are some of my most successful posts. My audience likes them, they share them, the thank me for them and they come back for more. Why would I listen to some blogger who doesn't have a clue of my objectives or the objectives of my audience. I don't listen or care what others say about what I should do on my blog and either should you!
6. Share the lessons you have learned. Even if you have only been in business 30 days longer than some of your readers, they can learn from you. Share your best tips. What have you learned? How can you help them avoid the mistakes you made?
7. Share your journey of building your business. Share both the good and bad. If you share your real self, the fact that you are human and make mistakes, try things that sometimes don't work, people will be better able to connect with you. When you do this you also invite them in to your community in a more intimate way. They become invested in you and your brand. Then, when you start to succeed they feel as though they were part of helping you succeed. They are then happy to celebrate the wins with you and it doesn't come across as much self promotion as it would if they didn't know you and how you got there.
8. Write brand stories. Share stories of your experiences in business and life. The art of storytelling is one of the greatest skills you can learn as a blogger. If you can learn to share stories that guide people through a scenario they can picture in their head, relate to, they will often times become loyal followers and friends.
9. Conduct Expert interviews. Interview industry experts, thought leaders and influencers your audience would like to hear from. Keep it simple and ask them a few questions. Then write a blog post or record a video summarizing the interview and lessons learned.
10. Video blogging (Vlogging). If you can't stand the thought of writing then start out with videos or podcasts. You don't have to have an expensive camera. Start with a webcam and a good Mic. The days of expensive video that every word is scripted are over and done. Focus on being real and connecting with your audience in a real way.
11. Podcasts. Similar to the video blogging but only includes voice.
12. Take & Share Photos. If you attend an event, upgrade your office, visit a client, have visiting partners or clients, or simply have a fun office party, take photos! Upload the photos to Pinterest, Flickr, TwitPic and talk about them on your blog. I like to filter them in over the course of a few days or weeks. Photos can be leveraged for the long term. There are many reports from Facebook that photos are still the top viewed content.
13. Share inspirational nuggets. What inspires you? What inspires your clients? What inspires your readers? Quotes are an easy way to share your personal beliefs, motivation and inspiration. Quotes are also one of the top retweeted content on Twitter. Make sure you add the hashtag #quote or #quotes to the end of your tweet. Again, you'll hear some tweeters boss you around telling you not to tweet quotes. You know my answer… if it works for you and your audience, then do it. I have met some amazing people who are now business partners and clients from tweeting simple quotes.
14. Talk about the people who inspire, educate and influence you. Who influences and educates you? Who inspires you to keep doing what you're doing? Why not write a blog post about them? Do a quick interview via email or phone. It is a great way to say thank you to the person who inspires you as well as be a blessing to your readers as they can now learn and benefit from your network.
15. Crowd source answers to questions. People love to hear the perspective of others. Ask your network a question and have them answer via email. Keep their answers short and focused. Give them specific criteria, word count and purpose of post. Be sure to include a specific deadline date when content is due. Once you have all of the input compiled simply combine into one blog post. Add a small profile picture for each one and include links to their blogs, Twitter profiles etc. I am working on several of these right now that will soon be launched. It's a win win for all involved.
16. Guest blogging. Invite some of your favorite bloggers or industry thought leaders to guest blog on your blog. Don't just let anyone blog so you have content. Focus on finding people who know their stuff and who your audience can relate to.
17. Do product reviews. This is pretty straight forward. Identify a top list of products that are relevant to your audience. Write a simple blog post about the product. Share the key features, benefits, review of how it works, how it compares to competitive products (if you know) and what your personal opinions are. This can often also work well with video.
18. Write a series of blog posts. I am a big believer in creating an editorial calendar that is dynamic. It's impossible for me to stick 100% to a calendar. However, I do use one and I have very specific goals with my content over the course of a year. I love creating what I call “content buckets” of which I include specific topics and sub-topics into one series. People love them. Add an email opt-in to your newsletter and you can grow your list exponentially if you are providing good content.
19. Share marketing and business tools. Do you have a favorite spreadsheet, Photoshop template or other framework your audience could leverage? Make it available when people opt-in to your email list. You can then nurture the relationships and provide valuable content over time that will hopefully inspire them to do the double click on you and your brand!
