19 Inspiring Content Marketing Examples to Learn From

Content marketing is a type of marketing in which organic content is used to draw in your target audience and encourage engagement with or purchasing from a company or brand. Content marketing is most often recognized in the form of social media marketing, but also extends to blogging, podcasting, writing, and video creation. If you have hopped onto your favorite social media platform, you have come across content marketing strategy.

Content marketing is a powerful form of marketing, because it does not usually go in for the overt sell; instead, a content marketer draws the target audience in through images, videos, or text, and offers something back. From user-generated content, where an existing customer creates an image, video, or text, to more intentional social media posts describing how exactly to use a product, content marketing is more of a give-and-take form of marketing, in which a brand or company provides useful, compelling, or visually appealing content in order to promote their products or services.

I will introduce one example from one of the many types of content marketing, which you can learn about here:

Long-Form Content Marketing

Long-form content marketing is a form of content marketing that focuses on creating larger pieces of content in order to promote a company, product, or service. The most significant types of long-form content marketing options include blogs, videos, and podcasts, though it can also extend to things like eBooks.

Long-form content marketing is ideal for companies, products, and services that require explanation, guidance, or encouragement. This can include items as diverse as makeup (think YouTube makeup tutorials) and technological solutions (think a blog detailing the value of using a specific platform for social media management). Consider the following examples:

1. Blog – HubSpot Blog

HubSpot is a social media management platform, though it offers a CRM and customer services solutions, as well. The HubSpot blog is among my favorite content marketing examples, because it shows how a brand can consistently produce valuable content in order to remain top of mind and encourage customer engagement. Even without the use of social media accounts, HubSpot demonstrates value each time it posts a blog with informative details regarding to to leverage marketing, customer service, and CRM solutions effectively.

2. Video – Blendtec YouTube Channel

Blendtec, a blender company, demonstrated exactly how useful a video platform can be, with one of the best video content marketing examples in recent history. Blendtec took to its YouTube channel to produce “Will It Blend?” videos, which brought in millions of views and allowed the blender company to become more of a household name. Social media users were quick to take note of the unusual approach to marketing, and the campaign proved immensely successful.

3. Podcast – Jack Daniels Around the Barrel Podcast

Jack Daniels took advantage of a content format that proved to be an effective strategy to bring in a wider audience. Rather than seeking out video marketing initiatives, the whiskey giant developed the “Around the Barrel” podcast, which is used to discuss the history of the brand and the process of creating the famous drink.

Identified right from the start as a valuable resource for existing fans of the brand rather than an audience increasing endeavor, the Around the Barrel podcast achieved the marketing goals of the original team; that is to say, the brand has enjoyed a long term partnership with listeners, and have since been able to expand to include collaborations and paid promotions. 

Social Media-Based Content Types

Social media-based content marketing is one of the easiest ways to connect with your target audience, as these platforms already have a slew of potential customers. Content marketing efforts on social media platforms are great for delivering visual content that does not necessarily immediately come across as a sales pitch or marketing campaign, but instead allows you to deliver valuable content in an easily digestible way. Some great examples of content marketing within this content type include:

4. Livestreaming – Nordstrom Live

Nordstrom Live was introduced several years ago, and has shown promise since its inception. The event was originally designed as a means of combining styling advice and shopping experiences, with livestreaming events also showing off Spring lines, home, beauty, and more. The appeal of this particular event stems from its ability to advertise in a friendly, direct-to-consumer way, demonstrating how to use products and why they might be valuable in real time.

Livestreaming combined with active shopping is one of the best ways that Nordstrom performed. Customers are able to not only watch styling, or demonstrations of how products might work for them, but they are then able to immediately purchase those items.

5. Photos/Images – GE #InstaWalk Instagram Campaign

GE’s Instagram boasts plenty of high-quality and truly impressive photos, but they occasionally hand the wheel over to amateur photographers, as was the case with their “InstaWalk” campaign. In this campaign, people were encouraged to visit GE facilities, and take photos, before posting those photos on the platform with the tag “#InstaWalk.”

This campaign was brilliant because it not only provided a window into the background operations of the company, but did so through the eyes of visitors, rather than only highlighting the company’s perceived values. By bringing in visitors and allowing those visitors to snap photos, GE created an air of exclusivity and welcome simultaneously and grabbed the eye of people who may not have followed GE otherwise.

Further Reading: 15 Social Media Content Ideas to Increase Engagement

6. Shortform Video – Duolingo

Duolingo’s focus on TikTok content has made it a content marketing success because it has appealed to an audience intent on consuming media in a content format that is short, sweet, and entertaining. Duolingo uses TikTok to release its “unhinged” marketing content, or content that is not quite as polished as your social media campaign, instead leaning into the sometimes-chaotic nature of the app’s owl mascot controlling the show.

Following its foray into short-form video content, Duolingo saw growth reaching 7 million followers, 147 million likes, and a 62% jump in active users in only one year.

