In the world of content marketing, it's important to find your "inner publisher" and release a rich variety of content to keep your readers engaged. In Ann Handley's wonderful book, Content Rules, Hubspot's Rick Burnes shares the five kinds of content that they use to keep their B2B content marketing strategy healthy:
#1 Raisin Bran
These are your useful, everyday posts, which are practical in nature. A common example is how-to advice in the form of blog posts. Do these often as they are highly shareable. We've found a good balance is to commit to either once or twice a week.
#2 Spinach
These are your thought pieces that establish you as a thought leader. Usually published in the form of eBooks or whitepapers, they discuss emerging industry trends and technological developments. Don't do them too often; instead, sprinkle it throughout your content map. Commit to delivering quality to your readers, or don't do it at all.
#3 Roasts
These are your big projects, which usually manifest themselves in the form of research reports and case studies. Though they take a significant chunk of time to create, they make up for it by giving you plenty of inbound links. They are highly shareable when done right, and can potentially increase your reach by introducing your blog to new audiences. To increase the chances of this happening, pick the right project, and provide interesting, unique information.
#4 Tabasco
These are the posts that spark conversation. A common example is those that ask tough questions in the form of blog posts with controversial titles. Burnes' mentions how people linked to his post on how direct mail is dying with their own contradictory perspectives, as lots of them relied on direct mail for business. Not only are these conversations valuable but they can be used to create further content.
#5 Cake
These are the entertaining, viral posts that you would probably forward on to your colleagues. By nature they are humorous or fun cartoons, videos, infographics, etc., which humanize your brand by showing personality. They show your readers that you don't take yourself too seriously.
Items 3 to 5 are probably the hardest to come up with. Not only do they require a significant investment in terms of time, but thinking of how you can actually add value to the conversation using that content type can be challenging. In your brainstorming session, remember to:
- Maintain a customer-centric focus.
- Commit to creating valuable content as opposed to simply meeting deadlines.
- Choose a subject for regular commentary that your buyers will benefit from. Figure out what information is essential to customers and deliver in a compelling way.
- Provide substance and take a stand.
We hope you found this as useful as we have. If you'd like to know more about content marketing, please download our complimentary whitepaper on the content marketing revolution:
How do you map your content types for your marketing strategy? Leave your answer in the comment section below.