Examples of the best in content marketing

n keeping with our objecting of showing great examples, we now turn our lens to several awesome content marketing examples. These are ones that stand out to us.

Anthropologie’s DIY drink recipes

Anthropologie frequently features DIY cocktail recipes on their blog, like this one for a coconut cooler. The drink recipes work for two main reasons: they’re seasonal and timely (for example, summer refreshers or winter warmers), and they feature unique ingredients and flavors, mimicking the original style of Anthropologie’s fashions. Like many examples of the best content marketing, these posts aren’t an obvious play for sales; Anthropologie doesn’t sell homemade bitters or simple syrup. Instead, the posts position Anthropologie as a trendy, knowledgeable friend who knows a thing or two about drinks — as well as clothes.

Wistia’s Learning Center Videos

It’s a simple concept, but Wistia executes to perfection: short, educational videos that teach viewers how to be better video marketers. Each short lesson is a microcosm of some concept within video marketing, including bulleted lists for easier retention of the subject matter. I can think of very few brands that couldn’t create a video series like this for their products or services, with minimal resources invested. Check out this example video on concepts fundamentals.

Birchbox’s Beauty Advice

Birchbox is a popular purveyor of monthly beauty boxes. The brand also runs an excellent content marketing program, with how-to videos of useful beauty tricks (for example, getting beach waves for short hair and how to look great post-flying). They’re essentially running a full-scale beauty magazine without the mess of paper and addresses.

Callaway Golf’s YouTube Is a Hole in One

Callaway Golf scores on YouTube, with excellent content that isn’t overly salesy or promotional. Videos include how to hit a bump and run and vertical centers of gravity in golf drivers. You don’t have to be a Callaway customer to benefit from this content, and next time you’re purchasing a golf club, you might just consider Callaway for their know-how and generosity.

Arcade Fire’s Fan-Sourced Gallery

One genius way to create content without much in-house effort: crowd-sourcing. Arcade Fire asked fans to submit their photos of the band’s Reflektor Tour, and in return, the fans’ photos could wind up on Arcade Fire’s Facebook page and website. This was a win for both the band and fans, as the website benefited from new photography, and fans could earn a spotlight on their favorite band’s online properties.

Random House’s Literary Inspiration

I appreciate the way Random House takes readers into the digital era with their Pinterest account and corresponding content. Books have been around forever, but publishing companies are just getting started when it comes to e-books and online engagement. Take a look at a few of Random House’s Pinterest board titles:

• The Literary Imbiber
• What Would Jane Austen Do?
• Bookish Nooks
• Literary Tattoos
• Literary Wedding
• Best Book Covers

Random House doesn’t write all the articles or create all the images associated with these boards, but curating them for their fans in a one-stop book lover’s shop is a surefire win. With such targeted and well-curated content, it’s no wonder they have nearly 1.5 million Pinterest followers.

Panera Bread Cozies Up to Pinterest

Pinterest is great to build curated content because there’s so much readily available to re-pin and package into albums and stories that fit with your brand. See what Panera Bread has done on Pinterest, curating both their content (like this Break Bread album with several links to their blog) and content from outside sources (like this album with tips to take better care of yourself). It all fits in with Panera Bread’s cozy, familiar, healthy (but not at the expense of comfort) image.

Disney Shares Behind-the-Scenes Magic

The Disney Parks Blog features an entire category for behind the scenes posts. Disney fans love to see the making of the magic, so these blogs provide a welcomed glimpse into the beloved parks and cast members.

Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he writes about topics that relate to improving the performance of a business. please bookmark his blog for awesome stories and articles.