The motto of content marketing is to create and distribute content that is consistent, relevant and valuable to an audience. The aim is not solely to ramp up the sales or social shares but to build brand name, create sharable visuals, provide great content and create value. With good content marketing, the results are always one - the defined audience learns to recognize the brand as a friend. Many brands have achieved a perfect content marketing score while sticking to the basics. The following are 10 perfect examples of content marketing that everyone should emulate:
1. Moving House Checklist by Budget Direct
This is simply not a checklist, it is a master checklist allowing Budget Direct homeowners to never be scared about the moving day again. As an insurance company, it sticks to things it knows - insurance. But that doesn't mean the brand can't provide value beyond that subject. By choosing a related subject, Budget Direct is still appealing to the same defined audience base and, at the same time, providing immense value. The checklist tells the reader about how to prepare for moving 2 months before the date. It keeps offering valuable tips as the moving day gets closer.
2. Anthropologie's Coconut Cooler and Other DIY Drinks
Anthropologie is an established name in fashion but look at its side act - the DIY drinks feature. The best thing about this feature is that the drinks are seasonal. The flavors and ingredients are different, which adds an element of uniqueness to the blog. Anthropologie's fashion posts are known to be original and this USP extends to the DIY drinks segment as well. More than anything, after reading these posts, the reader recognizes Anthropologie as a friend that knows a lot about fashion and enjoys amazing drinks.
This is a great example of using shareable visuals for content marketing. The Tumblr blog was launched in 2014 and from the first post itself, the content marketing began. Using gifs, a popular medium on the internet (and particularly Tumblr), from "West Coast", Lana appeals to her target audience - teens to 20s girls. Gifs allow the content to be visual, short and extremely shareable and the microblogging site is a perfect platform for this. Also, Lana's core values - which have always been feminism and other social issues - are also mirrored by Tumblr. Thus, her audience would recognize her as a friend on these issues and thus, a reliable word.
4. Virgin Atlantic's Tokyo Instagram Gallery
Crowd curation is a great technique to use in content marketing and Virgin Atlantic does it extremely well. The blog of Virgin Atlantic is mostly known for great travel content - places people should visit and what they should see there. However, they pad these posts which Instagram galleries like the Tokyo one. The photos are curated from Tokyo's instagrammers who give the readers a peek into the real Tokyo. They have many other great Instagram galleries like Los Angeles Instagram gallery through which their readers get interesting sights with perfectly curated content.
5. Disney's Behind the Screen Content - The brilliance of behind-the-scenes content should never be underestimated and Disney has understood the importance of this content marketing tool. The blog of Disney Parks frequently contains posts of behind-the-scenes acts. For Disney fans, this is amazing because they want to find out how the magic was created. Everyone likes bloopers and makings, and Disney fans like it even more. These posts show that Disney knows its audience and the frequency reveals that it cherishes that support by giving them BTS perks every now and then.
Equinox reveals the value of amazing brand building using content marketing through its Plank post. This fitness club has various locations in the US and their website appeals to the most important thing that their readers look for - fitness. So, there are a lot of fitness based articles, like the Plank one, which reveal interesting facts and practical tips to stay fit. The plank post too shows, with the help of a slideshow, some key planks that the reader might be missing.
7. Whole Foods' Money Saving Grocery Tips
What is the one thing that Whole Foods' consumers cherish the most? It is eco-friendly and healthy foods. Walking into a Whole Foods is an experience in great customer service, splendid organization, healthy foods, friendly employees, and of course, eco-friendly products. Their blog mimics these ideals by frequently offering great tips, like how to save money on grocery, with content that is shareable, relatable and useful.
8. Brew Guides from Intelligentsia
The industry says B2B whitepapers and Intelligentsia answers with these amazing brew guides. They use great and attractive photography to offer instructions about various tools used to make coffee. The readers must be aware of V60s, Chemex and French Press but do they know how to use them perfectly? The pictures are so delicious that everyone wants a fresh cup of Intelligentsia coffee ASAP!
9. World Business Schools Infographic of Business Insider India
For an infographic to work, there is no need for fireworks. All it should do is provide valuable information in bite sizes. This infographic by Business Insider India provides information about the top 25 business schools on a global scale in images that are concise and cohesive. The design is clean and simple, and contains all the information a student would need from this infographic. Also, it is a time saver!
10. Panera Bread's Pinterest - All the posts of Panera Bread on Pinterest are content marketing geniuses. They give visual stories, promote the brand, offer curated content, use visuals and also give links to their blog. Most importantly, however, they match with Panera Bread's ideals - healthy, cozy, familiar, and comfort. A lot of external sources are used and the images are absolutely delicious.
The trick to content marketing is that the content needs to be eye catching. The value you wish to provide would not work if the content is not attractive looking. This is why visual and shareable content works so well for the above examples.