Ever feel like you’re running out of ideas for your content marketing campaigns?
You’re not alone.
Content marketing is all about using content to attract and retain visitors and eventually turn them into customers. And most people who use it know it’s effective.
There’s just one problem: content marketing can be seriously hard work.
If you’re running content marketing campaigns, day in, day out, it can be difficult to consistently come up with new ideas and keep the momentum going.
That’s why we’ve written this article. From blogging and social media to video and visual marketing, we’ve got a great collection of B2C and B2B content marketing examples to inspire you.
These marketing examples from the business world will help you find new ways to get creative and create your own inspirational content marketing to win leads and sales.
But before diving into the list of our 31 content marketing exampels, though, let’s get clear on what content marketing is in the first place.
What Is Content Marketing? Content marketing is the intentional creation and curation of content with the goal of both attracting new prospects and nurturing them into leads.
It includes any form of messaging that you use to attract, educate, inform, persuade and inspire a prospect to move them closer to becoming a customer.
The goal of content marketing isn’t necessarily immediate sale but rather lead generation combined with strong brand recognition.
This type of marketing may be delivered via blogs, newsletters, e-books, forums/discussion boards, videos (businesses are creating more and more webinars), social media channels, and many other platforms.
In short, content marketing is about creating high-quality content to attractprospects and customers and to convert them into engaged followers who will spread the word about your products and services.
Content marketing also has several advantages, and can help you increase:
Traffic: You’ll drive traffic from search engines, social media, people following links in email or article sharing sites.
Sales: Content marketing is often a great way to not just drive traffic, but to drive the right traffic (people who are more likely to become customers).
Email Subscribers: If you are writing articles, you will be able to drive people to opt-in on your signup page (this is the best place for them to do that—don’t try and get it out of them elsewhere)
Now that we know what content marketing is and why it’s so beneficial for your business, let’s look at our 31 content marketing examples.
31 Content Marketing Examples
1) OptinMonster
Since we’re writing a blog post on content marketing examples, we thought OptinMonster’s blog would be the most appropriate place to start.
OptinMonster’s blog is a valuable resource for current customers (looking to use OptinMonster in new ways), as well as for prospective customers.
optinmonster blog page
Through this blog, OptinMonster has become an authoritative resource on lead generation tips, tools, and strategies.
For people who want to grow their email subscribers, increase their conversions, and drive more sales, the OptinMonster blog is an excellent tab to bookmark.
It’s also how OptinMonster was able to attract more than 1,213,437 websites that use its services.
2) Buffer
Buffer’s one of our favorite content marketing examples, due to their three-pronged content marketing strategy.
The company used guest blogging to fuel their initial growth, writing a couple of times a day and publishing content on high visibility sites. That growth hacking strategy helped Buffer attract their first 100,000 users.
On Buffer’s own blog, the company concentrated initially on writing for the people who influenced their customers, producing high quality, and highly shareable, content.
content marketing examples from the buffer blog
Buffer now has four blogs, including the Transparency blog and Open blog, where they have shared business ups and downs over the years.
And they share their best content via a regular email marketing.
The results speak for themselves: Buffer is a highly recognized and trusted brand, with almost 400,000 users, and around a million followers across multiple social media sites.
3) Hubspot
When you think of examples of content marketing done right, Hubspot’s always on the list. In addition to creating a free tool as a growth hacking strategy, Hubspot has used content marketing by:
Writing in-depth blog posts about the issues their visitors care about
Adding content upgrades such as ebooks to their blog posts
Creating an educational and content sharing hub, Inbound.org (which gets 321,000 visitors each month) and provides a great opportunity to promote its certification and partnership programs
Creating videos for Facebook and using LinkedIn to send traffic to those videos
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It must be working because Hubspot’s growth and reputation speaks for itself.
4) Rip Curl
Rip Curl bills itself as the “ultimate surfing company”. One of the ways it shows that dedication is via an online publication known as The Search.
rip curl is one of the best marketing examples from the business world
The Search chronicles surfers’ search for the best waves and the ultimate surfing lifestyle and features great photography, and stories told by surfers for surfers.
With more than 100,000 YouTube subscribers and a whopping 2 million-plus Facebook followers, this is a great example of matching content to your target audience to grow your business and make it profitable.
Trying to level up your YouTube game? Check out this helpful post: 12 Steps to Get Your First 100 YouTube Subscribers.
Social Media Marketing Examples
As we mentioned in our guide to social media and SEO, social shares can help indirectly with search ranking, which in turn helps with lead generation.
