Content marketing examples are inspiring because they show what's possible. Instead of vaguely understanding that you need to create content, you can see a live example. To help you achieve your growth goals, learn specific examples of 15 companies that are thriving today.
Why study and model content marketing examples?
There are three reasons why it makes sense to study content marketing examples. First, it's one of the easiest ways to unlock creative blocks (ie "blank page syndrome"). Second, it's inspiring to see other successful companies succeed at content marketing! Finally, it helps you gain support from others. Some people are skeptical about the ROI of content marketing. Point to these examples to soothe your worries. Rather than just giving a conceptual answer to the question “What is content marketing?” I find it much more powerful to define the strategy using real-world examples.
5 SaaS Content Marketing Examples – Ideas You Can Use Today
Software companies have many different ways to grow. Some companies prefer to focus on a sales-focused model with Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) and Account Executives (AEs). Others focus on content marketing to acquire leads and position them in the market. Check out these five companies to illustrate what's possible for SaaS companies.
What You Can Learn From This Content Marketing Example: Building a Founder-Branded Software Company
As I write this, I'm almost done reading Russell Brunson's new book, Traffic Secrets. I'm a huge fan of his work! Dave Woodward from ClickFunnels was previously a guest on this blog:From $0 to $70 Million: Inside the ClickFunnels Marketing Engine. There are many lessons to be learned from click-through funnels. Today I will focus on one point: the personal brand. One of the company's co-founders, Russell Brunson, is a content producing hero with numerous books, podcasts, and social media updates. He achieved an excellent balance between growing his personal brand and growing his corporate brand.
If you're the founder of a SaaS company and wondering if it makes sense to build your personal or business brand, consider Russell Brunson's book Success. He showed us that it is more than possible to create a personal and corporate brand at the same time.
What You Can Learn From This Content Marketing Example: Use Podcasts to Promote Your Software Company
While content marketers often focus on written or video content, audio and podcasts are also important channels. Quickmail stands out as a successful podcast (theCold Outreach-Podcast) based on cold email. After listening to dozens of episodes, it's clear that the show's hosts, Jack Reamer and Jeremy Chatelaine, are committed to sharing valuable information.
In April 2020, the podcast released an episode aboutBacklink request emails. Rather than providing an overall structure, the hosts took a disassembly approach. Essentially, they analyze and optimize outreach emails. This content marketing example shows another example of content marketing: create content by providing feedback or analysis on someone else's work.
What you can learn from this content marketing example: Get noticed by posting industry-specific guides.
Posting relevant content is one of the best ways to get marketing results. In the case of Phone Wagon, they've gotten results by publishing guides dedicated to specific niches (also known as vertical industries). For example, check out this guide:The Definitive Guide to Lead Selling for Chiropractors.
How can you publish step-by-step guides to help your target market achieve their goals? This is an important question you can use to inform your content marketing strategy. Content marketing is just one part of Phone Wagon's growth process. The company also has an interesting track record of finding market viability for products through cold calling. Learn more in my interview with Phone Wagon:Helping Agencies Get Better Results Through Phone Tracking: The PhoneWagon Story.
4)hubspot
What you can learn from this content marketing example: Achieve success by committing to publishing for the long term.
While HubSpot prefers the term "inbound marketing", its commitment to producing exceptional content is clear. When I interview SaaS marketers, HubSpot is one of the most cited examples. In all honesty, one of the best ways to keep up with the latest and greatest strategies is to spend a few weeks poring over HubSpot's marketing and sales content.
Here's a specific example of successful HubSpot content:
5 Steps to Create a Standout Marketing Plan [Free Templates]
From SEO and Google Ads research, I know that many people are looking for marketing plans and templates. HubSpot's blog post showcases several critical practices in one place. First, they create relevant content based on market demand (eg, interest in marketing plans and templates). Second, they offer a free download to attract potential customers to their system. Third, your content is presented in an easy-to-read format.
I could write an entire post about the company's content strategy. For this post, let me focus on one fundamental practice: consistent posting. HubSpot has been releasing new content related to sales and marketing for years. As a result, the HubSpot blog has become a go-to destination for digital marketing.
5)Ahrefs
What you can learn from this content marketing example: Publish actionable tips for your target market while pitching your SaaS product.
Ahrefs is one of the best SEO software out there. The company blog provides prominent engagement with detailed, easy-to-understand advice. Ahrefs, in particular, does a great job of publishing content aimed at new marketers. They are one of my favorite sources for content marketing ideas as they are committed to quality headlines and quality content is a good example.
