Nishant Kadian

Marketing Head | Consultant

Types of Content

Top Content Formats in Digital Marketing (2024)

Content formats are different ways information can be shown to the user. Sometimes it’s like a storybook with pictures, sometimes it’s like a video with moving pictures, and sometimes it’s just words on a page. So, content formats are just different ways to share and explain things like stories, information, or fun stuff.

Content format is often compared to the fuel that empowers almost all digital marketing engine. The good news is that this fuel is available in different compositions and qualities. So you can pick one as per your business needs and resource availability. Digital marketers have various options to choose types of content formats and boost their marketing.

However, the more significant challenge remains in understanding and sync of different content marketing formats. Your overall content marketing should give a consistent message to the users across different channels. At the same time, you need to understand the user behavior across different channels can vary. So, you need to optimize your content to balance the user behavior as well as the consistency of the message.

A robust digital marketing strategy relies on using the right format to target the audience while keeping up with the content marketing basics. A balanced approach helps in driving more leads, more income, and more conversions. In this blog piece, I am exmplaing some of the highly-rated types of content. As each one works differently, each has to be put to work in a different way to support your business growth.

Content Formats: Textual

  • Email
  • Blogs
  • EBooks
  • Whitepaper

Types of content - textual

Email

Email marketing is one of the earliest forms of information exchange since the advent of electronic computers. Utilizing email as a marketing tool, content marketer reaches out to the audience to deliver the message to their inbox. With the email addresses of the audience and their permission to accept your marketing email, you can get in touch with potential as well as existing customers.

How does it work?

Known to be significantly effective in B2B as well as B2C markets, emails offer you the opportunity to reach the customer at every stage of the funnel. From sharing information to educate the audience at the awareness stage to asking for testimonials at the loyalty stage, almost every nature of business can utilize email marketing to enhance their growth. When you send articles or give offers on your products or services, it helps build a relationship with them and create value for them.

With the increasing email access over mobile phones, users get notifications of every new email almost spontaneously. If your subject line is relatable to the user’s requirement, the open rate can boost up well to give attentive eyeballs to your email content.

Blog

A blog, one of the most popular types of content among modern-day digital marketers, is an update on the website. It is generally shared publicly. The prime objective of the blog is to inform the readers. It attracts traffic to the site. While the search engine remains the most significant source of traffic for blogs, it has the potential to earn a consistent number of visitors, and, in the form of subscribers, you can find useful leads as well.

How does it work?

Most content marketers love to write blogs because websites with regular blog posts make up the top of the search pages for queries with ‘information-seeking intent.’ Blogs help you publish quality content around the keywords you wish to target. Even the keywords that can’t be used effectively in the service and product pages can be conveniently used in the blogs. For example, an online apparel website that wants to sell different shirts can write a blog, ‘shirt trends for blue jeans’. In this way, they can promote their products in front of a potential audience.

The quality of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) increases with useful blogs and related keywords as it helps get organic traffic. Your blogs keep visitors on the website for more extended periods, which contributes to nurturing the audience at various marketing funnel stages. Moreover, you can offer a blog subscription option as well, which gives your email address that can be used for better marketing.

EBook

Ebook is an electronic publication or a book in a digital format. Some years back, ebooks were limited to EPUB format, which restricted compatibility with the device as well as applications to run them. However, most ebooks are now available in PDF format. Just like the printed version of a book, it consists of information in the form of text and images. The digital format of the book enables you to add links as well.

How does it work?

Ebooks help initiate and build relationships with customers or visitors by providing valuable information about their related topics. The general method of utilizing among businesses is that you offer eBooks as a free download in exchange for the visitor information, which can later be used in reaching the customer for marketing.

Whitepaper

The whitepaper seems similar to the eBook, but it has many differences. It generally addresses one challenge along with a set of solutions to it, whereas ebooks are more of generic information on any subject. The whitepaper contains a long piece of in-depth explanation or information about a specific topic.

How does it work?

