Last year we published 99 Amazing Content Marketing Examples.
There were actually 106 examples there, but “99” felt better. This year, the list has almost doubled. So I’m giving up on counting them (you can count them below).
But if you are you looking for the best content marketing examples, you’ve come to the right place!
Maybe you are still skeptical that content marketing is right for your unique business/industry/size/audience. Maybe you still think content marketing is just a buzzword. Maybe you are trying to learn from others by emulating what works for them.
And maybe your boss needs some convincing. Nothing gets executive buy-in like some solid fear-based examples of the competition being ahead of your company on the latest and greatest digital marketing trends.
The difference between content and content marketing is a destination you own!
Content marketing is not a piece of content. it is not marketing with content like brochures. It is not a native ad. It is not a “viral video.”
Content marketing means acting like a publisher, consistently creating content that our customers actually like to read and share. Content marketing is how build an audience and attract subscribers who opt-in to allow you into their already over-crowded email inbox.
This is very different from advertising. Advertising means occasionally interrupting the content your audience actually wants in order to sell them a product or introduce your brand. Many of us opt out of unwanted advertising. Advertising is not something we typically want to read and share. Advertising is how publishers monetize their traffic.
So look to great content marketing examples like L’Oreal’s Makeup.com, Adobe’s CMO.com and our favorite industry-wide content marketing example, like American Express OPEN Forum. That site is the largest source of leads for their small business card division.
Imagine you are the content marketing director for your company and you led the creation and management of a program that drove more leads and sales than any other marketing activity. With results you can rack and measure in business terms.
It starts with an understanding that marketing is not about selling, but about the conversation we have with our customers. It continues with investing in content marketing, because the difference between just content and content marketing is the destination.
How to become a great content marketing example for others
Let me break it down:
Define your content marketing mission and put someone in charge
Publish content your audiences want
Publish on a regular basis
Publish content from a combination of named authors
Cover a unique variety of topics that you have the authority to be an expert in
Consider whether your content marketing will be more or less branded and “on domain” (the same as your company url) or off domain (a website you have to buy)
Optimize your efforts on building subscribers
Measure content marketing ROI based on your ability to reach, engage and convert new audiences for as little investment as possible
The best content marketing examples also combine utility with design. Headspace and Innocent in particular have created beautiful aesthetics which do not compromise on the information delivered.
It might seem like a lot of work to produce content hubs like these, but this is not necessarily the case. If you are a content marketer – if you are producing articles, videos, blog posts, and other content on a regular basis – you are already most of the way there.
And check this out for more on what makes these content marketing examples great.
Now, take a look at the list, get inspired, and know that you can become one of the best content marketing examples.
The best content marketing examples
The entries on our list come from a range of different categories. We include major financial institutions brushing up against mindfulness and well-being apps, and globe-trotting airlines rubbing shoulders with search engine marketing blogs.
The message that this gives is clear: No matter what field you are in, no matter what sort of content your users are interested in, developing a content marketing program to tie it all together is the only way to go.
Think about what your users want to see, then think about how they want to see it. How are you going to deliver it to them? Which way is going to be the most effective?
I’m not picking winners here. For the purposes of this list, everyone is a winner. Instead, arranged in alphabetical order, are the best content marketing examples I have found. Get inspired and join my list next year!
Acorn’s Grow
Adidas Group’s Blog offers “personal insights into our business in sports.”
Adidas’ GamePlanA provides stories for “creators, tackling work life with an athlete’s heart”
Adobe
AirBnB The revolutionary accommodation solution provider have been lighting the way when it comes to content
Aloha
American Express OPEN Forum “Insights, Inspirations, and Connections To Grow Your Business”—one of the earliest and most-cited examples of content marketing
Anthropologie As stylish as you’d expect from these guys
AstraZeneca
AT&T’s BusinessCircle
Autodesk
Bank of America BetterMoneyHabits
Barney’s
Bayer
Ben & Jerry’s The ice cream giant has been a master of brand identity for years now, and their web content shows the same commitment.
