Content marketing is a strategy that uses written or visual content to attract and engage a target audience. In 2026, running a content marketing program goes well beyond maintaining a blog. It requires video, graphics, and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) strategies working together.
In this guide, I will show marketing professionals how to use content marketing to attract, educate, engage, and delight target audiences with strategies and tactics that have driven millions of monthly visitors to HubSpot.com for over two decades.
Table of Contents- What is content marketing?
- Types of Content Marketing
- Content Marketing and SEO
- Content Marketing and AEO
- Content Marketing and Social Media
- How does content marketing work?
- How to Set a Content Marketing Strategy
- Content Marketing Examples
- Traits of Effective Content Marketing
- Best Content Marketing Resources
- Frequently Asked Questions About Content Marketing
- Engage your target audience with content marketing.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach that focuses on creating and distributing helpful, valuable content for a specific audience to earn traffic, trust, and ultimately sales. It is designed to address an audience’s needs rather than promote a product or service directly.
These materials can take many forms, including blog posts, ebooks, infographics, videos, and web pages. According to the HubSpot State of Marketing, the most popular content marketing formats are:
- Short-form video (60.1%).
- Long-form video (38.2%).
- Blog posts (37.8%).
- Live streaming (36.9%).
Other formats include eBooks, downloadable templates, interactive content, user-generated content (UGC), and podcasts.
Content Marketing Planning Templates
Plan your content strategically with these handy templates.
- Editorial Calendar Template
- Buyer Persona Templates
- SWOT Analysis Templates
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Why is content marketing important?
Content marketing is important because it helps brands stay visible, engage prospects, and nurture leads and sales. In a Content Marketing Institute survey, B2B marketers reported that content marketing helps them:
- Create brand awareness (84%).
- Generate demand/leads (76%).
- Nurture subscribers/audiences/leads (63%).
This matters because other marketing tactics like paid advertising don’t hold the sway they once did. Nearly 30% of consumers use an ad blocker, and 93% use some form of ad avoidance like skipping, muting, or blocking ads. Given advertising inflation and consumer ad blindness, content marketing offers a more affordable, engaging way for teams to gain attention.
Types of Content Marketing
Many types of content marketing can be incorporated into a strategy. The most common are covered below.
1. Online Content Marketing
Online content marketing refers to any material published online, but more specifically to web pages. A strong online content marketing strategy helps brands rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) and AI engines, getting content in front of the right people at the right time.
Content formats like case studies, ebooks, white papers, and checklists are particularly valuable for B2B companies. A solid distribution strategy matters for alternative web formats — PDF documents are not the best format for search engines or AI engines.
Featured resource: How to Develop a Content Strategy in 7 Steps
2. Social Media Content Marketing
With over 5.79 billion social media users worldwide, it’s easy to understand why many businesses invest in social media. Social media content marketing leverages photos, videos, posts, stories, and user-generated content to attract and engage prospects.
Most brands incorporate social media into their content marketing mix. Organic social is used by 40.3% of brands, while paid social is used by 39.4%.
Featured resource: LinkedIn Content Marketing Best Practices
3. Infographic Content Marketing
Infographics display content, information, and data in an easy-to-understand graphic format. With a mix of simple wording, short statements, and clear images, infographics are a great way to share relevant data points and simplify an educational or complex topic.
Featured resource: HubSpot’s Complete Collection of Content Creation Templates
4. Blog Content Marketing
Blogs are a powerful type of content marketing that publishes consistent, thorough content about a topic relevant to its readers. Blogs can bring visitors to a company website and result in brand mentions and recommendations on AI answer engines. While most blogs are hosted on a company’s website, a growing minority are hosted on third-party platforms like Medium, Substack, Beehiiv, or LinkedIn.
Featured resource: Learn How to Start a Successful Blog
5. Podcast Content Marketing
Podcasts are an audio-based content format that can nurture an audience, build authority, and showcase thought leadership. Types of content marketing podcasts range from talk shows and interviews to comedy and storytelling.
