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How to Create a Content Distribution Strategy

Sydney Chamberlain on December 5, 2022

Many businesses start a blog with the best intentions, pouring their time and energy into producing really great content, only to be discouraged when no one comes along to read it. The truth is, publishing content is only half the battle; you need a content distribution strategy to help you circulate it in front of your target audience.

When done right, a content distribution strategy will help you build awareness for your brand, grow a loyal following, and increase engagement across all of your channels. That’s right: Content distribution isn’t just for your blog content, it also applies to videos, podcasts, eBooks, and any other piece of content you publish online.

So, how do you go about creating a distribution plan for your brand that gets your content out in front of the right audience? Let’s dive into the discussion and I’ll give you a step-by-step walkthrough (complete with proven tips and helpful tools) to help you pull it off.

What is content distribution?

Content distribution is the process of sharing and circulating your content through various mediums. Most often, people associate content distribution with social media channels. For instance, you might share a short summary of your latest blog post on Facebook and include a link so that those interested can read it in its entirety. However, social media is just one small part of a content distribution plan.

Among other things, your content distribution strategy will involve:

Timing when and where you share your content based on your audience’s communication preferences and engagement habits.

Repurposing content across various mediums, like converting podcast highlights into a short YouTube video.

Creating highly sharable elements to accompany your content, like an infographic that sums up interesting points from your latest case study.

Developing a strategy that covers all of this might sound like a lot of work, but once you establish when, where, and how to share your content, you’ll begin to see just how much value distribution can bring to your content marketing strategy as a whole. So, let’s take a closer look.

Content Distribution vs Syndication

If you’re curious about the difference between content syndication and content distribution, here’s a quick breakdown:

Distribution means disseminating your content online, like by sharing a link on Facebook or sending a link in an email. Distribution usually means you’re only sharing a snippet or preview of the content in hopes someone will click your link to read or watch it in full.

Syndication means re-publishing your content. Press releases are often syndicated, meaning the same press release might be published by 200 different news sites. On a small scale, you can syndicate your own content by re-publishing on platforms like Medium.

In truth, content syndication is often part of a solid distribution strategy. In fact, you’re going to learn later on how I suggest using Medium (a content syndication platform) to help boost your distribution efforts. On another note, content syndication traditionally came at a cost, and that brings up another important topic: The three main types of content distribution channels.

What are the 3 types of content distribution channels?

You can easily multiply your content marketing efforts just by using a variety of channels to help get your content seen by your audience. Of course, not all distribution tactics are free to use. Here’s a look at the three types of distribution platforms available.

Owned

Owned distribution channels are those that your brand controls, meaning that you can easily publish, share, and edit your content however you see fit. Here are some examples:

• Your company’s website and blog

• Your company’s social media pages

• Your email newsletter

Without getting into semantics (e.g., the cost of hosting), you can generally publish on your owned channels at no charge and with no limits. For instance, you can post as often as you want on your Facebook page and you’re never going to have to pay a dime.

Given the low- to no-cost nature of owned channels and the sheer amount of control your brand has, owned channels tend to sit at the core of a distribution strategy. However, owned channels alone may not be enough to get your content out there to the masses, especially if your brand is just starting out and you have a limited following to work with.

Earned

Earned distribution channels are owned by another entity, but they give your brand the opportunity to reach a wider audience, so long as you can “earn” the opportunity. Here are some common examples:

• An industry publication

• A customer’s social media page

• A partner company’s blog

Earned distribution won’t cost you a cent because, just as the name implies, your brand has to earn it. However, you’ll need to be sure that your content adheres to the third-party’s guidelines and they may edit it for length, style, or format. In some cases, you’ll have no say in how your content is presented (as is the case when a customer talks about your brand).

The lack of control is certainly a downside when it comes to earned distribution. However, earning distribution from the right person can do wonders for brand authority and awareness. Plus, it’s free!

Paid

Paid distribution can rapidly eat away at your content budget, especially if you aren’t using the right targeting and segmenting tools. Still, paid distribution is a valuable part of your long-term strategy for building brand awareness and driving organic traffic to your new content. Some examples of paid distribution include:

• Social media ads

• Influencer marketing

• Sponsored articles

Paid distribution channels run the gamut from pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, which may not feel like content distribution at all, to native ads on news sites that blend in with the day’s unpaid stories. Sometimes the goal of paid distribution is to drive traffic, as with PPC advertising. Other times, the goal is to earn social shares and engagement, as with social ads.

Ultimately, your business goals and audience will determine if, when, and where you use paid distribution tactics. In order to make the most of your budget, you need to take a calculated approach to content promotion so that you can drive the results you want.

How do you develop an effective content distribution strategy?

Casually sharing content on social media or in your email newsletter does not add up to a distribution strategy (but it’s a start). In order to create a distribution strategy, you need to consider your audience, evaluate the channels available to you, and decide how you will optimize your presentation for each channel you decide to target.

Let’s break the process down step-by-step so you can develop a content strategy that will actually support your goals.

1. Review Buyer Personas

A buyer persona is modeled after your ideal customer and sums up critical data in the form of an easy-to-digest profile. Most businesses have 2-3 personas to represent the biggest segments of their target market. For instance, a home decor brand might target professional interior designers as one persona and DIYers as another persona.

As far as how you can use your buyer personas to develop a content distribution strategy, here are some tips:

Tailor your content: Remember that not all of your personas will love all of your content. Always have a persona in mind when you’re creating a piece of content.

Be in the right place: Once you know which persona your content is targeting, reference the persona to see which social media platforms and channels they prefer before sharing your content.

Watch for results: After choosing your channels, keep an eye on comments, engagement metrics, and other data sources to guide how you present content to each persona (i.e., video vs infographic).

Keep improving: Create a feedback loop to make sure that, as you learn about your persona’s content consumption habits over time, you are updating the persona accordingly.

Many hours of research go into creating reliable buyer personas, and I’ve created an extensive guide on the topic as part of my series on the content framework I use for my clients. I encourage you to read it if you don’t have buyer personas created yet or if it’s been awhile since you made them.

2. Consider Business Goals

You can’t pursue digital marketing for very long (at least, not very successfully) unless you start every project with a thorough review of your business, marketing, and content goals. Sure, most people can toss out positive outcomes like, “I’m aiming for lead generation,” or “I need more conversions,” but those aren’t very actionable.

Well-defined goals will make the difference between campaigns that sometimes work and campaigns that consistently produce repeatable results. Once you have solid goals in place, you can use them to inform your content distribution strategy by:

Helping you decide where to start: Guiding the content creation process, ensuring that the content pieces you’re distributing actually align with what your personas want and need to see. For example, you might start repurposing more content into video content if increasing reach and engagement on YouTube is a top priority.

Making you focus on results: Helping you set distribution KPIs that support your overall marketing and business goals. For example, your business goals might reveal that earning social shares is more important than driving traffic. In this case, you would focus more on native content and use questions, tags, and polls to drive engagement on social media platforms.

If you haven’t already established key performance indicators (KPIs) at the content, marketing, and business level, I’ve got you covered. As part of my new year’s resolution to divulge my entire content framework, I’ve written an extensive guide on the topic and it’s filled with tons of actionable advice. If you feel like you’re working backwards, I’ve compiled every guide and template over here.

3. Set Guidelines

Choosing where you’re going to distribute your content is a major undertaking, but once you have that weight off your shoulders, you’re going to feel a lot more confident next time you share your content. Now, you’re going to dip your toes into standard operating procedures (SOPs), or something vaguely similar, to make sure that content distribution never conflicts with your brand.

Setting guidelines for each channel you intend to use for content distribution means:

Stay consistent: Lay out how the tone of your brand voice should be altered based on a given channel, topic, and target persona. For instance, while your brand might be youthful and bubbly, how do you approach serious topics or negative customer feedback without coming across as self-absorbed or uncaring?

Get specific: Reiterate the persona(s) your content will reach on each channel and how each persona prefers to communicate. Do they want a quick snapshot of stats and figures or do they want to join a witty conversation?