Betterment’s Resource Center “Information to help you lead a smarter financial life”
Birchbox Magazine and Men’s Guide
Blackboard Blog
Bloomberg Enterprise Blog
Blue Apron
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama has this amazing YouBar that customizes your content experience
Bobbi Brown’s Everything Bobbi
British Airways Connecting cities around the world with their travel hub services; doing the same for web users with their content hub.
BufferApp Blog
CA
Canva An unusual entry on our list, Canva is a digital design app. However, its website hosts a content hub with the sort of smart organization and stunning design we would all do well to emulate.
CapGemini’s Content Loop (one of the best examples of how to convert visitors to leads)
Casper’s Pillow Talk but they also created . . .
Casper’s VanWinkles “Exploring sleep with our eyes wide open” (one of my favorite content marketing examples)
CDW
Chase.com/News A great example of a company incorporating content marketing right into their homepage
Citi
Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials is one of the best examples on this list
ConAgra’s Forkful.com
Coke’s Coca-Cola Journey “Refreshing the world. One story at a time.”
Cisco Connected Futures Magazine I love the look and design of this site
Cleveland Clinic
Deluxe Small Business Revolution
Denny’s
Departures from American Express for their Platinum card members, run by Time Inc.
Disney Blogs the power of storytelling
Domo’s BusinessIntelligence.com shows the power of owning the category domain
Dollar Shave Club’s MEL
Electronic Art’s EA News Blog
Equinox Equinox’s Furthermore balances subtle but sharp aesthetic touches with content variation across the whole lifestyle spectrum, showing others in this class how it is done.
Etsy
Farmer’s Insurance Inner Circle “The latest tips and insights on auto safety, home upkeep and planning for life’s special moments.”
Fidelity MyMoney “Get in better financial shape today.”
First Republic
First Round
Four Seasons
Fresh Direct The branding here is exquisite; as fresh and clean as you’d hope for from these guys. But beneath the surface is genuine insight.
GEICO
General Mills Tablespoon “Food that’s fun” – offers a great visual exploration of recipes and food
GE Reports
GE Txchnologist
Google’s Think With Google
Glossier
GoPro
Grant Thornton
Harry’s
The Hartford SmallBizAhead
Headspace The team behind the fantastically popular meditation and well-being app deliver great content and insight via their CM hub, all with the same trademark branding we have come to expect.
Home Depot DIY Blog
Honestly
HPE Matter
HPE Community Blog
HPE TechBeacon Great example of a company building on-domain and off
Hubspot Blog “Your Daily Dose of Inbound” segmented by Marketing, Sales, and Agency personas
Huckberry
IBM The computing giants are showing that they are not going to get left behind in the content marketplace.
Innocent Innocent by name, wily in the content game by nature. Innocent have been a runaway branding success story for several years. Their top notch content hub shows us how.
Invision
Intel IQ Another computing giant, leveraging their vast stock of expertise and authority. Intel’s content hub is exactly as it should be; a fascinating resource of insight.
Jack Daniel’s The Single Barrel Standard Whiskey wisdom and Cocktail news? Sign me up!
J.Crew
Jet Blue
Johnson & Johnson
JP Morgan
Kimpton Hotels
Lego With Lego, the emphasis has always been on fun, and this is very much evident within their content marketing strategies.
Lenovo’s ThinkProgress, with content by Intel
Lilly
Lincoln Now
LinkedIn’s Marketing Solutions Blog
Rosetta Stone’s LinguaVore “A blog about learning language.”
Lululemon
L’Oreal’s Makeup.com A great example of a consumer brand “owning” the category
LVMH
MAC No one is going to accuse MAC cosmetics of selecting style over substance. The market leader’s content hub provides a wide range of different articles and content formats to its visitors.
Marketo Blog
Marketo CMO Nation
Marks & Spencers
Marriott Traveler Love what these folks are doing across their portfolio
Marriott’s Meetings Imagined
Marriott’s Travel Brilliantly
Mayo Clinic’s Sharing offers personal stories of real people overcoming disease
Memorial Sloan Kettering The Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer treatment and research center website features a content hub with a tone appropriate to the gravity of its subject matter. Providing support and assistance to patients and family members, the New York non-profit gets it right.
