Content marketing accounts for some of the most creative, humorous, and touching pieces on the internet—and there’s no doubt memorable content can help set a company apart. If you’re just getting started with a content marketing plan for your business or looking for a little inspiration, check out what these ten small businesses are doing to grow their sales and become content marketing powerhouses.
Birchbox
Founded in New York City in 2010, Birchbox has grown from its initial investment of $1.4 million to being valued at more than $485 million. Each month, more than one million subscribers receive a box of premium beauty-related items, from lipstick and skincare for women to socks and earbuds for men. Much of this growth has come from their content, which includes multiple daily blog posts on topics like makeup application, box sneak peeks, and behind-the-scenes office happenings. Birchbox shares videos on their blogs and social media platforms, and encourages subscribers to post pictures of their boxes and tag them #birchbox for a retweet or regram.
Dollar Shave Club
Los Angeles-based Dollar Shave Club released a $4,500 video about their no-employee small-budget company—and two days later, they had 12,000 new customers, more than 9.5 million views, and more than 100,000 new followers and fans on their social media platforms. They continue to produce great content, with humorous and educational blog posts on fashion, skincare, and saving money.
Good Greens
This Cleveland-based nutrition bar company is evidence of how powerful the written word can be for small businesses. In fact, they saw their sales increase more than 50 percent in just four months when they began focusing on their content marketing. Their blog gives health-conscious customers information on everything from sufficient vitamin and mineral consumption to creating their own gardens. On social media, they actively share how customers enjoy their bars, and keep followers in-the-know about where bars can be purchased.
Mint
Personal financial management company Mint was launched in 2006 to help users track their spending. The company quickly grew, and was acquired by Intuit for $170 million. Their blog, Mint Life, played a big part in the company’s growth. Along with customer testimonials, Mint Life features articles on budgeting, work-life balance, and tools and tricks to help improve quality of life.
Nooma
Another Cleveland-based company, Nooma was created by two athletic brothers seeking an alternative to traditional energy drinks. They developed a plant-based formula, and watched their business take off when they began focusing on a content marketing strategy. The owners regularly contribute to Nooma blog, which covers subjects like health information, lifehacks, recipes, and workout hotspots.
Uber
By no means a small company anymore, Uber’s content marketing has propelled it into one of the top spots in practical apps. In 2014, the company had gross bookings of $2.96 billion, and grew to $3.63 billion by mid-2015, rapidly outpacing its previous year. Uber’s YouTube videos are a particular hit, showing their value while getting potential customers excited about the service.
KidRunner
Ruby Receptionists’ Oregon neighbor KidRunner has been a social media content marketing machine in the past few years, with popular videos garnering attention across social sites. Runners throughout the country shared and liked an article showing professional runner Max King winning the BigFoot 10K with his daughter behind him in the egg-shaped jogging stroller. While they don’t have a blog, their videos are an excellent example of content marketing.
Airbnb
In 2008, this company quite literally started in the founders’ living room. Now, Airbnb is a highly profitable and popular site with millions of bookings from around the world. Their blog is filled with content about cultural norms, business ownership, and places to visit across the globe.
Kissmetrics
The company is touted across the Internet for its growth, and for a good reason: in just ten months, Kissmetrics reached more than a million unique visitors without paid traffic. They publish outstanding content that teaches CEOs, marketing executives, and others working in a variety of industries about the habits of their customers, and offer free webinars to their readers as well.
Ruby Receptionists
At Copywriter Today, we are huge fans of Ruby’s content marketing strategy. They truly care about their customers and share a wide variety of resources on topics like growing your business, taking care of your customers, and building a culture of service. We love the WOW story of the month because it puts into words the importance of the small things we do in business, and their articles and webinars are filled with information that can be quickly implemented for immediate results.
When you’re developing your content marketing strategy think about your goals and consumers—and how they like to absorb information. Whether you should create blogs, social media posts, videos, or infographics depends on who you’re trying to reach, and what you’re trying to say. When it’s done with love, content marketing is a powerful force.
Gabe Arnold is the founder of Copywriter Today where you can get unlimited fresh content for all your marketing needs. If you want 250 free headline ideas for your next marketing campaign, use their free tool here.