Test and experiment: Determine how the types of content you create can be altered to best fit the guidelines and native format for each channel. For instance, content being adapted for LinkedIn looks very different from the content you’ll use in email marketing.

If you’re going to delegate or outsource content distribution, establishing these guidelines is crucial for consistency, but it’s something you should pursue even if you plan to handle content distribution on your own. By writing out guidelines, you can create a repeatable process, making it easier for you to improve your distribution tactics over time. Plus, repeatable processes open the doors to automation down the road.

4. Establish a Routine

Oftentimes, content distribution does not happen on a schedule. Even if you’re publishing content on a routine basis, distribution can happen at any time, like when a new trending hashtag calls to mind a blog post you published a few months ago. However, you should plan to establish a routine to make it easier to work around your editorial calendar.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when designing a distribution workflow:

Get organized: Maintain an inventory of your content assets so that you can quickly search for relevant content whenever a trending hashtag or other sharing opportunity comes along. Continuing to distribute older content is a highly profitable tactic for driving engagement, especially when your content budget is limited.

Stick to a plan: Create a plan for distributing each piece of content before you publish it as this will help you drive traffic to your new content right out of the gate. For example, early planning means you can publish landing pages for your white papers before you even finish writing them, which can give you an SEO boost, help you start earning backlinks, and start generating new leads for your email list.

Do what counts: Set aside time for engaging with your audience, especially on social media. As your company grows larger, you might reach the point where you need to hire a part-time or full-time social media manager in order to keep up with comments, messages, and mentions.

As you grow accustomed to the process, you’ll find that content distribution doesn’t have to take hours out of your day. Plus, the better you get at utilizing your buyer personas and business goals to drive your distribution decisions, the more results you’ll see with each piece you distribute. Of course, the very last step is keeping your eyes on the right metrics so that you can see the results of your efforts as they unfold.

5. Analyze Your Results

Reviewing your reports in-depth takes time, but it’s the only way you’ll be able to keep improving your distribution strategy. Fortunately, once you have KPIs in place, it shouldn’t be that much work to pop in and see the results that matter to you.

Here’s some advice to get you started:

Get comfy: Learn your way around the reporting tools that matter the most to your KPIs, whether that’s Google Analytics or Facebook Ads Manager. Once the interface no longer feels foreign, you’ll find that routinely using the tools at your disposal is a lot less daunting and a lot more valuable.

Set benchmarks: Establish baselines from week to week and month to month. These baselines will form the foundation for setting new performance targets so that your business can constantly strive to outperform itself.

Adapt with time: Don’t be afraid to change your KPIs over time. Your content distribution KPIs should align with your overall marketing and business goals, so you should evaluate them every so often to make sure they still support the direction you’re trying to take. For instance, once your audience grows to a certain point, you might shift your focus from social shares to backlinks.

If you find that the reporting side of content distribution makes you weary, I encourage you to spend time educating yourself on the tools and metrics you’re working with. Chances are, once you start seeing real results from your distribution efforts, checking in on your progress will become one of your favorite things.

The Best Content Distribution Tools

While no tool can save you from the heavy lifting of digging into your buyer personas or setting KPIs, there are plenty of platforms that will help make the day-to-day process of sharing your content across channels that much easier. Here’s a look at my favorite content distribution tools along with some tips for using them.

Buffer

Buffer is a social media toolkit that will help you plan, schedule, and manage content across the most popular social networks. If you plan to delve into social media content distribution, you’ll want to use a tool like Buffer so you don’t have to manually log in to every social network each time you want to share something.

Here are my favorite tips and features:

Snapshot results: Get a lightweight report of your social media analytics at a glance. While it won’t replace more in-depth analytics tools, it’s a handy summary.

Stay organized: Use labels and hotkeys to find the most important comments on your latest posts and quickly respond to them without leaving your Buffer dashboard.

Work together: Invite your team to collaborate so that those in charge of your content distribution strategy can draft, review, and approve posts.

Medium

Medium is a content publishing and syndication platform that can help you build a loyal following without having to conquer search engine rankings or complex algorithms. Every time you login, you’ll see a content feed consisting of the latest posts from the accounts, publications, and tags you follow, allowing you to effortlessly discover content from people and brands you’ve never heard of before, which is where the magic lies.

Here are some tips and ideas for using Medium:

Take your time: Focus on producing long-form, well-thought-out content that’s unique to the platform. Medium is designed for your thought leadership pieces that share personal stories, unique insights, and lots of valuable information.

Choose wisely: Syndicate your favorite long-form articles or excerpts from your white papers by re-publishing them on Medium. Content syndication will not effect your website’s SEO, as long as you follow these best practices.

Get social: Remember that Medium is a community and make the most of it. That means following other industry brands and personalities and interacting with their content. Start thought-provoking conversations about important topics and you’ll see people organically trickle back to your page and content.

PR Newswire

PR Newswire or the popular alternative known as EIN Presswire are perfect examples of paid content distribution tools and they’re more accurately classified as content syndication tools. The purpose of these platforms is to help brands quickly spread company announcements, product launches, and industry news in front of a large audience.

Here’s some advice:

Make it count: Use content syndication tools like PR Newswire when you have an important press release that you want to circulate to major news sites. The content should be relevant to a general audience since there are no targeting capabilities.

Brag about it: Build upon the authority that comes along with getting published on news sites like NBC and CNN by adding an “As Seen On” or “Featured On” logo bar to your website. Many companies do this when they first launch to instantly improve brand perception.

Analyze it: Measure the traffic and mentions that result from your PR syndication campaigns, but don’t expect these tools to drive a lot of traffic. While they offer exposure to your headline, interaction with press releases is generally quite low when you send them to the masses.

Other Tools

If I’ve piqued your interest about content distribution tools that you can add to your tech stack, here are a few more that I recommend:

Edgar: If the idea of manually digging through your old content sounds like a pain, Edgar will save the day by automatically re-sharing your evergreen content at a regular pace.

Social Locker: If you’re struggling with earned distribution, locking high-value content (i.e., white papers) behind a social share button can help you get some.

MAVRCK: If your strategy includes working with social media influencers to get sponsored content in front of new audiences, MACRCK can help you pull it off.

Distribution Ideas for Different Content Types

Learning how to effectively repurpose your content can help you stretch your time and budget that much farther. Here are some ideas for distributing different types of content across various channels so that you can start brainstorming how you can multiply one piece of high-quality content into many valuable assets.

Using Infographics

Infographics are highly sharable and they’re also incredibly versatile. You can easily take all of the following types of content and turn them into infographics for easy sharing:

Listicles: Turn a listicle into an infographic by showing an icon and short summary of each item on a list. Here’s a great example from Hubspot.

Case studies: Turn a case study regarding a specific partnership into an infographic to show off real-world results like this one from Chronus.

Guides and reports: Take a long-form guide and sum up the most important facts and figures to generate an infographic like Outbrain did here.

Using Videos

Videos are an extremely engaging type of content and you can create them in so many ways, whether you just record a talking head or use a software to create a kinetic typography video in a snap. Here are some ideas to repurpose your content into videos.

Podcasts: Take snippets from your latest podcast and turn them into short-form videos for TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram or upload a few minutes of highlights to YouTube.

Webinars: Cut highlights out of your last webinar and add captions and graphics to create multiple full-length videos covering different topics and questions.

Articles: Write an engaging summary of your articles and turn them into 15- to 60-second kinetic typography videos to share on social media.

Using Quotes

Quotes are great to tweet on their own or you can turn them into a beautiful branded graphic to accompany posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and other platforms. However you use quotes, here are some places where you can find inspiration for creating them:

Case studies: Pull a unique insight from a case study to highlight the measurable results your product has produced for a customer or a common challenge that clients in your industry are facing.

Podcasts: Grab a hot take from your podcast and turn it into quote that opens the doors for jokes or debate. Sharing quotes that reveal the personality of your brand and team members is a great way to foster authenticity, too.

Comments: Tap into the power of user-generated content by visiting your comments section along with online forums and question sites (like Quora) to come up with quotes about your industry, brand, and product.

Follow My Content Framework

I hope this thorough overview of my favorite content distribution tools and tactics has helped spark some ideas on how you can implement your own distribution strategy for your brand. And, if it all sounds like too much for you to take on, sit back and take a deep breath.

