Experienced investors understand the importance of finding value; they invest in stocks that have the potential to yield considerable returns and add value over time. Customers operate in the same way: They invest in brands, with time and money, that provide value through products, services, and even content. That being said, it can be extra challenging to add value to customers when many of us are still trying to figure out how best to do it in the first place.
Savvy direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands have found innovative ways to create more value for customers by creating a freemium version of a product, facilitating connections between customers (i.e., community marketing), and sharing new content. The last one, in particular, is something that D2C brands, no matter the size of their resources, budgets, or teams, can deliver on.
As a marketer, I understand the value of quality content, and I'm always on the lookout for excellent content marketing blogs. In the spirit of giving (it's the holidays no less), here are five content marketing blogs that provide real value, whether that's through actionable insights, easy-to-use templates, product how-to's, or informative tips.
Neil Patel is a modern-day marketing renaissance man. Apart from being one of the most prolific bloggers out there, he’s also the co-founder of Crazy Egg, Stride, Kissametrics, and Hello Bar (this is what happens when you start consuming all things digital marketing related at the age of 16). Patel's approach to blogging is simplistic in nature yet brutally efficient. He begins by researching marketing topics and content from others in the space. From there, he differentiates his blogs by approaching the subject matter from a different angle, shining a light on areas that haven’t been explored. Even though Patel and his team produce articles that cover all topics of digital marketing, his content marketing pieces are incredibly informative, engaging, and thought-provoking.
Why Content Marketing Works for Me and Not You
You’re a Good Writer But Not a Good Blogger
My 6-Step Content Marketing Formula That Drives 3,549 Visitors
Anyone who's entrenched in the day-to-day life of content production can understand the struggle of staring at a blank copy doc. It can be equal parts terrifying, infuriating, and intimidating. So, where can you turn for advice on the nitty-gritty of content production? Copyblogger is great for those looking for more nuanced advice, such as grammar, writing, and content creation. Plus, the way their blogs are structured makes them digestible and easy-to-read.
15 Copy Editing Tips that Transform Your Content into Persuasive and Shareable Works of Art
5 Easy Ways to Open Your Blog Post with a Bang
A Simple Plan for Writing One Powerful Piece of Content Each Week
Every marketer knows how important search engine optimization (SEO) is, but not every marketer knows how to incorporate it into their overall content marketing strategy. That's where Moz steps in. Their blogs cover the essential aspects of SEO and are perfectly suited for beginners and experts alike. Additionally, their featured case studies are fantastic — they lead with the end result and go through the steps in which they achieved their specified goal.
How to Use Keywords in Your Blogging Strategy
The Perfect Blog Post Length and Publishing Frequency is B?!!$#÷x - Whiteboard Friday
Case Study: How We Gained More than 100 Links for a Travel Website via Content Marketing
If you’ve ever Google-searched anything marketing related, chances are, a Hubspot blog has popped up at the top of the page. There's a good reason why. One of the first content marketing blogs, Hubspot has allocated a wealth of resources and people hours producing content at an incredible pace. If you have a question, there's probably a Hubspot blog about it. Their content team does a great job of packaging their content by including infographics, templates, and videos that provide more clarity and context. Like Neil Patel's blog, they cover a wide range of topics, but their pieces on content marketing are exceptionally informative, comprehensive, and dense (in a good way).
The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing in 2019
How to Write a Blog Post: A Step-by-Step Guide [+ Free Blog Post Templates]
The 19 Best Content Marketing Tools in 2019
Content Marketing Institute is the place to find excellent thought leadership posts that offer unique takes, upcoming trends, and general best practices. As one of the first content marketing blogs to come on the scene, their library, chock-full of posts, covers every single aspect of content marketing imaginable. Consider this to be the foundational resource for anyone who creates, edits, or consumes content.
Digging the Data: Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends 2019
How to Structure Your Content to Make It Accessible
6 How-To Strategies for Content Promotion
What can I say, the content team is proud of the work we produce. If you're looking to read about anything — from adopting an SEO strategy to building out a customer journey map to learning how White Claw won the summer — then this is the blog for you. We have exciting things in store for the upcoming year!
The Sorting Hat of Marketing: Psychographic Segmentation
Crafting a Brand: How the Dallas Cowboys Became America’s Team
Seeing 2020: 4 Digital Marketing Trends You Should Be Thinking About
Last updated on September 20th, 2023.