20. Review your stats. Are you a data junkie? If yes, these are perfect blog posts for you. Do a quick analysis of a part of your business or marketing. Summarize your findings, learnings and actions. People LOVE to see real data. It will prove you know your stuff and enable you to be humble, share good content and inspire your audience to do the same.
21. Share new laws and regulations. Are there specific laws and regulations in your industry or niche? Document briefly reminders of upcoming deadlines with links where they can learn more. Or simply document best practices and tips to avoid breaking the law. Invite an attorney to guest blog, do a video interview or podcast and provide even more information.
22. Start a twitter chat. It’s important to get real on social media, social business and leverage social media in a real way to nurture relationships and grow business.
23. Create theme days. If you are one who likes structure then theme days may be perfect for you. Try Facebook Fridays, Wacky Wednesdays, or Twitter Tuesdays. You never know what your community will like until you try different things that are out of the box.
24. Start a private Facebook group. Facebook groups are a great way to nurture relationships and provide people a platform to communicate, ask questions and engage in a more intimate setting.
25. Get out of the house! If all else fails get your butt out of your desk chair and enjoy some life. Working 24/7 will do nothing for your creative juices. A weekend turning off can be good for the mind, body and spirit. Embrace why you started your business or career in the first place. Your goal should be to work smarter, not harder! Focus on leveraging content to grow your business in the right way
26. Co-Creation. One of the fastest and most-effective ways to drastically increase the reach of your next blog article is with co-creation, a content marketing tactic where you collaborate with experts and compile their ideas.
27. Customer Interviews. Showcasing your client’s stories in content is pretty much a double-whammy - you and your audience benefit from the social proof of their story, while your customer can revel in the exposure.
28. Graphs & Charts The easiest way to explain a complex idea isn’t with a ton of words, it’s probably with a helpful visual. We love the simplicity of the example below, which can be recreated in PowerPoint in about 30 seconds:
29. Employee Profiles. Major brands have been using their real-life employees to recruit and market for decades, an idea we famously saw with IBM’s “I am an IBM-er” campaign: However, brands of all sizes can benefit from putting a more human face on their outreach efforts.
30. List.ly Posts. The only thing better than list posts are list.ly posts created in real-time, using a collaborative process. You can turn your blog into an interactive debate or strategy session with this awesome tool.
31. Create Brand Stories. The idea of the narrative is much older than content marketing, and there’s a fair chance it’s going to last much longer. If you’re in need of some inspiration on how to share your history, check out Aston Martin’s drool-worthy success in this arena.
32. Old-Fashioned Serials. Why not create a likeable brand hero and share their story in installments? While this tactic isn’t seen often, a well-written, longform story is sure to be an effective way to increase your subscribers and build some hype around your brand.
33. Podcasts. In case you hadn’t heard, podcasting is currently one of the fastest-growing forms of content marketing: Don’t just settle for a single cast when you could launch a show, with the goal of growing a dedicated audience.
34. Thought Leader Interviews. What would you ask if you had a few minutes with Ann Handley? Or Joe Pulizzi, or anyone else in your niche? There’s a good chance your audience has wondered the same things you have.
35. Five-Day Challenge Series. A challenge-series offers several benefits to your content strategy including increasing awareness, engagement, and lead conversions. People enjoy these videos because it gives them something new to look forward to while helping them solve an immediate problem. By building a separate list for this campaign, you keep followers connected to your brand, provide valuable content that nurtures your subscribers, and subsequently bolster your lead generation strategy.
36. Teach a Live Class on Facebook. Using third-party platforms like Zoom, you can convert Facebook Live into a full-blown webinar presentation on social media. Webinars are excellent video tools that allow you to delve deep into topics, further positioning you as an expert in your industry. For optimal results, promote your class in advance on Facebook using visuals. Have followers register to serve as a reminder to attend your webinar. Finally, mention 1-2 benefits people will gain to give them a reason to show up.
37. Give the Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Industry. Another top video content marketing idea is to share the top blunders customers often make in your industry…and how they can avoid them. Consider the reasons why people come to your business either because of a problem or a costly error made. Create video content that emphasizes these mistakes, why they should steer clear, and specific steps on how they can turn it around.