I work with a lot of SMBs who already feel completely overwhelmed by the mere thought of writing a blog post, so I know that hearing all of these steps can be stress-inducing, to say the least. However, I want to offer you some reassurance: Getting started is the hardest part!

Creating a distribution strategy is one of the final foundational elements you need to take care of before you’re ready to move forward with a supercharged content marketing plan. If you want to take it from the top or figure out the next best step, I encourage you to check out my content framework where I lay out the exact actions I take when helping new brands establish themselves as authorities in their industry.

Interested in learning more? Read the next guide on finding engaging content ideas or take a step back and learn how to develop your buyer personas so you know where and how to best reach your target audience.

A Breakdown of All 12 Brand Archetypes

Sydney Chamberlain on November 22, 2021

With ever-increasing competition and heightening consumer standards, branding is now more important than ever before. That means that companies have to get creative with the way they present themselves (and their products and services) in order to impress consumers and convince them to buy. Of course, branding is extremely complex. 

When it comes to building a brand, experts have helped simplify things a bit by breaking down 12 main “archetypes,” or 12 brand personalities, to help companies determine how they should represent themselves in order to attract their ideal customer base. Before we dig more in-depth into how a brand can choose the right archetype, let’s go through the whole dozen. 

Quick Overview of All 12 Brand Personalities

A dozen archetypes might sound daunting, but don’t fear. Here’s a quick breakdown of all 12 brand personalities with examples of each. You’ll notice that each has some keywords and colors listed that we often associate with the different personas. You’ll also find a short list of personalities (both real people and fictional characters) that represent each archetype. 

1. The Lover

The Lover seeks to build intimate relationships with customers by providing elevated experiences that impress and delight. They want to stand out, mystify, charm, and attract indulgent buyers with high standards.

  • Keywords: special, affectionate, warm, unashamed, passionate, rich
  • Colors: all reds, light pinks, chocolate browns, white, and black
  • Personalities: Sofia Vergara, Megan Fox, Adam Levine
  • Brands: Chanel, Victoria’s Secret

2. The Explorer

The Explorer is a thrill-seeker that always tries to push things to the limit to see what they can accomplish next. Customers of these brands look to experience new highs and exciting adventures with the aim of finding maximum self-achievement.

  • Keywords: daring, fearless, exciting, restless, ambitious, individualistic 
  • Colors: earthy browns, tans, grays, yellows, and orange
  • Personalities: Bear Grylls, Indiana Jones, Amelia Earhart
  • Brands: The North Face, REI, Jeep, Patagonia 

3. The Jester

The Jester is always playful and sometimes weird, but seeks to have fun and see the positive side in everything. These brands give off a silly vibe and seek to make customers cheerful. An overall sense of lightheartedness and laughter comes to mind.

  • Keywords: playful, joyful, lighthearted
  • Colors: bright blues, purples, reds, yellows, and oranges
  • Personalities: Mr. Bean, Spongebob, 
  • Brands: M&Ms, Old Spice, Fanta, Ben & Jerry’s

4. The Magician

The Magician seeks to spellbound customers with imaginative feats of innovation. Customers often see these brands as a representation of endless possibilities. They have a vivid imagination and look to impress and excite by trying new things.

  • Keywords: moving, fascinating, articulated, mystifying 
  • Colors: purples, pinks, bright reds, and deep blues
  • Personalities: Steven Spielburg, Oprah Winfrey, Walt Disney
  • Brands: Coca-Cola, Build-A-Bear, Dyson

5. The Creative

The Creative caters to customers that like to invent, improve, and explore new horizons. Loyalty is very important for these brands and they often attract customers who would describe themselves as “trendsetters.” These brands often become a way of life for their customers. 

  • Keywords: artistic, metaphoric, unique, inspiring, amazing
  • Colors: lively oranges, reds, blues, and greens
  • Personalities: Adele, Natalie Portman 
  • Brands: Dyson, Canon, Lego, YouTube

6. The Outlaw

The Outlaw attracts customers who truly want to live on the wild side while opposing authority. These customers crave excitement, encourage risk-taking, and want to see brands that refuse to take “no” for an answer. There are no limits, they just do what they want.

  • Keywords: rebellious, disruptive, combative, righteous, liberated
  • Colors: blacks, grays, and attention-grabbing oranges and reds
  • Personalities: James Dean, Deadpool 
  • Brands: Harley-Davidson, Virgin, Diesel Jeans

7. The Sage

The Sage aims to be the go-to source for information as they exhibit great wisdom. Customers of these brands are impressed by logic and innovation while being highly analytical and always striving to learn more. They don’t like being outsmarted.

  • Keywords: wise, knowledgeable, analytical, thoughtful
  • Colors: earthy greens, lemon yellows, deep browns, and clean whites
  • Personalities: Albert Einstein, Yoda, Spock
  • Brands: Forbes, National Geographic, BBC 

8. The Ruler

The Ruler craves wealth, respect, and prestige with an attitude that needs to be noticed and admired. These brands seek to set themselves apart by offering truly luxury experiences to their customers. They aim to exude a sense of intensity to build a cult following.

  • Keywords: commanding, refined, authoritative, strong, level-headed 
  • Colors: royal blues and purples along with greens and powerful reds
  • Personalities: Beyoncé, Zeus
  • Brands: Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Mercedes-Benz 

9. The Caregiver

The Caregiver is generous and promises safety and security to every customer. These brands aim to be selfless, compassionate, and motherly in nature while offering products that are purposeful and effective.

  • Keywords: kind, generous, considerate, thoughtful, protective, attentive
  • Colors: baby pinks and blues, pastels, and soft or deep colors
  • Personalities: Princess Diana, Dennis Haybert
  • Brands: Unicef, Toms, State Farm

10. The Innocent

The Innocent keeps positivity at the heart of what it does, but kindness and honesty are also critical. These brands attract customers that appreciate transparency. They aim to be genuine and come across as sincere, simplistic, and down-to-earth.

  • Keywords: simplistic, cheerful, optimistic, hopeful, encouraging
  • Colors: pure white and many “childish” colors, like pinks and light blues
  • Personalities: Dorothy (Wizard of Oz), Forrest Gump, Taylor Swift
  • Brands: Aveeno, Dove, McDonald’s

11. The Everyman

The Everyman is the regular guy or gal. Practicality is the name of the game, keeping away from bells and whistles and focusing on relatability. The focus is on being humble and welcoming, like a friendly neighbor.

  • Keywords: friendly, authentic, humble, relatable, practical
  • Colors: denim blue, taupes, greens, and deep reds
  • Personalities: Drew Barrymore, Anne Hathaway, Emma Stone
  • Brands: Target, Walmart, eBay, IKEA

12. The Hero

The Hero is courageous and strives to offer quality and value while showcasing endurance and progress. The customers of “hero” brands like to express their self-confidence as they put their trust into brands that promise state-of-the-art, groundbreaking products.

  • Keywords: brave, candid, trustworthy, courageous, committed 
  • Colors: lively blues, yellows, superhero red, and other confident colors
  • Personalities: Hugh Jackman, Superman, Gladiator
  • Brands: Nike, Gatorade, Snickers

How To Pick The Right Brand Personality

So many businesses try to play “catchup” after launching as they try to figure out their brand as they go along. This is frustrating, time-consuming, inconsistent, and can end up costing you money in wasted advertising dollars. 

The best thing you can do is figure out your brand before you hit the market, and you can do that by first deciding what your core values and target audience are. Your brand personality needs to connect the products you offer with the people you look to serve, so take time to narrow down the 12 main brand personalities above. 

1. What Are You Selling To Who? 

While the type of products you sell will definitely have an impact on your archetypes because it impacts who you’re selling to, don’t automatically rule out certain archetypes based on your offering alone.

You need to do some research to understand your market and then you can decide what brand personality your customers would relate to the most. Drawing up an ideal customer persona (or multiples) will help you out tremendously. 

