To find out how to find, fill and use the right content format, various aspects are important. These include a comprehensive knowledge of your buyer personas, an empathetically thought-out customer journey and a creative approach to the multitude of available formats. Here we show you how to use blog posts, e-books and videos strategically and the advantages and disadvantages of different formats.
Popular content formats and how to use them cleverly
Content formats are various forms in which content is prepared for users. These can be text-based, video and audio formats or a mixture of these. The following applies to every type of presentation: the message must be clear, attractively packaged and quickly accessible. If a customer has to puzzle over where the added value is hidden in the flowery story, it could be the wrong story. Some forms of presentation help to increase reach and visibility, others are suitable for building trust and positioning as a competent person (expertise).
It is also important to align the format with whether a B2B or B2C campaign is planned. Many formats are suitable for content marketing purposes - it is good to be open to all forms of media. In addition to traditional text contributions, visual and audio-oriented forms are becoming increasingly established and offer new opportunities to address your target group.
When choosing a format, you should always keep your goals in mind. In addition to branding - i.e. shaping the image of your brand - this could also include increasing your reach and positioning yourself as an expert. The tone of the content should be geared towards your goals - from informative to promotional.
Text-based content formats
There is no way around text. At least not as long as text-based search engines such as Google play the decisive role in searching and finding. The following therefore applies: texts that users should find via the search function must be SEO-compatible. They should offer appropriate content with added value, contain keywords and have a Google-friendly text and headline structure, to name just a few aspects. The text-based formats include:
Blog posts
They report on your company and industry-relevant content and usually convey relevant information early on in the customer journey. Ideal for generating expertise and trust among a (still) broad target group.
Advantages
- Blog texts are real all-rounders: in addition to texts, images and videos also convey simple brand messages and more complex company topics.
- They increase your reach and visibility - especially if they meet SEO criteria .
Disadvantage
- Good blog posts must offer readers real added value - this makes them time-consuming to create .
White papers, case studies and e-books
Perfect B2B content to present your company's products and services, which identifies you as a trustworthy expert. These formats are possible in different phases of the customer journey, depending on whether they contain solutions for general or more specific questions.
Advantage
- A download offer, e.g. as gated content on LinkedIn, also offers the option of building a network of potential customers.
- Freely accessible, high-quality e-books are popular backlink generators.
Disadvantage
- Here too, the required quality makes production costly.
- The range can be limited, especially for very specific issues .
Other text-based content such as expert interviews, guides or test reports can be positioned well on landing pages, for example, if potential interested parties have already become aware of the product or company. Newsletters reach addressees in a targeted manner, but usually only post-sales and sending them requires their consent (double opt-in).
Visual and audiovisual and formats: Information and entertainment
Images arouse emotions, infographics make complex relationships easier to understand and videos are perfect tools for storytelling: visual and audiovisual presentation offers many opportunities to convey messages about companies and products. Use them to generate reach and traffic and to visually "catch" the target group at the start of the customer journey - because images stay in the mind.
Images and GIFs
Both are ideal for breaking up long text passages by visually offering the quintessence of the content. They act as eye-catchers and convey messages in a direct and emotional way. In social media, images are an important part of the communication strategy and ensure reach.
Images go particularly well with text formats such as blog posts, but e-books and white papers can also benefit from the (measured) use of visual material. GIFs increase the entertainment value of a text, usually emphasize content in a humorous way and are therefore particularly popular in social media.
Advantage
- A large selection of images can now be purchased from various image platforms (such as iStock, Pexels, Pixabay or Unsplash) or downloaded for free use.
- Professional images produced in-house are a strong factor in corporate branding.
Disadvantage
- Images and especially GIFs increase the loading time of a page - this can have a negative effect on the Google ranking.
- Images can be misinterpreted and have a different effect than intended
Infographics and statistics
You can explain facts at length and in detail in a text - or clearly in infographics. Prepared figures that are available to you from your own surveys provide your target group with valuable information. So why not start a survey of your customers yourself, prepare the results and use them in various formats such as blog posts or study cases? There are now many providers such as Infogr.am, Visme, Canva and Piktochart - to name just a few - that make it easy to create high-quality infographics. Infographics can provide customers with specific information to help them make decisions during the customer journey.
Videos
Fast information or storytelling: videos are an integral part of any communication strategy. The possibilities that short films offer for corporate branding are almost unlimited. The reach can be immense: one of Edeka's thought-provoking Christmas videos has now reached 69 million clicks on YouTube.
Advantages
- Multiple application possibilities: Company presentation, tutorials, stories...
- Short films increase the appeal of many other content formats such as landing pages or product descriptions .
- Videos extend the time spent on websites and thus increase the ranking.
Disadvantages
- Producing good videos can be time-consuming and expensive
- Many or extensive videos can increase the loading time of a page
Webinars
Sharing expert knowledge - webinars are ideal for this purpose. Use them to offer added value during the customer journey and arouse interest in the topic. This is an opportunity to make direct contact through interactive offers such as Q&A sessions.
Advantage
- Build expertise and trust with webinars.
- They can be used in many ways - e.g. as a recording - to reach other interested parties .
Disadvantage
- Preparation and production are time-consuming and only worthwhile with active participation.
Using content formats correctly for the customer journey
Use several formats to reach your target group: well-designed blog posts on relevant topics and videos in the social media channels you use ensure reach and awareness. Generate expertise and trust with e-books and whitepapers that are tailored to common problems. Then create a more intensive bond with offers for webinars and get in direct contact with your potential customers.
Be present at every stage of the customer journey with suitable content pieces - right through to your website with informative landing pages and product pages. The presentation options are diverse: creativity pays off!
