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By now, you’ve heard the term “content creation,” but do you understand what it is? Content creation is creating ideas intended to entertain or educate a specific audience on social media platforms.
Advertising your business ensures that you get customers and interact with them, which helps to form trust and help your clients understand you and your brand.
But which is the most powerful type of content?
There are a dozen answers to this question, depending on which type of content works for you and your brand.
In this article, I’ll help you understand 10 types of content and how to use them to grow your brand.
1. Social Media Posts
Nothing beats social media for marketing and promoting brands in this digital era. This is because it helps you advertise different services to different audiences on the platform.
Advertising on social media involves paid advertisements by influencers, using funny, relatable, and trendy content like viral memes and relevant hashtags and sounds related to your business.
It is good to know that 66 % of brand owners say that advertising funny content on your socials is the most effective way to get website traffic.
Social media has over 5 billion users, meaning over 63% of the world’s population will likely see your posts.
With that understanding of social media, let’s see how you can use it to better your brand:
- Maintain a constant presence on your accounts: This will help you be available whenever your clients need anything to build a good relationship and increase sales.
- Interaction with your customers: You can achieve this by positively answering their questions and comments. It helps build trust and respect with your followers.
- Understanding how to use the different social media platforms and your target audience will help you know when to post and what content gives better results.
- Relevant post content. Social media users have different preferences by age or other demographic factors. Trends keep changing, and keeping up with them might take much work. Try using the most recent trends to keep your users updated.
2. Emails
Using email newsletters is a long-term marketing method that entails regularly sending emails to your subscribers. Sending newsletters is one of the most effective ways to get leads and a high Return On Investment (ROI) for your brand. It is also fast and flexible, regardless of your brand goals.
These emails can be divided into two types: Business- to- Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C).
Business-to-Business e-commerce involves trading goods and services between two businesses, while Business-to-Consumer e-commerce involves trades that target personal consumers.
These emails should contain any promotional offers that your brand provides and all vital information concerning your brand. They should be sent weekly or monthly to keep your potential, and existing customers know about your business and build brand awareness.
Sending birthday messages to your existing and former customers and abandoned carts emails help promote your brand and keep it at the top of your customer’s minds.
How do you use email newsletters to grow your business:
- Ensure your emails have the right rhythm and are sent at the right time: This prevents your customers from unsubscribing, lowering your chance of having new customers.
- Use captivating content: Creating a personalized subject line is an excellent way to capture the reader’s attention because it encourages the customer to read further, leading them to your website.
- Ensure your emails are worth reading: This strategy ensures that your customer reads the email. Low-quality emails are mostly flagged as spam, preventing them from being delivered to your targeted audience. It’s good to remember that sending newsletters frequently can also make your audience flag them as spam.
3. Videos
Video content is the most effective type of content to use to grow your brand online. Its popularity is rising since most social media platforms favor them over text or image posts.
Today, people prefer watching videos advertising their preferred brands to reading about them in blogs or newsletters. Videos make information easy to understand since it contains links, photographs, music, podcasts, and texts. This is the only type of content that has this ability.
Let’s look at five common types of videos.
Tutorials
Do you need help with any of your stuff? There’s a video online that can teach you how to use your products or perform a service. These videos are called tutorials and are popular since people love them online.
Makeup tutorials, food recipes, etiquette, etc., can be taught in an easier and faster way through the use of videos.
Behind The Scenes
These videos show the consumer how a product or service is made. It also gives your consumer a hint of what happens behind the curtains, which helps them to connect deeper with you and your brand.
Public Service Announcements
PSAs are still fighting for their audiences’ attention. They give excellent and shareable content that targets emotional and controversial topics in creative ways. Good use of PSAs helps create a good image for your brand.
FAQs
After viewing your website, customers may have questions. Making a video with frequently asked questions can help reassure your clients about your products or the services you provide before purchasing.
Promotions and Deals
These videos help familiarize your consumers with your vision, values, and brand. You can use visuals, sounds, and stories for advertising your brand.
How can you use videos for the growth of your brand:
- Ensure you set goals for your brand: Whether educational, entertainment or creating awareness, you must set goals to help your customers understand your brand, especially for beginners.
- Add videos to other types of content: If you use social media posts or email, adding a video to the post is advisable to make it more engaging.
- Add captivating introductions for your videos: An appealing headline added to your video captures consumers’ attention. This will increase your website visits, leading to a rise in sales.
4. Infographics
Infographics are a visual collection of data using pie charts, bar graphs, images, and minimal texts that help you understand a topic quickly. They differ from written content since they summarize much information and make it manageable for the consumer.