2. How Do You Want Customers To Feel? 

Describe how you want people to feel when they interact with your company. For instance, State Farm (“The Caregiver”) wants customers to feel listened to and cared for, and they say that perfectly in their motto: “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”

Meanwhile, Nike (“The Hero”) wants to empower their customer base. Their motto reflects that attitude, constantly encouraging people with the words, “Just do it.” This perfectly suits their market of young athletes and active individuals who seek motivation and self-accomplishment. 

3. Why Are You In Business?

Figuring out what drives you as a company is another major part of the branding equation.

Outlaw brands, for example, are driven by a rebellious spirit. They want to do things differently, oppose authority, and find their own road. There can be overlap with Ruler brands, which are also commanding, authoritative, and strong, but Rulers don’t necessarily strive to be different. Rather, they focus more on being prestigious with the ultimate goal of being noticed, admired, and respected. 

Similarly, Hero brands are enduring, brave, and courageous, but they’re committed to progress and value above all else. Unlike Outlaws, they won’t go out of their way to find opposition, but they do express great integrity and will stand up for their values. Unlike Rulers, Heroes don’t seek to simply impress, but to empower and inspire through admirable work. 

Obviously, there are many more brand types that you should go through and compare to find the right one for your company, but these three (Outlaw, Ruler, and Hero) are actually the three most desired/popular brand archetypes at this time. 

4. Where Are You At In Your Journey?

With a wealth of information on brand archetypes and customer personas, most startups are coming straight out of the gate with a strong brand. However, businesses that have already been established shouldn’t get left behind. Whether you’re just starting or celebrating decades of experience, it’s never too late to work on a stronger brand image.

Many companies are now finding that their customer base has changed (or perhaps they never fully understood them to begin with) and they are re-branding themselves in response. This is a critical step to remaining competitive and relevant in today’s markets. 

If you find that your existing brand image doesn’t match your market, or if you lack a defined brand at all, now is the perfect time to establish a branding strategy. It will take time to elaborate on your brand’s individual personality, but the above archetypes are a good place to start. As a final tip, remember: Consistency is key! 

83 Types of Content to Fill Your Calendar

Sydney Chamberlain on August 18, 2021

Looking to fill up your content calendar? Publishing blog posts all the time will quickly grow boring (and time-consuming). For a truly effective brand-building content strategy, you need to mix things up.

To help you out, I’ve compiled a list of 83 types of content and explanations of how you can use each one. For ease, I’ve categorized the content into different formats so that you can mix and match to create a content plan that will work for your brand. Scroll through and get ready for some fresh ideas. 

Written Content

This is content you can write and publish to your website or social media pages. Research keywords in order to work on your organic SEO in the process while informing your audience and building authority. 

1. Lists

With this exact blog post following the list format, I had to mention this type of content first. Lists are hugely popular, whether you are listing out ideas, tools, and resources or counting down in a “Top 10” style post.

  • Example: Take this BuzzFeed article as an example
  • Where To Post: Lists are best used for blog posts

2. Roundups

Roundup-style posts are excellent if you don’t have a lot of time to create brand new content. Instead, roundup posts compile a list of great content (either from your own website or someone else’s) to inspire further reading. 

  • Example: Check out this Expert Roundup example from NicheHacks 
  • Where To Post: Roundups are another great idea for your blog

3. Question-and-Answer Posts

Whether you’re answering questions readers have sent you, questions customers often have, or giving answers about things you want your audience to be educated on, Q&A posts are a great format for effortless and highly valuable content. There are also many opportunities to incorporate long-tail keywords. 

  • Example: Check out this example published on LinkedIn
  • Where To Post: Post short Q&As to your Facebook page and try giving a long answer to a single question (or answers to multiple questions) as a post on your blog

4. Comparison Content

Comparison content is hugely popular (and helpful) and it comes in many forms. Think “Alternatives to SkillShare” or “SkillShare vs. Udemy”. Such content compares one solution to another, helping the reader determine the best choice for their situation. Be sure to get specific with the pros and cons of each option. 

  • Example: Here’s an example from a recent post on this blog: Freelancer Writers vs. Content Agencies
  • Where To Post: Comparison content is most valuable in the form of a longer blog post or article

5. Product, Tool, and Book Reviews

While they take more research, a high-quality review can prove extremely helpful to your readers. Just about everyone could find something to review for their audience. For instance, as a writer serving small businesses, I could write a review of Buffer’s content publishing tools. 

  • Example: This example from Business.com takes an in-depth look at a single solution, just as a review should
  • Where To Post: Reviews should be in-depth, making a blog post or article the ideal format

6. Compiled Facts and Statistics

A surefire way to offer value to your audience and position your brand as a go-to source for robust information is to compile facts and statistics about a relevant topic (or your industry as a whole). This will take time as you need to properly source and credit your reference materials, but the outcome will be quality content for your site. 

  • Example: Check out this shorter post from Entrepreneur or this longer year-in-review style post from G2
  • Where To Post: Summarize facts into an infographic for visual content then share some quick facts as social media posts while linking back to a longer compilation piece on your blog

7. Testimonials

If you have kind words from happy customers to share, testimonials are an excellent form of content, although they’re deserving of their own dedicated space. While you could share testimonials on social media, also consider creating a dedicated page on your site (or a third-party profile on a site like TrustPilot) to collect and display all of your customers’ testimonials. 

  • Example: Check out this small business example
  • Where To Post: Written testimonials deserve their own page on your site, but you can share individual testimonials on social media (especially as lead-ins for case studies)

8. Case Studies

Case studies are like in-depth testimonials for your brand that help showcase your users’ experiences and the benefits they have received by using your products or services. This is a great organic marketing tool that builds authenticity. Obviously, you’ll need to interact with one of your clients and document their story with statistics, photos, and other elements. 

  • Example: Check out this example from SalesForce that uses quotes to help tell the client’s story in their own words
  • Where To Post: Case studies can be taken in interview form (like in a podcast and/or video that you can share) and then turned into a post for your blog

9. Interviews

Interviewing a client will produce a meaningful case study, but you aren’t limited to your customer base. Interviews are the perfect basis for creating podcast, video, or blog content, all you need to do is find someone your audience would be interested in hearing from. An industry influencer or niche expert would be a good place to start. 

  • Example: Styla interviewed digital marketing expert Neil Patel in this post, asking questions their audience was anxious to get answered
  • Where To Post: Interviews can be recorded in the form of a podcast or video and then transcribed into a blog post for your site

10. Personal Stories

Authenticity continues to grow more and more important in building a brand, which is why sharing your personal story is a great move next time you’re in need of blog content. People want to know about the person behind the brand, so tell them about how your business started or what brought you into your niche. Get personal in order to build a connection with your audience. 

  • Example: The founders of Lululemon tell their story on their site and get way more in-depth with this piece published on Business Insider
  • Where To Post: Your story may find its way to your “About” page, but can also be turned into a post for your blog or even an awareness-building piece published on third-party sites

11. Successes and Failures

Aside from telling your personal story that fueled your business venture, another form of content that sprouts from the same space of authenticity has to do with your successes and failures along the way. Think about the lessons you have learned and how they can help your audience or demonstrate your dedication. 

  • Example: Check out this post titled, “9 Things I’ve Learned from Running My Own Business” by Melyssa Griffin
  • Where To Post: Successes and failures can receive dedicated posts on your blog (even as part of their own content series) and make their way into your videos, podcast, and Q&A posts 

12. Opinions and Rants

While most businesses seek to avoid controversy, there are certain instances where it could be beneficial to your brand. Aside from commenting on current events, there are more tactful ways to stir up engagement, like talking about what you dislike about a general topic that no one is too emotionally invested in (check out the example below). 

  • Example: Network World published an opinion post titled, “The 5 Things I Hate About CRM Systems” and it grabs attention without upsetting their audience 
  • Where To Post: Opinions and rants can be used in many creative ways to help express your knowledge and passion about a subject, so consider a blog post where you can really dig in to the topic

13. Behind-The-Scenes Content

Going back to the need for authenticity, Behind-The-Scenes (BTS) content is a great way to give your audience a glimpse into how your business works, giving you a natural way to show-off your commitment to quality and attention to detail. Behind-The-Scenes content focused on the quality of your work environment also helps with employer branding. 

