Content marketing is now an essential component of the best marketing departments, but it also has quite a few moving parts to ensure consistency across channels and promote thought leadership.
It’s fair to say we’re all constantly learning more and more about content marketing. Marketers work hard to drive brand awareness, bring in new leads, and increase sales.
Your content marketing strategy is essential to engage customers throughout their journey to becoming qualified leads, but it’s safe to say that everyone could use some good examples of content marketing to help spur creativity.
Fortunately, marketers everywhere are coming up with new strategies, ideas, and hacks daily, and they can help take your content marketing strategy to new heights.
1. Content Marketing Institute
The original, CMI was founded by none other than Joe Pulizzi, one of the creators of Content Marketing and author of the seminal book on the subject, “Epic Content Marketing.”
The CMI blog includes advice from top content marketers, including strategies for different channels and which metrics to watch. You can read articles about SEO, the state of Content Marketing, the future of Digital Marketing, and marketing measurement.
Articles on the site range from quick tips to complete guides, and CMI offers annual research with helpful insights detailing challenges, obstacles, and success cases.
2. WriterAccess
Another fun fact about the Writer Access content marketing blog is that its own writers often make the content.
So, if you’re looking for an inside take from writers who experience the platform, there is no better place to turn. As a client, seeing how writers write in the blog can also help you as you look for someone to handle your projects.
Some of the blogs you’ll find on Writer Access right now include:
- Where to Put SEO Keywords: Stop Using the Same Keywords on Every Page
- Why Conversion Rate Optimization Is Essential
- 9 Amazing Content Distribution Tools
If you’re not in the mood to read more industry topics, why not take a break and try something funny? Writer Access has a section of the blog specifically set aside for comedy posts, so you can get a laugh into your day.
Some of the current comedy posts include:
- Best and Worst Gifts for Writers
- How to Write Your Life Story Already
- Be Wary of Word Choice When Talking Addiction
Keep in mind that many of these posts are opinion pieces or lighter in nature, so they’re not going to hit the same way as industry news or detailed SEO content. You may enjoy reading through them for the break it provides as you do deeper research elsewhere on the blog.
Additionally, you’ll love that you can see the post’s author. Why does that matter? When you sign up for the two-week free trial of WA’s services, you’ll be able to look for that specific writer.
Let them know you loved their piece and want something similar for your brand, and you’ll be one step closer to getting the right content in the right voice for your business.
3. Contently Strategist
Contently covers everything from brand publishing to storytelling and SEO. There is content marketing advice galore with articles about market innovations, the role of technology, statistics, and digital transformation.
Follow this blog to drive better results and stay updated on what’s going on in the industry.
4. BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is an excellent tool for content marketers, but even if you don’t subscribe to their services, their blog is all about content marketing.
There are examples of content marketing, tips on analyzing competitor content, B2B examples, and articles as specific as content targeted to holidays. It’s fabulous and highly recommended.
5. Convince and Convert
In Convince and Convert’s blog, you will find valuable podcasts and posts about:
- Customer experience
- Social media
- Content marketing
- B2B marketing
- Word of mouth marketing.
Various articles: case studies, research reports, and lists provide an incredible amount of insight. You will learn a lot about data-driven marketing and marketing automation with comparisons of traditional marketing styles and modern approaches.
6. HubSpot
HubSpot knows a thing or two about marketing, considering their service ends up being where many content marketing departments log new leads.
They guide you through vital topics such as social media, customer service, e-commerce, sales, SEO, and Inbound Marketing. HubSpot also touches on other topics like brand awareness, marketing psychology, and the process of maintaining a blog.
Their team publishes new posts often, providing for a constant learning experience filed with great examples of content marketing strategies that work.
7. MarketingProfs
How awesome is Marketing Profs? It has totally free videos, infographics, training, and articles about B2B marketing, and is one of the most comprehensive sites out there. The site goes beyond being a blog with insights delivered straight to your inbox.
Yes, this site has hours and hours of valuable content that will take your content marketing to new places.
Our seventh tip is “The Story of Telling”. As the name implies, it’s pretty much about storytelling and how your team can leverage this strategy in your pieces.
It’s full of short posts with quite comforting writing that will help you understand how to craft impressive stories and will inspire you to write.
8. CMO
Adobe is an authoritative source that provides excellent content. While more generally focused and designed for CMOs and marketing leaders, great content exists within the Adobe blog. Content can be narrowed down by industry, and the B2B content is very good.
One of the most significant benefits of the CMO blog is reading the strategic directions other marketing executives are targeting. Using their insight and examples of content marketing, your content marketing strategy can become more robust.
Copyblogger is a blog to help you with powerful tips from a writer’s perspective. It will provide you with some insights and suggestions so you can ensure you have what you need to put words on a page.
So, they cover writer’s block, copywriting, persuasive writing, grammar recommendations, and more.
You can read the posts and even share them with your team. After all, it’s essential to improve the writing on your Content Marketing blog and email marketing.
9. MOZ
MOZ is one of the most relevant blogs to look for when you need assistance with SEO. Its focus is to help business leaders and marketers learn:
- how they can understand search engines’ algorithms;
- how they can discover new tactics;
- and how to use new technology such as machine learning for SEO.