For example, see David McSweeney's article: "The Newbie's Guide to Link Building.” Right off the bat, David tells us that we'll get four benefits from his content, including link building theory and “essential skills and tactics”. As you progress through the post, you will see charts and data points presented based on your Ahrefs data.
By displaying product data in a blog post, you can visualize how using the product will help you do your job better. However, it's not just a selling point. Regardless of whether you sign up for Ahrefs right away or not, you will gain insights. When investing in SaaS content marketing, look for ways to showcase your product directly in your content.
Current Examples of Content Marketing: Key Lessons from Consultants
In addition to SaaS companies, I occasionally work with consultants to help them build their authority. Since consultants are in the business of selling expertise and solutions to complex problems, content marketing is a natural fit. Long before the internet, consultants used content marketing in the form of newsletters, lectures and books to build their expertise.
What you can learn from this content marketing example: Provide expert feedback on new industry developments (eg GDPR).
4 Thought Marketing specializes in marketing technology from Oracle Eloqua and has been in content marketing for years. As a result, the company has built a growing email list of dedicated subscribers.
Because Oracle Eloqua is a sophisticated marketing platform, potential customers will have different concerns than newcomers. For example, they might have a long list of marketing projects that need to be completed. Larger companies, in particular, are concerned about marketing compliance. You cannot afford to be involved in accidental or intentional regulations such as Europe's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) or California's CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act).
Take a look at recent examples of enterprise content marketing based on compliance and GDPR concerns:
- Reinventing the art of the post-GDPR offering. This post shows that the GDPR is a marketing opportunity when viewed through the lens of creating better offers.
- Key Privacy Compliance Issues for 2020: Part 1. This post is part of a multi-part series – a proven way to keep your audience engaged while sharing your perspective over time.
If you see a significant change in your industry due to regulations, new laws or market conditions, this is an excellent opportunity for content marketing. Studying industry publications is one way to learn about these breaking news topics. You can also find current examples of content marketing by checking out industry conference schedules such asSaaS North.
What You Can Learn From This Content Marketing Example: Stark illustrates that you can gain content marketing experience in a variety of areas.
How does your content marketing strategy evolve when your business focus changes? An example of this is Jonathan Stark's content marketing. Stark successfully built an audience and authority in two different markets.
Market 1: Competition in technology consulting
Years ago, Stark built a company specializing in mobile apps. As his experience developed, he published two books: "Build iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: Build App Store Apps Without Objective-C or Cocoa"Y"Build Android Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: Build native apps using standards-based web tools.” In addition to these books, Stark focused his business on working with credit unions. This combination of technical expertise (e.g. mobile apps for Apple and Android) and industry focus (e.g. credit unions) has helped Stark create a
Market 2: Professional coach for freelancers and consultants
In recent years, Stark has shifted its focus to consulting and coaching and freelance training. Content marketing played a crucial role in his company's development. Stark started a podcast, Ditching Hourly, which made a strong case against billable hours as a business model. Based on this, Stark has also published digital books likeThe hourly billing is insane.and started a new podcast,The business of authority.
At first glance, Stark's success in these two markets doesn't seem to be connected. There is a connection between his success in both markets. Stark developed experience and skills such as writing blog posts and writing books in the first market. Additionally, his success in technology consulting gives him credibility as a consultant to other freelancers and consultants.
What you can learn from this content marketing example: Invest in quality posts to maintain your position as a thought leader.
McKinsey & Co is one of the world's largest management consultancies. It's worth a look, as his post is a great resource for up-to-date content marketing examples. We'll look at these examples in a moment. Before we dive in, there's a critical point to keep in mind. McKinsey & Co is established and works with the Fortune 500. Several books have been published on their methods, eg.The McKinsey TrailYThe McKinsey Mind: Understanding and Implementing Problem Solving Tools and Management Techniques from the World's Leading Strategy Consulting Firm.
Despite McKinsey's success, they are not resting on their laurels. Instead, the company owns one of the most respected consulting publications in the world:McKinsey trimestral. The company's publication is a serious competitor to other business publications such as The Economist and Harvard Business Review.
There are two specific content marketing examples you can learn from McKinsey. First, the company invested in a beautiful, easy-to-navigate website that makes the articles easy to read. Second, the articles feature original research on emerging trends. For example, check out this article from 2018:Thinking the Subscription Box: New Research on E-Commerce Consumers. The article is based on research involving thousands of consumers to understand the subscription e-commerce trend.
Research highlights include:
"Our research shows that 15% of online shoppers sign up for one or more subscriptions to receive products on a regular basis, often via monthly packages."
