In the ‘new normal’, people have started consuming more online content than ever before. Content is indeed king today. However, just any piece of content is not going to attract new customers to your brand. You have to keep producing and publishing content that the audience will want to read and share. Content marketing is the best way to go about it as it is the creation and distribution of ‘valuable’ content in the form of videos, infographics, blog posts, and the like. The strategy is not just about selling your brand, but also about building an audience and starting a conversation with them.

Pandemic or otherwise, brands are putting their best foot forward in creating original and relevant content that is at once relatable and shareable. Here are a few brands that have been powering through with their content marketing campaigns…

Orbit Media Studios – This Chicago-based web and development agency is drawing in new customers and continually retaining its audience with a variety of original content. Their content marketing is not to be taken lightly as they include well-written guides and original research. For instance, the agency sends out a survey to 1000 bloggers asking about their content and production process. The collected data is then aligned into statistics and compiled into charts, which alongside expert tips from content marketing experts is used to educate people about the effectiveness of blogging, and the procedure that should be employed.

Buffer – Spread out in 15 countries, Buffer is an all-time favorite and the poster child for content marketing done right. Initially, the company used guest blogging to boost their growth, and published their content on sites with high-visibility, alongside posting frequently. The firm’s blog, however, zeroed in on creating content for the influencers who are already reaching potential customers. Today, the company has four different, successful blogs, whose content is shared through email marketing.

Investopedia – Any finance-related search on Google is incomplete with an Investopedia article showing up. Their core campaign is that their content is cleverly structured and follows a particular architecture that satisfies many Google search criteria, and thereby, the audience. Besides, their approach to complicated topics is to briefly explain issues in easy English with real-world examples.

Investopedia dissects every topic into subtopics, and within each blog post, a table is incorporated where the links to each subtopic is listed for an in-depth perspective. Under each topic, every user will come across a box labeled ‘key takeaways’ that allows the user to skim through the highlights of the topic, and get the gist of it. A thorough and well-planned content structure and the relevance of simplicity are driving this company to grow every day.

Hubspot – Through the years, Hubspot has become one of the prime examples of content marketing. An early adopter of this strategy, the brand has built an impressive customer base through its detailed blog posts covering various broad topics. They sell their brand methodically through their content marketing campaign. At the end of several blog posts, there are CTAs (Call to Action) encouraging people to trial their free software, which is ultimately audience metrics and engagement. Besides, they also produce videos for their Facebook page, and use their presence on social media to drive traffic to their content.

TED – TED is the first name that pops up when we think about quality content for free. Going beyond the usual SEO building and market research, TED has solely focused on finding and producing first-class content that would become a hit with its audience. Their sole campaign revolves around creating “ideas worth spreading” and present the best of the best speakers with thought-provoking ideas. No wonder, their YouTube channel has more than 18 million subscribers and their videos get millions of views and thousands of likes and comments.

Finding and creating such content contributes greatly towards audience building, and TED has utilized the power of free content to build a brand. The brand also realized early on that video will beat blogs when it comes to being the most popular form of content, and this remains true especially after the pandemic struck.

Jay Shetty – Storytelling is one of the best ways in which you can nail their content marketing strategy and Jay Shetty is an example of that. Employing the most popular form of content marketing – videos – Shetty has attracted millions of followers and kept them hooked. His personal development videos generally begin with a relatable scenario, which is acted out by actors, following which he gives the audience an explanation of the moral of the story and later offers advice. Given his past as a monk in India and his truly captivating form of speaking to the audience, he drives home meaningful messages. Shetty also hosts a podcast where he converses with prominent guests. His content is available offline as well as he speaks at conferences and conducts regular sessions.

Vogue India – This publication employs the art of storytelling in their content marketing. To raise the voice for women empowerment and take a stand against the gender violence, Vogue came up with a campaign called #VogueEmpower. They produced videos featuring big Bollywood names, such as Madhuri Dixit, Deepika Padukone, and others, to draw attention and create a buzz around their brand and the issue in focus. Much like Jay Shetty, Vogue India’s content marketing is omnichannel. Even though their presence is the strongest on YouTube, they push out content on other platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, building a big audience, and encouraging engagement.

Headspace – An app that helps people avoid overthinking, help maintain their focus, and get some semblance of peace in their lives, Headspace comes with a hefty baggage of good and consistent content. Video and audio meditation sessions are offered through the mobile application of Headspace and YouTube, backed with several articles on related topics on The Orange Dot, the brand’s blog.

Even though their blog draws decent traffic, it is their ‘cute’ and ‘eye-catching’ animated YouTube explainers that easily garner quite a few million views. Every video is aided with the soothing voice of the brand’s co-founder Andy Puddicombe, which alongside the light-hearted and fun presentation of the content, manages to make the idea of meditating a little less intimidating and more fun for the audience.

Canva – Founded in 2012, Canva is the one-stop-shop for every marketer who wants to create quality, professional-looking designs, be it images for their blogs, presentations, logos, posters or infographics, among others. However, the freemium version is no less when compared to the paid ones. Their chief content marketing campaign happens to be user-generated content much like Glossier, with product-led growth. To further their reach, the firm threw in a bit of influencer marketing. But to be fair, Canva is such a valuable and efficient tool that there is no need to market the product.

Fenty – Launched in 2017 with a 100 per-cent digital campaign, Rihanna’s Fenty has owned content marketing within the beauty world. The brand’s campaigns are largely pitched around Instagram and influencer content. In the initial days, the brand launched its signature foundation in forty variant shades which established the brand’s inclusive and body-positive outlook. Besides great content, the firm put together reviews and testimonies from fans of the brand (beauty bloggers, models, and industry professionals) to generate trust and traction.

Glossier – From a blog to a beauty brand worth a billion dollars, Glossier has always played the right cards in content marketing. Their Instagram channel is incorporated within their official website where they put out loads of sneak-peaks and influencer generated content. However, their genius strategy employs user-generated content (real-life user feedback) which not only decreases the load of content creation but also builds a community. As the strategy involves their audience, it serves to increase customer engagement, and retain their patronage.

IKEA – The brand provides the customers great content through its IKEA Ideas blog, which offers a diverse variety of décor ideas, interior design hacks, and DIY tutorials. However, it is not just the blog that proves to be a catch for the audience. The company stresses on understanding the customer’s problems. In 2019, the number one problem faced by Dubai IKEA was that the general commute to the store was lengthy. The furniture retailer responded by launching the “Buy with Time” campaign, which allows any customer to use Google Maps Timeline to know how long it will take them to get to the store. But here came the fun part. Every item was priced in time. Say if a bed was worth 8 hours, and the commute from your location to the store is three hours, those three hours will be deducted from your bill. 

Spotify – The audio streaming service offers customized playlists, emails, and also manages to showcase every user’s unique listening habits through a data-driven microsite. This level of content personalization is a one-way street to the audience’s heart. In 2018, Spotify dropped their first edition of the “Wrapped” campaign where users would receive an email of their most listened songs in a story-like manner. The re-vamped second edition at the end of 2019 had new dimensions. First, the feature was incorporated into the application itself; say good bye emails. Plus, the version included a whole decade’s load of favorite songs – “My Decade Wrapped”. It was also available to podcasters alongside Spotify users and artists alike.

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