What comes to your mind when you hear the term ‘content marketing’? Is it high-brow words that have been pushed through the funnel of a painstakingly devised strategy? Or, a group of creative big cheeses (read, content marketers) putting their minds together to find the pulse of their audience?
The above two interpretations, while true to some extent, only define the concept halfway. Content marketing, the good kind is bringing ideas that reside at the corners of the audience’s eyes, to the front. It’s all about making the audience go, ‘I had this exact thought and your expression of it made me buy!’ For brands this is what makes their efforts see the light of the day as they lead to conversions.
Here are three brands that made their target audience go ‘wow!’
Sephora and its Beauty Insiders’ Wisdom
Sephora has always been a famed fashion and beauty brand. However, it shouldn’t receive laurels for its products alone. It has proven to be a game changer in terms of user-generated content marketing through its blog. This was one of Sephora’s original content initiatives where their customers brought them traction by discussing about products that are worth buying.
Beauty lovers got a chance to share their fashion tips and recommend beauty products to like-minded souls. This brand went ahead to build a content hub for its community, by its community (read buyers). A splendid example of making your audience fall in love with you and help you grow! Similarly, when brand leverages user generated content, it multiplies the trust that consumers already have for it.
Adidas and its Game Plan A
‘Designed for those who believe in the power of sport, Game Plan A is here to make work life better, more inspiring, and be fun, be it at Adidas or anywhere else’ reads the microsite of Adidas. Never one to disappoint, Adidas plans to and has successfully converted its employees into true brand loyalists through this digital magazine. This stroke of genius came after the brains at Adidas had exhausted their strategies of vying all sorts of target audiences.
They finally struck gold with the realisation that it was their employees, potential candidates, and other like-minded individuals who would make for hardcore brand loyalists. Through this digital magazine, they have entered the field of consumer publishing to engage a workforce that’s all athlete at heart. You find long-form writing backed with stimulating visuals that hit homeruns here! Similarly, a brand that can strike a balance between engaging their target audience and their employees can reap great benefits.
Barclaycard and its Fast Track for Business
Barclaycard for Business had made great strides when it comes to engaging with their target audience of small businesses through B2B content marketing. They’ve accomplished a great deal by creating a content hub full of articles and infographics that provide exactly what their audiences look for when running a business.
Recently, they took things up a level through their initiative that goes by the name of ‘The Fast Track’. It is a full-funnel, interactive online course that comes packed with five learning modules in varied formats ranging from audio and video to printable guides. This original educational content is then marketed through Barclaycard’s social media channels. A beautiful marriage of content marketing that enriches your audience and helps you grow your business at the same time. Similarly, a brand can expand their horizons of B2B content marketing by offering value-enriched experiences.
While the above-mentioned brands belong to a wide spectrum of industries, each one of them has successfully created campaigns that rise above the rest. A beauty brand turned tables on beauty enthusiasts and gave them both a voice and a platform to voice their views. A famous sports brand drove employee engagement and with it set down a benchmark of brand recall. A payment service provider was able to give its audience a boost of learning. All of them stand inspiring testimony that content marketing when perfected, paves the way for business and recognition to amplify at the speed of light.