5 Types of Content Marketing Every Business Should Produce

Did you know that marketers allocated more than 28% of their total marketing budget to content creation? Today, industry-leading businesses must generate more content than ever before. From blogging and social media to email and video, businesses are investing in a greater number of content marketing channels to reach customers and capture their attention.

“Content on the internet is like those big, flashy roadside signs from 50 years ago,” says Ryan Scott, Head of Inbound Marketing at Lean Labs. “Businesses used to put wacky models or balloons on their roofs and in their parking lots because it caught customer’s attention and got them walking. Today, content is the digital version of that.”

Are you trying to spice your content marketing up, drive more meaningful traffic, and generate more qualified leads and opportunities? In this article, we’ll share the top five types of content marketing that every business should produce.

5 Types of Content Marketing Every Business Should Produce

via GIPHY

Launching a successful content marketing program begins with an expert content marketing strategy. The content marketing strategy serves as a business’s roadmap towards content marketing success. This document should include the business’s content marketing goals, objectives, buyer personas, and more. With the right strategy in place, businesses can start producing high-value and engaging content. The most successful businesses incorporate the following types of content into their marketing strategies:

1. Written content
2. Audio content
3. Video content
4. Social content
5. Human content

1. Written Content

There are plenty of opportunities to infuse your marketing programs with great written content. Most businesses will utilize written content for walkthroughs and educational how-to’s. Moreover, written content boosts a business’s search engine optimization effectiveness. With plenty of written content on your business’s website, search engines have a much easier time understanding what your business does and where your website deserves to rank. Additionally, the right written content can position your business as an industry thought leader. Give your readers an alternative viewpoint, answer customers’ questions, and be helpful!

2. Audio Content

Any industry-leading businesses utilize audio content to reach customers. Since 2008, the number of Americans tuning in each month has doubled from 9% to 17%. Podcasts are an excellent content marketing channel, purpose-built to engage, excite, and inform customers. So, what are podcasts exactly?

“Podcasts are free audio programs distributed over the internet. You can download them and listen to them as you please, essentially creating a radio station focused entirely on the topics you want to listen to,” says Trent Hamm, Founder of The Simple Dollar.

Starting a podcast might feel a bit overwhelming. However, there are a number of tools and resources to help you get started. Investing in a simple microphone and sound dampening equipment can add a ton of value to your podcast. Keep in mind that some of the best business podcasts of all time started out small with minimal investment and grew because of the quality of content they produced.

3. Video Content

Video is the future — ask any savvy digital marketer.

“From the video content we watch at work, to online streaming services and beyond, video is a central part of how we live. We asked respondents specifically how much video content they’d watch in a typical day, and the average response was 1.5 hours. 15%, meanwhile, told us they watch more than 3 hours of video on a typical day,” says Adam Hayes, Content & Copywriting Manager at Wyzowl.

Today, consumers are digesting more video content than ever before. There are plenty of opportunities to engage users with video content. To get your video marketing activity underway, consider recording simple behind-the-scenes video with your mobile device. Give your audience a peek into your company’s culture. Remember to post on social media! These simple and easy videos work to build trust and increase transparency with your customers.

4. Social Content

Posting to social media is one of the most important things a brand can do to stay ahead of the game, beat the competition, and attract new, high-paying customers. Always post your written, audio, and video content to social media. The purpose of this content is to get people to stop scrolling and engage with your content. In order to craft high-powered and interesting social media content, make sure that the content is easily digestible and right to the point. Keep your captions short! There’s nothing worse than scrolling through your newsfeed and seeing a paragraph-long caption. If your caption can’t be read in less than a few seconds, it likely won’t get read. Moreover, businesses should prioritize the social media channels that their consumers frequently use. If you’re marketing an enterprise-class and c-suite piece of software, your target audience is likely using LinkedIn, not Snapchat. Keep this in mind as you create and distribute social media content.

5. Human Content

Finally, businesses should work hard to create human content. This is content that doesn’t “feel” like a sell. Instead, human content is helpful, humorous, and authentic. From special behind-the-scenes videos to CEO Q&A’s, human content gives your target audience a look into what makes your business unique. Customers want to meet the real people behind the brand. Moreover, when your target audience is ready to make a purchase, they’ll feel more comfortable completing the purchase when they have a more intimate understanding of your business.

Kickstart Your Content Marketing Program

For many businesses, investing in a healthy diet of content can immediately kickstart marketing programs. Your customers are looking for answers before they make their purchases. If you can be their advisor before they start shopping, you will have earned their trust (and business).

For an extra boost to your content marketing program, we recommend downloading Conquering the Inbound Marketing Mountain. In the guide, access key insights into inbound marketing goal setting, defining and detailing personas, tips for building an inbound marketing team, key components of an editorial calendar, and more. Just like climbing a mountain, inbound marketing requires intense preparation and planning. Be a smart hiker!