Content marketing is one of those investments that businesses are often hesitant to make. After all, it requires some discipline, longevity, creativity, and a long-term commitment to see the kind of results you desire.
But if you’re willing to invest in content marketing to the fullest, it’ll lead to improved sales, guaranteed. In this guide, we’re going to take a look at some examples of specific types of content marketing that may improve your sales over the next several months.
The “What” and “Why” of Content Marketing
Content marketing is basically any content that’s created and distributed to raise awareness about your brand or products while also helping you accomplish specific goals like driving website traffic or generating sales.
Content marketing is less about a specific type of content and more about the purpose, mission, and execution of that content. Content has a very broad definition that includes blog posts, email, podcasts, lead magnets, ebooks, infographics, press releases, social media content, YouTube videos, and more.
Not sure if content marketing is for you? Consider the following statistics and data points from this survey of professional content marketers:
- 88 percent of marketers say content marketing is highly effective at building brand trust with their target demographic.
- 88 percent of content marketers also agree that marketing is effective for overall branding.
- 4 out of 5 marketers say content marketing is an effective tool for educating audiences.
- 72 percent of marketers believe content marketing is an effective lead generation tool.
In other words, the folks who pour their time, money, and energy into content marketing daily are the ones who believe in it the most. They’re the ones who have seen the biggest results.
3 Examples to Improve Your Sales
The great thing about content marketing is that it’s flexible. There are no rigid rules or pre-cast models that you have to follow. Instead, you’re free to leverage different content mediums and distribution platforms to communicate a unique message to a particular audience in any way you’d like.
Having said that, it’s sometimes useful to study what others have successfully done so you can mimic their results. Here are a few examples to improve your sales:
1. Video in Emails
Every business owner and marketer knows that video is powerful in today’s marketing world. For the most part, people think about video in terms of platforms and mediums like YouTube, Facebook Live, Instagram Reels, Snapchat, or TikTok. But what if there’s an even more powerful way to leverage video to turn viewers into customers? Video in emails might be just the ticket.
Traditionally, including video in emails hasn’t been possible. Most platforms don’t have native video streaming capabilities. Instead, you have to convince recipients to click a link. Or, if you want to be a little sneaky, you can include a screenshot of the video and include a “play sign” overlay on the thumbnail. This makes it look like the video is playable. But when they click, it’s just a hyperlink that takes them to the video’s URL. However, this is no longer the only option.
Viewed has introduced data-driven personalized videos that can be autoplay embedded inside of an email. This allows videos to play/stream from directly inside an email without any need to click a link or leave the page. Plus, the detailed personalization leads to even better results.
For example, Melia Hotels International started using personalized video in their emails – showing people videos and details of the rooms they’d previously Viewed but hadn’t yet reserved – and immediately enjoyed a lift in reservations.
There are numerous ways to use customized video in email. The simplest way is to include the written name of the recipient in the email introduction. This ensures they see their own name when they open the email (enhancing their curiosity and likelihood of watching).
2. Viral Social Content
Most marketers approach “viral” content totally wrong. They try to do something shocking or insanely creative when they really just need to do one of two things: (1) appeal to emotions or (2) be useful. And while the first one definitely works, it’s a lot easier to create content that’s useful.
We overestimate people’s expectations for what they want to see, read, or hear. Nadare Co’s recent TikTok marketing campaign is a perfect example of how understated videos can go viral simply because they’re useful.
Nadare Co, which sells unique jewelry (including waterproof jewelry), uses TikTok to post content like “how to find your ring size” because they know this is something their customers need help with when ordering. They also demonstrate the waterproof nature of their rings using short clips.
3. Influencer Videos
Don’t underestimate the power of influencer marketing. In particular, things like influencer videos work really well. One specific piece of content that’s effective for physical product brands is “unboxing videos.”
Product unboxing videos work by sending influencers free products and simply asking them to record themselves opening up the package and using the product for the first time. Believe it or not, millions of people search for unboxing videos each year (and there are entire YouTube and TikTok channels based on this style of content).
It’s not just small niche brands that are using influencer unboxings. You’ll find major brands like Nike, Samsung, Apple, and even McDonald’s using this approach. Here are some unboxing examples worth checking out.
The key to successful unboxing videos is to make sure your delivery and packaging experience is top-notch. You can’t just toss your product into a brown cardboard box and hand it off to USPS. You have to be intentional with how you think about the unboxing experience, including what people see when the package is delivered and first opened.
Explore the Power of Video in Email
Are you interested in learning how to take your content marketing strategy to the next level so that you can get better engagement, superior results, and (ultimately) more sales? Personalized video is the answer.
Try the full power of video within email for free for 30 days, and we’re confident that you’ll see how much of a difference-maker it can be. Click here to get started!