  • Example: Check out this post from Adobe’s blog on a new executive’s first 60 days at the company
  • Where To Post: BTS content can be published in many forms, whether it’s photos and videos on social media or a blog post on your site

14. How-To and Step-by-Step Content

How-to content remains a favorite for every type of business. It’s valuable to your readers, it allows you to demonstrate knowledge, and it’s super easy to find relevant keywords to incorporate into the content for your organic SEO efforts. When writing, think about all the extra pro tips and advice you can include to stand out from competitors’ pieces. 

  • Example: Here’s a  how-to piece that incorporates illustrations, photos, and videos for an in-depth guide that ranks on the first page for the term “how to knit”
  • Where To Post: Complement your how-to blog post with video tutorials and illustrations that you can share elsewhere 

15. “Why” Content

People always want to know why things are how they are, which explains the popularity of “why” content. There are definitely some “why” content ideas you can come up with for your niche. For instance, a designer could publish a piece about “Why We Still Use Wood To Make Furniture” or “Why Fast Fashion Is Out”.

  • Example: Check out this compelling piece on why Americans use social media, which uses statistics to backup claims
  • Where To Post: “Why” posts allow you to really explore a topic, so they’re best suited for your blog

16. Ultimate Guides

As far as SEO goes, it’s been found that the ideal content length is around 2,500 words. Surely, not everything you writre about will warrant a post so long, but occasionally publishing an” Ultimate Guide” or other long-form content can definitely boost your site’s ranking. When looking for ideas, analyze the most searched “how to” keywords in your niche. 

  • Example: Here’s an “Ultimate Guide” example to publishing an eBook on Kindle
  • Where To Post: Ultimate Guides can go on your blog like all your other posts or you can put them behind a content locker, requiring the reader’s email address in exchange for access

17. Worksheets and Checklists

Want to add even more value to a how-to piece or ultimate guide? Create worksheets and checklists that your readers can download to accomplish a goal. Brand and watermark them to spread awareness about your site and upload the files to PDF sharing sites and content libraries. 

  • Example: Fitness instructor Cassey Ho has an entire collection of fitness planner printables to accompany her online workout videos
  • Where To Post: Put the files on your website and share them on social media before uploading to other relevant websites that offer free downloads

18. Templates

Templates fall in the same category as worksheets and checklists in that they offer a piece of downloadable, interactive content for your readers. However, templates can be used again and again and usually work fine as standalone pieces.

  • Example: Check out the Content Brief Template I shared recently
  • Where To Post: Templates can be published on your site and shared far and wide across the internet

19. White Papers

White Papers are a type of guide generally used to explain highly technical topics. They’re often used by cryptocurrencies to help people understand the concept behind the system, but they can also be helpful for other topics related to technology and the internet. 

  • Example: This example explains the impact of SaaS for businesses
  • Where To Post: White Papers are generally available as a download, so you may write a short blog post to introduce one

20. eBooks

As a writer, I can attest to the fact that more and more businesses are using eBooks as a way to educate consumers, build a list, and spread awareness. eBooks are excellent “lead magnets,” meaning you can offer access to an eBook in exchange for a person’s email address.

  • Example: Check out this example from Convince and Convert (scroll to see the opt-in box)
  • Where To Post: eBooks can be used as a lead magnet on your site or you can publish to KDP and other platforms

21. Company and Industry News

While not “evergreen,” publishing company and industry news is a great tactic for many businesses and even a necessity in some industries. As an example of how it can play into your content strategy, I regularly produce content for a truck rental company that caters to small fleets. When pertinent industry news comes out (like recent laws surrounding the gig economy), the client is quick to jump on the story to keep their audience informed. 

  • Example: Check out this example on the solar mandate, which affects the site’s audience of home builders
  • Where To Post: You can share headlines to spark conversation on social media and write posts for your own blog if you have something to say about the topic

22. Company Goals and Causes

“Cause marketing” is considered extremely effective as consumers become more focused on making a positive impact with every dollar they spend. As such, writing posts about your company’s long-term business goals, your values, and your corporate causes can help build a connection with your audience and set you apart. 

  • Example: Big brands often publish social responsibility reports while smaller businesses can write articles about specific community work
  • Where To Post: Post on your own site, share on social media, and attempt to get press coverage for your community work

23. Business Information

Transparency goes hand-in-hand with authenticity, which is why many businesses are being more open about their financials and other information that some companies still aren’t willing to share. 

  • Example: Buffer’s “Open” Blog is all about transparent information sharing
  • Where To Post: Some info could be recapped in the form of an infographic for sharing across the internet, but you can also summarize in a blog post 

24. Guest Posts

Giving industry experts the opportunity to guest post on your blog is an excellent way to add valuable content while engaging your reader base. The experts who write the post will get added exposure while bringing their own audience over to your website. You can even exchange posts for increased effectiveness, meaning you can write a post to publish on their blog around the same time.

  • Example: Here’s an article on the benefits of guest posting straight from a guest blogger
  • Where To Post: If you write a guest post, opt to get it published on a relevant industry blog

25. Microsites

There are many creative use cases for “microsites,” which are standalone websites you can build for product launches, causes, and other projects your business wants to bring attention to. It takes time (and money) to create a compelling microsite, but it’s definitely worth considering working one into your overall content and marketing strategy. 

  • Example: AT&T used a microsite to push their “It Can Wait” campaign against texting while driving
  • Where To Post: Microsites are standalone websites that will need their own content and marketing plan

26. Comments

Genuine, handwritten comments on another author’s blog are still a great way to spread awareness for your brand. The key is to avoid spamming your link or being overly promotional. 

  • Example: Scroll through any popular blog and you’re sure to spot comments from readers mentioning their own sites and projects
  • Where To Post: Only comment on relevant, high-quality posts that you actually read and have something to say about

27. Forum Posts

Answering Quora questions is a well-known strategy for building authority as a business, but (as with comments) you don’t want to come across as overly promotional. You should also branch outside of Quora and find relevant industry forums where you can answer people’s questions to express your knowledge.

  • Example: Check out the top answers to this Quora question
  • Where To Post: Answer relevant questions on Q&A websites and forums with high traffic

28. Wikis

Platform and software stand to benefit most from active wikis that act as a hub for user guides and documentation. However, any business can create a wiki dedicated to the history of the company itself. The great thing is, you only have to maintain a wiki because the content is generated by users.

  • Example: Check out the wiki for Salesforce that documents the company’s founding 
  • Where To Post: Wikis are maintained on third-party websites, with the most popular being Wikipedia

Interactive Content

This is content you can create for the purpose of encouraging interaction and engagement across your audience. 

29. Polls

Looking to spark engagement while collecting valuable feedback from your users? Polls are a great type of content to use and they work especially well on social media platforms. 

  • Example: This article explains why polls are beneficial and gives some instructions
  • Where To Post: Polls can work on your blog, but are ideal for social media

30. Surveys

If you’re looking to gather more in-depth feedback and opinions from your audience, opt for a survey. Consumers love to know that you value their opinions, so you’re bound to see engagement. It’s up to you whether you make your survey invitation-only and send it to a select group of people or if you put it online for everyone to fill out. 

  • Example: Check out this example survey from SurveyMonkey
  • Where To Post: Surveys can be shared via your email list, on social media, or on your website

31. Quizzes

Quizzes are a fun type of content that you can publish alongside a how-to piece or just on their own to test your audience’s knowledge of a particular subject. This is a great tool for building consumer awareness. 

  • Example: This example from the AKC tests your knowledge on what dogs can eat
  • Where To Post: Quizzes can be posted on your website and even shared on third-party quiz sites

32. Contests

Whether you’re giving away a product or assigning a fun title, contests are a great way to engage your audience while spreading brand awareness across social media. 

  • Example: This article lists out different types of contests you can run along with examples of each
  • Where To Post: Contests are generally posted on social media

33. Challenges

A challenge is a great way to get your audience talking. Fitness influencers run these all the time and are a great source of inspiration, encouraging their audiences to share photos of their daily progress with hashtags.