Further Reading: Six Powerful Ways to Create Engaging Video Content for Social Media

7. Engaging Text – Wendy’s on Twitter

Wendy’s has become known for a wide range of Tweets, with an engaging and entertained audience in mind. Ranging from acerbic to playful to challenging, Wendy’s Twitter strategy has garnered plenty of interest over the years, and with good reason: the fast food chain is #3 in its industry, with continued growth despite being in an industry that has taken some hits in recent years.

Another example of something that might be considered “unhinged” marketing, Wendy’s aims to engage with pop culture, current events, and clients on a regular basis, rather than focusing on content within its industry.

Text-Based Types of Content Marketing (often for lead magnets)

Text-based types of content marketing include Ebooks, webinars, quizzes, templates, and educational guides. These may be delivered in specific formats, such as PDFs marketed to potential customers, or may be delivered in the form of blog posts. A content creator can choose to utilize these content types to deliver high-quality content with a great deal of research behind them, but they can also offer more upbeat, fun, and interactive content, to build loyalty and support.

I have put together some of the best examples of text-based content marketing campaigns below. These are great examples of how to think outside of the box, or encourage brand recognition even in the absence of a specific call to action.

8. Ebooks – LinkedIn – How LinkedIn Uses LinkedIn for Marketing

Ebooks may not be your first thought when you think about content marketing, but Ebooks can actually be helpful in helping you reach your business goals. LinkedIn demonstrated the value of ebooks when the site was used to distribute ebooks. Using the platform as a means of getting an ebook out there, building relationships in the process, and determining where their audience was most likely to lie meant that this strategy was a success and helped inform future releases and ongoing marketing efforts.

9. Webinars – Notion

Notion offers its prospective customers a host of different solutions, and this is a huge reason the management system successfully pairs webinars with their marketing efforts. Notion can be used in so many different ways that knowing where to start, or how the tool can be used in unconventional ways can be quite difficult. By offering webinars on how to use Notion, specifically, and how to complete other tasks (with notion as a helper), the company wisely encourages customers to see the value the company brings to the table, encouraging retention of existing users and a “buy-in” from prospective users.

Educational content is often underutilized, but Notion demonstrates how even educational content without a definitive bend toward sales can successfully support a company or brand’s bottom line.

Further Reading: How to Promote a Webinar with Social Media

10. Quizzes – Buzzfeed

Known for its listicles and quizzes, Buzzfeed has carved out quite a place for itself on the internet, with no signs of slowing down. When you think of quizzes, you may have a knee-jerk reaction taking you back to the years of schooling you endured, with quizzes left and right. Buzzfeed quizzes, however, ask questions you are more than equipped to answer, as they are all about you.

This brilliant bit of content, while not overtly a marketing tool, is one of the most effective ways that Buzzfeed tackles broad topics, while keeping their audience highly engaged–some quizzes bring in more than 20 million clicks. With the ability to share quizzes to messages and social media, and a new series of quizzes on a regular basis, Buzzfeed demonstrates how quizzes can be used to capture your audience’s attention and keep them coming back for more.  

11. Templates – Facebook Ad Library

The Facebook Ad Library is a great content marketing strategy example, as it essentially functions as a database from which to carve your own marketing campaigns. Although many people leave the site or platform they are using to research and create their ads, Facebook sought to make sure users were staying on their platform as much as possible. The Ad Library makes that possible, as users can complete their research and creation on the site itself. 

This is a wise investment, because it means that users are less likely to leave your site in search of expertise or insights elsewhere, effectively making Facebook the one-stop shop for many marketers. 

12. Educational Guides – Dove Self-Esteem Project

The Dove Self-Esteem Project is a large, multi-faceted project that offers education and informational guides regarding young people and beauty standards, in order to help improve the self-esteem of those young people. Again, while these guides may not initially seem to be marketing materials, Dove’s focus on self-esteem and improvement for teens and their parents demonstrates a commitment to change and health, both of which can increase customer satisfaction and promote customer loyalty. 

Dove’s campaign is substantial, and is said to reach over 82 million young people worldwide. This alone demonstrates how educational materials can significantly impact the number of people being reached by a company or brand. 

User-Generated Types of Content Marketing

User-generated social content is typically found on social media channels, as these are the channels on which this type of content is most effectively created and shared. User-generated content varies in the way that it is put together and in the way that it performs, but it all falls under one heading: challenges and social content. Both of these types of content can bring more of your target audience in, whether through the social channels on which they are posted, or through search engines. Some great examples of companies utilizing user-generated content include:

13. User-Generated Social Media Content – Apple #shotoniphone

Apple’s “#shotoniphone” campaign was one that far exceeded expectations, and continues to act as a shining example of how to effectively marry marketing, community, and self-expression to develop user-generated content that effectively promotes your brand. During the campaign, Apple iPhone users were encouraged to snap photos using their iPhone (initially following the iPhone 6 launch), and share those photos using the tag #shotoniphone.” Images were initially selected and placed on billboards and shared elsewhere by Apple.

This particular campaign is considered so wildly successful because it boasts the following metrics: 6.5 billion media impressions, 24 million mentions on Instagram, and 95% positive mentions. Even now, almost a decade later, the campaign is still used as an example of the power of user-generated content.

