Content marketing can help connect with new customers or deepen relationships with existing ones. But some businesses struggle to find topics to address. The good news is that opportunities abound in October 2020, when a company could cover National Taco Day, raise cybersecurity awareness, profile customers, provide a brief history of products, or identify Halloween do-it-yourself projects.
Content marketing is the act of creating, publishing, and promoting content with the goal of attracting, engaging, and retaining customers. The idea is that when you provide something of value, such as good content, consumers will appreciate it and even reciprocate.
What follows are five content marketing ideas that you can use for your business next month.
1. National Taco Day: October 4
Americans collectively ate more than 4.5 billion tacos last year, according to the National Taco Day website. Given the U.S. population of around 331 million people, that is more than a dozen tacos each.
Americans collectively ate more than 4.5 billion tacos last year, or roughly a dozen tacos each.
“For a dish so widely available, the history of the taco is really unknown,” the website continued. “But according to taco expert Jeffrey M. Pilcher, the word originates from the silver mines in Mexico in the 18th century, when taco referred to the little explosives workers used to extract the ore.”
“These were pieces of paper wrapped around gunpowder and placed into holes carved in the rock. ‘When you think about it, a chicken taquito with a good hot sauce is really a lot like a stick of dynamite,’ [said] Pilcher in an article at Smithsonian.com. ‘The first references [to the taco] in any sort of archive or dictionary come from the end of the 19th century. And one of the first types of tacos described is called tacos de minero — miners’ tacos. So the taco is not necessarily this age-old cultural expression; it’s not a food that goes back to time immemorial.’”
Regardless, the odds are good that most of your customers and prospects like tacos. Here are a few articles or videos your company can produce in October 2020.
- A kitchen supply retailer could publish 10 taco recipes, from traditional Taco Bell-style to a vegan, panko-breaded cauliflower version.
- A workwear shop selling Carhartt and Berne apparel could publish articles about the best job site tacos, the best taco chains, or how to remove taco stains.
- An office supply store could publish a list of ways to celebrate National Taco Day in the workplace.
- An exercise equipment seller could publish a list of healthy taco recipes or recommend a workout to help shed the extra calories one might take in celebrating National Taco Day.
2. National Cyber Security Awareness Month
Help your customers understand how you protect them online and what they can do to protect themselves.
October 2020 is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. The observance dates to 2004 as a joint effort of the National Cyber Security Division within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the nonprofit National Cyber Security Alliance. Its purpose is to raise awareness about cybersecurity and how we — consumers, businesses, government agencies — can work together to take on cyber fraud and other online crimes.
For October content marketing, you could explain what your business does to keep customers safe and what they could do to better themselves.
3. Profile Resilient Customers
Customer profiles are hard to create. It is much easier to compose an article about a familiar topic. But customer profiles — especially in video form — can be an extremely effective way to attract, engage, and retain shoppers.
For a profile, identify potential customers worthy of the spotlight and reach out to them to learn their story. Then tell the story in an interesting way.
For your October content marketing, consider developing a few customer profile articles, videos, or podcasts around folks who lost a job because of the coronavirus but responded by launching an entrepreneurial endeavor.
Profile customers who may have lost a job because of the coronavirus, but who are starting a business. Photo: Lionello DelPiccolo.
Try to associate these customers with your brand. For example, an outfitter selling hiking shoes, backpacks, and tents might tell the story of a laid-off office worker, who transformed her hobby, say backpacking, into an outdoor adventure school for single women.
4. A Brief History
In many offices, the de facto business uniform for men is a pair of khakis and a polo shirt.
But the polo was created for tennis, as explained by Mr. Porter, the high-end men’s fashion retailer, in its recently published post, “A Brief History of Polo Shirts.”
“Mr. René Lacoste, an enterprising French tennis player, was looking for a comfortable alternative to the elegant, if a little starchy, tennis whites of the day — white flannel trousers, a V-neck sweater, and a long-sleeved shirt, often worn with a tie,” according to the article, which appeared in The Journal, Mr. Porter’s online magazine.
Take this excellent content idea — “A Brief History” — from Mr. Porter.
The easy-to-read article features clothing (the product Mr. Porter sells), celebrities, and a satisfying little story. Use a similar tactic — a product your business sells, well-known folks or groups of folks who use that product, and a satisfying story to create a brief history of that item.
Here are a few example headlines.
- “A Brief History of Power Tools”
- “A Brief History of English Teas”
- “A Brief History of Brassieres”
- “A Brief History of Saddles”
- “A Brief History of Ice Cream Spoons”
Be creative, use your products, and have fun. “Brief History” posts are excellent content opportunities.
5. Halloween DIY Projects
Halloween will be different in 2020. Photo: Colton Sturgeon.
For retailers, Halloween is the most important holiday in October. But Halloween in 2020 will likely be different due to the pandemic. Thus, instead of (or in addition to) publishing costume guides or similar Halloween-related posts, consider creating instructions for do-it-yourself projects that your customers can try at home.
As with any DIY-project content, try to use the products your business sells. For example, an omnichannel tool retailer could describe how to build a contactless device that uses a motion sensor to deploy candy to trick-or-treaters. The project could feature a number of tools the store sells.