So it’s no surprise that many companies have focused on social media content to “WOW” their audiences.
5) GE
When you’re looking for inspiring B2B content marketing examples, GE is a great place to start.
We’re not talking about washer-dryers and vacuum cleaners, but about the company’s other business: wind turbines, jet engines, locomotives, and so on.
GE’s long been known for taking what some might see as a dull business, and bringing it to life, and this Instagram content marketing campaign is a perfect example.
4-ge-instawalk
GE combined the campaign with influencer marketing, getting six Instagram influencers and several superfans to do the #GEInstaWalk.
That meant touring their manufacturing facilities and taking, uploading and hashtagging pictures. The results were spectacular:
8 million views of GE’s Instagram account
3 million reaches per tour
3,000 new followers
And it was done without any paid advertising.
Want to learn more about how you can grow your business with Instagram? Just check out this helpful resource: How to Make Money on Instagram (Without 10K Followers)
6) RafflePress
RafflePress is the best online giveaway plugin for WordPress. It’s also been working to build a strong presence on Facebook, as the platform is a great way to increase pageviews for its blog.
And as a side bonus, they also get customer testimonials posted in the comments section of their posts:
rafflepress content marketing example with a testimonial on facebook
This is FREE social proof that helps other people either go to the RafflePress blog or head to their website to try the product.
In the end, even something as simple as resharing blog posts on social media can be an excellent content marketing strategy as your business grows.
7) Intrepid Travel
Intrepid Travel’s all about small groups, big adventures, and traveling responsibly. It supports that with a content hub called The Journal.
In The Journal, you’ll find stories from real travelers sharing their experiences, which helps the company connect more with their core audience.
But another facet of Intrepid’s content marketing strategy is posting aspirational travel images from travelers on Facebook, interspersing that with its own content.
facebook content marketing examples - intrepid travel
That’s given the company 600K+ Facebook followers, and strong communities on other social media sites.
8) Superdrug
Our next content marketing example uses both publishing placements and social media to get the audience’s attention.
Superdrug wanted to raise awareness around body image issues.
To do this, the company asked 18 graphic designers around the world to edit a photo of a model in Photoshop to bring it in line with their own country’s beauty norms.
The company published the results on Buzzfeed and Huffington Post, resulting in:
International news coverage, and placements with major publications like the New York Times, The Telegraph, and Business Insider
Celebrity endorsements of the campaign, like the one from Sofia Vergara below
3 million views of the original study
Around 1 million social shares
superdrug sophia vergara endorsement
Plus the company got more than 1,000,000 page views to their site within a five-day period.
Tried-and-True Content Marketing Examples
Next, we’ve got a couple of content marketing examples that don’t rely on social media promotion.
9) John Deere
Anyone who’s read up on content marketing has probably heard of The Furrow, which is generally reckoned to be one of the first examples of content marketing.
First published by John Deere in 1895, this publication aimed to help the company’s customers with the issues they faced, and show the company’s expertise at the same time.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
The amazing thing is that more than 120 years later, the publication’s still going, and is now also available online.
the furrow is one of the world's oldest content marketing examples
10) AARP
Here’s another content marketing example that underlines the importance of knowing your audience and delivering the content they want.
The AARP The Magazine has won awards for the quality of its content, design, and photography, but there’s nothing mysterious about its success.
They listen to their readers, who reach them by email, letter, and social media, and use that information to determine the topics that will resonate with them most.
what is content marketing - check out aarp's magazine
It’s America’s biggest consumer magazine, going to 22 million households. In addition, more than half of its 37 million readers have read three of the last four issues.
Visual Content Marketing Examples
Images are the lifeblood of social media. They easily connect you with your audience and give potential leads an engaging way to interact with your brand.
Need some proof that visual content marketing works? Check out this helpful resource: 85 Content Marketing Statistics to Make You a Marketing Genius.
Now let’s look at some visual content marketing strategies that have been shown to work.
11) Zomato
Zomato is a restaurant finder mobile app available in 24 countries.
The company uses humor in its marketing strategy. In particular, it creates and shares images referencing popular culture, as this recent example spoofing an Oscar-nominated film shows.
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They are simple, creative, and entertaining, proving that a minimalist approach can do the trick.
It must be working, because the company’s got 1.4 million followers on Twitter, 1.9 million on Facebook, and the app’s been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times.
