Kristine
If you’ve ever visited a company’s website or social media page, it’s quite apparent that a lot of time goes into churning out valuable content. From blog posts to educational videos to Facebook polls, media-savvy marketers consistently try to boost customer engagement and attract new buyers. Content marketing is typically viewed as a win-win situation; customers gain new information while companies benefit from increased SEO rankings and site visitors. Sounds pretty straightforward, right?
As you might already know, it can be pretty easy to fall into a content rut. You might find it difficult to brainstorm new topics that simultaneously entertain and inform your customers, or you might be sick and tired of writing blogs altogether. If you need to freshen up your content in 2020, here are 5 unique content marketing ideas to inspire you:
1. Don’t be shy about making videos.
According to insights from Think with Google, 80% of people switch between doing online searches and watching videos when they’re researching products to purchase, and over 50% reported that videos have helped them decide which specific brand to choose. Furthermore, 75% of people say that they prefer watching videos where people appear genuine and relatable — not overly stiff and professional. Popular video categories for digital marketers could include DIY-style content, video tutorials, product reviews, or behind-the-scenes videos of the company. These videos don’t need to be perfectly polished; the goal is to form a connection with your audience and show them your authentic self.
2. Recycle old content.
Do you have an old blog post that once attracted hundreds of new visitors to your website? Instead of nostalgically looking back at these successful posts, you might want to dust them off and revamp them to meet modern customer interests. Oftentimes, you can “recycle” outdated posts and articles by:
- Using particularly striking quotes as captions for Instagram photos (and providing a link back to the blog post, of course!).
- Editing the document to provide new information.
- Adding relevant keywords to boost SEO.
- Doing a compare-and-contrast piece: Summarize the circumstances when you first wrote the blog versus what things are like today.
3. Attend and cover different events.
Whether it’s a local marketing event or a nationwide business convention, you can create a plethora of content surrounding the event. For instance, you could write a blog predicting what the biggest trends are going to be this year or conduct a poll on social media to see how many of your followers will be attending. Once the convention begins, be sure to take plenty of photos, create Twitter posts using the event hashtag, comment on other attendee’s posts, and take notes so you can create a blog post to summarize the whole event!
4. Encourage user-generated content (UGC).
Nearly all online shoppers check customer reviews before buying a product for the first time. If a company only shows promotions for its products without any social proof, this can make them seem untrustworthy. Seeing what real people have to say about the items will be far more likely to convince a fencesitter than an article or advertisement. Inspire your customers to upload photos of them using the product, write reviews, or create short videos to add a new level of authenticity to your brand.
5. Team up with other business leaders.
“Collaborating on well-defined activities offers an immediate payoff in reduced costs,” says the American Management Association. “Collaboration tends to promote, rather than hamper, constructive competition in the areas most valued by customers.” In other words, partnering with another business to share ideas, create marketing strategies, or host events can be a real game-changer. You could write guest posts, share each other’s social media posts, create a podcast, record a video together, or come up with an idea totally unique to your companies! No matter what you choose to do, however, both teams will benefit from hearing fresh ideas, being able to market to new audiences, and reducing overall expenses.
Of course, these are just a few unique content marketing ideas to help you get started. If you’d like content created with your brand voice and business in mind, see how Content Cucumber can help your company thrive with engaging email newsletters, professional blog posts, and entertaining social media posts. Just check out our membership offer to get started!