Fifty-eight percent of U.S. consumers have listened to a podcast in the past month, with daily listeners consuming up to five hours of content a day. Podcasts are increasingly becoming visual, as video podcast content passed audio-only content for the first time in 2025, and video podcasts racked up over one billion views on YouTube last year.
Featured resource: How to Start a Podcast
6. Video Content Marketing
Video marketing can help brands connect emotionally with audiences, boost brand recall and conversions, and improve ROI. Many marketers share video content on landing pages, YouTube, or social media platforms. When marketers rated which content marketing formats produced the best ROI in 2025, video formats swept the podium:
- Short-form-video (48.6%).
- Long-form video (28.6%).
- Live streaming (25.1%).
Featured resource: The Ultimate Video Marketing Starter Pack
7. Paid Ad Content Marketing
Paid ads can help brands reach a broad audience and position themselves in the places that matter most — paid ads are especially beneficial when paired with inbound marketing.
Paid ads can be shared across many channels, including social media, landing pages, banners, and sponsored content.
Featured resource: The Ultimate Google Ads PPC Kit
Content Marketing and SEO
When creating blog content, making it helpful is a start. But helpful content alone does not guarantee online visibility. Content marketing works best when paired with SEO, distribution, and performance measurement. Three time-tested tactics make the biggest difference.
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Conduct keyword research. Identify terms, phrases, and questions the target audience is likely to use when searching for information.
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Create high-quality content. High-quality content incorporates unique perspectives, uses vetted sources, and balances words with visuals. Write clearly, keep jargon out, and ensure the topic is relevant to the audience.
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Structure content for search engines. Strategically incorporate related keywords and answer questions directly. Include keywords in headers, meta descriptions, and image alt text to improve ranking and citation chances.
Pro tip: HubSpot SEO Tools surface keyword opportunities and on-page recommendations alongside content as it’s created, ensuring every piece is optimized before it publishes.
Content Marketing Planning Templates
Plan your content strategically with these handy templates.
- Editorial Calendar Template
- Buyer Persona Templates
- SWOT Analysis Templates
- SMART Goal Template
Download Free
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Content Marketing and AEO
Content marketing has changed with the advent of AI answer engines. For years, brands have practiced SEO to help potential customers find their content through organic keyword search. Now, as customers use AI to find recommendations, answers, and helpful content, brands need to recalibrate their content for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).
AEO is a marketing practice that optimizes content to improve how often brands appear in AI-generated answers across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and other AI answer engines. AEO can optimize not only written web content but videos, graphics, and podcasts.
HubSpot AEO gives marketers visibility into how their brand is showing up across answer engines, clear recommendations for improving that visibility, and the tools to implement that strategy. Learn more about the future of content marketing and how to optimize your workflows for AI in content marketing.
Content Marketing and Social Media
Beyond SEO, social media is another channel brands use to distribute content. Some brands make the mistake of blasting the same content across all channels, but that approach rarely works. A few principles make social media distribution more effective.
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Focus on a few high-impact channels. From text-based platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook to video-based platforms like YouTube and TikTok, there are over a dozen social media platforms available. Research which platforms the target audience uses most and focus on three to start.
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Avoid using social media only for self-promotion. Smart marketers use social media to interact with audiences and build an online community around their brand. Prioritize helpful educational content over intrusive promotional content.
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Engage the audience. Social media platforms are an opportunity to learn what the audience cares about. Share polls or interactive content, ask what challenges they face, engage with comments, and re-share relevant follower content.
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Create platform-native content. Sharing a blog post link rarely drives engagement on its own. Create platform-native images, posts, and interactive content adapted from long-form content.
Pro tip: Content Remix helps brands repurpose their marketing content into multiple marketing assets across multiple channels in one click.
How does content marketing work?
Content marketing can differ by the conversion funnel stage it supports. It covers awareness, consideration, decision, and retention stages. Buyers have different needs at different points in the buying process, so aligning content efforts with the customer lifecycle ensures every stage is addressed.
1. Awareness
The goal at this stage is to build awareness. The target audience knows they have a problem but is not sure how to solve it. Content should focus on broad pain points and common questions, like “How to find the best home contractors” for a plumbing company. Useful content types for the awareness stage are:
- Blog posts.