You write a whitepaper after deeply examining the content that you wish to present. The main aim is to gather shreds of evidence and convince the clients or customers about products or services from a marketing point of view. Using charts, graphs, and diagrams in whitepapers needs substantial research and reliable references.

Types of Content: Audio and Visual

  • Infographic
  • Presentation Slide
  • Social Media
  • Website/Webpage
  • Podcast
  • Videos

Types of content - visual

Infographic

Infographics are the best way to tutor or influence people through visualization. Different elements of a company’s products or services are placed in one diagram with statistics and information that helps understand it better.

How does it work?

Infographics attract and keep people engaged, thus benefiting your business sites. It helps them get a better idea of your products or services and how they work or what they contain. They help in understanding complicated terms and information related to the topic.

Presentation Slide

Presentation slides or PPTs are old-school marketing things that have grown their influence and importance in marketing. It contains information in the form of text, images, and even videos – presented across different slides. Its easy adaption into the story-building concept makes it a useful tool in the marketer’s toolbox.

How do they work?

They are put up on business websites as free downloadable files for customers or visitors. You can even upload them on dedicated presentation hosting sites, such as Slideshare, which can help earn online traffic and branding.

Social Media

In the online space, we hardly need an introduction to social media. For several users in the present generation, social media is a crucial reason they use the internet. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and LinkedIn are popular social media platforms. Content marketers can build brand awareness, increase traffic, and reach out to target audiences through effective social media content and in a cheap freeway without or minimal marketing budget.

How does it work?

The content marketing strategy prepared by you must align with the social media strategy. Potential customers can review your brand through its presence on social media. You can even use social media to update customers about promotions and sales, nurture leads to increase conversion, and get new organic traffic when you post on social media platforms.

Website/Webpage

A webpage is a simple HTML file that includes text, images, and other visuals. A collection of webpages hosted on the same domain is known as a website. For a better understanding, this blog is a webpage on the website names Laykaik.

How does it work?

You can optimize a webpage containing information about your business to represent products/services better. The website is like your showroom, with web pages being different sections of it. Proper utilization of the showroom needs you to attract more visitors while ensuring it presents your services/products. Your content marketing effort should aim to attract more traffic to the webpage via search engines with importance to visuals and keywords that help to create better influence for the visitors.

Podcast

Podcasts are the audio version of the content – usually something that has episodes or series. Being audio, your subscribers can listen to it without requiring a dedicated focus. So, your podcast communicates with the customers even when they are driving, reading, or working.

* you may like listening to the podcast version available with my blog on Content Marketing in 2020.

How does it work?

A podcast is helpful for businesses with many benefits when it is included in the marketing plan for serving various purposes such as the introduction of a new product, company information, and other general information. With nearly 2 million podcasts indexed on Google, they also boost your search engine listing potential.

Video

Video, a collection of graphics and voice, can inform the customers more elaborately while saving time. The faster internet and increasing compatibility of devices have helped video soar in usage among all types of content formats.

How does it work?

Videos help provide information through engaging content, becoming one of the best and most engaging modes of content marketing. Consumers typically prefer to get an idea about a product or service by watching related videos on your site. The ROI on video ads is more for businesses than other content.

Wrapping Up: Types of Content Formats

In a nutshell, content marketing modes act as a primary driving force for online businesses by increasing sales by targeting the right audiences. Different types of content open up opportunities for you to reach potential customers and build a relationship with them. Various formats of content help businesses at different funnel stages. A strategic approach to the content can help you achieve faster conversion as well as upselling options. If you need help in strategizing or curating these content formats, here are some popular digital marketing tools to help you.

I would love to hear from you about what other content marketing-related ideas you would like me to share with you. Was the above post helpful?

5 thoughts on “Top Content Formats in Digital Marketing (2024)

  1. This excellent website really has all of the info on content marketing even with so little article.
    I needed concerning this subject and didn’t know who to ask. I am sure with articles on this website, it will be hub for everyone in content marketing.

  2. Terrific post but I was wondering if you could write a litte more on formats of digital marketing? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Bless you!

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