Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Delight Your Audience: How to Create Content That Excites and Entertains

Creating content is not for the faint-hearted. It takes guts and a keen understanding of what people want to be effective in driving traffic to your business.

All content creators have asked themselves the same question more than once: How will I engage my audience, so they keep coming back for more? If you haven’t asked yourself this question at least once, you aren’t taking your job seriously!

It isn’t easy to create great content that excites and entertains. A report by SEMRush found that 45% of marketers struggle to attract quality leads with content while 38% cite finding the resources and producing larger amounts of content quicker as a challenge.

However, we have some great tips to help you create content that will appeal to your target audience.

1) Know Your Channels

Many companies make the mistake of focusing too much on one content channel. In fact, you need to take a number of channels into account to drive brand awareness and attract customers. Figure out which ones suit your needs and create content that works across (or can be adapted) for all of them.

Your basic content channels include:

Blogging: Blogging is essential because it helps with your search engine optimization efforts especially if you use SEO writing techniques while providing important information that you can share across other channels, especially social media.

Social media: You need to use social media networks because it can help create a community of followers where comments can actually lead to further content ideas. Also, the all-important ‘social share’ enables you to find more followers and helps improve your SEO at the same time as a bonus.

Video: Video marketing can put a face to your brand. It can also drive awareness and generate sales leads by offering a personal way to engage with potential customers. Plus you can be creative with your videos to attract new audiences and inject personality.

Ebooks and resources: Providing more in-depth informational content works in two ways. First, it helps showcase your expertise. Second, you can use it as a lead generation tool with a call to action (CTA) to contact you to receive a free ebook or whitepaper. Here's an example of a simple image used on one of our blogs to encourage people to download an ebook.

2) Stay Curious

You should have a number of things in common with your audience. One of the most important things is curiosity. Obviously, the reason people are seeking out information is to learn, and this learning is often driven by curiosity.

As a content creator, you have to remain curious about not only what is happening in the industry but what is happening to your audience. We live in a far more dynamic world where opinions change at the drop of a hat.

Also, social issues continue to be brought to the forefront of the business world. Consider the impact of the #MeToo movement and the challenges that companies face to remain socially and environmentally responsible.

You have to continue to research and read every day, so you don’t miss out on any opportunities that might present an idea to create a unique spin on a tired old story your competitors are telling.

Subscribe to industry newsletters, follow thought leaders on LinkedIn, and pursue other leads that will provide you with inspiration for the content you create. Staying curious keeps your content fresh, organic, and unique.

3) Choose Champions & Track Competitors

Finding inspiration should always be on your daily list of to-dos. Getting to know the thought leaders in your industry helps you understand what content will attract people. You can also go beyond your industry and look for companies that are in general doing things right.

When it comes to blogging, you can ask others to help you build your online presence. Guest blogging can prove to be an excellent way to keep content interesting by introducing a new voice and perspective occasionally.

Buffer, a social media management company, has been gaining new audiences using guest bloggers. It also features blogs about success stories for clients, industry updates, and tips. And it is active on social media with more than one million followers across all of its channels.

With content, it's wise to focus on quality over quantity to provide visitors with useful and in-depth information. Look at competitors to see what content they are offering to see if it would suit your user base or drive leads.

People doing it well also have shortcuts that save themselves time. For example, Glossier leverages user-generated content from its followers and customers on its social media pages. By posting comments about its company on its social media pages, Glossier looks good, makes the customers who are featured happy (like this example below), and reduces the need to write its own content.

4) Consider Influencers

Influencers in your industry and community can boost your social media efforts, especially on Instagram and TikTok. Because these platforms are built around like-minded people, you can leverage relationships with followers.

Influencer marketing has seen a boom in recent years and it's not only celebrities that can be useful to brands, micro and nano influencers can help extend a company's reach in a niche sector or area if chosen properly. The right influencer can draw people to your brand and communicate your values or ethos in a way that wasn't achievable through your own content efforts.

If you feel you have created a winning piece of noteworthy content, look for influencers who are likely to share that sentiment. There are lots of platforms out there to help find the right influencers that share content similar to yours and have a good-sized audience following content like yours.

Tip: Here's an influencer marketing brief template to help you approach an influencer and give them an idea of what you're looking to achieve.

5) Use Visual Content

Images are essential in your content marketing across all channels as they attract attention and have been proven to increase views, shares, and engagement. According to HubSpot's State of Marketing 2023 report, content that delivers the greatest ROI is videos at 25% and images at 12 %. This means that half of marketers surveyed are using video in their content while 47% use imagery.

Media formats with highest RO?I - HubSpot

Social media posts with an image or video have more chance of being shared and favorited. So get creative with your visual content and look for images that might amuse, inspire, or excite viewers.

