We see content all around us. Be it B2B or B2C, content marketing is used by brands all around the world to promote their products. However, as many as 23% of B2C marketers feel that their proficiency in content marketing is only novice. Additionally, 65% of companies claim that they find it challenging to create engaging content.
To help you figure out how to streamline your content marketing efforts and get the most out of it, I have Andrea Fryrear with me. She’s the president of Agile Sherpas and is an expert content strategist. Additionally, she runs a lot of training courses and has helped multiple organizations improve their campaign results.
Here are some of the most prominent and successful content marketing campaigns you can take inspiration from. They will help you come up with new and creative ways to market your brand.
1. Buffer
Buffer is an amazing tool that allows you to schedule your posts on social media. However, when they were starting off, they used content marketing to grow their business. They started by publishing guest posts on multiple high-authority websites. This gave them their first 100k users.
On their own blog, they used a totally different strategy. They started writing blog posts for influencers who were reaching their target audiences. This tactic attracted a lot of traffic to their website.
Image via Buffer
Today, they have 4 blogs and even use email marketing to share their best content with their subscribers. And they have over 400,000 users thanks to content marketing.
2. Microsoft
Microsoft uses their blog to tell stories, and that’s perhaps the reason why they’ve named it “Stories” too. They write stories that consumers can connect with, and this helps them improve their brand trust. By showcasing the human side of their brand, they are able to earn customers through their content marketing on the blog.
Image via Microsoft
You need to concentrate on building a better connection with your audience. The better you can connect with them, the stronger will the relationship be.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot’s marketing blog is one of the best. They write in-depth posts on their blog about issues pertaining to their target audience. These posts are then upgraded by adding ebooks and other such high-authority content.
Image via HubSpot
They went on to create another hub for sharing content called Inbound.org (now known as Growth Hub). This website gets over 300k visitors every month, and through it, they are able to promote their certifications. They also create videos for social media platforms and generate engagement on them. All of this has allowed them to become a multi-million dollar organization.
4. General Electric
General Electric used content marketing, social media marketing, and influencer marketing to their advantage. They partnered with six Instagram influencers and many superfans as well for their campaign, which was called the #GEInstaWalk.
Image via Instagram
The campaign involved the influencers checking out the facilities of General Electric and taking photos. These were then uploaded on Instagram. Through the campaign, they managed to get over 8 million Instagram account views, and 3000 new followers.
5. GoPro
GoPro, the revolutionary camera brand, came up with their own version of content marketing. They used the power of visual content to boost their presence and sales. By producing quality visual content through their cameras, they managed to get over 7.1 million subscribers on YouTube. Their following on Instagram grew to 15.7 million as well.
Image via YouTube
They decided to focus on their customers, and what they love, and the answer was simple – photos and videos. And their content marketing campaign helped them achieve their desired results.
6. Shutterstock
Shutterstock, one of the most prominent websites for stock images, uses content marketing to promote their business. They used all of the data they had to create a creative trends report. This report used the fact that people love to read genuine and reliable data.
Image via Shutterstock
They created infographics for this report, and according to Content Marketing Institute, their 2017 infographic got more than 6 billion visits. In 2018, they came up with a report that had not only images but also music and videos. This too was extremely well-received by their target audience and got them tons of visits and shares.
7. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola came up with one of the best content marketing campaigns out there called the “Share a Coke” campaign. They launched it in 2011 in Australia, and even today, you can spot traces of this campaign everywhere.
Through this campaign, their customers got the chance to personalize their drinks. Coca-Cola personalized their bottles based on the most common names of each country and put them out in the market.
Image via The Coca-Cola Company
People could either personalize the bottle from the website or look for their names on the bottles at stores. Many of the consumers started taking photos with these bottles and posted them on social media. Not only did the names grab the attention of the consumers but even gave Coca-Cola great publicity.
They further improved upon the campaign by coming up with videos that showed friends sharing a Coke. This pushed their campaign even further.
8. Blendtec
Blendtec marketed their blenders through content marketing. They came up with a new series called the “Will It Blend?” video series. During the campaign, they put various objects in their blenders and tried to blend them. One of the most prominent ones being the iPhone X. This particular video managed to get more than 490k views.
Image via Youtube
Through this series, they were able to get a 700% increase in sales in just a matter of 3 years. It also helped them increase their YouTube subscriber base to 885k.
Final Thoughts
If done right, content marketing can help you boost your brand awareness, lead generation, and sales. By following the examples above from some of the most prominent brands out there, you too can start your content marketing campaigns.
If you haven’t got the right expertise to develop a content marketing campaign from scratch, you can get in touch with me.
Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in influencer marketing, product launches, sales funnels, targeted traffic, and website conversions. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, influencers with digital products, and a number of A-List celebrities.
