In order to deploy an effective content strategy, knowing the goals and nuances of your brand and niche are essential. Every niche and brand has unique considerations, depending on the exact focus of the brand and how its audience(s) interact with content. Some people prefer written content, while others gravitate toward more easily-digested content offerings.

Whatever the situation, no brand should begin engaging in content marketing in earnest without first determining what strategies work best for them. In particular, the types of content marketing can produce wildly different results for different brands, depending on multiple factors.

Today, we’ll examine how you can determine which content marketing options are right for you and deploy them with the utmost efficiency.

Emails – the Universal Method

Perhaps the one great unifying format through which content marketing excels across brands and industries is via email marketing. Being the most universal way in which to reach consumers and fans alike, email marketing provides an extremely low-cost, quick and simple method to target audiences based on their interests, demographics and/or past behavior.

Creating large mailing lists and pinging users based on these details is simple enough, thanks to any number of available mailing list software solutions. While larger lists and campaigns may require a subscription in order to utilize and track effectively, the costs associated with email marketing is pennies on the dollar compared to most other forms of digital marketing.

Email marketing also has a respectably high conversion rate across industries, making it a go-to solution for brands with a list of subscribers on-hand.

Videos – for Those On-the-Go

Video marketing is an incredibly powerful content marketing solution – but only in the right situations.

First and foremost, video marketing works best when coupled with other marketing strategies, most notably social media. Being able to put your videos in front of audiences who are already using a friendly channel to access information makes the effort worthwhile in terms of reach.

Individuals who access content on mobile devices are much more likely to prefer video content as well, meaning that active and younger audiences tend to view video content more favorably.

Social Media – for Emotional Connections

Many brands and businesses don’t necessarily deal with the sexiest of products and services. This can make content marketing particularly difficult, especially in niche situations.

However, social media offers brands the ability to start pinging users with relevant content and a combination of emotional appeals as well. It is much easier to market your brand without direct promotion via social media posts (through efforts such as holiday celebrations, personal stories and off-topic entertainment & humor) than through other forms of content marketing where being on-topic always matters.

Podcasts – for Loyal Audiences

If you already have a well-connected and loyal base through which reaching their friends and family may also be possible, then podcasts can be a good content marketing strategy. The good thing about podcasts is that they can be easily made without huge budgets or lengthy planning sessions. However, the downside is that casual visitors and followers may not be willing to sit through such a long-form content offering.

As with most things, choice and availability doesn’t mean that all options work for everyone. Depending on your brand and its audience, select forms of content marketing just make more sense than others. By applying these kinds of considerations, you can maximize the effectiveness of your content marketing strategies and avoid less fruitful endeavors.