38. Share Your Wins…and Losses. People crave transparency and authenticity online. It wins over your audience, helping to build the know, like, and trust factor. A certain way of getting followers to trust your brand is by sharing your wins and losses. Tell your story by highlighting how your business failed forward to success. Be an inspiration. You’ll be amazed at how your transparency can be a light to someone else’s journey, making your content marketing much more impactful.
39. Show Your Processes. How-to videos perform extremely well on social media. Your audience is always looking for better ways to achieve a task or goal. Publishing videos that show your process helps give immediate gratification to your followers while bringing more visibility to your brand.
40. Slideshare. Before you bristle at the idea of boring presentations, hear me out. Slideshare means serious business and serious traffic, and there’s no rule that says you have to use the network for sales-focused materials. Upload an visual-heavy eBook or create a storyboard - the sky is your limit.
41. Survey Results. Original studies and research may not be the easiest form of content marketing, but they’re a pretty darn effective way to build your thought leadership, improve links to your site, and gain loads of exposure once you publish the results.
42. Long-Form Articles. Google loves in-depth articles, which is why content that’s 2,000 words or more in length tends to rank higher in search. Strive for a mix of feasts, snacks, and meals with your content marketing.
43. Animated Gifs. Who doesn’t love an animated GIF? While these short, often humorous clips have traditionally been the domain of teens and humor-lovers, they’re a perfect way to break up your content. Need help learning how to use GIFs? Check out this super interesting article about using GIFs to put magic in your content.
44. Social Photography. Have a shutterbug on staff? Hand them a DLSR, and use the resulting images in all forms of content you publish. High-quality images will never go out of style.
45. Tip Sheets. The step-by-step guides your customer service representatives give over the phone to new customers every day could actually make a pretty awesome content offer to generate leads.
46. Pricing Guides. If you’re in a price-sensitive industry and offer better rates than your competitors, why not cut down your prospects’ research by creating a quick chart that shows how you stack up against the others?
47. Product Comparison Guides. It won’t take long to compile a chart that objectively compares your product or services to others in your industry, but you’ll be sure to win the hearts of prospects for making their life so much easier.
48. A Round-Up of Influencer Insights. Get straight to the heart of a complicated issue by interviewing a few thought leaders on a hot topic, and sharing their thoughts.
49. Online Communities. By providing the space online and a commitment to moderate conversations among your prospects, you’ll win their trust and respect. The Home Depot is one of several brands with a highly-popular online community.
50. eLearning Portals. Imagine how much value you could provide to your customers by creating a center for online professional education, which could include videos, white papers, eBooks and more!
51. Quizzes. Silly, fun and educational quizzes have recently experienced a resurgence on social media. Why not provide value - or just a little entertainment - to your audience by building one fo your own?
52. Buyer’s Guides. What are the pitfalls of purchasing in your industry? Is there anything your customers need to know to make the most of their new product? Chances are, you know the answers to these questions like the back of your hand. Share the knowledge with a valuable buyer’s guide.
53. In-Person Events. Many marketers believe that in-person events, like free trainings or networking parties, are the single best way to get publicity with content marketing. If you haven’t invested in these yet, it’s certainly worth a try.
54. Company Manifesto. What does your brand value? Why do your employees love coming in every morning? These factors that make you unique also make you far more likeable, which is why they’re worth sharing with the world.
55. Scavenger Hunts. Content marketing should be fun, which is why a scavenger hunt could turn your audience into a dedicated tribe of treasure hunters. The tactic’s been used successfully by major brands before, including Pepsi.
56. Create Mobile Apps. Designing an app for your own customers or prospects is actually pretty simple, with the help of easy-to-use tools like Conduit’s customer builder.
57. Statistics Round-Up Posts. You can provide an immense amount of value to your prospects by rounding up the hottest statistics and research findings in your industry into a single blog or eBook, a tactic we’ve used very successfully here at Writtent.
58. Conference Lists. It’s relatively simple to compile a list of upcoming industry conferences into a single, easy-to-use schedule for your audience - and this approach is actually bound to get you notice, since it’s a lot less common than you think!
59. Vine/Instagram Videos. Every second, at least 5 Vine videos are shared on Twitter. Short videos are one of the fastest-growing forms of content marketing, because they’re so incredibly easy to consume.
60. Instagram Direct Content. Less than 24 hours after Instagram’s Snapchat-inspired feature was released, the Gap was already using it to promote a contest. Entries were compiled when their customers sent in photos of themselves wearing the brand’s clothes.
