When creating a content marketing strategy, companies often research others’ successful marketing strategies to find inspiration. While it’s important to do your homework and research different types of content marketing strategies, it’s also critical to develop your own unique strategy to help your business stand out from competitors. We’ve generated a list of 4 creative content marketing strategies to inspire you while constructing your own strategy.
Encourage user-generated content
User-generated content, also known as UGC, describes any content that is created by users. Generally, UGC is made available to the public on social media. UGC can be photos, videos, blog posts, reviews, and more. UGC provides a way for companies to market themselves through others.One example of a UGC strategy is Starbucks’ annual Red Cup Contest. During the month of December, Starbucks asks fans to share photos of their holiday red cups with their branded hashtag #RedCupContest for the chance to win a gift card. This campaign has generated more than 30,000 UGC photos on Instagram. Encouraging UGC can be powerful and develop more buzz about your business on social media platforms.
Create interactive content
Interactive content isn’t a new concept but is something that more brands are experimenting with now more than ever before. It can come in many forms, but essentially interactive content creates a user experience that has an interactive element. It permits users to communicate with a brand’s content to receive information, ask questions, and gain insight. Interactive content is found mainly on platforms like Instagram. Instagram Stories provides a great place for businesses to develop interactive content like polls and quizzes. One brand, Glossier, continues to build its brand on Instagram through the Stories feature. Glossier, a skincare and beauty products company, uses their Instagram Stories to ask users questions, share tutorials, polls, and more. They often include links on their Stories to blogs or videos with more in-depth information.
Test new platforms
New technologies and applications are constantly being created, which means that there are almost always new platforms to test. Recently, TikTok, a video platform, has risen in popularity. Users on the platform can enjoy watching the short (up to 15 seconds long per video—or multiple clips together for up to 60 seconds long) videos. You can experiment with TikTok videos to put your business on the map with younger audiences. Or, you could create and publish a podcast. Podcasts are relatively new and show extreme growth—in the first ten months of 2019, a record 192,000 new podcasts were launched. For instance, Blue Apron created a branded podcast, called Why We Eat What We Eat. Throughout the podcast, food writer and blogger Cathy Erway shares insights and interviews guests about food-related topics. The success of Why We Eat What We Eat demonstrates how branded podcasts can both build a loyal following while also showing what your company has to offer.
Leverage videos
Incorporating videos in a content marketing strategy will help your business better garner people’s attention. The use of videos in content marketing is on the rise and a statistic from Google supports this—most people would rather watch online videos than TV. Squatty Potty leveraged video in its content marketing plan with their “The Unicorn Changed the Way I Poop” video. The video raised awareness about the product while also providing an out-of-the-ordinary, entertaining video. And yes, it worked—Squatty Potty increased online sales by 600 percent and retail sales at Bed Bath and Beyond by 400 percent. Obviously, every video marketing strategy will be different, with some brands choosing to showcase their products or services in more professional or traditional videos.
Implementing your content strategy
After you’ve reviewed these creative content marketing strategies, determine which ones you will implement and how you will make it your own. Now that you’ve decided this, you’ll need to consider your target audiences, objectives, and channels that you’ll use for your content. Additionally, think about how your business will manage and publish your content. Last, after you’ve implemented your content strategy, track the analytics and audit the content to make sure it is making a positive impact on your business.
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