5 of the Most Influential Content Marketing Videos

Listening to experts is a great way to learn about content marketing. Here are 5 of our favorite content marketing videos.

These videos cover everything a brand needs to know about content marketing, from its history and unpredictable future to connecting with customers through empathy, building brand advocates, and other topics.

Quick Take-Aways

• The internet has eliminated the traditional intermediary between brand owner and consumer, and created a unique platform for accessibility as well as scale.

• Smart content marketers aren't just focused on numbers. They also consider the real value and connection that they create for their customers.

• A loyal customer base is one of the best ways to build brand awareness and trust.

• Empathy is the cornerstone of content marketing success. Brands should focus on the customer's perspective, and solve their problems.

6 of the Best Content Marketing Videos Ever

The Rise of New Marketing: The Story of Content

Content Marketing Institute

The Story of Content is a documentary by the Content Marketing Institute that will help you to understand how content marketing works. It is a compelling documentary that takes you through the history of marketing from the “golden ages”, in the middle of the 20th century (as Mad Men), to today, when content reigns supreme.

This video shows that content marketing is not new. John Deere uses it successfully through their magazine, The Furrow since the 19th Century (you read that right).

It has a huge capacity for speed and scale that is unimaginable before the internet.

These new technologies offer huge opportunities for brands that are willing to take advantage of them. Blendtec started making videos on “Will it Blend?” using a YouTube site that was months old. This helped them increase their sales by 1000%. They now have hundreds upon millions of views. Red Bull was on the right track when they created video content that appealed to people's passions and not their demographic data. Red Bull now has a whole media arm.

Greg McCoy from Procter & Gamble, Senior Archivist, said it aptly in this video: “You can either try to sell or tell your story.”

Consumers are more informed than ever, and they can tell when they're being marketed to. Smart brands don't want to sell every interaction. Instead, they look for opportunities to tell their stories, create valuable content and build trust with customers to establish long-lasting relationships.

Being a content marketing animal

Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vee isn't for the faint-hearted, but he knows his stuff. Online Marketing Rockstars 2015 is his well-known talk on being a Content Marketing Beast. He discusses how marketers place too much emphasis on data analytics, without considering the true value and the customer connection.

Gary says that Samsung is the best, and he apologizes to Samsung. He wanted to keep up with the impending New York Jets trade. Instead, he clicked on a banner ad every time he visited the sports website.

According to Gary's story, Gary clicked 8 times on the ad. The metrics must have been great for the brand that ran the ad. What is the truth? Gary cursed (literally) at having to click out of it constantly. The true ROI was 0. Gary, for example, didn't even look at the ad before they clicked the X.

Marketers have an enormous platform to share their brand messages in 2021. Problem? So does everyone else. Great content is the key to success for brands.

Gary says content marketers will not win long-term in playing numbers with data metrics. It's important to balance the qualitative and quantitative — to include “both the brain AND the heart.”

Here are some specific strategies to do this:

Stop disrupting the work of others

Social media ads work well because they appear naturally in users' feeds. This means they don’t interrupt their activity.

Be aware of emerging technologies

Once trends become saturated, it doesn't make sense to jump onboard with them. Gary gives the example of Gary's 1990s days as an email marketer pioneer. He was able to get open rates over 90%, which is a pipedream in today's marketing environment.

Continue to work towards building a long-lasting relationship with your customers

You shouldn't put all your eggs in the same basket (i.e. tactic, technology, etc.) In a world that is constantly changing, this is a bad idea. Instead, make content that is authentic and consistent across all channels.

Content Marketing Strategy 2030

Joe Pulizzi

Rewind to 2010. Think back to 2010. What were you doing in marketing? How did you imagine the future of marketing? The truth is that Instagram, Tik Tok and iPads aren't technologies that exist today.

Joe Pulizzi, a Content Marketing World 2019 keynote speaker, helps you to plan your strategy for 2030.

This doesn't mean that we can predict technology or know what the future might look like in ten years. Joe's talk outlines the strategies Joe uses to make content marketers more responsive, proactive, and sophisticated.

Internal buy-in

Your organization's leaders should be educated. Teach your leaders about content marketing and the value it brings. Stop using archaic marketing techniques and instead focus on providing real value to customers through your marketing strategy.

Multi-income streams can help you sustain yourself

While marketing goals are important, you should also consider other revenue streams. Joe gives the Cleveland Clinic as an example. Their Health Essentials series has tripled its earnings revenue between 2016 and 2019, and is now a major driver for new patient acquisition.

Learn how to acquire content

Smart brands buy brand assets and media channels from other businesses to expand their reach and increase their brand offerings. Joe uses the example of Raspberry Pi buying tech magazines, and Arrow Electronics purchasing UBM's media collection.

Do something great

It's impossible to do it all at once. You can't do it all at once. Instead, succeed at what you are good at and don't force anything that isn't working. Then, build on your successes incrementally to achieve greater results.

The Best Marketing Strategy That No One Is Focusing on

Pat Flynn

Although this talk by Pat Flynn was only presented in October 2021, it is already on our all-time top ten because it focuses so much on creating brand advocates from your loyal customers.

Content marketers often focus too much on customer acquisition and miss the best (and most cost-effective!) way to market our brand. This is having customers do it for our brand. Pat says that we must “create superfans” within our active audience.

How do we do it? Community building is the key. Peer reviews and other consumers are more trusted than direct brand messages today. If you create a loyal customer base that feels connected to your brand, and to each other, they are more likely to share your brand on social media.

Brands must make customers feel valued in order to achieve this. They will share the great experience with others when they do.

Empathy: The human connection to patient care

Cleveland Clinic

Although this video isn't as engaging as the others, it has a powerful message about empathy. Successful content marketing is built around empathy, which refers to the ability to see and feel through another person's eyes.

People don't look for specific products or services, they are looking for solutions to their problems. Brands that see their customers as more than a number will find better connections and a higher content marketing ROI.

Cleveland Clinic demonstrates empathy in patient care. Content marketers (and all humans) can learn from this video and use it to their advantage.

Confidence is key to executing your content strategy

These content marketing videos should have provided you with plenty of inspiration. Marketing Insider Group can help you launch a winning strategy and produce consistent, high-quality content. Our writers are available to deliver publish-ready content every week for up to a year, and we can work with you to develop a custom content calendar. ).

For more information, visit our Content Builder Service. Or book a quick consultation!