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There is an ocean’s worth (if not more) of content out there. So what’s the problem with that? Most of the content isn’t worth the digital bits it’s made of because its lacking some creative content marketing.

Back in 2015, Moz and BuzzSumo took a close look at one million pieces on content online. What they found wasn’t pretty.

For the most part, people couldn’t care less about much of the content out in the world. A random sample of 100,000 articles/blog posts revealed that more than 50 percent had two or fewer Facebook shares or other interactions. Around 75 percent of the posts had no external links.

What stood out in the ocean of lackluster content? Creative content marketing. Moz and BuzzSumo found that creative and fun pieces such as quizzes and videos got shared the most. Journalism with well researched opinion has higher shares as well as linking rates.Lists, however, is the content format that everyone hates to love, were the most likely to be linked to.

Journalism with well researched opinion has higher shares as well as linking rates. 

Quizzes, lists, videos, and journalism that has an opinion are all examples of creative content marketing. They’re proof that someone put some thought and effort into creating the content, and that someone wanted to produce something to share with the world that has real value.

What Makes it Creative Content Marketing ?

You could argue that the phrase “creative content marketing” is redundant. According to Copyblogger, creativity is “an idea that is novel, good, and useful.”

According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing involves “creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content.”

So you could argue that you can’t have content marketing without creativity.

But a quick glance around the internet proves that’s not the case. The web and your social media feeds are full of content that’s neither useful nor relevant, neither good nor valuable.

So what are those content marketers who are being creative doing? They’re creating content that does following:

It moves beyond the blog.

Have a blog if you want to have a blog, but don’t feel that you have to have a blog for the sake of content. Other forms of content, from entertaining quizzes and videos to long-form, informative ebooks and white papers, can be much more valuable.

It knows what boring is and avoids it.

Uncreative content is dull. It doesn’t add or contribute to the conversation at all; it doesn’t really tell people anything they don’t already know. It’s like that person at a party that everyone tries to avoid because they know the person is just going to tell the same story over and over again. Don’t be that person. Avoid that person.

It’s not afraid to be different

In some ways, creative content marketing involves taking risks. But creative content marketers understand that risks are part of the game. Instead of trying to be like everyone else, creative content does something else. It turns left when everyone is turning right, it wears green when everyone is in blue. On a practical level, producing creative content can mean trying out a new tone of voice or a new content format.

It’s not afraid to hustle

 If you publish a blog post at midnight on a Wednesday and no one reads it, did that blog post happen? Part of being creative with content marketing is knowing how to get that content out in front of an audience. That can mean connecting to influencers and asking them to share it. It can mean paying to boost the content on social media or getting another blogger to write up a quick post about it. The more you think outside the box when it comes to content promotion, the more likely people are to see it and respond to it.

Why Be Creative With Content Marketing?

We think you know the answer to this: Creative content marketing increases engagement. It provokes an emotional response in people, and people are more likely to do something when they’re feeling all emotional.

For example, you publish an in-depth tutorial that fully illustrates how to make a complicated wedding cake. This tutorial would be  detailed,  it would have pictures, and even involve video instructions. 

Someone makes a wedding cake using the tutorial. They nail it, and the resulting cake is amazing. It looks fantastic, and (surprisingly for a wedding cake) it tastes fantastic. The baker is jazzed. What do you think they are going to? Share your tutorial with their friends or keep it under wraps?

Odds are, they will share that tutorial. People will flock to your website, all looking to find out how they too can make the wedding cake to end all wedding cakes.

That’s a good reason to use creative content marketing.

How Your Brand Can Create Creative Content

At this point, you might be thinking, “Creative content sounds great and all, but we’re not really creative people.” Or, you might be thinking, “Creative content is just going to take way too long to create.”

Do you think creativity can be taught? The answer is yes. Creative content doesn’t have to take that long. As the Content Marketing Institute puts it, you can have quality and quantity at the same time. Get started creating creative content with the following steps. 

Find your why.

Knowing why you’re creating content and what you want the audience to take away from it will help you produce better, more creative stuff. If your content doesn’t have a purpose, it’s going to be dullsville.

Take what you know and change it.

Maybe you’re already blogging, but you’re not happy with your results. A good thing to do is change your approach. Drop written blog posts and try out a format you’re more comfortable with creating, such as videos or infographics. Give the people what they want, and make more lists. You might find that content that doesn’t excite in one format becomes jaw-droppingly awesome in another.

Outsource.

Who says you have to create all your content yourself? No one. Get out there and outsource to people who specialize in content creation, such as content writers or content services companies. You can also ask bloggers or vloggers in your field to partner with you and create content.

Assess what’s wrong.

Once you publish your content, do you ever take the time to look at it? As Jeff Bullas notes, it’s worth it to review content that has a high bounce rate to figure what’s wrong with it. In some cases, the quality of the content might be OK, but the design of the site might be driving people away. Take some time to get to the bottom of your content issues.

Creative content marketers aren’t born, they’re made. By daring to be different and striving to avoid dullness, you’ll take your content marketing to the next level.