Content Marketing Ideas to Take Inspiration from

Looking for new innovative ways to boosts your content marketing?

Content marketing is one of the most popular forms of digital marketing, making it increasingly harder to create something that is engaging.

Nevertheless, it is an effective way to drive brand awareness, connect, engage and inspire your audience. Providing value-driven content is the key to developing trust and loyalty within your company, drawing customers back for more.

Generating content is an art, letting your creativity take charge. High-quality content should stand out and relate to your audience.

I know what you are thinking, "I can’t just be creative, it happens when it happens".

This is exactly why we have collected 5 different sources of inspiration to help your creative juices flow, so you can create the best content possible!

1) Join Something Bigger Than You

One of the best things you can do right now is to join a Facebook Group.

There are thousands of Facebook groups, full of industry professionals, pitching interesting ideas, results, and suggestions on an array of topics. Becoming a part of an online community can level up your skills quickly for FREE.

Here are some benefits to joining a Facebook Group:

• Increased business/personal engagement
• Receive immediate feedback
• Focused learning from industry professionals
• Build professional relationships
• Access to exclusive content

Joining a Facebook group, specific to your industry, is a great way to get inspiration, but why not become part of a group which your audience belongs to?

Experiencing first hand the type of content your consumers engage with can be one of the most effective ways to drive sales and build an organic following. It can also put you in the perfect position to gain consumer feedback and advertise your product/service for free.

Here are the top 5 marketing Facebook Groups to join:

• Digital Marketing & SEO Jobs., Updates Tips and Tricks (99k + members)
• Digital Marketing (41k + members)
• Digital Marketing Hub (46k + members)
• Digital Marketing Strategies for Entrepreneur (4k + members)
• Product $ Growth with Josh Fletcher (25k + members)

If you want to join any other groups, just type your topic of interest in the search bar and click on the group's page.

What are you waiting for? GO, GO, GO!

2) Bad Company Reviews

Everyone knows that 1 bad review can bring down your company rating online, which is not what you want to happen. Trying to hide these negative reviews with fake positive ones is defiantly not the way you want to go, trust me they will catch up with you.

Instead of dwelling on the negatives, look at your customer reviews as a pool of information to help improve your company. Doing this will rebuild your businesses' reputation and reinvest confidence in your customers, allowing your company to grow sustainably and gain a competitive edge in your industry.

An article published on Single Grain points out Trust Pilot are using their customer reviews to create content for their website, through their blog, which is reassuring customers on the services they provide.

Imaging how reassured a customer would be after reading a negative review and the next minute reading a detailed report on how your business is confronting these issues.

Not convinced? Listen to Bill Gates.

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”

Recommended: Why Your Business Reviews Matter to Your Branding Strategies

3) Give back

Running a giveaway is a brilliant way to boost your social media engagement.

Incorporating contests into your marketing strategy is an effective way to see a return on investment.

Below are a few benefits of running a give away:

Grow your network: Everyone loves a freebie, so running a giveaway is a fantastic way to grow your social media following and build a loyal audience.

Generate leads: Providing an email address as a requirement for signing up to your giveaway is the perfect opportunity to build your subscribers list.

Give back to your audience: Sharing something exclusive with your audience will show your customers that you care and value their contribution.

Save money and time: Giveaways are cheap and the potential return on investment can be huge. Uploading a post to your social media channels really doesn't take that long at all.

What can we learn from Dove's successful contest?

Dove's "Real Beauty Should Be Shared" contest is a campaign that should inspire your next giveaway.

It was designed to promote women's beauty potential by creating products that deliver real care. The contest was run on Facebook and to enter you had to fill in 2 friends’ names and say what makes them beautiful.

On top of increasing brand awareness, Dove collected new names, email addresses, and photos of customers who are enjoying their products. All of this data can be used in future campaigns and is saving the company money in the process.

Recommended: 9 Tips to Creating Better Promotional Products

4) Talk About What Matters

Creating content which is promoting a worthy cause can develop your company's reputation and serve as an opportunity to give back to the community.

The majority of non-profit organizations rely on word of mouth to market themselves. Understandably, they have a strict budget that needs to be distributed across a variety of destinations, and marketing is a low priority.

Your content can help build relationships between donors, volunteers and the public, so the organization can continue to function.

How does marketing help a non-profit?

• Spread the message
• Attract new donors
• Gain exposure online
• Publicize upcoming events

If you are passionate about something, make it heard. Promoting what you believe in is going to show your audience that you are genuine and can be trusted.

In 2010, KFC partnered with Breast Cancer Awareness adopting the slogan “Think before you pink”. This unexpected collaboration received a lot of criticism but acted as the perfect marketing opportunity for Breast Cancer Awareness.

It is important to partner with a non-profit which is somehow related to your company so a relevant connection can be seen.

5) Open Netflix

When trying to get inspired, we all look at different sources to ignite a spark. Some turn to music or religion, but watching a movie can help more than you think.

Escaping into a new world and looking at life through a different lens could introduce some spontaneous content marketing ideas.

After a long day, sitting down for a few hours and switching off, is a great way to reduce stress and get a clear head so you can think straight.

Ever been stressed and inspired at the same time? If your reading this article, I guess not.

Inspiration movie suggestions:

• The Social Network
• In to The Wild
• Inception
• Pixels
• Bright

We hope this article has given you some ideas that will help you get inspired and run an amazing content marketing campaign.

Tom Welbourne

Tom Welbourne is the Director & Founder of The Good Marketer, a Digital Marketing Agency in London which works with Small Businesses to drive more traffic, generate conversions and increase sales.

thegoodmarketer.co.uk/