- Social media posts.
- Short-form video.
- Podcasts.
- Infographics.
- Checklists.
- Ebooks.
- Webinars.
- Video ads.
2. Consideration
Once a prospect moves to the consideration stage, they understand their problem and are comparing possible solutions. Content should educate them on the specifics of the solution and show how it meets their needs. Useful content types for the consideration stage include:
- Email newsletters.
- Product demos.
- Landing pages.
- White papers.
- Case studies.
- Longer-form videos.
- Blog posts.
- Interactive content.
- Webinars.
3. Decision
Bottom-of-funnel content helps prospects decide and convert. This stage focuses on driving action and addressing common objections. In the decision stage, target formats such as:
- Personalized emails.
- User-generated content, like customer testimonials.
- Case studies.
- Pricing pages.
- Competitor comparison blog posts.
- Video demos.
- White papers.
- Remarketing campaigns.
4. Retention and Advocacy
The work doesn’t stop at the sale. Retention content keeps customers returning for repeat purchases and turns them into advocates.
- Advanced tutorials.
- Exclusive community forums.
- Loyalty programs.
- Personalized reports and usage content.
- All content formats from the first three stages— current customers still need this looped content to keep brands top of mind!
Content Types by Use Case
How to Set a Content Marketing Strategy
- Find your target audience.
- Set SMART goals.
- Determine your KPIs.
- Decide on the type of content and content formats.
- Choose your content channels.
- Set a budget.
- Create a content publishing schedule.
- Create and distribute the content.
- Analyze and measure results.
Content marketing takes a disciplined, consistent approach to be effective. Here’s how to create a strategy and put it into action.
1. Find your target audience.
Instead of creating content for everyone, focus on a niche with specific interests. Creating buyer personas helps outline the specific characteristics, pain points, and goals of a target audience. Companies can analyze existing customer data, sales transcripts, and other data points to understand where the audience spends time and which challenges they face.
2. Set SMART goals.
The next part of a content marketing strategy is setting SMART goals — Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. A content marketing goal needs specific parameters to judge whether it is successful and should align with the business’s broader marketing strategy and company goals.
SMART goal examples and SMART goal templates are useful starting points for teams building out their strategy.
3. Determine your KPIs.
Next, set key performance indicators (KPIs) for each goal. KPIs are quantifiable data points used to measure actual performance against a target. Common KPIs for content marketing include website traffic, engagement rates, and conversion rates.
Pro tip: HubSpot Analytics connects a company’s content performance directly to lead generation and revenue outcomes, enabling data-driven decisions.
4. Decide on the type of content and content formats.
Running a content audit is an effective way to assess competitor strategies, identify content gaps, and determine which mix of content and formats is likely to work well. Types of content are the broad categories planned for production, while content formats are the specific presentation methods within each content type.
For example, social media posts are a content type. But a post can include content formats like images, video, polls, carousels, and more.
5. Choose your content channels.
Once the content type is decided, the next step is choosing specific content channels, meaning where the content will be shared. For some content types like Facebook content, the channel is obvious. For others, like blog content or podcasts, marketers should evaluate which platforms yield the best engagement for their niche.
6. Set a budget.
Content marketing budgets need to account for the full production and distribution cycle. Common expenses include software subscriptions, freelance talent, design tools, and paid ad spend. Some companies include headcount and salaries in the marketing budget while others keep it separate. Resource allocation should reflect strategic priorities and the expected ROI from different content initiatives.
7. Create a content publishing schedule.
Marketing teams need a proactive publishing calendar to organize their content planning — popular formats include a social media calendar and blog editorial calendar. Keeping a planning calendar helps marketing teams to plan ahead, share consistent content, and seek feedback or approvals for content.
Featured resource: Use HubSpot’s free editorial calendar to schedule and optimize your marketing content and help boost conversions.
8. Create and distribute the content.
Content creation and distribution transforms strategic plans into live assets that engage the target audience. Every piece should be optimized for search visibility, then amplified through social media, email campaigns, and partnerships.