Just think about how brands like GoPro and Patagonia leverage images of their product in action in nature to see how impactful a visual can be.

Top Killer-Content Tips

Creating unique content that thrills and entertains is hard enough, but don’t forget about your business goals. Here are some general tips that will keep you creating cutting-edge content, without losing focus:

Stay the course: Make sure everything you write is first and foremost focused on your business goals, and then give it some personality. Humor goes a long way to keeping things interesting while remaining relevant. Personality makes your business human and relatable.

Become a teacher: If your content is entertaining but not educational, it really will miss the mark. Make sure that what you say provides useful information that is accessible while also allowing your expertize to shine through.

Keep up with your customers: Constantly learn about your customers, so you don't lose them. As mentioned, we live in a dynamic society with changing moods, views, and technology influencing your audience every day.

Expand your channels: By using different channels, you can speak to your audience in the way they prefer. Some like video while others just need a quick image and some text. Leverage your blogs by posting links on your social media pages with clever insights to encourage further reading. Video is often overlooked because not everyone wants to be a YouTube star. However, nothing allows you to bring your business to life more than a chatty video offering genuine personality and a face to your brand.

Get disruptive: Sometimes you have to go against the grain to get conversions. By challenging common thoughts and perceptions, you can start conversations and get people thinking about new ways of doing things.

Include interviews: Don't get stuck in a rut! Use your creativity to dig deep and find a story to tell, even if it's about HVAC repair. Interview customers or your cleaning team to add more human elements to your blogs.

Mine jump-off content: Look back at your own blogs and find information that might be outdated. Mine this content to bring new thoughts while encouraging readership of older material.

Remember, creativity is at the core of good content! Creativity does not just mean finding the right words for your content but using channels in unique ways and unique ways to take advantage of all the resources at your disposal.

Updated 2023

Use Content to Drive Awareness & Leads

Content marketing is an effective way to attract and influence prospects and customers. DMI's short Content Marketing certification covers the key areas in content marketing to help you develop a voice and build a brand. You will learn about personas and SEO strategy, creativity and storytelling, channel promotion and collaboration, how to measure performance and much more. Enroll today to become a content guru.

7 Popular Content Types and How to Use Them

Content is the currency of the internet, and there are many content types brands can focus on to engage audiences, reach new markets, and provide value to customers.

But with all the different content formats out there, it can be difficult for marketers to know which ones to focus on (even with a range of AI tools to help generate and optimize content).

Different types have different purposes. While some drive traffic, others are about data capture so it’s important to be clever with your content marketing to make the most of your content.

So let’s look at the top 7 content types and how you can use them to drive growth and sales.

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1. Blogs

Blogging has been around for a long time, but the practice has become more sophisticated, especially when it comes to businesses using blogs to engage audiences.

You should create blogs that are relevant, high-quality, and well-written. They should also focus on topics your audience finds interesting to build authority, trust, and relationships, and drive conversions. Other benefits of a blog are that they are relatively easy to write and publish, shareable, and easily discovered by search engines.

If you or your business doesn’t already have a blog, find out five simple ways to start one.

Blogging best practices: If you don’t have a self-hosted blog, you can use services such as WordPress, Tumblr (which has gained popularity since Elon Musk took over Twitter), Medium, and Blogger.

Blogging, however, is a commitment, and you have to be prepared to post every couple of days or at least once a week to create a following. You should always include a CTA (call to action) in each post and include internal and reputable external links to other content.

Tip: Optimize your posts with relevant keywords for SEO (use an SEO Keyword Research Toolkit to help you) to ensure you are reaching the right audience and ranking in search engines.

2. Listicles

List articles may seem somewhat gimmicky, but they're extremely popular. That’s because they're easy to read, scannable, visually appealing, and—when done right—interesting and highly shareable.

From a content creation perspective, listicles are also easy to write, because once you have a topic and a number, all you have to do is research and fill in the blanks. However, that doesn’t mean you can throw together a listicle without putting any thought into the content because it has to be informative, relevant and high-quality.

Listicle best practices: Always remember to number your subheadings in a listicle, and make sure the number matches the title; otherwise, you'll confuse readers. Like other content types, lists should still have introductions and conclusions, and they should be optimized with relevant keywords. You can have as many numbers in your lists as you like - long lists are just as acceptable as shorter ones - but details are always important.

Tip: Coming up with catchy and unique titles is an important part of writing list articles, but be sure the heading matches the content (no clickbait).

3. Ebooks

Ebooks are a type of long-form content created as electronic books that are available as PDF downloads or in HTML format.

This type of content can give you a great outlet for sharing your knowledge and expertise on a given topic. Ebooks have many benefits, including lead generation, establishing authority, growing email lists, and beefing up your overall content offering.