  • Example: Hashtags like #StretchRevolution and #SummerSculpt got Cassey Ho’s audience talking
  • Where To Post: Challenges can run on any social media platform that uses hashtags

34. Live Chats

Inviting your audience to a live chat is a great way to answer questions and spark interaction amongst your community. You can host a live chat on Google Hangouts or even by using a chat tool on your blog. The chat features of webinar tools may also work for your purposes. 

  • Example: HubSpot has excellent instructions on hosting a Facebook Chat
  • Where To Post: Good questions from a live chat can be re-shared on social media or further answered in a blog post

35. Twitter and Hashtag Conversations

If a good portion of your audience is active on Twitter, why not startup a hashtag conversation? These are a great part of a hashtag marketing strategy and, like live chats elsewhere, give you the chance to answer great questions from your audience. 

  • Example: CrazyEgg explains how to run a “TweetChat” in this post
  • Where To Post: Like live chats, good questions can be repurposed into evergreen content

36. “Ask Me Anything” Threads

“Ask Me Anything” (AMA) threads are becoming more and more common thanks to Reddit. Anyone can start an AMA thread under the dedicated subreddit at any time, but celebrities and business owners are known for scheduling AMAs both on and off of Reddit. 

  • Example: Check out this example from a young co-founder
  • Where To Post: AMAs are popular on Reddit, but you can run one elsewhere

37. Live Streams

Live streams are rapidly growing in popularity thanks to platforms like Twitch and YouTube’s own live streaming service. You can host regularly scheduled live streams to interview, answer questions, or go behind-the-scenes of your business. Alternatively, you can host one-off live streams for contests, events, and other happenings. 

38. Webinars

While most webinars end with a sales pitch, you can use them as a purely educational tool as well. For example, you may use a webinar to share a tutorial your audience would be interested in or teach about a specific feature of your software. 

  • Example: This article from Go To Meeting shares examples of great webinars
  • Where To Post: Webinars can be recorded and replayed as-is or edited into shorter videos

39. Virtual Events

Virtual events can bring huge levels of engagement since your audience doesn’t have to be in a specific geographical location. Some virtual events have physical counterparts, but many are entirely online. 

  • Example: CouchCon was a live virtual conference and networking event
  • Where To Post: Virtual events can generate all sorts of content and ideas for you to repurpose

40. Event Replays

Many virtual events and webinars can be “replayed,” either using special software that replays the live chat and other interactions alongside the recorded video, or just in the form of a video or audio recording. Replays are a great type of content if the original event offered value people may want to review or share. 

  • Example: These tips show how you can repurpose live content
  • Where To Post: Replays can be shared across networks and mentioned in blog posts where relevant

Audio/Visual Content

Video is considered the most engaging form of content on the web, but it’s far from the only type of visual content you can incorporate into your content strategy. Try a mix of all of these elements.

41. Infographics

Just about everyone has seen an infographic somewhere on the internet. After all, they are a fun way to showcase data or other information in a format that is quickly processed by the human brain.

  • Example: Check out this infographic from Blogging.org
  • Where To Post: Infographics can be shared on social media and accompany your blog posts

42. Listicle Summaries

Listicle summaries are similar to infographics, but they’re used to summarize the items in a long list post. They’re the perfect thing to put at the top of a list or use them on social media to announce your list post. 

  • Example: Check out this visual summary of this post
  • Where To Post: Share across social media

43. Slide Presentations

While some blogs have opted to use slideshows as a primary format for delivering their content, slide presentations remain a great type of standalone content for just about any business. Great alternative (or accompaniment) to producing videos.

  • Example: Check out this slide presentation on CRMs
  • Where To Post: Slide presentations are typically published on third-party sites (like SlideShare) and then shared across platforms 

44. Screenshots

If you have written an eBook, creating an audio book to accompany it is an excellent idea. You can market it as a way for your audience to maximize their productivity during their commute or other times of day.

  • Example: This post talks about what makes a great audio book 
  • Where To Post: Use to add visual interest to blog posts

45. Animated GIFs

Animated GIFs can give you relatable content to share on social media and you can also incorporate them into some blog posts or newsletters. You can even make your own to use. The key is to make sure the usage aligns with your brand image.  

  • Example: Contently summarizes a number of brands that use GIFs creatively
  • Where To Post: GIFs can be shared on social media and incorporated into your blog posts and newsletters

46. Diagrams and Data Visuals

If you’re publishing content filled with statistics, having a more visual way to display it will prove more digestible and sharable for your audience. Pie charts, graphs, and other data visuals are just the beginning. You can make all sorts of beautiful charts with tools like Visme.  

  • Example: Here’s a breakdown of all the ways you can visualize data
  • Where To Post: Include within your blog posts and share across platforms

47. Handwritten Notes and Brainstorms

Handwritten notes and brainstorms can add character to your content and works especially well for personal brands. They can also be incorporated into your “personal story” content that seeks to express authenticity. Bloggers with a small budget may also opt to share scans of handwritten notes to save on graphic design.  

  • Example: Check out this example from Impact Interview
  • Where To Post: Work them into your content for visual interest

48. Illustrations

While you could certainly share your own illustrations (which is especially popular for blogs in the design industry), any business can utilize professional illustrations as an alternative to photographs and videos. Illustrations can come in all sorts of different styles, so the key is finding one that fits your brand.

  • Example: Notice how WikiHow articles always use a consistent style of illustrations
  • Where To Post: Illustrations can be incorporated into your blog posts and often shared on their own

49. Comics and Cartoons

Use comics and cartoons (either hand drawn or computer-generated) to demonstrate steps, tell stories, or be humorous in a way that relates to your audience. This is a creative and highly-sharable type of content to utilize for your brand. 

  • Example: SkyWord dives into how brands can use comics creatively
  • Where To Post: Incorporate into your blog posts and share on social media

50. Photo Galleries

A photo gallery can share photos of your products and past projects, but they can be used as far more than traditional portfolios. For instance, you could use a photo gallery to showcase your company’s culture.

  • Example: Olympus maintains a gallery of awesome user photos taken with Olympus cameras
  • Where To Post: Maintain a gallery on your website and showcase great photos on social media

51. Demonstrations

Whether you’re demonstrating a product you sell or walking people through a technique they can utilize, demonstrations are best captured in video form and can be shared across platforms.

  • Example: Check out this example from Dyson 
  • Where To Post: Publish your demonstration online and share across platforms

52. Podcasts

Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular as people look to make their daily commutes and downtime more productive. Your podcast can be published in video and audio form for additional publishing options and they also provide excellent networking opportunities when it comes to interviewing other experts in your field.

  • Example: Check out this piece from HubSpot’s blog
  • Where To Post: Publish your podcast across listening platforms and share everywhere

53. Audio Books

If you have already published an eBook, making an audio book could be a smart move. Market it to your audience as a means of maximizing their productivity. You can record it yourself or hire a professional.

  • Example: This post discusses what makes a great audiobook
  • Where To Post: Audio books can be published alongside your eBook and marketed on their own

54. Vlogs

Vlogs are a great way to offer authentic, impactful content for your audience to enjoy. You could vlog about behind-the-scenes happenings at your company and use it to spread awareness about events, launches, and other things your business is involved in.  

  • Example: This video talks about how you can use vlogs as a business 
  • Where To Post: Post on YouTube and other video networks, then share on social media and use on your site

55. Videos

Vlogs are personal, casual, and fairly easy to create thanks to the minimal production requirements. Videos, on the other hand, can be as involved or minimal as you want them to be. Some brands produce professional, studio-quality videos while others keep things simple. Figure out what works for your brand (and budget).

  • Example: The channel for SEMrush produces a number of videos in various formats 
  • Where To Post: Post on YouTube and other video networks, then share on social media and use on your site

56. Courses

With the growing popularity of platforms like Udemy and SkillShare, courses are an excellent way to inform your audience while building authority. Every business could come up with an idea for a course.

  • Example: Check out how Alex Center (founder of CENTER) taught his SkillShare class
  • Where To Post: You can host on your own site or publish on a third-party platform 

57. Certification Programs

If your business is poised as an industry expert, you can take things a step further and offer a certification program instead of a course. Certification programs are much more involved as students will need lessons, quizzes, tests, and even projects to earn their certificate. 