Infographics produce data in a visually appealing and easy-to-digest form. Including a link makes it easy to share the data and also makes it more engaging and exciting.
Here, I’ll discuss three types of infographics based on their uses and how they can make your brand marketing more accessible and practical.
Timeline Infographics
Timelines are used to give flow to data or a story, especially if it involves multiple events.
They are used when you want to discuss the history of something, plan an event, or show your audience how long a particular process should take. So, ensure that your time frames are consistent to avoid confusing your audience.
Data Visualization Infographics
These are popular ways to represent complex data. Data visualization makes it easy to share dense information faster and more efficiently. They also make information easier to remember.
They are flexible and can be used with pie charts, bar graphs, or even both, especially when using a case of opinion or perspective.
List Infographics
Making a list of things to do or summarizing something you’ve read is an excellent way to understand your work and pass a message. It helps add visual texture to an article and generates engagement on social media platforms.
This explains why list infographics are popular and used to summarize a presentation or support an idea.
You can make the most from infographics for the growth of your brand by:
- Create attractive and concise information: Concise and well-arranged information online or on paper draws much attention and customers. This will help you gain website traffic leading to rising sales.
- Create entertaining infographics: Customers read, like, and share more entertaining infographics. Customers who share your link add to your site visits, leading to improved Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
5. Blogs
Blogging is a successful way of content marketing. Using a blog to provide information and unique content helps build customer trust. They are an excellent way to show your expertise and authority in a subject.
Blogging needs commitment, so take your time to write something helpful on relevant topics for your consumers frequently. This helps to ensure that you build trust and authority with them. Remember to keep your website updated to boost your website traffic.
To ensure that your content keeps the readers engaged, insert pictures at different stages of the article. Use call-to-action (CTA) to provide readers leave their reviews and thoughts about your work via social media.
It’s good to know that the content you publish today will continue to provide website traffic leads for a long time compared to social media posts which get buried after a short time.
There are two main types of blogs:
Short-Form
This is content with less than 1200 words lengthwise. Short-form blogs are easy to create and understand. Their main goal is to pass a single message quickly and efficiently.
Long-Form
This is content with more than 1200 words. Long-form blogs give a deeper understanding of a topic. Its contents are aimed at informing and educating about a topic. Long-form blogs require significant time and resources, producing large and long-term profits.
How can you use blogs for the growth of your brand:
- Use key target words: Keywords are the words your consumers will use to search for information online. Make sure to use long-tail keywords since they are more engaging to your audience. Note that short-tail keywords are general, while long-tail keywords are more specific.
- Set your blog’s goals: Having a purpose helps you guide your blogs. Being specific with your goals, like knowing how, when, and for whom you write, lets you plan your content creation process.
- Know your audience: Familiarize yourself with them and write about topics they like. To understand your audience more, use Google Analytics to help you see the age range, gender, and interests, which will help you write what your audience wants.
- Create appealing content: The more appealing your work looks, the more time your audience spends on your site. Engaging content makes it easier to understand and is fun to read.
6. Podcasts
Podcasts consist of recorded audio content, which can be live or recorded. This type of content is primarily for people not interested in reading long-form content like blogs and eBooks.
Podcasts allow you to share your experiences with your audience, which helps build a good rapport and trust since you give your stories on a personal level. To maximize the use of podcasts, ensure you entertainingly provide important information.
Using guest hosts and inviting other customers to your podcast is an excellent way to ensure your audience feels included.
Unlike blogs, podcasts require minimum time and resources. They are portable. So, you can use them anywhere, like in the gym, office, and shower.
There are different types of podcasts that you can use to advertise your brand. Below, I’ll discuss four types of podcasts.
Interview Podcasts
Interview podcasts involve one or two hosts and their guests who provide insight on topics. These podcasts are a great way to give a range of opinions from different people. However, ensure you and your guests have researched enough on the topic to be discussed.
Conversational Podcasts
This happens when two podcast hosts have humorous conversations on specific topics and themes, for example, trending news, and give their comments. Sometimes they can invite a guest. Conversational podcasts cannot be rehearsed, so ensure you and your guest can improvise on the spot.
Monologue Podcasts
This involves a single host who is an expert on the topic of discussion. Monologue podcasts need the host to have had enough research before the episode. They will need another host or guest to help them. An advantage of a monologue podcast is that the host can skip booking guests, which can be tiring.
Investigative Podcasts
They focus on teaching about a specific topic. Investigative podcasts provide high-quality information that will keep your audience engaged and asking for more. When covering topics that need images for clarity, ensure you direct your listeners to where they can find them.
How to use podcasts for the growth of your brand:
- Discuss current topics: This ensures that your podcast has fresh content to talk about every time. People will listen more when you discuss what affects them every day.