Ebook best practices: The main focus of an ebook should be providing solutions otherwise, it won’t be of value to your audience. Therefore, minimize the time you spend on advertising and focus more on generalized solutions. A good rule of thumb for ebooks is to keep the promotional elements to a minimum as you’ve already captured their data.

Ebooks can be long, so break up the content using chapters, subheadings, bullets, graphics, infographics, and other interesting formatting elements. You should also put some time into the title and the design because this is what will attract and engage readers. This type of content demands research, time, and quality writing, so it’s best to have a plan in place before you start.

Tip: The content doesn’t have to be evergreen, but if it is then you'll get years of return on the investment, and you'll be able to use the ebook to continue reaching new audiences long after it’s published.

4. Infographics

Infographics are among the most popular types of content you can create, and this is because they present a great deal of information (such as statistics, research, and other data) in a visual way that’s engaging, digestible, and shareable.

According to the Content Marketing Institute, infographics have had the biggest increase in usage among B2B marketers in the last few years -- now at 67 percent. They can not only help draw traffic to your site but help build quality backlinks and grow your audience.

Infographic best practices: Creating an infographic requires design skills and it’s important to incorporate white space, break content into sections, use a clear font, and use complementary colors to maintain interest. Here’s a guide on the ‘Top 5 Tools for Building Infographics’.

5. Video

Video is a successful form of content, and 93 percent of marketers say that it’s an important part of their marketing while 78 percent of video marketers say it has increased sales according to ‘The State of Video Marketing 2021’ report.

Video content has the potential to engage your audiences, increase shares and comments, drive conversions, and grow traffic to your website. Types of videos you can consider are interviews, presentations or how-to, behind-the-scenes, and explainer videos.

There are lots of platforms to share your videos from YouTube (read how to rank your videos) to Instagram to rising star, TikTok.

Video best practices: The main aim of a video should be to provide value to your audience by answering questions, providing solutions, addressing pain points, or otherwise providing relevant information. Or in the case of Aviation American Gin, to drive traffic and be entertaining!

Tip: Remember, you're creating content, not ads. Keep videos between two and three minutes, and include a CTA to send viewers to a landing page or your website.

6. How-to Guides

How-tos and instructional content are similar to long-form blog posts that go into depth about how to do anything from achieving a task to building something and more through step-by-step instructions.

The content of your guide will depend on your audience and industry, but this type of content is great for sharing expertise, building trust, and growing email lists.

How-to guide best practices: These need to be top-quality in terms of writing because they have to be clear and concise in telling readers how to complete a task. The layout and design should make the piece easy to read and break content into easy steps with graphics, diagrams, screenshots, videos, and other elements to illustrate crucial points or hard-to-complete steps.

Tip: Make sure you understand the logic and flow of the guide so your audience will too. Have a colleague or someone you trust to review it to make sure it makes sense!

7. Case Studies

Case studies are a great B2B content type and use real-life feedback or customer feedback to illustrate common pain points and challenges your audience may face.

It’s a good content choice because it demonstrates to prospects how your brand, products, or services can help solve problems they may be experiencing, and this will foster strong relationships and build loyalty.

Case study best practices: Start by summarizing the problem your customer was facing. Next, go over the solution while providing actionable and step-by-step examples that prospects can use to repeat the process. Finally, provide a summary of the results that your customer achieved using your products or services.

Check out our case study on Vodafone to see an example.

Tip: To make the content engaging and relatable, think about it more as a success story than a case study, and focus on the how's and why’s of the story. Don’t forget to provide a conclusion that includes a strong CTA.

Use content marketing to boost awareness and drive sales

Content marketing is an effective and low-cost way to engage and persuade an audience across all stages of the funnel. DMI’s digital marketing course will not only cover content marketing but also social media, PPC, email, SEO, analytics and much more. Reserve your place today!

(Updated Feb 2023)

Market Yourself - Building Your Personal Brand

As digital marketers, we’re all familiar with finding innovative and compelling ways to market brands to increase reach and sales. We learn what makes the brand unique and then develop engaging strategies to spread the message. Many marketers work effectively on several brands simultaneously.

But what about your own brand? How do you sell your own digital marketing expertise? How effective are you at publicizing Brand You?

In his interview with DMI, on how to market yourself and build your personal brand, recruitment and career expert Morgan Cummins explored steps that digital marketers can take to effectively promote themselves, especially at time when the industry is growing and there are plenty of opportunities to explore.

Let’s discover how you can effectively market yourself to capitalize on these opportunities.

6 ways to build your personal brand

Now is a good time to market yourself because there’s a talent shortage in the digital marketing industry, as shown in the DMI CMO research study. As the industry grows, the demand for skilled digital marketers is increasing all the time. So, it’s really time to build your own personal brand to make yourself be heard above the noise.

