7 Content Marketing Geeks on the Content That Inspires Them

5 minute read

Upland Admin

We write about content marketing every day. We talk about content marketing every day. Many of our titles include the word “content.” We get our kicks by adding puns to pretty pictures—like here, here, and here.

We are the Kapost Content Marketing Team.

When discussing the content assets that inspire us, it raises the bar on our own efforts. And since I experience the value of these conversations daily, I wanted to pass along the love to you, our fellow content marketing geeks. So, I bring you: The Kapost Content Team’s Favorite Content Marketing, Edition I

Andrew J. Coate, Community & Content Manager (What is a community manager?)

Follow Him: @andrewjcoate

Favorite Piece of Content Marketing: The American Whiskey Bible and the Bottled Beers From Around the World

Why It’s Awesome: These are two physical books that were developed to showcase whiskey and beer from across the globe. Apart from being a fantastic topic, the books successfully bring content marketing offline, and literally into the hands of customers. The branded books engaged friends around pictures, recipes, and booze.

Oh, Andrew also says it’s awesome because, “I’m a sucker for craft beer. You can quote me on that.” #quoted.

Anne “Le Murph” Murphy, Senior Managing Editor

Follow Her: @amurphias

Favorite Piece of Content Marketing: Buffer’s Open Salary Policy and Blog Post

Why It’s Awesome: While most companies keep salaries and financial matters hush-hush, Buffer—one of the top 50 content marketing brands—does not. Buffer publicly announced how they calculate the salaries of their employees in a blog post, which was shared widely across the interwebs. Yes, one of Buffer’s company values is transparency, and this takes their dedication to a whole new level, Anne says.

Apart from this content being directly in line with their brand, it also reveals something pretty much everyone is interested in knowing, and got them a huge amount of attention. Right in the knick of time. The popular post was published conveniently right after they launched their newest product, Buffer for Business, gaining:

Jean Spencer, Content Marketing Manager (Me!)

Follow Me: @jeanwrites

Favorite Piece of Content Marketing: Patagonia’s WornWear Campaign 

Why It’s Awesome: Not many companies can increase profits by telling consumers precisely to NOT BUY. But Patagonia’s done it. The Patagonia’s WornWear campaign showcases tattered old clothing building a compelling story that each piece of clothing has sentimental value. They basically say: keep old stuff and don’t buy new stuff.

Somehow, that’s a profitable motto, and thus an awesome content strategy, that:

Jesse “J.F.N.” Noyes, Senior Content Marketing Director

Follow Him: @noyesjesse

Favorite Piece of Content Marketing: HubSpot’s Online Blog Topic Generator

Why It’s Awesome: Well first, what a brilliant idea. Almost everyone struggles with finding enough ideas for content and blogs—more than 60% of B2B marketers say they don’t have enough time for content ideas.

So the simple solution? A blog topic generator. HubSpot nailed it. Their simple program is not only delightfully engaging, but also gets those brainstorming synapses firing again. While the concept isn’t foolproof, it is innovative, useful, and entertaining. Everything a good piece of content should be.

Mark Peck, Web Designer (…Not the Entire World Wide Web)

Follow Him: @doodlemarks

Favorite Piece of Content Marketing: The Verge Fifty

Why It’s Awesome: The Verge is often one of the edgier, more modern media companies out there. And the Verge 50 makes creme brûlée look like Jell-O. This top-50 list of people in 2013 is a web design masterpiece, executed well both artistically, and with fun UX. It’s pretty much a designer coup de maitre.

  • It’s pushing designers
  • It’s redefining web standards

Liz O’Neill, Content Marketing Manager & Bee Keeper

Follow Her: @LizKONiell

Favorite Piece of Content Marketing: McDonald’s Canada “Our Food. Your Questions” Campaign

Why It’s Awesome: McD’s brings an unexpected level of transparency with fast food in this Q&A content campaign. Users can ask all kinds of questions regarding the preparation, ingredients, and food strategies used by McDonald’s. And they do. Questions range from “Do you use any sort of filler in your chicken nuggets?” to “Dating back to at least 1978, the rumor claims that McDonald’s restaurants use earthworms in their hamburgers. Is this statement true?

  • A novel way to interact with food
  • An unexpected move from a fast food chain, facing head-on the myth that fast food companies want to quiet the conversations about ingredients

Jacob Collins, Videographer & Lens Cleaner

Follow Him: @JacobCollinsVFX

Favorite Piece of Content Marketing: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Grassroots Marketing Campaign

Why It’s Awesome: This was a very interesting marketing strategy that resulted in a viral, grassroots scavenger hunt and tons of “unclaimed” content.

Here’s what happened in Jacob’s own words: “The campaign appeared out of nowhere, and was only seen through a Twitter and Tumblr account. At first, it was just blank, and nobody claimed it or placed content in it, but once production started for the film, behind-the-scenes photos started popping up on Tumblr and Twitter. It was anyone’s guess as to whether or not the photos were leaked, or if the studio was responsible.

Underground content marketing. Awesome.

Do You Have a Favorite Content Piece to Share?

I’d love to keep a tally on favorite pieces of content marketing for content marketers. Share your favorite content marketing examples here with a link to the example and a short paragraph about why it’s awesome. We’re calling it the “Inspiration Folder.”

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