Pro tip: Integrating AI in content marketing workflows can help teams publish high-quality content more efficiently. HubSpot Blog Software provides a built-in tool for publishing and managing articles, with SEO recommendations and performance tracking built in, while its Content Repurposing Software helps teams distribute it.
9. Analyze and measure results.
Lastly, marketers should analyze and measure results so they can find out what’s working, what’s not, and adjust accordingly. Every marketing team should have a regular reporting cadence for their KPIs, which tie back to their SMART goals.
Pro tip: HubSpot Campaigns organizes content assets under campaign goals so teams can track how blog posts, emails, and social content collectively contribute to revenue.
Now, let’s look at some content marketing examples.
Content Marketing Planning Templates
Plan your content strategically with these handy templates.
- Editorial Calendar Template
- Buyer Persona Templates
- SWOT Analysis Templates
- SMART Goal Template
Download Free
All fields are required.
Form not available
Content Marketing Examples
Before launching a strategy, take a peek at how real brands are practicing content marketing in everyday contexts. These examples demonstrate how companies build awareness, engage audiences, and drive business results through strategic content creation. Just keep in mind that what works for one company may not work for another — just use these as inspiration to start creativity flowing.
1. Instagram Content Marketing
Glossier’s Instagram strategy builds brand community through user-generated content and authentic product storytelling. Its Instagram account stays on-brand and complements the rest of its marketing content. Even if the page didn’t say “Glossier” anywhere on the profile, customers would likely still know the profile belongs to this brand.
The Instagram page shares the Glossier product line, displays different products, and shows how to use each product. The profile feels and looks uniquely Glossier and depicts members of their wide customer base.
2. Infographic Content Marketing
I generated this infographic using ChatGPT to show how easy it is to create attractive, on-brand images that articulate key themes of an article. The infographic is well-organized and easy to read. It clearly shares information about the topic in a digestible manner.
3. B2C Blog Content Marketing
Expedia has a blog called “The Magazine” that shares travel-related information. The blog publishes travel recommendations organized by destination, trip type, or inspiration — all relevant to its globe-trotting audience. Expedia’s blog goes beyond text-based storytelling to blend video content, photography, and interactive maps that engage readers.
For conversions, the brand links hotel deals and other bookable links in the posts.
4. B2B Blog Content Marketing
Apollo.io runs a B2B-focused tech blog centered on sales development and go-to-market execution. Articles are structured to answer a clear question and provide step-by-step guidance, templates, or frameworks that sales teams can apply immediately. This approach builds authority around Apollo’s core product use case while naturally introducing its platform as part of the workflow. The content is tightly aligned with buyer intent and reinforces Apollo’s positioning as a sales execution tool.
To create similar workflow-driven content at scale, use HubSpot’s Free AI Content Writer to generate drafts, outlines, and long-form content in a fraction of the time. Then refine it to match your brand voice and unique expertise.
5. Podcast Content Marketing
Not many brands can say they’ve been running a successful business podcast since 2006 — enter HBR IdeaCast run by Harvard Business Review (HBR). IdeaCast is a weekly podcast that features industry leaders in both business and management. The podcast is a great way for HBR to connect with their target audience, enhance brand awareness, and gain more followers through a different medium.
6. Video Content Marketing
HubSpot runs a multi-format video strategy across YouTube, Shorts, and social clips, where the same idea is distributed in different formats depending on intent. For example, a long-form YouTube video might break down a topic like “how to build a content strategy,” while shorter clips and Shorts extract one key insight (e.g., a framework or mistake) and distribute it on LinkedIn, Instagram, or YouTube Shorts to capture attention.
What makes this approach effective is how the content is designed for repurposing from the start. One video becomes multiple assets: short clips for reach, mid-length explainers for engagement, and full videos for depth. Each format serves a different stage of the buyer journey while reinforcing the same core topic. Over time, this builds both audience and authority without creating entirely new content from scratch.
7. Paid Ad Content Marketing
Revolve, a clothing and accessories company, uses paid and sponsored ads on social media to reach its target audience while they browse their feeds. The ads feature products alongside details about free shipping and return policies to drive traffic and conversions.
