The beginning of a year represents new opportunities for content marketers. In January, help potential customers get started on their new hobbies and activities, celebrate one of the greatest Americans, and reach out to your audience with trivia, college football, and serialized shows or articles.
Content marketing is the act of creating, publishing, and distributing content — such as online articles and YouTube and Facebook videos — with the goal of attracting, engaging, and retaining customers.
For online retailers, content marketing is one of the best ways to connect with shoppers since it is useful, informative, or entertaining, similar to what they might read in a magazine or watch on television.
Use the five suggestions on this list to get your company’s content marketing started in January 2018. Remember that good content marketing will emulate the sorts of articles and videos from professional publishers and broadcasters.
1. New Year’s Day How-to Articles and Videos
When the calendar resets on January 1, it is an opportunity to begin new habits and new hobbies. Your potential customers are going to search Google and Bing or ask a virtual assistant for how-to articles and videos related to their activities and aspirations for the new year.
For January 2018, create content that helps your shoppers get started on their new hobbies or helps them complete a New Year’s resolution.
The new year is an opportunity for content marketers to provide how-to articles related to the hobbies or activities that shoppers are likely to start. Image: Annie Spratt.
For example, an online store that sells fitness equipment might publish articles or videos about weight loss, home exercise, or the best workouts for beginners. A craft supply retailer could post articles about getting started with knitting or crocheting. A kitchen supply store could release videos about home brewing or how to make artisan bread.
Aim for content that enables your shoppers.
2. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: January 15
It may be impossible to think about important and meaningful content topics in January and not think about the contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The holiday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is meant to celebrate him.
Your January content can retell King’s story, consider how the civil rights movement he started impacted the industry you serve or discuss the ways your industry can still grow and improve.
For inspiration, watch King’s 1967 speech to Barrett Junior High School in Philadelphia, Penn., “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?”
3. National Trivia Day: January 4
Trivia describes information that is perhaps obscure and relatively unimportant outside of a narrow area of concern.
It can take the form of facts or statistics, and trivia is often used in games or simply to quiz and stump friends.
For National Trivia Day, celebrants are encouraged to host or attend a trivia night, wherein attendees play some sort of trivia game.
For your company’s content marketing, consider one of three trivia-related approaches.
- Publish trivia-rich articles, such as “43 Amazing Facts about Cheese.”
- Describe National Trivia Day, like the newscasters from WKBT TV of La Crosse, Wisc. did in the YouTube video above.
- Offer recommendations or suggestions for celebrating National Trivia Day.
4. College Football Playoff
The College Football Playoff semifinals will be held on New Year’s Day when No. 1 Clemson plays No. 4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and No. 2 Oklahoma plays No. 3 Georgia in the Rose Bowl.
The following week, on January 8, 2018, the winning teams will meet at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for the national championship game.
Last year, about 27 million Americans watched the championship game. This year’s viewership could be higher, for the entire playoff series. If this interest carries over to Internet searches and article consumption, there may be an opportunity for content marketers to produce related articles, podcasts, or videos.
For example, an online store featuring home decor might publish examples of college-football themed rooms. A video from this same online retail store could discuss ways to decorate for the playoff games. And a podcast might talk about the best ways to store seasonal or event-specific decorations safely until next year.
Be creative with your college football content. It does not have to be all about the players and the games; it can also be about the passion and the culture of college football.
5. Serial Content
Returning to the theme of new beginnings — the first idea on this list — January could be a good time to start a new content series, be it an online journal, a podcast, or a video show.
Serial content that comes out each week or each month and builds on previous articles or episodes can develop a strong audience. Once you have that audience, you have the opportunity to sell to it.
Create content that will help your business attract, engage, and retain your next customers.