There are many content marketing types out there to attract traffic. In this post you will find most of the powerful ones which you can start implementing and begin generating traffic to your content as soon as possible.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a type of marketing approach used purposely to persuade someone to take action.
This could be your potential customers for instance. As a content creator you need to ensure that your content is valuable, engaging and has relevant information for your target audience.
Why content marketing is important
Content marketing is important because it helps drive traction to your content. Traffic is very important for any business whether online or offline, you will always need traffic which might be your target customers, readers, viewers etc.
22 Content Marketing Types to Gain Traffic
1. Creating videos
Videos show that there is an actual person behind the brand and videos are easier to consume compared to reading blog articles. You can use platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram IG TV, TikTok etc.
2. Your own blog
Blogging works really well for seo purposes. A blog can accommodate more of the content marketing types such as email marketing, embedding videos, infographics, images etc.
It also works as a reference for your readers. Learn how to start a blog on wordpress in minutes.
3. Live streams
This is among the most interactive forms of content as you can take your viewers questions and suggestions right away. It allows your customers see the real you unedited and unscripted which can be of great help in building trust.
Most platforms promote live streams more than regular video uploads so if you can do live streams then it might be best for you.
4. Offering free tools
This is a very interactive form of content as visitors engage with the tool. Take for example if you are running a fitness blog, you could create a free calories calculator tool for your readers.
5. Infographics
This is very powerful as it helps break down a complex topic into a simple easy to understand presentation in form of chart, graph or other image accompanied by minimal text.
It has to be related to your niche remember your aim is to provide value upfront.
6. Instructional guides
These guides are usually thorough and very detailed as they allow people understand what to do step-by-step so accuracy is a major factor.
7. Case studies, market data and field reports
These usually highlight your best works and are very powerful for generating backlinks naturally. Learn how to get backlinks in seo for free.
8. Social media posts
Content marketing on social media is very popular. It includes YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. It helps extend reach to new readers and customers.
The posts are useful for updates to your audience and you can base them off another piece of content such as a video or blog post. Consistently posting can help a lot with brand recognition as people spend time daily on the various social media.
9. Stories
Stories are temporary and allow you to give daily updates to your customers and readers. Usually you can use stories on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube as shorts, LinkedIn etc.
The length varies from one platform to another. They are useful as they encourage engagement as you can promote your latest content using your stories.
10. Pinterest PINs
The reason I didn’t put this under social media posts is because pinterest is not like the rest of the social media.
When you publish pins on your pinterest account, you can optimize them using keywords for the pinterest seo which can generate you great amounts of traffic really fast.
11. Podcasts
This refers to a series of episodes. You can gain subscribers to your podcasts which helps you build an audience for your future content.
They are great for engagement as you can take questions right away and help your audience with more value thus building more trust and validating your social proof.
You can also record a video of the podcast session which gives an added form of content. Since it is recorded live, it creates a more personal bond with potential customers which helps build trust.
12. Webinars
Webinars are used mostly for purposes of sharing knowledge, ideas and updates. They have instant feedback and build relationships and authority around your brand.
If you have a product to promote, then webinars are a great way to demonstrate the product to your customers.
13. Ebooks
Basically this refers to an online book often in PDF. All you have to do is ensure you tie it to what you offer and the pain points of your customers. Provide enough value for your customers upfront as always.
14. Digital classes/Online courses
People love education. Creating a digital class is very powerful as people around the world can access it remotely. It helps create a bond, brand awareness and boost sales at the same time.
15. Guest posting
Posting on other established websites might be of great help in traffic for your fresh site. You need to ensure that the site you wish to guest post on has same target traffic as yours so that they complement each other.
This way you will drive more brand awareness and traffic at the same time.
16. Magazines
Magazines are still popular. Some people prefer to buy magazines and there are businesses that advertise their business and products on magazines.
If you are able to create a magazine for your business then it might work well since not everybody prefers online materials of information.
17. Listicles
Listicles are easy to scan and consume. They have to be easy to understand and they are very good for conversation and gathering links as well.
18. Journeys
Take for example sharing your journey from $0 to $1,000 with your fresh blog. People will follow along and this will result in high engagement as they will want to know what you are doing at the various stages to achieving your goal.
19. Email
Just like social media stories, email is another good way for content stacking. They can also be used to provide value on their own as well. Learn how to create email list for marketing.
20. Giveaways
These are mostly conducted on social media. You ask for follows, likes or shares for a giveaway in return. This makes it easy to reach new audience.
For better results, ensure your giveaway is directly related to your business so that you attract only people who are genuinely interested. If you give away a gift card then after the giveaway you might see massive unfollows since people wanted the gift card giveaway.
