The Power of Product-Led Content: 3 Content Marketing Examples that drove Customer Purchase

Ask yourself this: Would you purchase your products/ services because of the content you produced?

More than likely, the answer is no. Why?

Because your content isn't building trust. It's only announcing what you offer. It decreases interest and increases skepticism. And that's if you genuinely believe in your product. If you're only trying to sell it with fancy marketing tactics, you may see no results from the content. Worse yet, if your competitors are producing great content, you have lost the lead before they see you.

Customers nowadays are fiercely independent. According to studies by Clearvoice, brands must deliver personal and authentic messaging to attract customers. For Gen X buyers, reviews are the central nervous system. They won’t just take your word for it. They scour search engines, reviews, and social media before making any purchase decisions. Millennials engage with brands more on social media than other generations. They follow brands they love and use social media to research a product before they buy. And Gen Z demands imagination, innovation, and brand results.

Using product-led content to drive customer conversion

It sounds like mission impossible, but it's definitely doable. And in my opinion, startups have an advantage in building trust with their audiences and encouraging them to become buyers from their content. Here are three successful examples which have captivated my attention and converted me into a customer. Each displays a unique way to build trust on top of being highly authentic, honest, and direct.

1. Nuraphones - Using UGC to induce FOMO

2. Moment - Valuable content and community building

3. Cuddle + Kind - Strong branding with a social cause as trigger

1. Nuraphones

Using UGC as product-led content to induce FOMO

Nuraphones is very smart with their UGC (User-generated content). They created long-form videos on Youtube like the one above and break them down into bite-size snippets as ads on Facebook. All of their reaction videos showcase a consistent "oh wow" reaction, making their messaging simple and easy for audiences to recall. All the while, the content creates a strong brand image that differentiates their headphones from the rest.

Though the product excelled in its appearance, specifics, and unique hearing profile ability, these USPs (Unique selling points) were not core to their awareness content. Often, companies jump at bragging about these functional add-ons without realizing they are not the things that are best at attracting leads, especially the bulk of people who yet has an intent.

Nuraphones is smart to leave the specs on their website for those who are already ready to buy and focused on inducing FOMO (fear of missing out) to those who may be interested. They used content to drive curiosity. And like a rabbit hole, audiences naturally began research as they were hooked. And I was one of them.

They then deployed retargeting campaigns to touch people repeatedly, moving cold leads (like myself, who was not looking for a headphone at the time) down their sales funnel. At last, they included a discount code to trigger a purchase at the end. The comprehensive customer journey and funnel setup clearly indicate a strong content marketing strategy behind.

Lessons to take away:

1. Identify a simple way to capture the attention

2. Leave product specifics to the website where people are doing research

3. Map out the customer's journey very clearly to identify gaps and introduce tactics

2. Moment

Valuable content and community building

Moment, founded by the avid adventurer Erik Hedberg and entrepreneur Marc Barros, produces high-quality iPhone lenses. The duo is an expert in solving photography and videography problems with tools. So instead of talking about their products, they share their knowledge with their community for free.

I have been a fan of their Youtube videos for some time, but I did not have an impulse to buy until their Christmas campaign hit. They notified audiences like me via email about their Christmas bundles, which directed me to an informative website landing about their products. I then went to Youtube to find tutorials and reviews on the products. That is where their free video resources popped up. It did a great job of illustrating how to use the products and what they can achieve. The experience triggered my final purchase.

As you can tell, my customer journey was far from linear. For their marketing to have worked, they needed their social, e-commerce, and EDM content to work together and run like a well-oiled machine. Without one, the customer journey would have collapsed, costing them potential leads.

I would not have made my purchase without finding their instructional content on the products featured in the Christmas bundle, even if their EDM caught my attention. Moment's efforts are great examples to showcase the importance of having a content marketing strategy.

Lessons to take away:

1. Don't treat your campaigns as a one-off but as a gateway to all your other content

2. Be long-sighted and integrate different content at different touchpoints

3. Produce amazing content!

3. Cuddle + Kind

Strong branding with a social cause as trigger

The children's product industry is competitive, and products are pricey. Brands in this industry need to give customers a strong reason why their buck is worth the spending. So when I was looking for a present for my best friend's newborn, I spent quite some time researching. I didn't want to "buy another doll". The doll needed to mean something.

Cuddle + Kind has a solid brand message: "for every ethically produced, hand-knit doll sold, we provide 10 meals to children in need". The message is included in all of their branded content. It helps them stand out from their competitors and associate with those who value brands with a social cause.

Though I was a highly intent customer, I wasn't just going to buy anything. I wanted to feel good during my shopping process. It was likelier for me to opt for their brand against their competitors because they stood for something positive, and I wanted to do the same. If my purchase can do that, it becomes a trigger for me to checkout.

Most importantly, I felt like their free meals initiative justified their price. Their social stance helped reduce my purchase guilt. I feel like I have put more thought into the gift, versus buying an expensive doll from the mall. It was their messaging which made every single purchase a win-win for the brand, the giver, and the receiver.

Lessons to take away:

1. Be consistent!

2. Don't shy away from taking a social stance.

3. Use content to relate to both the buyer and the receiver.

"Content is how businesses build trust with audiences in the digital age—providing valuable content to the right people at the right time."

- Wordpress VIP + Parse.ly

There are so many ways to utilize content marketing for your brand. The content you produce and how you distribute it can make a huge difference. The most important part is to understand your brand's strength and align it with your target audience persona understanding. Then do you create content and distribute it with a formulated framework and strategy.

Update (Dec 2022): Here are more Content Marketing examples from 2022!

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