Businesses across all industries are always searching for new ways to get their brand in front of the right people. Some are more successful than others.
Industry titans like Dollar Shave Club, Blue Apron, Zappos, and Airbnb are wildly successful because they set themselves apart with genius content marketing in incredibly competitive industries.
4 Brands Destroying the Competition With Content Marketing
1. Dollar Shave Club
This company exploded onto the scene with a simple YouTube video that got everyone’s attention. Their slogan, delivered by Michael Dublin, is all about telling the world “Our Blades Are F***ing Great.”
Dollar Shave Club was the first to boast a high quality razer for a low price AND deliver it right to your doorstep for less than $10 per month. The business model has been wildly successful, bringing in more than 3 million subscribers. The initial success caught the eyes of many, but none more than Unilever who purchased Dollar Shave Club for a cool $1 billion last summer.
There’s little doubt Dollar Shave Club’s success is built on their brand’s video marketing strategy. They've had the same humorous, attention-grabbing tone since the company’s first YouTube video, and it continues to work. The marketing team at Dollar Shave Club extended the company reach by showcasing their high quality video across all social channels, and their engagement levels are incredible.
2. Blue Apron
I like the idea of cooking. I really do. However, by the time I go to the grocery store to gather all the items, it usually ends up being cheaper to just go out to eat - not to mention I usually forget at least one key ingredient. Blue Apron solves this problem.
As Inc. points out, Blue Apron is wildly successful because it meets the need of the cooking public, as well as generates excitement about a certain dish before it’s even sent to your door.
Like Dollar Shave Club, social media has been a huge outlet for Blue Apron. The company has more than a million fans on facebook and these fans are quick to share their gourmet masterpieces. Their customers do their marketing for them.
3. Zappos
Noticing a trend here? This is another company delivering something that used to only be available in a store. Even though they've left the physical store behind, Zappos understands what matters most: kick-ass customer service.
The online shoe company prides its marketing effort on five strategies.
- Customer service
- Communicating with customers, not at them
- Don’t try to be interesting, be interested
- Wowing people with every interaction (employees and vendors included)
- Building a great company culture
The company became so successful Amazon purchased Zappos for $1.2 billion. Despite being purchased by Amazon, Zappos maintains its five core principles.
4. Airbnb
It can be pricey to stay in the world’s largest cities. Good luck finding a hotel in Boston or New York City for less than $300 a night. Insert Airbnb, a company that revolutionized the hospitality industry by allowing people to open up their living spaces to others around the globe.
Airbnb, a company that started as just a few air mattresses in a San Francisco loft, just continues to grow. CEO, Brian Chesky, was recently named one of Fortune’s “World’s Greatest Leaders.” How do they do it? Incredible content.
Search Engine Journal points out the high quality photos of living spaces and incredibly detailed descriptions help keep Google interested. The company continuously produces content that resonates with their target audience. Airbnb thrives on people who love traveling, but are also doing so on a budget.
Their goal with current campaigns is to revolutionize the way people think about traveling. Company CMO, Jonathan Mildenhall, told Marketing Week,
“When you look at travel right now, we travel to the same places, take the same pictures and post the same stories. But when we get back from these amazing places, can we really say that we met the locals and did we leave a human connection in the local neighbourhoods?”
Content, Content, Content!
Dollar Shave Club, Blue Apron, Zappos, and Airbnb have all taken advantage of the power of content. Without it? They probably wouldn't be as successful. In fact, the power of Internet content is what made these businesses possible in the first place.
If you’re trying to grow your business, it’s imperative to produce quality content - whether on your website, through your blog, on social media, or as a video. The more you have the better chance you have of someone engaging with your brand.
How to Audit your Online Marketing
If you are executing digital marketing, congratulations! You are most likely already one step ahead of your competition, and making strides to meaningfully connect with prospects online. But, how do you know if you’re seeing continual success year over year, and improving your metrics?
Without the tools in place to analyze and benchmark your efforts, it is impossible to scale your online marketing and ensure continuous success.
