In April 2019, content marketers could pitch spring gift ideas, write about important political issues, play a prank or two, offer tax help, and recognize China’s contributions.
Content marketing is the act of creating, publishing, and distributing content with the aim of attracting, engaging, and retaining customers. For many businesses, content marketing has become the de facto long-term marketing strategy, so it is important to have a steady stream of ideas.
In this post, I will discuss five content marketing ideas your business could try in April 2019.
Pitch Gift Guides
The lines between content marketing, media relations, and search engine optimization are less defined in 2019 than these disciplines may have been previously.
It is not uncommon for a person responsible for content marketing at a small or mid-sized ecommerce business to also handle SEO and media outreach. Recognizing this new relationship, my first content marketing suggestion for April 2019 is to create a few gift guides based on the products your business sells and then pitch those guides or their suggestions to publications and influencers.
Create a gift guide featuring the products you sell. Even something as simple as socks could be an idea for a niche gift guide. Photo: Sock Club.
These guides could focus on the best gifts for men or gifts for 10-year girls — or just about anything niche you can imagine.
Separately, sign up as a source on Help a Reporter Out (HARO). In recent weeks, for example, there have been several requests on HARO from journalists and bloggers for gift ideas.
Tackle Political Causes
Often it can make good business sense to stay away from controversial topics and politics. If your online store sells products with broad appeal, it’s usually best to not to anger one customer segment or another.
However, if your brand or the products you sell align with a particular political position, you may be able to strengthen customer relationships when your content covers political issues or when your business takes political action.
Toms, a maker and seller of shoes, apparel, and glasses, has always been devoted to causes. The company originally came to fame by giving a free pair of shoes to someone in need for each pair the company sold to a paying customer. It may be the case that a majority of Toms’ customers are left-leaning on the political spectrum. These customers may, therefore, be in favor of political causes generally supported by the left.
Volunteers preparing to deliver postcards to members of Congress. Photo: Toms.
Recently, Toms has taken a stand against gun violence, which is likely to resonate with its core customers. Here is an excerpt from a February post published on the Toms’ website:
The weather was dismal. Clouds filled the sky, casting a uniform gray on the stone and concrete buildings that lined the National Mall. A steady drizzle kept most people off the streets.
But inside the ballroom of the Liaison Capitol Hill, the climate was different. The room buzzed with the energy of volunteers who came from near and far to represent the voices of Americans across the country.
Students fastened pins to their jackets, retirees filled thermoses with coffee, and Toms employees arranged the last of hundreds of tote bags stuffed with postcards into three groups marked Cannon, Longworth, and Rayburn — names corresponding to congressional office buildings.
Three months earlier, Toms founder Blake Mycoskie announced the company was giving $5 million to organizations committed to ending gun violence, and that anyone who was passionate about the issue could get involved by going to Toms.com and submitting a postcard to their representative urging them to pass universal background checks.
April Fool’s Day
For content marketers, April 1 is an opportunity for a harmless hoax, a practical joke, or the occasional prank.
Your goal then is to come up with a product announcement or video that will entertain your audience of customers and potential customers, and, perhaps, earn some links for SEO sake.
Here are other examples of April Fool’s Day videos to inspire you:
Tax Day Reminder
Your company’s April 2019 content marketing can also be useful. For example, as much as tax day in the U.S. — Monday, April 15, 2019 — is no one’s favorite date, it may be important for your customers.
Try publishing useful tax-related content ahead of the filing deadline. Photo: Rawpixel.
For example, an online store selling power tools, workwear, and work boots could publish an article reminding folks about how state and federal tax deductions work and describing how to find and print receipts on the company’s website.
Similarly, if the products your business sells are eligible for specific tax deductions, it is a good idea to publish an article saying so and describing the process for documenting the deduction.
Chinese Language Day
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated April 20 as Chinese Language Day.
Confucius, shown in this portrait, was an important educational and philosophical leader.
For UNESCO, Chinese Language Day is an opportunity “to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization.”
For content marketers, it can serve as a reminder to tell stories about some of your Chinese suppliers or customers or look at the historical impact China may have had on the products your company sells.
There will be some very obvious connections. For example, apparel retailers might want to publish a post about the history of Chinese silk or a piece about how the Chinese clothing industry has changed in the past decade.
Other businesses could focus on Chinese-Americans and how they have impacted the industry your business represents.