9 Types of Content Marketing To Grow Your Business

Regardless of the type of business you run, content marketing is a core strategy to grow your business. So, today, I’m walking you through eight types of content marketing you can use to reach your goals this year.

Whether you are a small business owner, online entrepreneur or a marketer at a medium to large company, one thing is for sure…

Developing and implementing a strong content marketing strategy can do the following for our business growth:

• Build your brand
• Connecting with your target audience
• Growing your email list of engaged subscribers
• Getting qualified leads
• Making sales
• Retaining customers
• … and making more sales from your most valued customers

The list literally goes on and on as content marketing is a marketing tactic that helps you achieve all of your goals.

As a former corporate marketer and now marketing consultant and blogger, let me explain WHY you need content marketing.

Why is Content Marketing is Important?

Simple. Your target audience and customers are on social media. And what do people interact with on social media?

Stories and ideas. Which of course, is CONTENT.

By sharing content, you:

• Raise awareness of your company
• Show how you can help your audience
• Represent what you and your brand stand for
• Drive interest in your products and services

Added value is needed these days so you can stand apart from your competition.

What is the best way to add value? Through content.

So, What Exactly is Content Marketing?

According to the Content Marketing Institute…

“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

In other words, content marketing is a promotional tool you can use to engage with your audience with valuable content that can inspire or help them.

Example…

The Home Depot has always done a fantastic job of creating value with its DIY Project and Ideas content. This content is designed to help their customers with inspiration and tips on how to do specific projects.

A perfect example is this gallery wall video.

The Home Depot shares helpful content, but do you notice that they do not promote any products?

This is on purpose as they are thematically aligning their content to the products they offer without directly referencing them.

This is how you want to think about your content marketing strategy.

What Content Marketing is Not…

Content marketing is not all about you, your brand or product.

It should be about your customer.

When creating content, you want to think about how you can add value or help your customer, not only talk about your products and services.

9 Examples of Content Marketing to Grow Your Online Business:

1. Contribute to Websites and Blogs

Guest post or request to be interviewed for websites and blogs related to your field or expertise. 

Once published, create a MEDIA page on your company website linking to your article.

You can then share this with your prospects and customers on social media.

The benefit of guest posting or contributing to other publishers:

• You can drive awareness of your business with a link back to your company website
• You can create awareness of your knowledge and skills amongst a new audience, maximizing your reach

Related: The Benefits of Guest Posting + Access to Free Directory

2. Have an Active Email List

Don’t only use your email list to sell, but also provide true inside tips, advice, and solutions for your subscribers.

If you have content you’ve created that’s on another site or on your company website, you can also share this in your emails.

Along with this, you can also provide insight and tips directly in your email. Do what works for you right now.

The Benefit of an Email List:

You OWN the list. You don’t have to rely on changing social media algorithms that only showcase your content to a small percentage of your followers.

This is the email provider that I use. With my link, you get 25% coff your first year!

3. Publish Content to a Blog Section of Your Website

This is my #1 recommendation for sharing content. Once you have great content on your website, you can incorporate it into products or services that are related to that content, right in the blog post.

The big benefit of blog content:

• The more content you have, the more chances you have of creating content for SEO. This means more traffic back to your website and more rankings in search engines. This is BIG!
• You can promote this content everywhere – your email list, social media and throughout your company website
• It provides added value that lives in the same place as your products and services. This is key as it makes it easier for your customer to find out how they can work with you or what you provide – all in one place

4. Have a Facebook Business Page

Having a dedicated Facebook page set up for your business is a no-brainer.

Depending on what you sell or what service you provide, there is a strong likelihood that your prospects are on Facebook.

Yes, we’ve all been hearing that other social media platforms are on the rise, but according to SearchEngine.com, Facebook still has more active monthly users (2.38 Billion of them) than any other social site.

Having a dedicated Facebook page for your business allows you to connect with your target audience and customers in a more engaging way. This is where you can begin to have a conversation with them and get deeper engagement.

Check out this post: 10 Examples of Facebook Posts to Share on Your Business Page for inspiration.

5. Create Content on LinkedIn

This won’t be for all businesses, but I bet it will relate to many. LinkedIn has 310 million+ active monthly users.

And if you are using LinkedIn correctly, it is an extremely valuable place to network, capture leads and attract new clients.

What Kind Of Content Can You Create on LinkedIn?

• Share an article from your blog
• Share videos, files, photos
• Provide an opinion on an industry trend or news
• Write an article – see above LinkedIn screenshot

To get the most exposure share from your company page and your personal profile.

6. Social Media Graphics

There are many different types of graphics that are a great way to engage your audience and provide value to them…

• Infographics
• Tips
• Thought-provoking questions
• Quotes
• Statistics
• Memes
• Gifs

Varying up the images you share is also a great way to appeal to a broader audience.

To create your own designs the easiest and most affordable option is Canva. There is a free or pro version depending on your requirements.

Try Canva Pro Free for 30 Days >> Canva Pro Free Trial

Or if you want someone to design social media graphics for you, contact me and I’ll provide you with more information.

7. Video Content

Known as having the best ROI, video is a great content marketing strategy to create a lasting impression with your audience/clients.

The simplest way to create video is with:

• YouTube
• TikTok
• Facebook Lives
• Instagram Reels
• Instagram Stories

This allows your followers to see a different side of you and allows you to have a platform that provides deep engagement.

Creating YouTube videos is the other obvious choice.

👉 TIP: If you’re not yet ready to create video content, share other related videos. You can get the embed code from any social platform and share it in your post. (Video content on a blog post increases time spent on page, which provides the user with more value.)

8. eBook

When developing your strategy for an ebook, you have 2 paths you can take.

1) A Free eBook

2) An eBook for Purchase

You may be wondering why you’d want to spend all of your time and effort creating something for free? This is where you can use an eBook to build your email list.

Whatever your eBook topic is, it should relate to your services/products and by growing your email list, allows you to create a deeper conversation with your potential customer.

Here’s an example of a recent eBook I created…

Sign up below, as Pinterest is the best way to drive traffic to your content! 👇

9. Podcast

Create a podcast to increase brand awareness and engage with your audience.

I highly recommend adding each podcast episode to your website, with a written recap or blog post.

This allows you to:

• Further engage with people who prefer reading
• Promote lead magnets to encourage signups for your email list
• Get more traffic from platforms like Pinterest, as these people like to read first and as they get to know you better will listen

What type of Content Marketing Do You Create?

Share in the comments below!

More Marketing Resources:

• Pinterest Marketing Starter Guide – FREE eBook
• 5 Types of Lead Magnets (+50+ Examples) To Grow Your Email List
• How To Format a Blog Post: 15 Best Practices