Pro tip: HubSpot’s Campaign Assistant can generate compelling marketing copy across landing pages, emails, and ads. Powered by AI, simply describe the campaign, define the target audience, and choose a brand tone. The tool will produce conversion-focused copy with headlines, body content, and call-to-action elements tailored to each platform.
8. X Content Marketing
HubSpot uses X (formerly Twitter) to market software as well as create a community among customers, target audience members, and industry leaders and experts.
HubSpot shares product information, relevant tips, industry knowledge, and original research on X. HubSpot also interacts with users and makes sure anyone in need of customer support knows exactly where to go for help.
9. TikTok Content Marketing
Chipotle is an active brand on TikTok. The company uses the platform to reach and engage its customers and target audience members.
Besides reacting to others’ Chipotle-related TikTok content, the brand posts TikToks of their menu items, recipes, people enjoying their food, their restaurants, and more. They have over 2.3 million followers and over 53 million likes.
10. Viral Content Marketing
One of the clearest viral content marketing examples from 2025 came from Jet2holidays. The brand’s audio and slogan became the center of a massive TikTok trend, as creators used the sound in travel-fail, holiday-mishap, and parody videos all summer.
TikTok later named Jess Glynne’s “Hold My Hand” the platform’s Global Song of the Summer 2025, and said the sound had been used in more than 9 million TikTok videos.
Jet2 confirmed the business impact in its 2025 interim results. The campaign’s tagline reached more than 80 billion global views across 11.8 million social media posts, expanding the brand’s reach with younger audiences. The reason this example works is simple. The brand’s sonic identity was easy to remix, easy to recognize, and strong enough to travel far beyond the original ad.
11. Branded Film Content Marketing
Canva launched its 2025 global campaign, “Put Imagination to Work,” to show how professionals use its platform across real workflows, from sales to HR to small business operations. The campaign includes brand films supported by product-focused content tied to launches like Visual Suite 2.0.
Each video shows a clear use case and outcome, which connects brand awareness directly to product value. The campaign also integrates across channels, including social, product pages, and in-app experiences.
12. Product-led Content Marketing
Notion scaled its growth through a library of free templates, guides, and user-generated workflows covering use cases from CRM tracking to team collaboration. Instead of relying only on blog content, Notion built a content ecosystem directly inside its product.
Notion turns real user workflows into reusable templates and distributes them through its website, community, and SEO-driven landing pages. Each template targets a specific search intent, which attracts high-intent traffic and converts users directly inside the product.
Content Marketing Planning Templates
Plan your content strategically with these handy templates.
- Editorial Calendar Template
- Buyer Persona Templates
- SWOT Analysis Templates
- SMART Goal Template
Download Free
All fields are required.
Form not available
Traits of Effective Content Marketing
With generative AI producing thousands of generic articles daily, simply publishing content is no longer enough to win. Readers and answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity want unique, authoritative, and well-structured content. Want to know HubSpot’s secret to earning millions of visits to our blog posts and web pages per month?
It’s simple: marketers must create content that provides value, aligns with the buyer’s journey, stays on-brand, and adapts to timely trends. Aim for these traits when building a content program.
1. Provides value beyond product offerings.
Effective content marketing solves audience problems before pitching solutions. Brands that educate readers on their most urgent challenges will build trust and establish long-term authority. Product mentions should only appear when they naturally fit the context of the piece.
For example, a hair care brand might publish a detailed guide on balancing high-protein and high-moisture products, only mentioning its own product line at the very end. This approach positions the brand as a helpful expert rather than a salesperson or ad.
2. Targets readers’ specific buying journey stage.
Each piece of content should align with a specific stage of the buyer’s journey: awareness, consideration, decision, or retention and advocacy. A “What is content marketing?” article, for example, targets readers in the awareness stage who are still researching their problems. A competitor comparison, on the other hand, targets readers in the decision stage who are ready to choose a provider.
Misaligning content with the wrong stage frustrates readers and reduces conversion rates. Marketers must match the depth, tone, and CTAs of each piece to the funnel stage.