“The subscription e-commerce market has grown by more than 100% annually over the last five years. The largest of these retailers had sales of more than $2.6 billion in 2016, up from just $57.0 million in 2011."
“E-commerce subscribers tend to be younger, well-funded city dwellers. Compared to the general US population, they are more likely to be between the ages of 25 and 44, earn between $50,000 and $100,000, and live in urban areas in the northeastern United States. These subscriptions especially attract women, who represent 60% of them.
For a client interested in e-commerce trends, McKinsey's original insights and research are compelling. You may not have the resources to interview 5,000 consumers like McKinsey does. I've included McKinsey's approach to content marketing to show that the sky is the limit when it comes to posting content to build a business.
Content Marketing Examples: What You Need to Do Next to Keep Growing Your Followers
Studying these seven content marketing examples shows what's possible. You can follow ClickFunnels' content marketing strategy and grow by leveraging the founder's personal brand. Or maybe you prefer to focus your content marketing strategy on a podcast like QuickMail. Basically, generating content marketing ideas is not a problem if you see all the hits in the market.
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FAQs
What is a real life example of content marketing? ›
Content marketing examples include media like newsletters, podcasts, social media posts, and videos. All of these forms of content are meant to provide useful and relevant information that delights users and attracts them to your brand.
How does content marketing benefit SaaS companies? ›SaaS content marketing is a long-term marketing strategy that SaaS businesses implement to attract, convert, and retain a target audience by creating and distributing value-packed, unique content consistently.
What is content marketing with example? ›Content marketing is the development and distribution of relevant, useful content—blogs, newsletters, white papers, social media posts, emails, videos, and the like—to current and potential customers.
Which company is good example of content marketing? ›GoPro. GoPro's company mission is to “enable the world to capture and share its passions.” Well, GoPro does the same thing with its own content marketing. GoPro creates and shares content made by its users and subscribers.
What is a real life example of social marketing? ›Air, ocean and plastic pollution is a social marketing focus of its own, and it often focuses on small but actionable changes to everyday behavior anyone can partake in. For example: Encouraging use of reusable coffee cups, water bottles and metal straws. Eliminating plastic bags from retail and grocery stores.
What is a real world example of marketing information management? ›An example of a marketing information system is a customer relationship management (CRM) system. A CRM system stores and organizes customer data, such as contact information, purchase history, and preferences. It also allows companies to segment customers based on their data and track customer interactions over time.
What is SaaS content marketing? ›SaaS content marketing is more than just a way for users to get to know your product; it's an opportunity for them to connect with you. By interacting with your content, they'll get to know your brand, product, and what problems they have that you can solve.
What are the content pillars for SaaS companies? ›Analyze each article and get an instant score of your piece across four main pillars: SEO, readability, tone of voice, and originality. You also need to continually assess what's working well, and what's not. As such, content audits are crucial to improving your SaaS content.
What should a SaaS company spend on marketing? ›As we'll see from the figures below, marketing budgets for successful and established SaaS companies sit at an average of around 50% of their revenue. But this percentage will vary depending on the kind of services you sell, your volume of sales, and your profit.
What are the four keys to content marketing? ›The four stages of the content marketing funnel are awareness, evaluation, purchase, and delight. Each stage serves a specific purpose in the customer's journey, as should the content presented to the customer in those stages.
What makes a good content marketing? ›
Good content marketing has a mission statement behind it and it ladders up to your company's objectives and goals. Good content marketing provides value to your audience. Really good content marketing might not even feel like content marketing.
What is an example of a good content? ›A good content marketing strategy uses a mix of different types of content to reach your target audience. Some examples of content include blogs, emailers, newsletters, social media posts, case studies, and more. 2.
What is the most popular form of content marketing for business? ›In the early stages of building awareness and interest, text, audio, and visual content lead the way. The most popular and effective types of content are: Blog posts and articles, used by 73% of marketers.
What is an example of digital marketing in daily life? ›Digital marketing is any marketing strategy that takes place through digital means — usually through Internet-connected devices. There are many examples: inbound marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and content marketing are just a few.
What are the three examples of social marketing? ›Social marketing examples include public health and safety, education, environmentalism, city beautification, and urban renewal initiatives. Government agencies widely use social marketing to try and address different types of social issues.
What are real life examples of management? ›In everyday life, a person does many things like managing home, family, work, shopping, saving pocket money, purchasing vegetables, managing social life, and many more. If one observes keenly, unknowingly, in all these activities, a person actually manages many things in the daily life.