  • Example: Personal trainer Cassey Ho recently started offering a Pop Pilates Certification 
  • Where To Post: You’ll probably need a dedicated site or subdomain to market your course

Marketing and Paid Content

You may be targeting a specific audience (like your email list) or paying to get in front of new leads on a platform like Facebook. In any case, these content ideas can definitely be worked into your overall brand building strategy.

58. Sponsorships

Whether you’re sponsoring an event in your community, sponsoring a YouTube video from a popular creator, or finding another way to get your business in front of a relevant audience, sponsorships can prove extremely valuable for your brand.

  • Example: Here’s how Coca-Cola has successfully used sponsorships in the United Kingdom
  • Where To Post: You can start by sponsoring events and influencers

59. Guest Posts

Letting people guest post on your own blog is a grand idea, but what about writing some guest posts for other people’s sites? Guest posting is a fantastic marketing strategy that could be free (or even make you money) if you do it right.

  • Example: QuickSprout explains how to use guest posting in this article 
  • Where To Post: Guest posts should go up on relevant websites in your industry

60. Native Advertising

Native ads look to blend into the look and feel of organic content on a website. A good example is sponsored social media posts, but native ads can also come in the form of sponsored blog posts. If you target your ads correctly, you can see great engagement from native advertising.

  • Example: Check out this paid blog post example from Adobe
  • Where To Post: Native advertisements can go up on websites or social media platforms

61. Influencer Collaborations

Most every niche has at least a few “influencers” with an engaged audience that would be excited to learn about your business. Collaborating with those influencers can prove to be a smart marketing move.  

  • Example: Here are multiple examples of brands collaborating with influencers 
  • Where To Post: Many collaborations happen on Instagram, but you can also go to YouTube and other social platforms

62. Content Syndication and Republishing

You’re putting in all that work to publish great blog posts, so why not get them out in front of a larger audience? Many blogs will syndicate or re-publish your content if you ask them, helping you build awareness.

  • Example: Here are four ways to use syndication
  • Where To Post: You can get your content syndicated on many websites (and do it yourself on Medium) 

63. Ambassador Programs

Every company strives to have brand advocates, and creating a dedicated brand ambassador program is a surefire way to reach that point. By incentivizing loyal customers, you can spread awareness while building connections with your fanbase.  

  • Example: Here’s a list of five top brand ambassador programs 
  • Where To Post: Brand ambassador programs can take on many forms and will ideally stretch across your site and social media platforms 

64. Emails

Most brands aim to build an email list because it gives them the chance to send information directly to members of their audience. If you have a list, regularly emailing subscribers to keep the list active is a must-do.

  • Example: HubSpot has compiled 19 examples of great email marketing 
  • Where To Post: Some email content could be repurposed, but you’re best off deliberately writing content with your list in mind and keeping it exclusive to subscribers 

65. Newsletters

While your emails can contain all sorts of content, typically something related to new product launches or sales announcements, a newsletter seeks to be a source of information for your subscribers. That means newsletter subscribers don’t want you to sell to them all the time (or ever), they want to hear news, updates, and read articles that interest them.

  • Example: NextDraft is an excellent example of a newsletter people care to read as it compiles the day’s most fascinating news stories 
  • Where To Post: Like emails, newsletters are generally exclusive to subscribers although compiling information for one may give you new content ideas for your blog or elsewhere 

66. Texts

Wither fewer and fewer people opening emails these days, more businesses are shifting over to texts. After all, everyone always has their phone nearby, so it can prove extremely effective for quick messages and reminders.

  • Example: Forbes lists 9 ways you can use texts as a business
  • Where To Post: Texts should be exclusive reminders and messages for subscribers 

67. Push Notifications

With the right setup, you’ll be able to have visitors subscribe to push notifications on their devices so that you can quickly announce new blog posts, sales, and other pertinent info to your most loyal followers. 

  • Example: Here are 7 brands using push notifications effectively 
  • Where To Post: Push notifications can reach your users on multiple devices, depending on how they subscribe 

More Content Types

Looking for even more content ideas? These types can also be worked into your strategy.

68. Content Libraries

A content library can be a very valuable thing to place on your website. You can use it to collect all of the worksheets, checklists, templates, and other downloadables you have offered to readers over the years.

  • Example: Check out this example from Vendasta
  • Where To Post: Put the content library on your website and mention it regularly in blog posts

69. Curated Content Hubs

Looking to save time creating content yourself? That’s where syndicating other people’s content comes in. With a curated content hub, you can find content from the internet that you think your audience would benefit from and compile it in one place.

  • Example: Think With Google is a great example
  • Where To Post: Your curated content hub should live on your website

70. Pitches

Want more exposure? Write some pitches so that you can get content and mentions in popular publications in your industry. Writing a pitch takes practice (or you can hire a pro), but the result could be a post on Forbes with your name on it. 

  • Example: Jeff Bullas breaks down the how-to for a successful pitch to Forbes, Huffington Post, and others
  • Where To Post: Your pitches will need to be sent directly to journalists and editors

71. Public Service Announcements

Countless businesses have caught on to how PSAs can be used to build brand awareness while educating consumers. Own an HVAC company? Spread a PSA about preparing a home for winter. Meanwhile, businesses in the healthcare field can spread PSAs about signs of a stroke or allergy prevention.  

  • Example: Check out how a local dentist used news networks to spread awareness 
  • Where To Post: Get coverage on the radio and local news channels 

72. Awards

If you want to gain prominence, awarding your customers, partners, suppliers, and others in your industry can help get people talking about your brand. Many industry leaders have taken to this trend and it works because those who receive the awards will certainly share with their own network.

  • Example: The HubSpot Impact Awards a great example
  • Where To Post: Announce on both your website and social media for nominees and award winners to share 

73. Web Applications and Tools

While developing web applications and tools will take time and investment, doing so can prove extremely beneficial to your audience and help you boost your engagement rates. If you know of a tool that your audience would find useful, consider creating it for them.

  • Example: CoSchedule recognized the need for a headline analyzer, so they made one
  • Where To Post: Post the tool on your website and share everywhere to drive traffic

74. Mobile Applications

Many brands now have an application version of their website due to the increasing amount of mobile traffic across the internet. However, you can also develop a mobile application dedicated to a specific tool or one that bring together your social media channels (like your YouTube videos), courses, posts, and other content into one place.

  • Example: Here’s a look at how businesses benefit from mobile applications 
  • Where To Post: Your mobile application should be published across devices and advertised on your site

75. PR Packages

If you sell a product, PR packages should be something you’re familiar with. Just a few years ago, you could send just about any product to a video creator or influencer and they’d be so excited to receive something for free that they’d definitely make a video about it. These days, it’s getting a lot more competitive. If you know of influencers that match your target audience, consider creating a stunning PR package to send to them.

  • Example: Check out this PR package unboxing for inspiration 
  • Where To Post: PR boxes should go straight to interested influencers with the hopes that they’ll unbox on camera or mention your brand on social media

Offline Content Types

Even if you’re a digital-first brand, offline content is still worth pursuing (if not entirely necessary) as part of your content strategy. 

76. Conferences

Although conferences are generally ignored by businesses in the B2C space, you could still use them to help build your brand. Sponsor or speak at a conference to find new partners and networking opportunities while spreading awareness about your company.

  • Example: TechCrunch Disrupt is one conference targeted at startups 
  • Where To Post: You can blog or vlog about your conference experience and mention your attendance on social media

77. Workshops

If you can think up a course idea, you can most certainly think up a workshop idea, too! Workshops are a great way to get involved with your local community and show-off your knowledge first-hand.

  • Example: Check out this workshop on holiday fashion 
  • Where To Post: You can blog or vlog about your workshop experience and advertise it across social media

78. Meetups

Small businesses and individuals can have especially great success when it comes to hosting meetups in their area. If you have a physical location, you can even host the meetup on-site where you can treat it as a simple community get-together or a productive activity-based class or group. Alternatively, you can host a meetup for your fellow industry partners and professionals. 

