7 Popular Content Types and How to Use Them

Content marketing is a huge part of any online marketing strategy. It allows you to reach your customers and create brand awareness. It can also help generate leads, increase sales and boost conversions.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that the type of content you use plays an important role when it comes to increasing engagement rates – this means that different types of content will work better depending on your audience and their preferences.

Here is a list of 7 popular content types along with their pros/cons:

1. Videos

Videos are one of the most engaging and effective ways to communicate with your audience. They can be used to answer common questions, demonstrate how something works, or show off your products or services.

Videos are also great for showing off your expertise through tutorials and case studies. By creating a video series (a collection of short videos that vary in length) about various topics related to your business, you can provide added value for those who want more information on specific topics—and potentially encourage them to buy into other products or services you offer as well.

You may want to consider using an online tool such as VEED video editor when creating videos because they make it easy for anyone who knows how to use a computer keyboard but not much else!

2. Webinars/Podcasts

Webinars and podcasts are great for delivering information in a way that can be easily digested by your audience. They’re also relatively inexpensive to produce because you’ll only need one or two cameras, a decent mic, and reliable software.

You’ll want to use a screen share tool like Google Hangouts or Zoom so people can see where you’re writing on the screen while recording.

You’ll want to have a script of what you want to say beforehand so that it flows smoothly during the webinar/podcast recording process (and make sure you practice!).

One of the benefits of doing a podcast or webinar is that you can reach people who aren’t currently in your audience. This means you can use the recording to attract new customers while also engaging existing ones.

3. Infographics/Graphics

An infographic is a visual representation of information. It’s a fun and easy way to explain complex concepts, but it’s also an effective way to present data in a clear and concise format. You can use infographics in nearly any context to add value to your content.

Infographics come in many shapes and sizes—from single-panel comics or memes, to long-form graphics that cover entire walls or spans multiple pages. The graphic below shows the most popular uses for infographics:

Informational/educational —provides useful facts about a topic (e.g., “What Your Favorite Holiday Says About You”)
Comparative —analyzes two different things side by side (e.g., “Buying vs Renting: Which Is Better?”)
Inspirational/motivational —encourages readers toward positive behavior change (e.g., “7 Tips for Making Money Online”)
Endorsement/promotion —endorses a product or service (e.g., “5 Reasons You Should Use This Product”)
Visual storytelling—tells a story with only visuals (e.g., “The History of the Internet in 10 Minutes”)

Infographics are a great way to leverage data in a shareable format. They can make complicated topics easy to understand and memorable, which makes them ideal for sharing on social media.

4. GIFs

GIFs are a great way to add some fun and personality to your blog posts. While they can be a little tricky to create, once you know the basics, it’s easy to find and edit GIFs that match your content. Also note that the size of the file will affect how quickly a GIF loads in readers’ browsers—the smaller, the better! Here are some other things to keep in mind when using GIFs:

Make sure it matches your tone/content (i.e., don’t use an overly-cute GIF if what you’re writing about is serious)
Use relevant keywords when searching for GIFs so that search engines will pull them up more easily

Make sure your GIF is in line with the rest of your content. If you’re writing about a serious topic, don’t use a funny GIF as your lead-in!

5. Interactive content

Interactive content is one of the most popular types of content and it’s easy to see why. Interactive content can be used to give users control over what they see, how they interact with you, and what they learn.

Interactive content can take many forms: a survey or quiz, poll (with multiple choice), decision tree or flowchart, even interactive infographics. The goal is always the same: get feedback from your audience by asking them questions about their preferences or needs so that you can adjust your product/service accordingly.

You may want to use an interactive poll if you want to gather feedback on your product or service from users who have already signed up for it (or are considering doing so). This gives them a chance to tell you how much they like what’s currently being offered before committing any money or time into using it further! You can also use a form builder such as Typeform which allows anyone without any coding knowledge access through their website interface – this makes creating these types of forms really simple too.

6. User-generated content

User-generated content is a great way to get your audience involved with the content that you create. It can be anything from reviews, comments, or testimonials. You can encourage this type of content by offering incentives for users to leave their thoughts and opinions on your platform. For example, if you own an online shop selling shoes, you could offer a discount on new purchases when customers leave a review about their favorite pair of shoes that they bought from you.

If there are any downsides to user-generated content it is usually because it doesn’t always follow strict guidelines or have high-quality standards as pre-made articles might have. However, if you make sure that the people who are submitting their work are aware of what they need to do and how they need to do it then there shouldn’t be any problems!

7. Blog posts – long-form content

Blog posts are one of the most popular methods of content marketing. They can be an effective way of getting your message out there, especially if you’re trying to build trust with your audience.

When writing blog posts, it’s important that you focus on making your points clear and concise while still being conversational and engaging. You want the reader to come away from reading a blog post feeling like they learned something new—but also that they were having a good time doing so!

It’s also important that you’re not just writing for search engines, but for your readers. You want them to feel like they’re getting value out of what you’re sharing with them—and if they don’t, then it’s likely that you’ll lose their attention quickly.

Takeaway

As you can see, content is everywhere and there are endless possibilities for it to appear. The best part about using something as simple as content is that it’s highly likely your audience will appreciate it. Content is what drives engagement on social media and keeps readers coming back for more. So whether you use lists, image galleries, infographics or a combination of multiple types of content—at the end of the day the most important thing to remember is that readers love and seek out content, so embrace it!