- Have a good podcast description: Use keywords to help people find your brand fastener. This will help you follow up with your clients even from other marketing platforms.
7. Customer Reviews
What are your customers saying about your brand? A positive review from your customer is unmatched and can be very valuable for your brand. Customer reviews cost absolutely nothing but can mean everything to your brand.
Some potential clients may be reluctant to buy from your brand just because they haven’t heard anyone’s experience and feedback about your brand. This helps a client feel secure and clears any doubts about your brand.
A good customer review also means your brand is trustworthy, which makes your brand higher on Google search results.
How to use customer reviews for the growth of your brand:
- During the purchasing process, ask for your customers’ emails and phone numbers and later send them a follow-up email or text asking them to review your brand honestly.
- Tell your customers verbally. After seeing a client is satisfied, tell them how much a good review would mean for you and your brand.
- Giving clients coupons or discounts is one way to encourage them to leave a good review. Some loyal customers already help market your brand to their friends and families, but some may need a little push to leave a good review. It is good to know that giving your loyal customers discounts or coupons doesn’t mean they’ll automatically leave a good review.
8. Ebooks
Ebooks are a great way to generate leads and drive conversions for your brand. They are longer than blogs, and so they give thorough and detailed information on given topics that are relevant to your customers.
A great way to get potential clients to use eBooks is by offering them for free, which gives your readers a good perception of content value. An eBook should contain important information about your audience’s challenges.
What are the advantages of using eBooks?
- They are inexpensive: Though they need ample resources and time, eBooks are efficient and take as little as a few weeks to be published.
- They are easy to distribute: Most marketers offer eBooks online, allowing consumers to download and fill out a form including their emails and other personal information. Remember to use eBooks to attract attention to your social media handles.
To get genuine leads for your business, use content syndication so you can target a specific audience.
With that knowledge of eBooks, let’s see how you can use them for your brand growth:
- Start conversations online: With most people spending their time online, ensure you are active online; this will help familiarize you with your target audience. Remember to put a link to your free eBook on socials.
- Use videos in your eBook: Videos are more entertaining than reading, so adding a video to your eBook makes it more engaging to your audience.
- Use your newsletter: Use most of your subscribers’ emails to your advantage. Ensure your emails are worth opening to prevent them from being flagged as spam.
9. Case Studies
This is an excellent way for new customers to get information about your brand from other customers, which helps build your brand.
Case studies use real-life examples to show the qualities of your brand’s services or products. Potential customers use case studies because it is an invaluable asset to show your brand’s benefits to others.
Research shows that most customers are willing to give a high review for products and services they’ve used and are happy with. So, ensure the testimonies are about your consumers, not you or your product.
When creating case studies, remember to:
- Make sure your stories are real and relatable to your audience. This helps to create a good relationship and trust with your customers.
- Show your audience the successes and failures of your product or services. Take them through a step-step journey on your client’s unique journey and the outcome.
Let’s discuss how you can use case studies to improve your brand:
- Make an exclusive webpage for your case studies. Use a name that is easy to find and ensure that your products or services’ challenges, processes, and results are clear. A good example of a case study is Think with Google.
- Put case studies on your home page: Your home page is a perfect place to put your case studies so that every visitor visiting your website can see the evidence of your happy customers.
- Create brand videos from case studies: Videos are an excellent way to engage your customers. Creating a video is beneficial, especially for people not interested in reading lengthy case studies.
10. How-to Guides
How-tos give a lengthy and detailed explanation about how to perform a task or use a product. They should contain graphics, screenshots, videos, and other graphic elements to illustrate steps that must be completed.
It’s also good to know that your tutorials should be high-quality, clear, precise, and concise in writing. This ensures that they are accessible for the readers to complete their tasks.
When writing your guides, use a design that’s easy to read and ensure you break the tasks into manageable steps.
How can you use guides to grow your brand:
- Ensure that the guides are well-detailed. This is to ensure that the readers have an easy time using your tutorials which increases leads to your website.
- Use brand colors and logos for your guides. This differentiates your work from other brands and gives your customers trust in your brand.
Final Thoughts
Content marketing can only be accessed with great support from a suitable type of content. The ultimate goal is to give your target audience what they need and like.
Long-form posts can be more effective than social media posts, especially for the long-term growth of your brand. This is because social media posts are mostly forgotten after a short time, but long-form posts will lead to website traffic for longer.
As you have seen above, there are many types of content to choose from. So, use the correct type depending on your brand.
It is also good to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Use Google Analytics to get statistics and reports of how good or poorly your brand is doing. This ensures you know and understand which content to use for your brand.