61. Put together Professional Groups Guides. Provide your customers with the tools to become better professionals by compiling lists of educational opportunities, including:
Networking Groups
LinkedIn and Google+ Communities
Twitter Chats
Free Educational Resources
Must-Follow Thought Leaders
Top Blogs
Webinars
Really, the sky is the limit when it comes to professional guide ideas for B2B content marketing.
62. Make Event-Specific Content. Make the most of your conference attendance by compiling insights on top speakers, most-ReTweeted thoughts on the event, or any other form of content marketing that can provide your audience with a first-hand look at the event.
63. Create Flickr Photostreams. Consider modeling your content marketing after Nightmares Fear Factory, a haunted house in Canada. They capture pictures of their frightened guests, which are published to a highly-popular and amusing Flickr Photostream.
64. Use QR Codes. QR codes aren’t just a trendy way to get your mobile prospects and customers engaged - they’ve got a load of potential for mystery or exclusivity-based marketing campaigns. Why not create a QR code that’s the only path to a secret landing page, and watch your hype build up?
65. Build Customer Loyalty Programs. If you haven’t invested in designing, promoting, and sharing a customer rewards program, it’s probably time to start. These initiatives can increase loyalty and referrals.
66. Create Infographics. Everyone loves an infographic - provided it’s valuable, unique, and has something new to bring to the table. Curate away, or create your own with a website like Piktochart.
67. Use Custom Images. Drastically increase shareability and appeal of your blogs by incorporating custom images, which can be created in seconds using a tool like Canva.
68. Make an Employee Mascot. Does your company have a living or inanimate mascot, like a dog, cat, or even a teddy bear? Create some fun social media content “through the eyes” of your company’s unique representative.
69. Create A “Day-in-the-Life”. Inc magazine’s “The Way I Work” series offers revealing and fascinating portraits of how highly successful entrepreneurs spend their days. Repeat this formula on your own blog around employees, and expand to interviewing other leaders if it’s successful.
70. Tipping Point Portraits. Google ran a highly gutsy but successful content marketing campaign called “Zero Moments of Truth,” which profiled their customers’ thoughts in the moment when they decided to make a purchase. It’s certainly worth emulating!
71. Create Print Newsletters. Direct mail may be down, but what if your contacts could opt-in to an exclusive, mailed newsletter that included content you don’t print online?
72. Virtual Summits. Organize, sponsor, and promote a remote seminar or conference, where you invite industry leaders and experts to share via Webinar or Telecast software.
73. Spotlight Your Supply Chain. Eco-friendly brand Patagonia offers what they call “The Footprint Chronicles,” content designed to give their customers a look into where their clothing comes from. Why not showcase your vendors and supply chain in the same way?
74. Live-Streaming Broadcasts. Are your employees attending a valuable training? Why not share the insights you’re learning with a larger audience by broadcasting the session to the web?
75. Debates. HubSpot isn’t afraid to let their employees go head-to-head on hot issues, in their highly-popular “Marketing Debates” series. Create a little tension and energy around topics that matter by sponsoring one of your own over webinar or a Twitter chat.
76. Screencasts. How do you accomplish your work load in a given day? Screencasts can be a highly effective form of tutorials, allowing you to showcase critical skills in video form without a need for expensive lighting or editing.
77. Exclusive Email Offers. Who hasn’t fallen for a “flash deal” that showed up in their email inbox? Let your subscribers know you appreciate their business by offering a limited-time offer that’s just too good to pass up.
78. Microsites. One of the most engaging ways to showcase one of your brand’s verticals, products, or even values is with microsites, which are literally mini-websites dedicated to just one topic. One of the most successful examples of this idea is Procter & Gamble’s “Being Girl,” dedicated to their pre-teen girl customers.
79. Tumblr. Tap into a younger audience and showcase your content curation skills on Tumblr, a fast-growing platform that fuses social media with blogging. While it’s a relatively underutilized form of content marketing, it’s become increasingly popular among brands.
80. Excel Spreadsheets. Make your prospect and customer’s jobs a little easier by letting your resident excel whiz put together a spreadsheet that quickly hacks a problem they may have. Who knows - you could even have one already that’s ready to share.
