Marketing is all about cultivating relationships with new or potential clients. Engaging with them regularly is a fantastic way to stay top-of-mind. While blogs can be an all-encompassing way to distribute information to current and potential customers, there are many other formats that provide a dynamic approach to staying engaged.
1. Email Newsletters
Email newsletters are a great way to keep in touch with your contacts, allowing you to educate and engage with them. You can share a variety of interesting topics in one tidy space. These topics could include personal quips related to your business, industry trends, current news, and interesting topics.
2. Video
We are living in the age of short-form video content. People love watching them because of the amount of information they can glean in a short period of time. These videos can be live videos on your social media channels, embedded videos on your website, or posts to your social media channels.
3. Templates
You can provide your clientele with free assets that are valuable to them, and increase your brand awareness. These could be as simple as checklists or as complex as spreadsheets and matrices. Common templates that companies send to their contacts are roadmaps, social media templates, relevant calculators, and content calendars.
4. Case Studies
Case studies are in-depth analyses of how your goods or services benefitted one or more customers or clients. Often a case study will walk your reader through a step-by-step process of how you came up with the plan to help your client, how the plan was implemented, and what the results were. You would provide documentation detailing how your plan or product helped solve your customer’s problem. One may also include what your plans are with this customer going forward. All these points will urge your readers to learn more about your company and your services or products.
5. E-books
An e-book is an excellent opportunity to lay out in long form exactly what your company does, how and why that should be valuable to them. By presenting your potential clients with an e-book, you not only get your foot in the door, but you are also presenting yourself as an expert on the subject matter. The people or businesses that download your e-book are high-quality leads. They have taken the time to show interest in this long-form content, whereas someone who is not interested in your service would not have done so.
6. Reports or Surveys
These at-a-glance options provide valuable data-driven insights to your readers. This can include things like state-of-the-industry reports, industry trends, and practical guides with actionable insights.
7. White papers
White papers are more professionally or academically-styled pieces of content that are longer in form than e-books. Typically these would include many of the assets that we’ve already covered, but would be more in-depth. Often, a white paper will include data,
diagrams, research, infographics, case studies, and things like quotes and insights from industry experts. White papers do take some time to put together, but the leads generated are, typically, the most valuable of them all.
8. Podcasts
Podcasts allow you to share in-depth knowledge about your company, the industry, products, and services in an easy-to-consume format for your clientele. Podcasts are a great way to build community with your customers while increasing brand loyalty and customer retention.
The main goal of any of these content assets is to distribute information to your clientele and potential customers, enhance brand awareness, build confidence in your brand, and generate more high-value leads. Depending on your company and strategy, these assets can be free, behind a paywall, or a combination of the two. Blogging is an excellent asset, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Let’s think beyond the blog and incorporate some of these ideas into your marketing strategy.