21 Must have Types of content for marketing to, and growing your Customers

Types of content
Content Writing

21 Must have Types of content for marketing to, and growing your Customers

Various types of content are intended for various purposes. Choosing an effective mix of the options and using it strategically as appropriate will boost your brand’s marketing results.

Getting to know the options available may greatly help you identify your sweet spot

Different Types of Content

Ranging from written content to visual content to create content to interactive content, content marketers have a plethora of options under each of the four categories.

Let us now dive into the different types of content based on the nature of the content which you can use for marketing your business.

Types of content written content

1) Blog Posts

Under the varied types of e-content and types of content writing, blogs are ragingly popular among the other choices. Several brands are relying on blog posts for meeting their marketing objectives. Blogs’ are usually preferred because they serve as effective approach for SEO strategies, helps to increase networking opportunities, raise your thought leadership in the industry, and perform the effective role of lead generation for your business.

And as a business, you can create blog posts to connect with your audiences, or inform them about new products/services, or maintain a relationship with them by developing valuable content, highlight your company or industry news, etc, among others.

Under blog posts, you can create between comparison posts, listicles, authority thoughts, interviews of collaborations, checklists, quotes, etc – to list a few.

2) White Papers

White papers are grouped under the various types of educational content. Also, if using white papers to educate your audiences, make sure to back up with strong evidence and statistics.

Generally, industries opt for white papers for proving their industry expertise or strengthening their reputation as subject matter experts are offering opinions on particular topics.

A good suggestion would be, to develop white papers on topics related to your most popular blog topics. Pursue by offering white papers as a content upgrade on one of your valuable previously published blog posts.

3) User-Generated Content

Companies promote user-generated content for providing social proof to prospective clients. You can use Instagram to showcase clients sporting your product as part of user-generated content.

Also, you can collect customer success stories for sharing on your website. Carry out a survey with your loyal customers while asking them how they have benefitted from using your product and weave that into a success story.

4) FAQs

Think of inputting an FAQ page on your website for promoting sales. Answer common queries that potential customers have about your product and services, under FAQs. When you do so, you can reduce the number of routine questions your staff has to answer, thereby, saving their time.

A good technique when using FAQs is to separate the commonly-asked questions under different groupings. Also, keep updating your FAQ page regularly for remaining relevant.

5) User Manuals

User manuals help your customers to use your product most effectively and convert new clients into power-users. Get it done by an expert or proficient technical writer to draft a user guide and help your customers make the most out of your product.

Visual-based Content

Visual content is deemed to be more memorable, accessible and attractive than text-based content. By devising and promoting visual content, your company gets to reap spectacular benefits.

6) Images

Under visual content, images are used often, as per research studies. Surely, text messages help in delivering messages to your customers, but they are overlooked by browsers. Though, that is not the case with images.

Images can help in communicating the intended messages effectively. Only try to add original images to your blogs and social media posts for making them memorable among your audiences. A creative mix of original and graphically or visually engaging images can go viral and make your brand stand out

7) Videos

If you are looking to explore the option of videos, then you can take your pick from the available options. These include employee interviews, video tutorials, customer testimonials, and behind-the-scenes coverage. Consider adding a call-to-action for increasing user interaction as well.

8) Info-graphics

Infographics tend to provide many interactions and social sharings under different types of content marketing in digital marketing.  Also, they are recorded to be liked and shared on social media three times more as compared to other types of content.

You can create infographics using PicMonkey and Canva. Simply add interesting stats and facts for promoting your company’s products and services. Follow by distributing through your website, email channels and social media accounts.

9) Memes

Posting memes on Twitter and Facebook is another option that you can avail of when preparing your content marketing strategy. Even so, you must create memes while keeping your targeted audiences in mind.

Also, both videos and memes are popular types of viral content. Only make them informative and present in a comical manner. People usually like more of a comical meme than a serious one.

