Key types of marketing content – tips and definitions
Content marketing, or thought leadership, is a real buzzword at the moment. The idea being that you create high quality content that your audience finds useful, to demonstrate your credentials and move people through the sales process. But, as a marketer, it can be tricky to work out which piece of content to use when, and for what purpose. What do you produce? A Blog? A Whitepaper? A Webinar? A Webcast? An Opinion piece? It can be a real challenge to know what each tool is, let alone which to use when.
In an earlier Blog, I’ve talked about the interplay between time and tone as criteria by which to determine an appropriate tool for the job. This is about hitting the right emotional tone, and not overloading people with too much content too soon. Understanding this interplay is key to really mastering content, or thought leadership, marketing. More »
So, if you get content marketing conceptually, this list of the key types of marketing content might be useful for configuring a mix of tools through the sales funnel:
Blog: A Blog is a short piece that should take about 5-10 minutes to read. It can be used to give your opinion on something or to give some brief advice. In the latter, things that go down well are ’10 top tips’, checklists and the like. These are useful at the beginning of the sales process, it gives the reader a taste of what they can expect from you, both in terms of style and content.
Opinion piece: You can issue an opinion piece as an item of content in itself. This is typically slightly longer than a Blog, but not enough for a paper – say about 1000 words. These could simply be an ‘In my opinion’ category on your blog, or as a section of your website. These are also useful starting points for PR. See this client example: Fraudscreen »
White paper: A white paper is a more detailed piece, usually upwards of 2000 words. It needs to be instructive or factual. Often people issue white papers to present and discuss research findings. These are usually a little further down the sales funnel, when they’ve determined that you’re worth listening to, and they’re looking for a bit more meat. To be a true white paper, it can’t be too salesy.
Discussion paper: This is a sort of white paper ‘light’ in which you can be more opinionated and discursive. A useful format for laying out your response on a matter of controversy. Again, slightly further down the sales funnel, but this is more about your style and approach, than about factual substance. These can be a little more salesy, but still useful in and of itself. See this client example: Fraudscreen »
Webinar: This is a web seminar. An online event in which you present useful or factual material, usually with a live Q&A. These are typically hosted by experts in your organisation, and as such are excellent at demonstrating your credentials. People usually attend these when they’ve checked you out a little already. You’re likely to be taking an hour of their time, so they need to feel that it is worth it. Excellent for moving leads from unqualified to qualified. See case study »
Webcast: A webcast is simply a pre-recorded piece of content viewed online. This could be a recording of the live event above, or a presentation version of a white paper or discussion paper. These are useful in follow-up to people who couldn’t attend the live event, or those who’ve downloaded a paper. See Clear Thought examples »
Case study: A case study is a run down of a successful project you’ve delivered. Once you have the content, you can re-use a case study in a number of ways:
- A a short video interview, posted on your site, in an email, presented in creds. See video example »
- As an article and download on your website.
- As content to attach to a sales follow-up email.
- As excerpts placed in proposals and tenders.
Each of these can be used as the call-to-action in a campaign, as content to increase search traffic to your site, and you should also cross promote from one to the other.
By Bryony Thomas | Chief Clear Thinker | Clear Thought Consulting Ltd | @bryonythomas | www.clear-thought.co.uk
You may also be interested in:
- Blog: What to use when, managing marketing content through the sales funnel »
- Case Study: Fraudscreen ‘Lifecycle of a Debtor’ thought leadership campaign »
- Blog: A typical thought leadership campaign »
- Blog: One piece of content, 20 ways to use it »
- Blog: Content marketing – why you need to ask permission »
Clear Thought Consulting works with small businesses, equipping them with the marketing strategies, suppliers, skills and set-up that they need to become bigger businesses. We do this by planning and delivering 12-month marketing transformation programmes – supporting a small business through a step-by-step process to making marketing pay. We firmly believe that when you can’t out-spend your competition, you have to out-think them.
Published on 14 March 2010
