By \ February 27, 2017
Some of the best performing content is edcuational. It’s no secret that the web is the first place that most of us to go learn something, and if your content is available and well-done then you can help the audience accomplish their task and sell them on an offering at the same time.
But educational content can go far beyond “How-to” blogs. There’s a trend of brands creating more and more robust educational experiences, to the point where they even compete with certain university courses.
If your brand has a mission to educate or generate awareness this approach may be perfect for you. The following examples are of top brands producing a range of educational content, from simple blogs to full online courses.
9 Examples of Educational Content
Blog series
The professional staffing and recruitment firm Aerotek taps into an internal panel of recruiters and industry experts for their Business Insights blog series, affirming Aerotek as a true thought leader and driving some serious traffic to their website.
Video series
The Search Engine Optimization software Moz, produces Whiteboard Friday, a series in which the brand’s mustached mascot covers an aspect of SEO each week. The simple yet highly informative series shows just what you can do if you put someone who’s knowledgeable and passionate in front of a camera.
E-book
Distributed through a number of online tactics, Evergreen Health’s The World’s Easiest Health Insurance Guide (Ever) is an e-book that’s not only used to drive web traffic, collect leads and enhance the company’s brand, it also supports their mission to demystify healthcare and aid individuals and families.
Mobile phone app
The University of Michigan College Engineering’s ‘One Cool Thing’ mobile phone app delivers a story each day on innovation, revolution and history in the world engineering, engaging prospective students with a serious passion for the industry.
Podcast
Created in partnership with the Umpqua Bank, the Open Account podcast teaches us everything we want to know but are afraid to ask about money.
Documentary
In an attempt to promote their brand while promoting the importance of vegetarianism, MorningStar Farms produced the documentary “The Veg Effect.” In this case, the informative documentary actually encourages (truthfully, we hope) the audience to use the brand’s product!
E-course
InVision–a website prototyping app–offers a free 9 part e-course on the principles of UX design. As more and more people read their news and find shopping discounts within email, designing a course that’s hosted entirely within an email is a smart and exciting approach to online learning.
Webinar
Skift is a travel marketing publication that has started to take their research and content and turn it into a revenue source, creating White Papers, courses, and webinars. This is a great example of how to monetize your knowledge while boosting your content marketing efforts.
Online course
The design company IDEO has taken its knowledge to the next level by creating an branded online course for marketers and creators of all kinds. Leading for Creativity is not only a revenue source. It’s also a way to define the company as a top-tier expert within the industry.
If your marketing team has a content marketing plan or is in the midst of implementing one, it would be hard not to ignore the options in this list. You’d even be surprised by how simple it is to create this type of content.
For example, open sourced video assets and changing audience standards have made video creation a lot easier, while new tools allow marketers to create comprehensive, online course in no time.
If you would like to learn more about how to create educational content for marketing purposes, feel free to give us a shout, or follow idfive’s subscribe integrated marketing email newsletter.