Method’s Soap Dish
Michael Kors The luxury fashion marque keeps it diverse with different pieces of content for every user. Dipping in to look at photos and losing yourself in more in-depth pieces is possible here, as all needs are catered for.
Microsoft’s Stories Another great example of a company bringing “stories” to their homepage
Mint Life Blog
Momofuko
Morgan Stanley
Morning Star Farms
Moz: As SEO and web content specialists, you’d expect their content hub to be exemplary. Committed fans of the Moz team will know this to be true.
Nasty Gal’s Nasty Galaxy
National Association of Realtors’ House Logic
Net-A-Porter’s The Edit and Mr Porter
Nationwide
New Belgium Brewery Community Blog – because beer
One Medical Blog “You have one life. Make it count.”
OpenView Venture Partners Blog “Insights for B2B software companies.”
OpenView Venture Partners’ Labs Another early example of content marketing for a small business
Oracle’s Modern Marketing Blog
P&G Everyday Another site that has been around almost from the beginning of modern content marketing
Patagonia Durable outdoor wear needs a robust content strategy to go with it, and this is provided by the Patagonia team.
Petsmart’s Parent Resource Center
Prudential The Challenge Lab “Learn about the human behaviors that get in the way of planning your financial future.”
Pfizer
Progressive Insurers Progressive have taken a few steps away from the somewhat irreverent branding, instead focusing on a range of incisive content topics aimed at giving customers the information they need.
Random House Publishers Random House is no stranger to the power of the written word, and its hub utilizes this strength to the fullest, with a diverse array of content.
Red Bull
Reebok Reebok understands what is meant by a solid content strategy and have been providing great pieces of content to an avid base of users for years. This year, the company showed no sign of letting up.
REI
Ricoh Work Intelligently
Rue La La
Samsung’s Tech Life
Salesforce Blog
Santander As one of the biggest banks in the world, Santander has a great deal of authority. It uses this authority with aplomb within this content hub.
SAP Digitalist Magazine This was the site I started while at SAP and so proud to see how the team there has evolved it.
SAP Hybris The Future of Commerce
SAS Blog
Sharethrough’s NativeAdvertising.com “All things Native”
Shutterstock Blog
Society of Grownups
Soul Cycle
Sprint’s Future of Business
Starbucks The ethos of Starbucks has always been creative, hip, and collaborative, and this is exemplified with its 1912Pike blog. This is where the firm’s creative endeavors come together, spearheading the brand into 2017.
Sun Life
Sweet Green
Target’s A “Bull’s Eye View”
Taco Bell Taco Bell’s The Feed is a consistent great source of inspiration for a successful, playful content strategy.
TD Ameritrade Tickertape “Pearls and insights for investors.”
Tory Burch’s Tory Daily I like how this site humanizes the Tory brand
Tracksmith
Uber’s Newsroom
U.S. Government White House Blog
United Airlines
Urban Outfitters The “style blog” genre has gained huge popularity in recent years and has helped to propel numerous small businesses to the big time. Urban Outfitters is not one of them – its content game has been strong for some time – but the retailer continues to serve as an inspiration.
USAA
Virgin America’s Flyer Feed
Visual Matters Sponsored by SAP
Warby Parker
West Elm’s Front + Main
Wistia Video Library “Succeed With Video Marketing”
WestElm
WestJet Magazine
Whole Foods
Williams-Sonoma Taste (still) a beautifully designed site
WorldVision Blog “Building a better world for children.”
Your Primer
Zillow Porchlight “Always on. Guiding you home.” This site is so popular, they are selling ads
Zuora Zuora’s great-looking Academy focuses on delivering genuine insight, support, and development to the software producer’s customers.
Do you have any more great examples of content marketing? Please add them here in the comments. Go ahead! It’s OK to promote your own program.
Looking for more content marketing strategies? See 5 Steps To Get Started With Content Marketing For Your Small Business Or Startup.
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