How does Coca Cola use marketing information management? ›Coca-Cola uses Management Information Systems (MIS) in various ways to manage its large and complex business. MIS provides Coca-Cola with real-time data and analytics that help managers make informed decisions about production, marketing, and other critical company areas.
What is an example of a company using management information system? ›Several large corporations, including eBay, Alibaba, and even Google, rely on information systems in business. E-commerce and marketplaces, for example, use digital screens to sell their products, and the product information they have is the result of IS.
What are the five example of SaaS? ›The most common types of SaaS solutions are Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Content Management System (CMS), Project Management Software, Sales, Marketing, eCommerce.
What is an example of SaaS? ›Gmail, Slack, and Microsoft Office 365 are all commonly used SaaS products. Client relationship management systems, or CRMs, are also SaaS-based, as are many customer service and support solutions.
What are the 2 basic components of SaaS? ›
The essential SaaS components are: CRM system. Marketing automation.
What is rule of 40 in SaaS? ›The Rule of 40 is a SaaS financial ratio that compares revenue growth to profitability. It's an at-a-glance look at the performance of your business. The rule of 40 states that a healthy SaaS company has a combined growth rate and profit margin of 40% or more.
What is the biggest market for SaaS? ›US market alone account for over 50 per cent of revenues for top-20 Indian SaaS company revenues.
What are the most important ratios for SaaS companies? ›What Are the 5 Most Important Metrics for SaaS Companies? The five key SaaS metrics are churn, customer retention, customer acquisition cost (CAC), monthly recurring revenue (MRR) and customer lifetime value (CLV). These show how much money you have coming in and how effectively you gain and keep customers.
What are the 3 most important things in content marketing? ›"Over 60% of marketers measure the success of their content marketing strategy through sales." "The top three goals marketers achieve through successful content marketing are generating brand awareness, building credibility and trust, and educating audiences."
What are the three R's of content marketing? ›This is where the 3 Rs of content marketing come into play: reduce, reuse, and recycle. By creating fewer, more valuable pieces and repurposing this content across different channels, you will save time and money while increasing awareness and engagement.
What is the golden rule of content marketing? ›Creating and sharing content provide the incentive for others to do the same. Make sure to spend a bit of your time sharing and discussing the content of others. Make sure to respond to everyone to takes the time to share, reach out, or send you a message.
What is your #1 tip to generate leads as a content marketer? ›Know your audience
Like any marketing activity, the first step to generating leads with content marketing is to get to know your audience inside and out.
Keyword Marketing – Short Conceptual Explanation
Keyword marketing is used as part of a larger search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to advertise products and services on the Internet. Keywords are used throughout the content and in other areas of a website to increase its search engine ranking.
An e-book, a webinar, and a white paper are not content marketing. Ads are not content marketing. Social media posts are not content marketing. Marketing with content is not the same thing as content marketing.
What is one of the main goals of content marketing? ›
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience – and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
Why is content marketing important examples? ›To sum it up, content marketing is important because it's a cost-effective, sustainable marketing method that nurtures your audience, answers their questions, and builds their trust – all of which helps your business generate better leads, more conversions, and more sales.
What is an example of a content? ›Some examples of content include blogs, emailers, newsletters, social media posts, case studies, and more.
Is social media a content marketing? ›Social Media Marketing: A form of content marketing that involves creating and pushing content to social media platforms in order to connect with a wider, and in some cases targeted, audience.
Is Facebook content marketing? ›As part of an overarching content marketing strategy, publishing on Facebook can help grow your reach and build brand awareness. It can even drive more traffic to your website and generate leads. Because of the sheer reach of Facebook, the opportunities for connecting with your audience are far and wide.
What is TikTok marketing? ›TikTok marketing is the process of using TikTok and TikTok content to promote your brand and its products or services. Easily build up your own online presence through the use of short-form video content that engages your audience and helps show off your business offerings.
What are the 4 purposes of content marketing? ›This diagram represents the four main purposes of content, which include to entertain, to inspire, to educate and to convince.
What is the most effective content marketing? ›According to the Content Marketing Institute, email marketing is still believed to be the most effective content distribution channel by more than 75% of people.
What are the 4 types of content? ›There are four content categories used in content creation and marketing—attraction, authority, affinity, and action.
What are the 3 categories of content? ›Developing a Content Approach
The best way to look at the kind of content you're using across your digital landscape, including social media and email marketing, as well as social media and your blog, is to divide it into three types. They are: Creation, Curation, and Creative Curation.