How familiar is this? You produce an ebook, which you then gate behind a email-collecting vehicle, and then you pump out a whole bunch of SEO-friendly blog posts to populate your social media and drive people to your website!
This is routine – and totally a worthwhile plan. There’s a reason why this model is the engine of content marketing. That said, there is a lot to be said for originality. Here are five offbeat ideas that powered effective marketing campaigns – and there’s not a blog post in sight.
Kid’s Book
Canadian chocolate brand Purdy’s approached ECHO with the challenge of building a fun content piece to work with their upcoming centennial celebration at Vancouver’s Science World. Partnering with Raise-A-Reader, Purdy’s created a subtly-branded kid’s book that would inspire kids to read with a fun story that was accessible to all. The book used Purdy’s iconic purple and the story revolved around chocolate – otherwise, it wasn’t about Purdy’s. It was about the love of chocolate.
Cartoon
We love Tom Fishburne’s perceptive-yet-humorous take on the latest marketing trends. Funny content is hard to do well – you actually have to be funny – but it is disarming and endearing at the same time. It can be the spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down.
Jeff Bridges’ Squarespace Website
Don’t be bound up by your expectations of what content should look like – think about what engages your audience. Innovative content marketing is memorable and invites engagement from your audience. Don’t be afraid to do the unexpected.