21. Online challenges
These are also typically conducted on social media as well. They help engage the audience and reach new people. Usually the audience comes up with versions of the challenge and tags you or your brand using the challenge hashtags.
Take for example a dance challenge to a new song, people will obviously tag the artist or the song name which raises brand awareness even further.
22. SMS marketing
SMS marketing has 10-15% higher click through rates over email marketing. This raises engagement as well. However, for the best results you need to ensure that your texts are valuable to your audience.
Content marketing strategy essentials
1. Have a defined audience
In order to come up with a successful content marketing strategy, you need to have a clearly defined audience.
This is because you do not want to assume anything but be sure about what your target audience is searching for online, their interests, where you can find them and even where they are currently finding solutions which in this case is considered your competition.
You do not want to be too general when it comes to content marketing so ensure that you clearly identify the audience you really want to target. Below are some of the things you might need to consider to make it easier:-
- Firstly, look within your brand and see which category of people is showing interest in your content. What makes them interact with your content and which type of content do they love the most. This will help you get a basis of where to start from in order to be able to persuade new people into believing in what you offer since you are certain of what is performing well already.
- Secondly, identify your competition. See what they are doing and most importantly too, who they are competing against. This will give you a wider scope of view and from there; you will be able to identify what they are missing out and come up with more value on it. Remember, a competitors’ loss is automatically a gain on your side so maximize on the opportunities they are overlooking.
2. Demographics matching
Doing this match will help you a lot as you will be providing the perfect product for the ideal customer. To do this you will need to know which age group you are targeting, the gender, geographical location, level of education, occupation and income level as well.
When you come up with your content marketing strategy, you need to know that you are maximizing your chances of success by getting specific with every detail there is.
If you go general chances are you will spend more on audience that does not fit your marketing desire.
3. Familiarize yourself with your audience
This involves getting personal with your target audience. Below are some traits you should consider:-
- Lifestyle
- Values and beliefs
- Online activity/behavior
- Attitude/personality
- Interests
In order to figure this out you will need to perform some research about your audience. Look up what experiences other people have been able to come up with from targeting similar audience online.
You can as well find forums where content marketers share their honest opinions on the same. Doing surveys and interacting directly with your current audience will help you find out what they really need and it will boost your engagement too.
Another way is to perform keyword research to get insights on what questions your target audience has.
4. Setting goals
When coming up with a content marketing strategy, you need to have clear goals set. This will help measure your strategy effectiveness and beat procrastination as well.
Having a goal you are aiming at will give you a sense of direction, motivation and enough purpose to take action towards achieving your desired outcome.
However, the goal needs to be achievable. Setting unrealistic goals will not only overwhelm you, but it will demoralize you along the way since what you are aiming at is so big.
Try to break the whole process down to small achievable milestones. It is by achieving the small milestones that add up to the greater goal.
An important and very crucial point to master is setting time limits for when you intend to have achieved your goals. This helps create the sense of urgency which raises your motivation to take action daily towards your goal.
Without the time limits, you will be more likely to procrastinate and postpone things which will do you nothing but prolong the time it will take you to succeed.
5. Clear value proposition
This refers to a statement explaining how you solve a problem and states why people should buy from you and not from elsewhere.
This is because you are not the only one with such content or product online. So you have to be very aware of competition and apply the necessary measures to stand out from the competition and appear more valuable.
You achieve this by highlighting what you do different from others, better and what makes you unique from the rest in order to be considered.
6. Branding
This involves coming up with a logo, tagline, web design, visuals and having a unique voice for your business. You need to establish what people can associate with your business.
After you are satisfied with the image you have created for your business now it is time to put yourself out before your target audience. This will require you to identify where your target audience hangs out.
It could be on social media or online forums. Wherever it is, just get there and engage actively. This will get you recognized and people will start to discover you.
7. Success metrics
This involves measuring your levels of efforts and the amount of success aimed at. By measuring your metrics you will be able to identify what is working well for you and what is not.
That will help you to make the necessary adjustments to your strategy to improve it. However, the metrics you measure should be aligned to your goals. Do you want to gain more traffic?
Measuring page views will be crucial as opposed to someone whose goal is to increase conversions as they will need to measure certain actions that people take on their site such as adding to cart or check out pages.
Conclusion
That was all I had for you on the “22 Content Marketing Types to Gain Traffic”. I hope you found the post useful and enjoyed it. Feel free to leave any questions or suggestions in the comments section down below I’ll be more than happy to hear from you.
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Hey, I’m Frank! A Digital Entrepreneurship enthusiast. I help people understand the fundamentals of digital entrepreneurship. I created this site originally to hone my web design skills, motivate & inspire people who also love to dream big! Read more...