Content marketing small business website examples
Copywriters, the ability to find the exact right words to tell your company's story isn't an easy feat, and it's even harder to do so consistently.
So when we come across companies that are doing it successfully, we think their copywriters deserve a pat on the back (and a raise?). Take a look at some of the companies we think have stellar copywriting, and if you're looking, maybe get some inspiration for your own brand, too.
Moosejaw
Why we like it: Moosejaw's use of humor builds an emotional connection with site visitors — delighting them while providing information they can use.
Not many brands are brave enough to touch the products they're selling with unconventional copy ... but Moosejaw isn't afraid to have a little fun.
The outdoor apparel outlet store uses humor as a way to sell their products without being overly forward about it. By appealing to people's emotions, they're more engaging and memorable.
Here are a few examples:
Same goes for the call-to-action buttons that show up when you hover your mouse over a product photo — like this one, which reads, "Look This Cool." Does their brand voice carry over to the product descriptions, you ask? See for yourself:
Why we like it: The team at Scott's Cheap Flights positions themselves as travel industry insiders with their handy pro-tips and down to earth lingo.
Scott's Cheap Flights is known for finding discount airfare, but they've branched out with a variety of offerings, including guides. Adding a personal touch, the team at Scott's has also offered up some pro tips of their own on their "Meet the Team" page.
Members feel like they're getting information from seasoned experts, and they're able to pair these tips with photos of the employee that gave them. This small, but useful addition builds connection with site visitors and improves the company's credibility.
Our first content marketing example is River Pools and Spas. It's an independent pool company, yet its content strategy is one of the most famous in digital marketing history. As a last ditch effort to save their business during the 2008 recession, owner Marc Sheridan and his team dived into blogging.
Their goal was to become the best teachers in the world about the industry by growing their blog with posts that answered every possible customer question. Eventually, they combined blogging with other forms of content, too, such as instructional YouTube videos. Ultimately, their content marketing strategy succeeded: it attracted a huge influx of customers, and saved the company as a result.
The content marketing lesson here is to focus on your customer, not yourself. Aim to be a teacher, providing both written and visual content that leaves your audience feeling like they've learned something new.
How much content can you really create about blenders? Generating a large amount of content can be tricky if your product is very specific, but Blendtec pulls it off with creativity.The blender company's eCommerce website is full of recipes, presented in the form of video tutorials. The videos aren't limited to smoothie recipes, either; the company also shows more advanced recipes for soups, nut butters, and more.
In doing so, they're able to engage their readers with unique and unexpected content, while sending the message that their product's capabilities exceed those of a standard home blender. Even more impressively, the Blendtec brand has become a successful YouTuber. In contrast to the serious recipe suggestions present on its website, the company's "Will It Blend?" videos wow users with their goofiness and audacity.
Among its most popular clips are the blending of an iPad (boasting 12 million views) and the blending of glow sticks. These videos aren't genuinely educational, but they serve a different kind of purpose; they succeed in establishing Blendtec as a funny, likable company with a memorable brand identity and an evidently effective product.
Speaking of food, Ben and Jerry's serves up some pretty sweet content marketing examples. Their visual branding has a 1960s aesthetic, and their content bolsters this image with topical blog posts about fair trade products, gender equality, and more. Their website also gives an in-depth explanation of their process for sourcing and making their ice cream, highlighting their brand values of social responsibility and transparency.
The bulk of their content aims for maximum user engagement. One post encourages readers to create their own flavor, attributing popular creations like Cherry Garcia and Chubby Hubby to their fans. The ice cream company also predominantly features quizzes to make their brand feel personal and fun, such as "Love or Ice Cream?" and "Which Dough Chunk Are You?" By inviting people to participate in their brand, the company's content strategy helps them form a close-knit community of loyal fans.
Innocent
Why we like it: Like Velocity Partners, innocent's copy proves that simple language can be just as effective as its more descriptive counterparts. There's no need for long paragraphs, innocent gets straight to the point.
Check out U.K.-based drink makers innocent, and you'll see a language, style, and tone that matches their philosophy, product, and even their branding and design. It's all just clean, straightforward, and simple. And believe it or not, simple is a really, really hard thing to nail in copywriting.This stands out most on their "Things We Make" page. (Isn't that page name even beautifully simple?)
ModCloth is delightfully quirky and whimsy. Their copy speaks directly to their buyer personas with product copy that helps buyers envision their lives with the item. ModCloth is a brand that has always had an excellent grasp of their buyer persona, and it comes through in their pun-filled copywriting. All of their products are silly plays on words — check out this screen grab of some of their new arrivals, for example:
Dive into their product description copy, and it's equally joyous, evocative, and clever — just like their customers. Often, it'll also tell the story of what you'll do while wearing their items: After reading their descriptions, one can imagine what their life would be like if they owned this product. That's Copywriting 101, but so few brands can actually pull it off like the folks at ModCloth do.
Sources and Photos:: WIX and Hubspot
Ruby Receptionists' Oregon neighbor KidRunner has been a social media content marketing machine in the past few years, with popular videos garnering attention across social sites. Runners throughout the country shared and liked an article showing professional runner Max King winning the BigFoot 10K with his daughter behind him in the egg-shaped jogging stroller. While they don't have a blog, their videos are an excellent example of content marketing.
Another Cleveland-based company, Nooma was created by two athletic brothers seeking an alternative to traditional energy drinks. They developed a plant-based formula, and watched their business take off when they began focusing on a content marketing strategy. The owners regularly contribute to Nooma blog, which covers subjects like health information, lifehacks, recipes, and workout hotspots.
This Cleveland-based nutrition bar company is evidence of how powerful the written word can be for small businesses. In fact, they saw their sales increase more than 50 percent in just four months when they began focusing on their content marketing. Their blog gives health-conscious customers information on everything from sufficient vitamin and mineral consumption to creating their own gardens. On social media, they actively share how customers enjoy their bars, and keep followers in-the-know about where bars can be purchased.
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