Blogs, case studies and ebooks: all proven ways to add quality content to your site, rank higher in search results and increase leads and sales. But what if you want to stand out from the crowd with outside-the-box and innovative content marketing ideas?
Infographic
Though not completely uncommon in the world of content marketing, infographics are still largely underutilised.
Stats and data can often come across as dry but a well-presented infographic can bring dull information to life and capture the imagination of your audience.
According to this infographic about infographics:
- Internet searches for infographics have increased by more than 800% in two years
- 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual
- Visuals are processed 60,000 times faster by the brain than text
What’s more, because of how exciting information is when presented in this way, people will be more likely to link to your infographic. Not only will these inbound links increase traffic and thus the reach of your infographic, they’ll also improve your SEO.
Quiz
Who doesn’t love a quiz?
They’re a great way to capture people’s attention and get them truly engaging with your content.
They're also very inexpensive to produce and therefore much more likely to provide positive ROI. All you need is a bit of a think (or a quick Google search!) and before you know it your followers will be scrambling to prove they know the answer.
A really good quiz, such as Director GCHQ's Christmas card puzzle 2015, can even go viral. Shared on major news outlets and social media the world over, the reach of this quiz surpassed anything that would have been achieved by traditional content formats.
Dictionary
Many industries use a great deal of technical language and acronyms. If you're not familiar with the patois, it can be tedious trying to wade through the jungle of jargon to understand what's going on.
In telecoms, for example, you have SIP, MAP, SS7, MTP, STP, CAMEL, TCAP, SCCP.......
A resource explaining what all these things mean is likely to be very well received by certain audiences, such as someone who has just started a new job in the industry.
More importantly though, a dictionary is likely to appeal to high-level decision makers who might not be quite as technical as engineers.
By providing decision makers with a useful resource like this - one they 'll refer to time and again - you'll keep your brand fresh in their mind, establish trust and make your business their preferred choice.
Polls and surveys
We all know that blogging is an incredibly powerful content marketing tool and a good blog will link to reliable external sources.
Why not turn this around though? Why not be the source that other blogs link to?
A previous blog post, for example, cited a Hubspot survey of marketers. This created a new inbound link for Hubspot's blog page and will have boosted its SEO.
Statistics, surveys and polls like this are the lifeblood of blogs and other content formats such as ebooks and white papers. If you don't provide evidence to back up the claims, your content will have little impact.
By conducting original and valuable research like this, you will be the source of evidence that other blogs will use to support their claims. This will generate more inbound links than second-hand research ever could, improving SEO significantly.
Game
A game is without doubt the single most engaging content format.
Google, for example, often incorporates games into its homepage doodles and these see enormous levels of engagement.
2010’s Pac-Man anniversary doodle (above) was so engaging, in fact, that it led to an estimated five million wasted man hours, costing the economy $120million dollars!
Other examples that got users engaging with Google's brand include slalom canoe, penalty shootout and, of course, the legendary Snake.
Whilst bad for productivity, a simple and addictive game is almost guaranteed to keep visitors on your site and engaged with your content.
LexisClick is a Bournemouth-based provider of innovative inbound and content marketing services. If you’re looking to stand out from the crowd with your marketing (or would like to know the answer to the quiz above!), get in touch on 01202 788333 or marketing@lexisclick.com.