Also, if you want help on some specific topics, you’re in the right place. There are articles on video SEO, local SEO, search intent, and more. So, you can go from general how-to guides to specific posts to expand your knowledge.
10. Rock Content
Rock Content’s blog is where you need to go to find the right methods and strategies for your marketing. From specific subjects to general guides, you can learn about:
But, if you have questions about your blog’s infrastructure, there’s also a section with technical content, such as hosting, website security, and CMS.
11. ComScore Blog
ComScore is a prominent internet analytics company that provides marketing data to many of the world’s largest enterprises.
ComScore has a strong competitive advantage because of their exceptional ability to develop unique content. This can partially be attributed to the mass of information they have at their fingertips due to the nature of their business function (collecting and analyzing data).
This ability to leverage their own data for content production means that their articles are difficult for others to produce, making them very valuable.
12. Evernote Blog
Known as one of the most popular productivity apps in the world, it’s no surprise why professionals, freelancers, and digital nomads are avid users of the platform.
Other than making timely updates to improve the user’s experience, Evernote has established a good relationship with its audience by doubling down on content creation.
If you want to boost your efficiency at home or in the office, Evernote’s blog is filled with valuable content that will change the way you approach work.
13. Freshbooks
Freshbooks is a cloud accounting software specifically designed for small businesses and freelancers.
Since the platform is easy to use and is known for its exceptional customer service, the brand has established a positive reputation in the market.
Taking on a similar approach to Evernote, Freshbooks has nurtured its relationship with its users by providing helpful content for professionals.
Other than a blog filled with management, leadership, and accounting tips, the platform is generous enough to provide eBooks on several relevant topics.
14. General Electric Reports
This organization is an American-based multinational conglomerate. GE is one of the largest firms in the US by gross revenue ($96.06B in 2019). Just think of any product category that’s related to electricity, GE probably has a stake in it.
Having such a large product range makes it harder to brand themselves but GE has found a way to use their diverse portfolio to their advantage.
Their articles are mainly focused on innovation and how GE products are making a positive difference all across the globe. They also seek external voices with unique opinions on everything from manufacturing to public policy and the global economy.
15. Marketo
Marketo is a marketing software company that specializes in developing marketing automation tools for businesses. They offer various products for lead management, sales insight, and social marketing.
The Marketo Blog offers readers information about consumer and B2B marketing tips as well as best practices with a focus on email marketing, marketing automation, lead generation, and marketing ROI.
If you want your business to stay relevant in the years to come, reading their blogs about the future of work, marketing technology, and improving the customer experience can provide valuable insight.
16. Neil Patel’s Blog
NEILPATEL blog, formerly known as Kissmetrics, is a customer analytics platform based in San Francisco. It’s a page that provides tools and tips on how you can analyze user interaction on your brand’s website, apps, and mobile products.
Their blog offers solid insights and guides on marketing techniques specifically for professional digital marketing purposes.
Though their content is superior to most, the real value lies in the tests they conduct on various digital marketing phenomenon. If looking to improve your SEO game, the page also has a highly capable keyword research tool called Ubbersuggest.
17. Salesforce
Salesforce is a leading provider of enterprise cloud solutions with a focus on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools.
Their blog focuses on topics associated with IT and business management but a big part of their content is about their own range of products and how to use them effectively.
Now that customer service plays a large role in the operations of any business, the content they produce can help you revolutionize the way you interact with your audience.
18. Unbounce
Unbounce is an online marketing firm specifically focused on helping marketing professionals gain more control over user behavior around landing pages.
Their blog is generally about digital marketing but focuses on topics that range from lead conversion and landing page optimization tips.
Content is provided mainly in the form of advice, tactics, guides, and checklists. If you’re planning to do a makeover for your site, you should take a look at their blog for web page design tips.
19. Vidyard
It’s no secret that video marketing can do wonders for your business. But even though it’s a proven practice, lots of brands are still unable to produce compelling videos to attract leads.
Vidyard is one of the best video hosting platforms available to marketers and their success can be partly attributed to their blog. Their resources section consists of valuable insights on how you can boost your marketing, internal communications, and more.
Similarities of these blogs
Though these blogs focus on providing conceptually different information to their readers, they do have a few things in common that we can learn from.
Set specific goals
Every blog has a clear vision, so they can aim to fulfill particular goals through the provision of content.
Whether it’s to convert leads using content offers, promote social responsibility or build an image as a thought-leader, these blogs have a purpose and the design/production of their content truly reflects that.
Know your target audience
These blogs have a comprehensive idea of who their target audience is and where their interests lie.
This way, they know exactly what topics and subjects will attract the attention of their target audiences. Proper audience recognition makes it easier for content to be consistent and relevant.
Add value
The content within these blogs provides true value to readers. They all aim to educate or entertain their audience with their content. Though there are calls to action in most, none are too pushy or come off as a sales pitch.
If you want to attract and delight your audience, make sure you’re helping them in some way shape or form, and not just trying to make a sale.
Write quality content
Lastly, and probably most subjectively, these blogs are all well-written. They are all written in a language that is easy to read and comprehend, even for those who may not be technically savvy.
It doesn’t take the best writers in the world to produce quality content, it merely requires uncomplicated language that engages readers through a conversational tone.