12. Shutterstock
Shutterstock’s in the business of images, and it’s used its expertise to make a resource that everyone can use: a creative trends report. This capitalizes on the fact that people love reliable data, and this type of resource gets widely shared.
Last year’s infographic attracted thousands of social shares, and attracted more than 6 billion site visits, according to the Content Marketing Institute.
Shutterstock has made the resource interactive, including not just images, but video and music. So far, it’s been shared more than 10,000 times.
shutterstock's content marketing example
13) Rolex
Just because you’re an iconic brand, it doesn’t mean you can’t totally rock content marketing.
Rolex proves this by conveying the quality and timelessness of its brand through excellent photography which radiates quality.
rolex's content marketing on instagram
And the fans love it: Rolex has more than 7 million Instagram followers and around 6.6 million on Facebook.
Video Marketing Examples
Video marketing drives brand awareness, leads, and sales, so it’s no surprise that so many of our content marketing examples include videos.
14. Blendtec
Let’s start with Blendtec, whose viral videos prove there’s no such thing as a boring industry – if you can tap into what hooks your audience.
Blenders might not sound that interesting, but they become a heck of a lot more so when you put weird stuff in them.
The Will It Blend video series put the company on the map and resulted in a 700% increase in sales in a three-year period.
Today, Blendtec’s YouTube channel has more than 800,000 subscribers, and the campaign’s still going strong, with videos regularly attracting hundreds of thousands of views.
15) Hootsuite
When you’re launching your content marketing strategy, it never hurts to tap into popular culture – and one of the most popular shows in recent years has been Game of Thrones.
Hootsuite used this as a jumping-off point to tell a relatable story about their brand via a video titled A Game of Social Thrones.
hootsuite-social-thrones1
This video has now had more than 1 million views and is their most successful branded content.
16. Zendesk
Here’s one of the coolest content marketing examples from the business world.
It’s an example where Zendesk jumped on something that could have gone against them and showed their brand values and personality at the same time.
Whenever you offer a product or service, there’s someone searching for an alternative. When Zendesk realized people were searching for Zendesk alternatives, they basically hijacked the keyword phrase, creating a mini-site and video optimized around it.
zendesk alternatives
The result? A page one spot for that keyword phrase, and a heck of a lot of goodwill!
17) Old Spice
For a brand that’s been around since 1937, Old Spice is doing great at staying in touch with its market.
It wasn’t always this way.
Several years ago, the brand was losing ground to its competitors, when someone had a cool idea: jettison the old world image in favor of something – or someone – new, young and hot.
It worked. In a series of videos and ads delivering humor and in some cases never mentioning the brand, Old Spice changed its image to become relevant for a new generation.
18) JetBlue
JetBlue is one of the world’s leading airlines, and it’s never been afraid to get creative with content marketing. In particular, it’s used video to inspire its audience and to show off its brand values and personality.
Some examples include the Reach Across the Aisle campaign, which encourage people to find out what united them, a series on flying with infants, and the quirky Flight Etiquette video series.
jetblue-flybabies1
Video views on YouTube range from tens of thousands to millions, while the perception of the brand remains overwhelmingly positive.
19) WPBeginner
WPBeginner uses its video content marketing strategy to educate their audience more than anything else. That means providing in-depth tutorial guides as a counterpart to their blog.
As a result, users can visit WPBeginner’s YouTube channel to learn how to solve their WordPress troubles:
wpbeginner content marketing example
This has led to WPBeginner becoming an authority in the WordPress space, it’s helped countless of WordPress customers, and has led to over 248k subscribers.
20) Squatty-Potty
You may remember a few years back when a video was released for the “Squatty-Potty.” The product’s design makes it easier and healthier for people to use the restroom.
We know… not exactly the most entertaining of topics. And yet, Squatty-Potty produced a funny and entertaining video that quickly went viral:
squatty potty content marketing example
This video has been viewed nearly 40 million times over the past few years and remains one of the best video content marketing examples around.
Ebooks and Resources Examples
As we saw earlier with Hubspot, ebooks and resources are a great way to raise awareness of your brand. Here are a couple more examples of this type of content marketing.
21) LinkedIn
If you want to know how to use LinkedIn effectively, nobody’s going to be more expert than LinkedIn itself. That’s why the company’s ebook on its own approach to marketing with LinkedIn is such a winner.
The landing page whets customers’ appetites with a series of tips and stats, and most LinkedIn users will want to opt-in immediately.
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LinkedIn has continued to use this strategy by producing more marketing guides, so it’s a sure bet it’s working for them.