Further Reading: The Top 13 UGC Platforms to Empower Your Content Marketing in 2025

14. Contests – Canva – Design Challenge Campaign

While many brands use contests sparingly, Canva uses contests to stay top of mind on a weekly basis. Each week, a new design challenge is issued using a specific topic or theme. Users are then encouraged to create their own designs, and those designs are shared. Canva leverages mutually beneficial relationships to help further their content; by sharing user-generated images through their design contests, they are increasing customer loyalty and garnering more interest in their brand, while offering more exposure to contest entrants. 

Canva’s strategy has paid off, with an average engagement rate of just under 1% across these posts. As engagement is one of the most important aspects of successful marketing efforts, Canva’s weekly design contest has proven an invaluable marketing strategy. 

Traditional Media Types of Content Marketing

Traditional media has fallen out of favor as the sole or primary form of marketing as social media platforms have surged and soared. Blog content, too, has taken over much of the territory once largely controlled by newspapers and magazines. Nevertheless, there are some forms of traditional marketing content that remain useful: magazines and television.

Although they may not be the primary marketing giants they once were, television marketing is certainly not obsolete, and magazines can still dazzle with spreads and content pieces on a specific company or brand. Some more recent examples I can recall of effective television and magazine marketing include:

15. Magazine – John Deere “The Furrow” Magazine

Considered one of the precursors to modern content marketing, John Deere brand’s “The Furrow” magazine began in 1895, as a collection of materials designed to promote Deere products, through overt advertisements, articles, and advice. The magazine does not shy away from content topics directly promoting John Deere products, but it also provides value in the form of business strategy, information pieces, and educational tips and suggestions.

Often lauded for its cleverness and longevity, “The Furrow” is something of a collector’s item, with some previous issues seeing fierce bidding wars. Seemingly a simple magazine, John Deere’s content collection is a wonderful example of pairing marketing materials and valuable content.

Further Reading: What Branded Content is. What it’s Not. And How to Get it Right

16. Television – Formula 1: Drive to Survive

Television advertisement is an ad format we are all certainly comfortable and familiar with, but that does not mean TV tropes have to be tired or lacking in innovation. Formula 1’s “Drive to Survive” campaign is a great example of this, as it appears to be less of an advertising effort through its documentary style feel, going into all things Formula 1 racing. Nevertheless, Drive to Survive is essentially a long-form version of the “behind the scenes” content so frequently seen on platforms like Instagram, with the benefit of a large budget and platform on which to release episodes. 

Ultimately, the series proved useful as a content marketing campaign, because it drew in viewers who had not previously expressed an interest in the sport. Viewership has increased 70%, ticket sales have increased 15%, and sponsors within the sport have grown. 

Other Types of Content Marketing

There are some instances in which content marketing defies standard concepts of successful content marketing strategies. In these cases, content creation might involve creating a course, using user data to draw in your audience, or creating games to draw people in and subsequently advertise your company, brand, or product. Successful content marketing examples in this realm include the following:

17. Courses – Coinbase Learning Rewards

Coinbase effectively encouraged prospective customers to head to the cryptocurrency site by offering rewards for going through courses on cryptocurrency, and how to use it. Courses may or may not be followed by small quizzes, which are then rewarded with a small amount of the cryptocurrency in question. This marketing tactic combines rewards and courses, and encourages people who might not have initially been interested in cryptocurrency to take a leap and familiarize themselves with the product. The campaign has gained steam, and Coinbase now offers their courses in 103 countries.

18. User Data-Driven – Spotify Wrapped

Spotify Wrapped is an incredible content marketing strategy example, because it takes simple user data, and has created a massive campaign that is looked forward to every year. Spotify Wrapped tells customer stories in a simple and easily shareable format: by identifying users’ trends in listening. Spotify Wrapped offers a way for listeners to show their personality and share their results, which offers something of a tradition for users every year.

Despite its simplicity, Spotify’s ongoing Wrapped campaign continues to grow and demonstrate enormous gains. In one year alone, from 2021 to 2022, Spotify saw a 15% increase in total volume and a 17% increase in total engagements.

19. Games – New York Times Wordle

Wordle is a simple enough game: you have six tries to guess a five-letter word. The ease of the game makes it an easy entry, while the challenge of it keeps players coming back for more. Although at its inception, it was a small operation, its popularity quickly grew, and the rights were purchased by the New York Times. Following its purchase, Wordle is said to have brought tens of millions of new users to the New York Times. 

While the game was not created by the New York Times, its use by the company proved to be extremely beneficial, and brought prospective customers in droves. Print media has struggled to keep up as digital materials have become more readily available–and free–so publications like the New York Times have had to learn to adapt to stay relevant. Using a highly popular game to bring in more readers is an excellent way to buck the trend of moving away from publications and keep that publication top of mind, as the New York Times has demonstrated. 

Conclusion

From white papers to viral videos, to regular blog content, there are countless effective content marketing strategies you can use to bring your business into alignment with your goals. I put together examples of successful content marketing campaigns to help demonstrate the many different ways you can create helpful content or compelling content in order to connect with your audience and increase reach, engagement, and ultimately lead to improved sales.

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