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1. Understand your own values

One of the first things a potential client or recruiter is likely to ask you is, “Why should I hire you?” And this is a question you need to ask yourself too. Why should anyone hire you? What makes you unique? What are your values?

In order to effectively market yourself, you must have a good understanding of what you stand for. Tap into your passion and let it guide you towards your values. By taking time to understand your values, you can focus on clients and companies that align with these values. If you don’t understand your values, you could waste time promoting yourself to people whom you ultimately don’t want to work with!

2. Clarify your goals

Linked closely to your values are your goals. What do you hope to achieve by promoting yourself?

Some people are motivated by simple financial rewards. Others work to earn peer recognition, job titles, and promotions, establishing themselves in a professional community. And others are motivated by more personal rewards, such as ongoing development, solving problems, overcoming challenges, or contributing to society. Understanding your values will help you clarify your goals.

Once you have crystalized your overall purpose, you can start to break that down into career goals. This goes beyond simple business goals. What do you want to achieve? Ask yourself, "What are the three top things, from a career point of view, you want to achieve in the next 12 months?"

3. Find an accountability partner

Goals aren’t going to be much use to you if you don’t achieve them! So how can you progress from aspiration to achievement?

Writing down your goals is a great way to help you tease out the nuances of what you want to achieve. It also helps to make the goal more concrete, taking it out of your head and down on paper.

Having written the goal, show it to someone. If no one is monitoring your progress, your career is likely to stall. Having an accountability partner will help keep you focused and motivated, especially when your career starts to drift. Did you know that 80% of people abandon their New Year's resolutions within four weeks? However, if you have an accountability partner – someone who monitors and encourages (and yes, nags at) you – you are more likely to stick to your goals. They’ll remind you of your deadlines and targets, and they’ll nudge you when you start to get a bit too easy with yourself.

So, have clear, concrete goals and find yourself an accountability partner who’ll help you achieve them.

4. Grow your professional network

In marketing, it’s all about increasing reach. How can you increase your own personal reach? This simply involves growing your professional network.

One obvious way to do this is to engage with others on LinkedIn. This involves more than simply promoting yourself. Establish yourself as a thought leader and an engaging collaborator. Create a compelling personal profile that arouses people’s interest. Keep your profile relevant and up to date, and stay on top of emerging trends, adding your thoughts to ongoing debates and showing yourself as staying in touch with others.

Start off with people who are similar to you and who are likely to be interested in what you have to offer. Open conversations and engage with debates, offering solutions to their problems. But, in time, be prepared to move outside of this comfort zone and interact with people outside your immediate circles, connecting deeper with LinkedIn and other networks. Learn from others and approach all discussion with a sense of intellectual curiosity.

Don’t forget the personal touch, though! Meeting people face to face, or even through online means is a great way to build your network. When you attend workshops and conferences come armed with a pile of business cards. Whether it’s an in-person or online event, you can always be alert to ways to introduce yourself and make mutually beneficial connections. The next step in your career path could begin over a cup of coffee or in a Zoom break-out room!

5. Push beyond your comfort zone

To increase your reach, you need to push yourself beyond your comfort zone. To paraphrase the poet Robert Browning, your reach should exceed your grasp!

Public speaking is an exciting way to build your personal brand, but this is something that scares many people. Overcoming your fear of public speaking can help you get your message across to many people whom you can then connect with on a personal level. Remember that even seasoned public speakers, including actors, sometimes get nervous before they take to the stage.

Of course, you don’t have to start addressing theaters full of strangers. Develop your public speaking skills by first speaking to small groups, and then moving on to larger meetings as your confidence grows. Many join Toastmasters to develop their public speaking skills. The more you practice, the more confident you’ll become.

6. Make yourself of value to others

When marketing a brand, you often focus on its unique selling point (USP). What is your USP? What value do you bring to others? Give people a reason to engage with you.

Position yourself as a solution to their problem. This applies to potential clients and also to people above you. Develop a win-win situation where, by helping them, you can ensure that they can help you. Bring something of value to the table, whether it’s your expertise, your creativity, your innovation, or your efficiency.

Develop the knowledge that enables you to be of value to others. Sometimes we feel intimidated by those whom we assume know more than us. The reason they know more is because they’ve learned more about the subject. So, once again, push yourself out of your comfort zone and upskill. If you don’t understand data analytics, learn about it so that you can contribute to the conversation. Find the appropriate course, develop new skills, and become more valuable to your clients and your peers. This could become another career goal for you, one that your accountability partner will help you achieve.

Conclusion

Promoting your personal brand requires a carefully thought-out market strategy. Unearth your core values and use these to help you develop career goals, supported by your accountability partner. Develop a personal network and push yourself beyond your comfort zone. This will enable you to create a USP that shows others how you can offer value. There are many opportunities in the digital marketing section and, by following these strategies, you’ll be well placed to take advantage of them.