Not sure if LinkedIn is for your business? Check out how (and why) you should create a LinkedIn business page.
22) OptinMonster
We’ve already covered OptinMonster’s blog, but we’re far from a one-trick pony.
In fact, we pride ourselves on having a comprehensive (and wildly effective) content marketing strategy. One of the ways we were able to grow an email list so quickly was through our eBook:
optinmonsterebookexample updated with border
This optin campaign offered the eBook and is one of the reasons why our current email list has over 200,000 subscribers.
23) Simply Business
One of the best B2B content marketing examples is from Simply Business, a UK insurance firm that’s known for producing a series of useful tips and guides.
19-simply-business-facebook-guide
It’s yet another example showing that so-called “boring sectors” can still wow their audience. Their customer education guides have attracted thousands of links and shares, as well as raising their profile.
You may also be interested in this article for more B2B lead generation strategies or this helpful post on 5 B2B email best practices you need to try.
Other Content Marketing Examples
Finally, here are some content marketing examples from the business world that are a little bit different.
24) Coca-Cola
Coke used personalization to get everybody talking about their brand.
They kicked off their Share a Coke campaign in Australia by putting the 150 most common names on bottles. Then they encouraged people to share a Coke with people with those names.
That campaign went viral, resulting in sales of 250 million bottles and cans across the summer, or equivalent to just over 10 for every person in Australia.
Unsurprisingly the campaign soon rolled out to other locations. You can now customize your own bottle, as we did here.
share-a-coke-with-content-marketing-example
25) Grant Thornton
Data analytics is another area that could be seen as dry, but when Grant Thornton ran their Access Granted campaign, it was anything but.
21 grant thornton access granted
The company took people behind the scenes at the Tony Awards, showing exclusive content on YouTube and Twitter. That resulted in 3.7 million Twitter impressions, increased Facebook reach, and beating their goals for YouTube goals by 115%.
26) Charmin
This content marketing example from Charmin is perfect for its customers. The brand’s always had a sense of humor in its TV ads, and that’s carried through to the Sit or Squat app.
charmin content marketing example
This app aims to help people find clean bathrooms when they need them, so it’s also pretty practical. So far, the app’s been downloaded more than 100,000 times, and nobody’s going to forget the brand.
27) Burberry
Burberry’s most outstanding content marketing campaign was Burberry Kisses, blending mobile technology with the human wish to connect with others.
burberry kisses is one of the famous content marketing examples
Via an app, users could press their lips to the screen and send a digital kiss to anyone. The campaign also allowed people to use Google Street View and Google Maps to see the journey those digital kisses took.
28) Buzzstream
Buzzstream combined a number of content types (research-heavy guest content, evergreen blog content, and gated content) to attempt to position itself as a thought leader within its industry.
content marketing examples from buzzstream
The nine-month content campaign was hugely successful, resulting in a record-breaking number of new signups.
29) Lush
Lush combines a range of content marketing techniques to reach its audience, which is why it’s hard to put it in just one category of content marketing examples.
From its quirky product names to its well-known ethical values, the brand already resonates with its core audience.
But it doesn’t stop there. Its videos go behind the scenes of the making of its products, while on social media, Lush encourages users to share and hashtag photos of its products in use – or at least about to be used. Instagram is one of its key platforms, with the main Lush account attracting 4 million followers.
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30) The Joe Rogan Experience
The Joe Rogan Experience has become one of the most widely listened to podcasts in the world with over 8 million subscribers.
And whether you love him or hate him, you have to admit that he has a team of content marketing geniuses.
That’s because Joe Rogan doesn’t just do an audible version of the podcast, he streams each recording, too.
joe rogan experience content marketing example
That means he’s able to promote 2 pieces of content with a single shot. For every podcast he produces, he also has a video to share on YouTube.
And his channel actually has MORE subscribers than his podcast, with 10+ million subscribers.
With this audience, he’s able to promote upcoming comedy shows, new guests, affiliate products, and more.
31) Copyhackers
If anyone knows a thing or two about content marketing, it’s Joanna Weibe, found of Copyhackers. And while she provides us with TONS of content marketing examples, there’s another aspect to the website that’s really cool:
Joanna made a video slide-in that guides users to the right section of the website depending on if they’re new or returning visitors:
copyhackers content marketing example
By personalizing the user experience (UX), Copyhackers can get the right content into the right hands.
As result, they can get higher conversions and drive more sales from their website.
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