Blogging allows businesses to engage their audiences and establish themselves as authorities in their fields. But other types of content marketing ideas can get excellent traffic and produce organic results as well. Audio and video content marketing use multimedia to connect. Podcasts and video series offer ways to connect measurably with audiences. You can place print resources, like company magazines and guidebooks, in targeted areas and reach people where blogs can’t. Educational content such as webinars and online courses help establish authority, and you can use it as a resource indefinitely. Read on to discover content marketing ideas other than blogging you can use to enhance a marketing campaign.
According to the B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends 2016 report, the most effective tactic for B2B marketing is in-person events, with webinars coming in second. These share one common element: human interaction. Businesses use events like this to leverage networking and build relationships. Businesses put faces to names, building trust with potential customers, while gaining insights into buyers’ concerns and expectations through feedback sessions that no survey can duplicate. Marketers can learn about target audiences. Finally, a company can establish a brand more effectively at an event than in any number of blog posts.
If you’re thinking about doing an in-person event/presentation, or webinar, think about how you can re-purpose it. Recording the event is a great way to continue to utilize the content for months (sometimes years) after the actual date. Create a Slideshare account to house and more easily promote the content you have created.
These are crucial in nursing leads, informing them as they move through your conversion tunnel, and keeping your audience interested in your product. They also help with customer retention strategies. Marketers can use them to send out compartmentalized deals and offers to different types of customers. Determine the best frequency for your business to maximize the effectiveness of this tactic and remember to be consistent.
Many experts consider visual media to be the most effective form of content going forward, with a proven track record as a powerful inbound traffic tool. It provides convenient consumption and an ease of recall enjoyed by many customers who don’t want to read a blog. Infographics, and to some extent online presentations, form another tool marketers are starting to use. They are easy to digest and can communicate information quickly. Consumers share these frequently, particularly on social media, creating backlinks that increase your SEO ranking.
Here’s a great example of an Infographic on motorcycle awareness by Toledo law firm Gallon, Takacs, Boissoneault & Schaffer.
Content marketing strategies now rely more on social media than blogs. Social media allows you to build interest in your brand and product and maintain relevance. To stay current and on consumers’ minds, you must use social media to make announcements like deals or new product releases, deal with customer problems, and reach new customer bases.
While not flashy or built for sharing, research-based content, like white papers or case studies, are useful and potent. There is authority and weight in this type of content that convinces audiences to convert or consolidates a customer base around your brand. Case studies give you the ideal content to show as a social proof of concept with real-world evidence about your brand. White papers provide unique insights backed by research, which fortifies your brand and gives your marketers content they can repackage in blog posts and more. ebooks do all the above. They allow you to repackage or re-purpose previously created content, they come in a professional package customers take more seriously, and they offer an opportunity for your marketers to veer away from your site’s established voice and be creative with design and content presentation.
Here is a great example of research-based content by Toledo accounting firm Gilmore, Jasion, Mahler on the manufacturing workforce shortage that it seems the entire country is experiencing. Even though this is a piece of digital content on their website, it’s not a blog, per se and could be easily produced into an ebook
These recommendations represent a few content marketing ideas you can do that aren’t necessarily a blog. The list doesn’t end there, as you can use apps, podcasts, games, free tools, quizzes, surveys, and more. Your marketing strategy can be effective without blogs, but a complete plan will include a blog as the spine of any campaign. Blogs attract organic traffic, build customer connection, and inform the world about your brand. Using these other tools allows you to transform your blog with a breath of fresh tools and approaches that serve to expand awareness of your brand, bring more consumers to your site, and grow your business.
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