10) GIFs

GIFs are considered mobile-friendly and rated as the most popular ones among the other types of mobile content. They help to create light-hearted content and keep your readers amused. If you are using Twitter for GIFs, you can add GIF’s to your tweets for effective and much more improved engagement.

Additionally, you can create GIFs using GIF Maker by Giphy. Nowadays, converting webcam videos into shareable GIF’s is also one of the options

11) Magazines

Magazines are visually much more engaging and informative in value and can be used in your marketing strategies. In fact, visual magazines or e-magazines have been garnering popularity over recent years. Akin to physical magazines, online magazines contain attention-grabbing snippets that are coupled with commanding images.

Keeping in mind the effectiveness of magazines, several companies are coming out with their own magazines for keeping their audience glued.

12) Product Teasers

Selling your product on Instagram is fairly popular nowadays. Also, product teasers are deemed to be one of the best types of content for Instagram. Ensure not to be overly pushy when advertising on Instagram with your product teasers. Else you might lose your followers.

Teasing people about products they like, without trying to push them into a sale, by focussing more on the value, actually makes them purchase your products. At the least, they will engage with your post, which also serves your intended purposes.

Product teasers are a good way of talking about your product and offering discounts as well.

Interactive Types of Content

13) Contests

Try enticing your viewers by way of contests while doling out interesting prizes to the winners. By doing so, you promote user-generated content. More so, you can collect email signups for participation in the contest.

Woobox can help to create innovative contests, and offer deals and coupons, through landing pages and social media.

14) Polls

Polls are a great way of getting customer insights; and, accordingly, you can frame your marketing strategies. Moreover, you can get inspiration from the results of polls based on popular choices made by people.

You can Try Easypolls for designing and introducing polls on your website.          

15) Quizzes

Another effective way of interacting with prospective clients is through Quizzes. Yes, many companies are using Quizzes to generate leads, after which leads can be converted into customers.

you can use a free quiz launch tool for creating novel quizzes for sharing on social media or embedding on your website. It can offer statistics on user engagement as well.

16) Calculators

Using calculators, you can offer customized recommendations to the users, based on their responses to a series of questions. They are good tools for collecting data from your customers too.

SnapApp is popularly used by marketers for creating online personality tests, among other assessment tools.

17) Brackets

With brackets, a series of rounds are conducted where users are pitted against each other until a winner is declared. Users are encouraged to cast their votes on their preferences.

Brackify is a powerful app that you can use for designing your own voting bracket. Simply add to your website; and, then, you can manage the voting themes and deadlines.

Video-oriented Content

18) Product Demonstrations

Using product demo videos, you can explain the various features of your product. Besides, they help to answer common questions of potential clients before they buy your product.

19) Vlogs

Consider creating your blogs in video formats via Vlogs for keeping your viewers hooked. They serve as a way to offer your insights to your readers. Besides, they are easy to produce and record high user engagement.

20) How-to Tutorials

How-To tutorials are eye-openers. It should be meant for that. A good how-to guide can provide a great connection and can stand as a point of useful instructions to your users. It can typically invoke a sense of curiosity before starting to read. once reading, it should be able to solve their queries about your products or service offerings. It acts as an effective tool to create trust and ease of usability about your offering. Research indicates that tutorial video production by brands increased to more than 75% year over year.

Tutorials are, also, chosen by companies for building customer loyalty and solidifying your product expertise and credibility.

21) Webinars

As a B2B marketer, you can consider Webinars for connecting with your audience.

As per the Content Marketing Institute, 66% of marketers consider Webinars to be a great and effective content marketing strategy.

Further, Webinars serves as a helpful lead-generation tool, because users have to register beforehand. Plus, the content from Webinars can be remodeled into blogs.

Conclusion

On a concluding note, there are various approaches available based on your requirements and the nature of your business. Whether you want to drive traffic to your landing pages or to increase your revenue and maintain relationships with your customer base or to spread brand awareness and generate social shares or backlinks. In all cases, you need to consider the various options out there to make it much more relevant and effective for your business needs.