There isn’t a “right” way to do content marketing—but we’ve identified three approaches for sustainable content-driven growth:

1. Editorial/search engine optimization (SEO)
2. Editorial/virality
3. User-generated content (UGC)

These approaches differ in who creates the content and how it’s distributed, but there’s one common theme across them:

Great content provides great value.

Whether that value is useful information, entertainment, or something else, it’s what ultimately helps content creators achieve their marketing goals.

Below, we’ll describe each approach in more detail.

Editorial/SEO

Using this approach, a brand creates content with the goal for it to rank well in search results. The content creator may be the founder, in-house marketer, or an outsourced expert.

This strategy is data-driven and focuses on generating organic traffic through search engine optimization (SEO). It’s easier to find topics because of keyword research, which helps brands decide what topics they should create content about.

With editorial/SEO content, you should expect a minimum of 6 months before seeing any jumps in traffic and leads. (But this time frame could be shorter for websites with a longer history and existing relationships.)

Below are two B2C examples of editorial/SEO-focused content, which we’ll discuss in more detail later on:

• Rover.com publishes educational content for dog owners on its blog and YouTube channel.
• Skillshare creates keyword-optimized tutorials and guides for people interested in starting a new creative hobby.

As well as a couple examples from B2B companies:

• Ahrefs educates viewers in SEO and digital marketing on its blog and YouTube channel.
• CoSchedule offers free downloadable resources on its blog.

Editorial/virality

Like the editorial/SEO approach, a company creates content for itself in this strategy. However, its main goal is to create content that’s widely shared rather than content that ranks highly in search results.

Content in this strategy focuses on grabbing users’ attention and delivering high-quality information and new ideas. It also tends to stir emotion in some way. It also resonates with audiences in some way, compelling them to share it with others via email, Twitter, etc.

This strategy’s biggest challenge is the creativity required of it. There’s no formula for creating viral content, and there’s also no predictable time frame for seeing results. Some brands chase virality for years before finding success.

Below are two B2C examples of editorial/virality-focused content, which we’ll discuss in more detail later on:

• Zillow created fictional property listings for famous characters that people love, like Santa’s home and the Incredibles’ super-home.
• Course Hero commissioned helpful infographics about famous pieces of literature, which are shared widely by teachers and students.

Two ecommerce examples:

• Beardbrand creates attention-grabbing videos about men’s hair and beard transformations on YouTube.
• BARK relies on in-house writers and freelancers to create entertaining dog-themed articles on its content site BarkPost.

And a couple from B2B companies:

• Priceonomics publishes blog posts with titles like “Diamonds Are Bullshit” and “What It's Like to Fail.”
• Mailchimp created unusual, attention-grabbing mini campaigns for nine fake brands.

User-generated content (UGC)

Unlike the other two approaches, user-generated content (UGC) relies on a company’s users to create content. This can happen organically or be encouraged by a brand. Companies then leverage the UGC for their marketing campaigns.

UGC may be optimized for search or sharing. Users typically create content when they have a strong emotional reaction to a company, e.g., writing a product review after receiving poor service.

This strategy is challenging because UGC is mostly up to a company’s customers, although brands can encourage or incentivize users to create content.

Below are two examples of UGC strategies from B2C brands, which we’ll discuss in more detail later on:

• Yelp incentivizes users to leave business reviews, which rank highly in search results.
• Adobe uses branded hashtag campaigns on social media to show off user-created digital projects.

And two ecommerce examples:

• Casper uses customer reviews to optimize its website for review-related keywords.
• GoPro repurposes camera footage from its customers for its blog, YouTube channel, and social media accounts.

Plus two B2B examples:

• Adobe uses branded hashtag campaigns on social media to show off user-created digital projects
• G2 incentivizes users to review software products on its marketplace and review site

Important note

The three approaches described above are all proven content marketing strategies, but UGC tends to be more product-dependent than editorial content strategies. Because of this, our program will focus more on editorial SEO and virality.

There are also more approaches to content marketing than those listed above. For example, some companies use product-centered content (like user guides) to improve customer retention. However, for our growth program, we’ll focus on using content for acquisition.