ByWhich brands are flourishing with content marketing?
Content marketing has become immensely popular over the past few years. It’s not only been small businesses that have adapted and taken advantage of it, but big brands too. As with everything, some of these campaigns have failed while some have succeeded. I have listed out 10 brands that have successfully implemented content marketing and explained what they have done right that has helped them flourish…
1. Radian6:
Salesforce Marketing Cloud formerly Known as Radian6 is a fantastic example of a company executing content marketing effectively. They create almost every other form of content, including case studies, white papers, ebooks, video presentations, etc. You can actually see some of these different forms of content as soon as you visit the homepage. But what stands out is their blog, where they regularly publish a lot of helpful articles.
An example is this post: How to Predict Trends With Social Media Monitoring. You will notice that the post is surrounded by images on the right and bottom which lead to landing pages where visitors can sign up for content with basic details like name, email, company, etc. This is excellent content marketing where you attract traffic with blog posts and direct them to a landing page with content and use it to generate leads. This information can then be used to build relationships, increase website traffic and sales.
2. GE:
GE are effectively using content to promote their various products ranging from locomotives, healthcare and household appliances to technology. All these different products will probably never let them run out of content topics to write about. This makes it easy to publish content on their three blogs…
Ecomagination is a great blog where GE lets you know about how they themselves and others are using green and sustainable methods to help save the environment and reduce pollution. You can also find news of the latest developments that can help make the world a cleaner and greener place. This is one of the best ways to show that they care about the environment.
Txchnologist is where they publish the latest developments in technology and how people are using technology for various purposes. This ranges from conservationists preventing poaching with technology to an electric wire that heals itself when cut.
Healthymagination provides helpful tips that can improve your health. The amazing mobile applications that can make becoming healthier both easy and fun stand out here. They have also got a good Facebook page which drives a lot of engagement.
3. Sainsbury’s:
Over the past few years, many businesses have struggled and have placed most of their blame on the recession. But one company that hasn’t done that is Sainsbury’s – in fact they have embraced it. The recession has had a very bad effect in the UK – lots of people have lost jobs or had pay cuts. One of the first things that pops up into people’s minds when this happens is, can I feed myself and my family? And Sainsbury’s has answered this question by showing them how with their blog Live Well for Less. As the name says, it teaches you how to live well for less without compromising your health.
Most of the ingredients in the recipes can be bought in their stores (including online) so this works out really well for Sainsbury’s.
4. American Express:
When you speak about successful content marketing, American Express’s Open Forum is something you can’t overlook. Open Forum displays American Express’s expertise by offering business tips which range from marketing to finance from both its in-house writing team and regular guest contributors who provide articles on topics they specialize in. Guest contributors include Guy Kawasaki and Chris Brogan.
5. Birchbox:
How do you get people to purchase beauty products?
The best way is to blog about beauty and health and this is exactly what Birchbox do on their blog The Haute Box. The blog helps Birchbox attract traffic through search engines and social media and it helps them build trust and drive engagement as Mollie Chen says in this post. They have got everything from helpful articles to videos and have also got the ‘Ask Us Anything!’ section where they answer questions from people on different topics.
You can also check out their Facebook and Pinterest pages where they invite participation.
6. Starbucks:
Starbucks publish some really good content on their blog. Here you will find information on many things including new store openings, book reviews, music reviews, interviews, recipes, etc. The great thing about this blog is that they stick to topics that revolve around coffeshops. They have even got a great Pinterest page where they share some wonderful content. I have written all about that on this post.
Another successful campaign to look at is My Starbucks Idea. Here people can share their ideas on improving Starbucks and their products and other people can join in to vote and leave comments. It’s crowdsourcing done well.
7. Amazon:
Amazon regularly publish content on two of their sites Omnivoracious and The Backstory.
On Omnivoracious you will find best books lists, author interviews, book reviews and other articles that mainly revolve around literature.
On The Backstory you will find author interviews, podcasts, videos of authors speaking, recipes, etc. You can also check the top customer discussions under books here.
These two sites are a great way to promote some of their most popular products – books and ebooks. As many of these interviews, reviews, lists, etc. contain links which divert the visitor to the books’ Amazon page (where they can buy them).
8 Aweber:
One of the best places to go to for email marketing tips is the Aweber blog. You have got tips on how to generate more leads and then how to use the details to your advantage. You also have information on various case studies and tests to help improve your email marketing strategy, whether it’s to increase sales or to increase your blog traffic.
This the best way for an email software provider to market its services and show that it is an expert in email marketing.
9. L’Oreal:
A superb place to look for makeup tips is L’Oreal’s website Makeup.com where you have everything from basic to advanced techniques, including how to get the look of your favourite celebrity. Many of these techniques and tips are made simple using videos. You can also find the latest beauty news and trends here.
10. General Mills:
General Mills is another company with a wonderful blog called Tablespoon. Here you will find recipes for everything from breakfast to dinner and salads to desserts. The whole website is filled with hundreds of recipes for everyone from amateur cooks to experts.
This works out well for General Mills as they sell products like vegetables, flour, baking mixes, ice cream, breakfast cereals and various other food products. You can also sign up to become a member on Tablespoon and receive some extra benefits. One of this is that you can easily find coupons and information on daily deals.
They are also quite active on social media channels like Pinterest and Facebook where they have over a million ‘likes’.
These ten brands offer some great content marketing strategies in action. You can probably use some of these techniques to better yours.
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Which one of the above is your favourite brand that’s flourishing with content marketing? Did I forget to list any other brands using content marketing effectively? I would like to hear your thoughts. Please leave your comments below.
