7 Awesome (and Easy) Content Marketing Ideas

The rise of content marketing has continued upward, but only in the last five years have small- and large-scale business owners paid attention to it and embraced its potential.Good content marketing practices can be used for gaining leads and customers as well as for better SEO implementations and brand awareness.

A smart person once noted that variety was the spice of life, and good marketing teamsknow that variety is just as useful in content marketing. The average marketer uses about12 different types of content marketing tactics as part of their overall marketing strategy. Publishing a steady flow of articles on a regular basis should be the bread and butter of your efforts, and it will keep your content marketing alive. Consistently shifting themes or ideas for your articles will also keep your content fresh, user-friendly and unique.

Here are seven ideas to get you started.

1. Customer Profiles

Feature some of your best customers on your blog and your social media platforms. You could conduct interviews and gather personal information; you can also ask how long they have been your customers and why, or you could simply share a photo of your customer buying a certain product. Just remember to always get permission to use any photos or interviews from your customer(s) before they are posted online.

2. Webinars

The use of webinars may seem daunting, but if you have a relatively niche business, hosting a series of webinars might be your best option. Most webinars should be at least an hour in length, so the topic you choose should be robust enough to last that long. If your business audience has specialized technical fluency, (e.g. experience in the medical field), finding an hour’s worth of content shouldn’t be a problem.

3. Infographics

An infographic is an image that contains stats or how-to segments associated with a related article. They are info-driven images that facilitate learning. These should be viewed as pieces of marketing material, as they can be extremely useful for any business owner. Like any piece of content, you could spend hundreds of dollars on a good infographic, or you can make one yourself. Ideally, an infographic should relate to your business, but it shouldn’t be solely about your business. People consume infographics as they would any how-to or stat-driven article. They want necessary and interesting information that can be processed easily and shared with friends and fans. Experiment with the content in order to find what works best for you and what generates the most engagement.

4. Tutorials

If using your products and/or services is a little more complicated than you would like to admit, the best way to explain them may be by recording a string of tutorials. Doing screencasts that explain your business or products is a good way to educate your potential customers as well as help your existing ones. You could easily present all of your tutorials on your website, YouTube channel or on Facebook.

5. Social Media Promotions

Quick promotions on social media platforms can help grow your brand online. You could give away big-ticket items (like a popular tablet) or something specifically related to your business. Facebook, Twitter and your own company blog would be great places to run a promotion. When running a promotion on your Facebook page, make sure not to violate their guidelines, which prohibit using personal timelines to administer a promotion. Although these three options would be your most popular choices, do not forget aboutother social media platforms, such as Pinterest and Google+.

6. Employee Recognition

A great source of content is to praise your employees on your website, Facebook page or any other platform of your choosing. Not only will this create goodwill within your organization, but it will show your audience that you care about your employees. If your business is suited for it, asking customers who their favorite employees are is another great way to create engagement and get some valuable feedback as well.

7. Homemade Videos

If you run a business where video tutorials might be useful, videos can be a great way to create relevant content that your users and customers will appreciate. Much like a webinar, you could feature any of your products and demonstrate how they are used. For example, if you sell makeup, you can present tips on how to properly put it on. But you can also get much more creative and incorporate humor and other methods to capture people’s attention. Getting your employees to contribute is also a great way to generate some excellent content. You also don’t have to spend a lot of money on these videos, as short, one- or two-minute takes should be sufficient.

Content marketing is all about your customers learning more about your business in order to build trust and convince them to purchase your offerings. Don’t limit yourself to just these ideas. Check out what your competition is doing, and look at your specific industry leaders for inspiration.