3. Demonstrates a consistent brand voice and image.
Readers should be able to recognize a brand’s content immediately, regardless of the format or platform. Visual and voice consistency across blog posts, social media, videos, and eBooks builds familiarity and trust — while a disjointed voice sounds unprofessional and unreliable.
A writing style guide and brand style guide are valuable documents that mature content brands use so every writer, designer, and contributor reflects the same tone, vocabulary, and aesthetic across channels.
Featured resource: HubSpot CMS hosts and manages all content assets in one platform, connecting published content directly to CRM data so teams can maintain consistency while measuring how content drives pipeline. Learn about the benefits of high-quality content consistency for your brand
4. Timely and engaging.
Audiences respond to content that addresses their needs and interests right now. A finance startup publishing a budgeting guide in January captures readers at the exact moment they plan their annual financials.
It’s critical that marketing teams know their customers’ behavioral and spending patterns throughout the year so they can capitalize on them.
Now that we’ve seen the top traits of effective content marketing, let’s dive into the best resources you can use to learn more about it.
Best Content Marketing Resources
- HubSpot Academy offers free education to become an effective content marketer.
- HubSpot’s Resource Library gives access to resources that will propel a content marketing strategy toward success.
- Content Marketing Institute has some of the best content marketing online education, print, and events available today.
- Blog articles, trends, strategies, and tips for content marketing by industry experts (like HubSpot’s). Explore more marketing examples and online resources.
- Podcasts about content marketing, such as This Old Marketing, or business trends, such as HBR IdeaCast, can inspire a content marketing strategy.
- Google Trends allows marketers to search for trends across broad topics like content marketing or for niche topics within content marketing.
- Track the latest content marketing statistics on a reputable database source like Statista.
- Easy-to-use visual content and design software, such as Canva.
- Free or paid social media management tools, such as HubSpot, Buffer, or Sprout Social, to help you create and share social content.
- Free or paid content and project management tools, like Trello or Asana, can help marketers plan and organize their content marketing strategy.
- Free or paid marketing software, like HubSpot Marketing Hub, connects content marketing teams, plans, strategies and results to the greater marketing plan (and even a CRM).
- Free or paid email marketing software, like HubSpot’s Email Marketing Tools, handles all aspects of email campaigns and content.
- Professional networks on platforms like LinkedIn and X allow teams to connect with others in their industry, discuss relevant trends, answer questions, and share feedback. For teams looking to scale, professional content marketing services can help extend capacity and execution.
Frequently Asked Questions About Content Marketing
What do you mean by content marketing?
Content marketing is a strategy where businesses create and distribute useful information to attract and educate potential customers. Instead of directly promoting a product, brands publish resources like blog posts, videos, guides, and podcasts that help people solve problems or learn something new. The goal is to build trust and authority over time so that when buyers are ready to choose, they already recognize the brand as a credible source.
What are the 5 C’s of content marketing?
The 5 C’s of content marketing are clarity, consistency, creativity, credibility, and customer focus. Marketers can use this simple framework to plan and evaluate content strategy to ensure that content is useful, consistent, and aligned with business goals.
What are the 4 stages of content marketing?
A typical content marketing process includes four steps that guide teams from planning to measurement. The process includes content strategy (defining the target audience, researching topics and keywords, choosing formats and channels), content creation (creating content and optimizing it for search and engagement), content distribution (remixing for various channels as needed), and measurement (analyzing results against KPIs and content marketing goals).
How do I start content marketing?
To start content marketing, first define your target audience and set SMART goals. Next, audit your existing content, find the channels your audience is already using, and take inspiration from competitors and other brands. Establish a consistent publishing schedule and just get started — monitor your KPIs, experiment often, and learn quickly.
Engage your target audience with content marketing.
Effective content marketing helps brands reach their target audience and increase conversions. There are several ways to use content to boost revenue, grow brand awareness, and build relationships with prospects and customers.
The right starting point is identifying which content type works best for the business and audience.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
Content Marketing Planning Templates
Plan your content strategically with these handy templates.
- Editorial Calendar Template
- Buyer Persona Templates
- SWOT Analysis Templates
- SMART Goal Template
Download Free
All fields are required.
Form not available
Content Marketing
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