Content marketing = all the blogs. Right? Yes and no. A blog is certainly a type of content, but content marketing actually comes in many forms. You've undoubtedly seen them all at some point throughout your existence on the internet, but they might not have registered with you as being content (presumably because you enjoyed consuming them so much). But now you need to come up with your own content ideas, and 'blogs' is all you can muster. Don't fear! If your list of ideas currently contains nothing but coffee stains, download 'The A-Z of content' below and discover an entire alphabet's worth of different content types.

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Is your content output starting to feel a
bit stale? Don’t worry – there are plenty
of different types of content for you to
throw in the marketing mix, and all of
them can be highly effective.
There’s no need to keep doing the same
old things; for new ideas, just work
through the A-Z of content types…

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Articles
Blogs
Great content adopts a magazine
mindset. We all have our
favourite magazines and websites,
and the reason we keep coming
back is because of the consistent
quality of the articles. These
could include topical features,
interviews, and evergreens (i.e.
content that won’t age easily,
remaining useful and relevant
long after it’s been published).
Similarly, a blog is your chance
to really get the personality of
your business across. A blog
can be anything from a couple
of paragraphs welcoming a new
member of staff, to a 600-word
look into an interesting subject in
your sector. Ultimately, you have
complete freedom with your blog,
so if appropriate, have fun with it!

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Case Studies
Data/Stats
Customers visiting your website will
want to see what you’re capable of,
so case studies are bits of content
that essentially show off your skills.
Break down the objectives, what you
did, and what results you achieved.
Also, a quote from the happy
customer is a nice touch.
Journalists, customers, heck –
even your competitors; all of
them will be interested in reading
some fresh data or statistics
relating to the industry in which
you work. If you produce your
own independent research, your
website can become the ‘go to’
place for all the latest industry
insights (just make sure people
credit your business as the source).

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E-books
FAQs
E-books are visually attractive,
easy-to-consume, well-designed
pieces of content that are highly
sharable. Readers can flick through
an E-book like a slideshare. You’ll
know this, after all, as you’re
reading one right now!
One of the main content marketing
goals is to have your work show up
in search engine results, so having
a Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ) page can be highly effective,
as these questions will be what
people are searching for. Do a little
research and make sure you cover
all bases.

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Guides
How-to
A guide might be content that
outlines a location, product, or
service – whatever you can think
of! It could be presented as an
article, a blog, an E-book, or a ‘How
to’ guide. Speaking of which…
Having ‘How to’ content in your
blog is invaluable to your website,
as it essentially answers the FAQs
that your potential customers
are searching for. In order to
discover what queries they need
answered, you could conduct
surveys, or use a data intelligence
tool like Vertical Leap’s Apollo
Insights, which collates this info
and makes effective content ideas
easier to find.

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Infographics
Jokes
Content doesn’t have to be just
words on a page; it can also be led
by design. Infographics are highly-
sharable pieces of content that can
be simultaneously informative
and fun. A great infographic
can perform very well on social
platforms like Twitter, Facebook
and Pinterest.
Who doesn’t love a good one-liner,
tall tale, great gag or a ripping good
yarn? Funny content is great for
social media and can help visitors
to your website get to know your
business’ personality. You might
want to avoid making a joke at
someone else’s expense, though!

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Kick-off
Listicles
Got a new product ready to
launch? Perhaps the start of your
winter sale is about to begin?
Maybe the conference you’ve
organised is coming up in a few
days? Plan ahead and line up some
content to help kick off the big
event. This could include blogs
giving readers ‘everything you
need to know’, or a listicle on ’10
things you need to check out at
[insert event name here]’.
Not sure what a listicle is? Chances
are you’ve read two today already.
Buzzfeed have turned the listicle
into one of the most popular
forms of content online today,
and with good reason. It’s easy for
readers to digest, and they know
roughly how long it’s going to take
them to read from the title alone.
Like infographics, listicles can
perform very well on social media,
especially Facebook.

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Memes
News
Along the same lines as a good
joke, a great meme can end up
being seen by millions if you’re
lucky enough for it to go viral on
social media. How’s that
for visibility?
Industry news works in the same
way that presenting original data
and statistics does; it presents
your business as an industry
leader, and your website as a
valued information hub. Gripping
headlines can draw people into
your website, and great stories can
steer people towards your products
and services.

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Opinions
Product Reviews
Think of your favourite newspaper
– it will likely have a section
where the editor writes an opinion
column on a recent happening.
You could do this on your blog too,
although it’s recommended you
stick to opinions on things in your
industry, rather than world events.
When shopping online, do you read
the reviews left by other customers?
So do we, and so will your
customers. That’s why encouraging
your visitors to leave product
reviews is a highly-effective form of
user-generated content.

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Quizzes
Reviews
Great content can be fun,
interactive, and downright silly.
Quizzes are perfect for this! A great
quiz can get people sharing your
content around their offices or
with friends, and if there’s a nudge
towards your product or service at
the end, even better!
We’ve already covered your own
product reviews, but you could
also create your own reviews of
industry-related things like trade
shows, conferences or new releases
from other companies.

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Surveys
Testimonials
Another great way of creating user-
generated content is to generate
surveys that are interesting to your
potential customers. Sure, you might
have to give away a prize in order to
lure people to fill it out, but if you
get good results you can then turn
the survey results into a number of
different blogs and articles.
Working alongside your case
studies, testimonials from
customers will leave a very positive
note with visitors. Quotes can be
short – even just a sentence or two
– but if your customers are happy
and kind enough to give you one,
a quality testimonial is worth its
weight in gold.

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User-generated
Videos
We’ve mentioned a few types of
user-generated content already
in this E-book (product reviews
and surveys), but we can’t stress
enough how useful these forms
of content are. User-generated
content engages people, it makes
them feel part of a community, and
most importantly of all, it keeps
people coming back.
When it comes to explaining
products and services, video is
arguably the best way. Your video
content needn’t stop there, though.
You could include interviews,
create video case studies, make
event documentaries, and
generally just have some fun.
YouTube is very popular, as you’ll
no doubt know; have some success
there and you’re on your way.

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Whitepapers
X-rated
When it’s time to get serious and
present customers with important
information, whitepapers
are a must. Whitepapers are
authoritative reports that your
customers can download and
keep; they’re usually quite bulky
documents, and usually help
someone solve a problem (the
solution being your product!)
Now, we’re not talking about
producing anything NSFW (not
suitable for work), but if your
company has a playful side you
could produce some content that’s
a little controversial, just to get
some buzz going.

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Yearly round-ups
Zombies
They’re an institution in almost
every industry, but that doesn’t mean
you shouldn’t produce your own
yearly round-ups. Find something
that will make yours stand out and
they can be hugely beneficial.
Create content about zombies.
Y’know…because people love zombies.

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