{"id":11042,"date":"2021-02-12T20:14:16","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T20:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/?p=11042"},"modified":"2021-02-16T16:39:39","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T16:39:39","slug":"3-content-formats-digital-marketers-should-be-using","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/3-content-formats-digital-marketers-should-be-using\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Content Formats Digital Marketers Should Be Using (But Probably Aren\u2019t)"},"content":{"rendered":"
This article originally appeared on DigitalSummit.com<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/h5>\n

Digital marketers spend a lot of time determining the best ways to reach and engage their audience. Much of that time is spent trying to determine the message they want to share, and the story they want to tell.<\/p>\n

But a smart marketer knows that some time should also be spent building a strategy around the format of the content\u2014that is, the way the story is brought to life and consumed.<\/p>\n

Written content has long been the go-to format for marketers looking to share their message with their audience quickly, easily and cheaply. The rise of the internet, and the subsequent democratization of content creation and distribution, has made it so that any marketer or thought leader can create a blog in a matter of minutes and begin sharing their thoughts. It\u2019s cheap and easy to create, and most of us have the skills and tools we need to write by our side at all times: pen and paper, a smartphone or a computer.<\/p>\n

In a world where algorithms and busy consumers alike prefer eye-catching visuals and interactive content, written text sometimes needs a sidekick.<\/p>\n

Infographics work well for this because they can be easily split up into pieces and to create multiple eye-catching snippets of the full data story. Video serves as a sort of super-format that also allows for repurposing the extracted audio, still imagery, and transcribed text.<\/p>\n

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But none of these content formats\u2014written text, infographics or video\u2014are particularly unique any more.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking to create content that breaks through the noise, consider these three formats you may not have used before to tell your brand story:<\/p>\n

Timelines<\/h2>\n

Timelines are a great format to choose when you want to plot a single story, or many stories, across time, helping to place the content and messages in a chronological context.<\/p>\n

Timelines also work great for organizing groups of other content pieces, since any point on a digital timeline can house other content formats such as written blurbs, photos, video clips, audio clips, and more.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s\u00a0an example from Lois Jeans<\/a>, who used an interactive timeline to celebrate their 50th anniversary, allowing you to scroll back in time to see ads, product photos and other imagery from throughout their history.<\/p>\n

Here are some examples of marketing content that might be well suited to a timeline:<\/p>\n