  • Example: Here’s how to use meetups for networking
  • Where To Post: Mention your meetup on social media and consider advertising on a site like Meetup.com

79. Fliers and Posters

Whether you’re handing out fliers or hanging up posters, both of these tactics can still prove extremely effective for spreading awareness, especially if you are advertising a specific event. Community bulletin boards exist for this exact purpose, so give it a try.

  • Example: Here’s how businesses can use fliers
  • Where To Post: Post fliers on community boards and consider passing them out or leaving stacks at local businesses

80. Brochures

Many businesses today still use brochures as an easy and direct way to educate consumers about their products and services or relevant information they should know. You can leave brochures at the front desk, put them in your customer’s bags, or pass them out yourself.

  • Example: Here’s how to get the most out of your brochures
  • Where To Post: Hand out at your location and consider a stack at local businesses

81. Newsletters

Printed newsletters are not dead! In fact, many businesses continue to have success by mailing newsletters or writing a column in a local paper. This is a great way to reach certain audience demographics in a cost-effective manner.

  • Example: Get your own column if you don’t have your own mailing list
  • Where To Post: Compile a mailing list to send to yourself or get a column in an existing paper

82. Magazine Articles

Getting an article (or just an interview) published in a popular magazine can do wonders for building authority for your brand. However, even a smaller, regional publication can help with your brand building strategy.

  • Example: Here’s what you need to do to get published in a magazine 
  • Where To Post: You’ll need to pitch (either online, in person, or through the mail) to the publications you’re interested in and then share your article once it’s published 

83. Billboard Advertisements

Billboards are by no means going out, although many businesses ignore this marketing opportunity. While they can require a hefty investment, the right billboards can give you regular exposure to new leads you may not have reached otherwise. 

  • Example: Check out this unconventional example from YouTubers Rhett and Link.
  • Where To Post: You must find billboards that will be seen by people who fit your demographics 

ContentFly Review: Features and Pricing

Sydney Chamberlain on June 24, 2021

ContentFly is a subscription-based writing service out of Canada. I discovered them shortly after their launch in 2018 and I was one of the first writers to join the platform. In the time since, ContentFly has evolved to offer writing services with the help of AI and Machine Learning. If you’re considering working with them as a customer, here’s what you should know.

ContentFly Features

ContentFly is one of the only writing platforms I know that is attempting to implement new technologies into the content production process. Their innovative approach may just be able to save you (and your writers) a great deal of time. However, their recent price increase could be hard to swallow for smaller businesses. Here are the details. 

Powered by Machine Learning

When I first joined ContentFly, I distinctly remember them mentioning that AI (Artificial Intelligence) would play a role in the platform. 

For the months that I wrote for them, I was under the impression that they were working on implementing AI to automatically assign projects to writers with relevant experience. I am not sure if that has been put into action.

However, I did find some new information. When researching for this piece, I found some use of ML (Machine Learning) described on their website: 

“[W]e’ve built a set of internal tools that use machine learning to supplement our writers – much of the editing, researching & vetting process is automated.”

If this is true, it sounds like ContentFly has more features to offer than the average content production agency. Unfortunately, it’s unclear whether these services are available to all of ContentFly’s clients or if they are separate offerings…

Content Genie

ContentFly advertises “Content Genie,” a tool that automatically suggests article topics. Such a tool would certainly help minimize the amount of time you spend looking for viable keywords and ideas as ContentFly will do the keyword research for you to identify good opportunities. 

Unfortunately, it looks like this tool may be a separate subscription from ContentFly’s writing services, which means you’ll end up paying more. It’s currently in beta and they said ideas are available starting at $5 while the tool is in beta testing. It looks like it will cost $50/month after that. 

ResearchFly

ContentFly also advertises ResearchFly, which promises to be an automated “on-demand, graduate-level researcher.” I was very excited to see this being offered to customers until I realized it is only available for a separate fee of $50/month. 

However, from my understanding, you can use ResearchFly independently. So, if you need help with content research, ResearchFly may be a good tool to explore as a standalone solution in the event that ContentFly’s pricing is too much for your budget. With that said, let’s break down how much ContentFly is charging for their basic writing services. 

ContentFly Pricing

If you want to subscribe to ContentFly, you can opt to pay monthly or yearly with two out-of-the-box plan options (custom plans are also available).

  • Starter Plan: $499/month or $3,999/year for 4,000 words of content each month.
  • Business Plan: $2,499/month or $21,000/year for 20,000 words of content each month. 

Unlimited revisions and royalty-free images are included with both plans. ContentFly also advertises their writing service as search engine optimized, so you’ll be able to incorporate keywords into your content. 

Currently, ContentFly’s pricing averages a little over $0.12/word, which is about average for “turnkey” writing services of this nature. If you exceed your monthly allotment, you can purchase more content at $0.15/word. 

I no longer write for ContentFly because I’ve shifted to working directly with brands to develop full-fledged content strategies. However, when I did write for ContentFly, they paid about $0.05/word — a rate that (sadly) has not gone up in the four years since I joined, which means quality has likely gone down. 

How To Use Your Word Allotment

ContentFly advertises that they can produce all different types of content. This includes blog articles, pillar pages, email copy, ad copy, scripts, and more. 

This variety is definitely necessary since the fee you pay each month isn’t partially refundable. For instance, those signed up for the Starter plan will pay $499 whether they end up ordering all 4,000 words in a month or no content at all. ContentFly explicitly states:

“The monthly word quota doesn’t roll over to a new month, and there are no refunds issued for unused quota (on either monthly or annual subscription) or for unused months while subscribed to the annual plan.”

That means you should have a content plan in place before signing up to make sure that you utilize all of the content you’re paying for each month. The good news is, there’s no limit on the number of projects you can request. That means you could request one 4,000-word eBook or 400 10-word captions and you’ll pay the same monthly rate. 

What To Expect

As a previous writer for the platform, I can say that ContentFly is legitimate in the sense that they will deliver content if you pay for it. However, you’ll always want to double-check their latest policies to ensure you know what you’re signing up for. 

Turnaround Time and Revisions

ContentFly estimates about 5 business days for 1,000 words of content, but it depends on the type of content you’re requesting. After you have submitted a content request in your dashboard, you’ll be able to see an estimated delivery date. 

As far as revisions go, ContentFly promises free, unlimited revisions and revisions will not count against your monthly word allotment. That’s great news for buyers (although potentially abusive of a writer’s time). 

Cancellation and Refund Policy

ContentFly says they offer a 14-day free trial, but it’s more of a 14-day money-back guarantee (in my opinion). If you join the platform and decide within 14 days that you aren’t happy, they’ll give you a full refund. However, this is void if you order more than 1,500 words of content within that timeframe.

As far as cancellation goes, you’ll be able to cancel your monthly plan at any time, but they do not offer a credit for any unused portion of your word allotment. If you cancel an annual subscription, your subscription will remain active until the end of the billing cycle. In other words, you can’t get a refund for future months that you’ve already paid for.

Is ContentFly Worth It?

Honestly, I was surprised to see that ContentFly has doubled their prices since I the last time I mentioned the platform. While $0.12/word isn’t outrageous for content, it’s certainly on the higher end of the spectrum. 

The pricing is comparable to an enterprise-focused platform like Scripted, but if you’re a small business or individual, I say there’s no reason to spend that much when you could hire a freelance writer directly for half the price. After all, you’re paying these agencies to maintain a large pool of writers and the entire setup can actually be a disadvantage to SMBs and individuals.

So, the question of whether or not Contentfly is worth it really comes down to the features. I was excited to read about Content Genie, ResearchFly, and their other tools only to find that these appear to be services you have to pay for separately. I also noted that some of the “sign up” links for these tools were not working at the time of writing this piece, which demonstrates just how new the entire platform is on the market.

With all things considered, if ContentFly’s pricing is in your budget and you have a steady need for at least 4,000 words of content each month, I say get in touch with a representative and try it out for yourself. In the meantime, I’m excited to see how they continue innovating in this space. 

I’m a content strategist with over 9 years of experience helping brands publish meaningful content that drives engagement and results.

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