There are many more aspects of content marketing than writing an article or blog and adding a few pictures. According to HubSpot, it is an entire process that consists of planning, creating, scheduling and sharing content with target audiences. The main goals are threefold: generate brand awareness, persuade consumers to take action, and drive revenue. As content marketing evolves and grows each year, some of the stuff that marketers come up with is pretty impressive. Following are some major trends and content marketing examples that are well worth sharing for inspiration, not to mention giving you an idea of what the competition is doing.
What Was Content Marketing Like in 2021?
Bored audiences will quickly look elsewhere when content doesn’t hold their interest, and in 2021, consumers challenged major brands to find new, creative ways to hold their attention. These examples were designed to delight and entertain while forging strong connections with those who saw and heard them. You have likely noticed that video has become the front and center format; media uploads increased by as much as 80% in 2020, and 2021 continues this trend, with video continuing to outpace blogs, infographics, case studies, eBooks and other media.
SEO tactics are also becoming more personalized, designed to create tailored experiences for website users. Optimization focuses more on the niche and long-tail strategic keywords, along with highly engaging content. You’ll be seeing less of those ad-packed top 10 lists and ultimate guides in the future. Companies still want to appear towards the top of search engine result pages (SERPs), but the content needs to be unique, in-depth, and better than what competitors produce.
Search Engine Journal writes that consumers crave interactive, entertaining, short-form content across different channels, including mobile apps and social media. You can leverage this desire by including video, audio, and other media on your website and social platforms. Now is the time to challenge yourself with ways to play upon this. If you have never incorporated live video streams or podcasts into your content marketing plan, this could be a fantastic way to connect with your audience.
Best Content Marketing of 2021
Here are some content marketing examples that marketing websites have shared to illustrate how good companies stand out from the crowd. Singlegrain cites TED, which shares global conferences featuring leaders in different fields giving short talks. They have 20 million subscribers, and though they started as invitation-only, their high-quality content is now free. They are very picky about their guest speakers; they only use the best ones out there with the most engaging ideas.
Jake from State Farm is another of the best content marketing of 2021 examples. This viral video marketing campaign has been around for a decade, but Jake has changed over the past few years. Instead of an invisible person on the other end of the phone, he is now the star of the spots, confronted by strangers who want to give him bizarre gifts to get good deals on their insurance. The clever, audience-friendly and cute videos play into people’s heads, creating feelings of familiarity and comfort.
Blogilates is also an example of outstanding content marketing. This popular online fitness instruction course stands out because it appeals to audiences who want to feel better and be healthy; aesthetics are secondary. Owner Cassey Ho has more than five million subscribers, and the majority of her videos get views in the millions during their first weeks of release. Her content is also very high in quality, most of it is free, and it is thought to have life-changing impacts on its users.
A Few More Content Marketing Examples
GoPro also had a successful content marketing campaign: they let their sporting cameras advertise themselves through user-generated content. Audiences can genuinely see what these products can do when looking at user videos. Besides that, GoPro came up with another fantastic idea called the Million Dollar Challenge. For this exciting contest, people shared their adventure videos to compete for a million-dollar prize. The subsequent and wildly successful marketing campaign featured the winning video.
Amazon also made the list for its convenient garage delivery service. They realized that many customers who were not at home when deliveries were made worried about their packages being stolen. The company can now provide Amazon drivers with digital keys to open people’s garage doors and place the packages inside.
There was a roadblock, though, since consumers worry about strangers going into their homes. What did Amazon do? They humanized garages in their video marketing campaign by giving them big eyes and the ability to talk to neighbor garages. This humanization created the impression that Amazon cares about customer home safety.
Essentially, they flipped the narrative to make consumers feel safe to allow delivery drivers to access home garages. Like other great content marketing examples, Amazon acknowledged customer pain points and offered an alternative solution.
Content marketing can be challenging. A dedicated team of experts can help. Contact Wordsmyth Creative Content Marketing today for help with your content marketing needs.
Want more advice on marketing (or just some fun reads)? Check out these FREE resources:
Want a FREE SEO Audit of Your Site?
Get yours here. It’s chock-full of actionable intelligence that will help you boost your bottom line through powerful digital marketing techniques. Need help? We’re happy to assist!