For businesses with content at the core of their growth strategy, the possibilities are endless. Content marketing is a large umbrella covering a wide range of content types—including blogs, videos, ebooks, social media posts, podcasts, and so on.
You may have already determined the best type of content marketing for your business based on audience behavior. In this post, we dig deeper into eight types of content your company can leverage, and weigh the pros and cons of using each.
First things first—why content marketing?
Whether you’re a fashion brand or a B2B tech company, you’re likely using content marketing to grow your business—and for good reason.
Content is a great way to educate your audience, establish authority and trust in your industry, and provide value to your audience at each stage of the customer journey. Some pieces of content, like blogs, also do wonders for your company’s SEO and web traffic. And when equipped with a data-backed, full-funnel content strategy, you can reach wider company goals, such as increasing awareness or driving sales.
8 types of content for businesses to adopt
The most successful content marketing strategy involves understanding your business and diversifying your content to support your goals. Leveraging a variety of content and channels empowers your business to deliver the right content at the right time for your audience.
1. Blog posts
Blogs are the foundation of many businesses’ content marketing strategy. Having a blog is a quick and easy way to publish all manner of content to your website, including product and company announcements, thought leadership articles for relevant industry topics, new insights and statistics, customer case studies, and more.
Pros of blogging:
Cons of blogging:
2. Infographics
If you’re finding it difficult to explain a complex idea or topic in a blog post or another medium, infographics are a great way to pair visuals to your ideas. Instead of long-form content, this type of content typically has short and sweet sentences, bullet points, and digestible graphics.
Pros of infographics:
Cons of infographics:
3. Ebooks, guides, and reports
Ebooks and guides are digital textbooks marketers use to provide potential clients with valuable information. Reports are the output of original research, perhaps conducted via a survey like our . These assets are typically gated, requiring readers to provide personal details, such as name, work email, and job title, to download the piece.
Pros of ebooks, guides, and reports:
Cons of ebooks, guides, and reports:
4. Case studies and testimonials
Case studies and testimonials are powerful pieces of content that highlight how existing customers have solved technical challenges, expanded their audiences, won deals, etc., using a company’s products or services.
Pros of case studies and testimonials:
Cons of case studies and testimonials:
5. Video
From on-demand webinars and case studies to product tutorials, video is a great way to educate, entertain, and engage your target audience. For instance, Chipotle utilizes its TikTok channel to provide authentic, relatable content to keep their audience engaged.
Pros of video:
Cons of video:
6. Podcasts
Podcasting is a form of audio content that has become extremely popular. From AdAge’s to Guy Raz’s , businesses and marketers have embraced podcasts to connect more intimately with their audiences.
Pros of podcasts:
Cons of podcasts:
7. Email
Email is a tried-and-true channel for content marketing. From newsletters to nurture streams, email is an effective channel for businesses to engage their wider community and target audience.
Pros of email:
Cons of email:
8. Social media and influencer marketing
With more people spending time on social media than ever before, it’s crucial that every business has a solid social media strategy as part of their content marketing mix. Besides organic social media posts, consider running paid ads and influencer marketing campaigns to reach your target audience.
Influencer marketing is a subset of social media marketing that entails working with influencers, who have a dedicated social following and are viewed as experts within their niche. Brands run influencer marketing campaigns to increase awareness, engage their target audience, and boost sales. Check out this influencer partnership between L.L. Bean and a travel influencer, promoting the brand’s apparel.
Pros of social media and influencer marketing:
Cons of social media and influencer marketing:
The benefits of repurposing content
It might seem overwhelming to implement all these content approaches into your marketing strategy. The good news is that you can repurpose content from one channel to another to maximize your content marketing efforts. Here are just a few benefits of repurposing content:
Instead of spinning up a new piece of content, reimagine how an existing piece of content can work across other marketing channels. For example, take the audio file from a well-attended webinar and turn it into a podcast episode. Or, simply repurpose your top-performing influencer content into a paid ad to boost ad ROI.
Even better, tap the expertise of your colleagues, whose fresh insights can upgrade older content into something completely new.
Interested in diving deeper into repurposing content? Check out more tips here.
Diversify your content marketing strategy
Experimenting with new content types and channels can supercharge your content marketing strategy. Whether it’s publishing an industry blog, shooting product tutorials, or developing a podcast, you can reach new or untapped audiences interested in your products or services, helping grow your business along the way.
For more content marketing advice, read our multi-chapter How to Do Better Content Marketing series:
This content was originally published here.