81. Powerpoint Templates. Literally everyone can use another original, visually-appealing and beautiful PowerPoint template in their lives. Sharing your designers’ work freely can be highly effective lead generation tactic.
82. Web Television Series. In one of the sharpest content marketing turns we can recall, XBox sponsored “The Guild,” a web television series about the lives of people who closely resembled their end users. Collaborate with indie artists in your community to do the same.
83. Facebook Apps. There are few shortcuts to developing a custom Facebook App...oh, wait. There definitely are. Even marketers who can’t code can create an engaging platform with App Builder or other similar tools.
84. Mobile Magazines. Just because consumers aren’t subscribing to print magazines like they used to doesn’t mean we don’t crave many attributes of traditional media - like the high-quality articles, gorgeous images, or exclusive ideas. Use a platform like FlippingBook to bring your publication to life.
85. Video Tutorials. Did you know that over 6 billion hours of video are watched on YouTube each month? You can capture some of this engagement by releasing your own, branded video tutorials.
86. Anonymous Insider Blogs. One of the most-popular brand presences on Tumblr is known simply as “OscarPRGirl,” which is supposedly written by an anonymous member of the Oscar DeLaRenta marketing team. Plausibility aside, it adds a layer of mystique to the insider glimpse given on this blog.
87. Web Comics. Are your buyer personas likely readers of XKCD, Toothpaste for Dinner and other beloved web comics? Why not create your own nerdy or funny comic strip to be shared regularly?
88. Frame it as a quiz. Does your content help people define their needs? Write it as a fun quiz instead. It's great for segmenting your audience and helping them to identify their knowledge base.
89. Use Twitter as a Q&A. Tweeting isn't just for one-offs. Release a sequenced block of content in bite-sized chunks. Bring the whole box set together in a blog later.
90. Examine a case study. Need to present a product? Zoom in by imagining how one ideal customer used it to solve one problem. Being specific often has general appeal and can help encourage people to buy your product.
91. Explore different charts. There's more to graphics than bar graphs and pie charts. Try less-used charts like the Spidergram and Circumplex to present your data.
92. Scarf up a comic strip. Everyone likes comics. If what you have to say can be presented in snappy one-liners, try presenting them with some bright colours, some stick figures and sequential panels.
93. Hit 'em with a text, Y/N? If you'd like a straight answer from your customer, ask a straight question. SMS applications make it easy to elicit simple responses by text message, driving not just readership but engagement.
94. Number each piece of content. Many people feel an urge to "collect the set" even if they didn't find an individual piece right for them. Numbering gives you more chances to gather those eyeballs.
95. Stick your content in a shared space. Scrapbook sites like Pinterest are great for bringing related content together and keeping it in one place.
96. Interview with the content vampire. Write your content as questions your audience might pose, with answers from an expert. Which expert? Maybe you.
97. Look for unusual content opportunities. Hint, rollover text, ALT text, captions - all these "microcontent" sources can be customised to add a smile to your content. Not only will it optimise your website, but it also makes you look like you really know your stuff.
98. Think document, not webpage. Look bigger by making your content downloadable. A discrete document like a PDF of ebook often has a higher perceived value.
99. Write a guide or glossary. Not only is it great SEO, but reference pages like glossaries are evergreen content that'll get readers' attention year after year.
100. Recap an Event. Conferences and company events offer the perfect opportunity to bolster your content creation. During the event, every speaker, interview, and the occasion itself is content you can capture on video and optimize for your content marketing. Or you can simply give a recap of the event to share with your audience. Be sure to tell why the event was worth attending, what you learned or gained that your viewers can use, and when the next event is to begin early promotion.
101. Top 3 FAQs. Think about the questions you’re often presented with daily from your customers, followers, and prospects. These inquiries are ideal topic ideas for your video marketing. Consider publishing one video where you answer the top three questions asked or create multiple videos where you highlight just one. Keep it short and concise. Again, these mini-videos are excellent for your social media marketing.
102. Host a Live Q&A Using Social Media. Live videos are all the rave on social media. Instagram Stories and Facebook Live videos are capturing more attention than those that have already been recorded. They help you genuinely connect with your audience since viewers are able to engage in real-time. Use this to your advantage. Give followers a chance to ask you questions live to receive an on-the-spot response.
