30 Low-Cost Content Marketing Ideas

If you ever want to really annoy a marketer, tell them that content is low cost marketing. While the thought isn’t entirely false, content certainly isn’t cheap.

You can’t produce custom blog articles, eBooks, or multi-media content without  time, which is the world’s most precious, non-renewable resource.

Content marketing can take hours and some serious elbow grease, which is why we’ve curated a list of 30 brilliant ways for you to make a maximum impact in the least amount of time possible.

1. Interview a Customer

A 30 minute interview with a customer could be repurposed into loads of low cost marketing content. With permission, use their words as inspiration for blog articles, buyer persona profiles, testimonials, and a case study.

2. Answer Questions

Type out a thoughtful answer to a question posed on social media, in blog comments, or via email, and publish for low cost marketing.

3. Welcome Guest Posters

The best way to receive low cost marketing content is by freely offering it to others, but ensure your policy on accepting guest submissions is clearly displayed on your blog.

4. Slideshare

Powerpoint documents from prospect presentations, industry events, or even internal training can be quickly edited, and uploaded to Slideshare for maximum exposure.

Gain practical insights on how to leverage Slideshare to amplify your content and effectively engage your audience.

5. Do a Poll

It’s time consuming and expensive to conduct a major study, but free and easy to conduct a quick poll on your Facebook page or via LinkedIn. Report on your findings in a blog article.

6. Define Jargon

No one knows your industry’s acronyms, terms, and slang better than you. Create a quick glossary of definitions, and publish as low cost marketing.

7. Collect Tweets

Gather conversations on a hot topic into a quick blog article by embedding or screencapping tweets around a relevant, trending hashtag.

8. Memes

Not only are memes easy to make with the help of aonline tool like memegenerator, they can be generated in less than five minutes, and they’re the epitome of low cost marketing. Best of all, you don’t need to make memes famous, because they’re already popular.

9. Review Resources

You know that burgeoning RSS feed filled with industry blogs, or your Twitter list of thought leaders? Sharing the wealth in a blog article.

10. Repurpose Content

Are you truly taking advantage of your company’s current store of custom content? The savviest marketers reuse and recycle, by repacking blog articles into eBooks and vice versa.

11. Curate Content

Pass the spotlight to other talented content creators in your niche, and save yourself some time, by creating a round-up post, sharing in infographic, or embedding a YouTube video on your website.

12. Profile Staff

Everyone loves being celebritized. The opportunity to star in an employee spotlight on your blog could turn even the most reticent staff member into an eager contributor of low cost marketing content.

13. Day in the Life

What is a day in the life of a full or part-time content marketer really like? Share an insider’s look at your working day by keeping a diary, and be sure to provide insight on your favorite tools and tricks.

14. User-Generated Content

Actively invite your social media followers and blog readers to share photos, quotations, and thoughts on your brand’s product or services. Repost on social media, or curate into a blog post.

15. Create a Checklist

Creating an effective eBook can be laborious, but your content offers don’t need to all be comprehensive. Create a buyer’s guide or checklist for your prospects as a free offer for your website.

16. Most Popular Posts

Believe me, every blogger is curious about your website metrics. Share a list of your most popular posts over the past year, and you’ll reap the secondary benefits of traffic to your best-performing articles.

17. Your Culture Code

HubSpot’s culture code, a slideshare presentation created by Co-Founder Dharmesh Shah, has recently gone viral. Spotlight your businesses’ rules and ethics in a presentation or blog post.

18. CrowdSource

Invite other bloggers to contribute to your blog by asking a question on Twitter or in a LinkedIn group. Round up their thoughts in a blog article, and be sure to share the link afterwards to invite social sharing.

19. Custom Graphics

It can be time-consuming and difficult to create a custom infographic, but proprietary web comics are an effective form of low cost marketing. Sketch out a humorous and relevant illustration, scan, and upload to your blog and social channels.

20. Put an Interesting Twist on Customer FAQ

There’s a good chance you’ve already addressed your prospects frequently asked questions on your blog. Put a fresh take on the topic by formatting the article like an interview with a celebrity or mystery.

21. Publish an eBook Excerpt

Tantalize your audience with a tiny taste of your latest eBook or whitepaper, by publishing the introduction or another section on your blog as low cost marketing.

22. Analyze Research

Report back on the most shocking findings of a recent survey or study in your industry by sharing your own take on the latest trends.

23. Compare and Contrast

How does your product compare to a competitors? Your prospects are dying to know, I promise. Competitive analysis makes fabulous fodder for blog articles or content offers.

24. Debunk a Myth

You know that annoying misconception that people always have about your brand, your industry, or your profession? Let them know why they’re wrong. Politely, of course.

25. Respond to Controversy

Write a thoughtful response to an editorial that really left you steamed. Be polite and professional, but don’t be afraid to take a stand.

26. Interview Your CEO

You might not have the budget to invest in high-quality video content, but use a smartphone or video camera to film your boss answering a frequently-asked question.

27. Use Twitter’s Vine App

If you aren’t currently using Vine for content marketing, it’s time to start. Nothing is cheaper and easier than 6 seconds of video content filmed on your smartphone that’s perfectly primed for social sharing.

28. Create a Pinterest Board

Develop a collaborative board on Pinterest for bloggers to network and share their content. Be sure and personally invite industry thought leaders to participate.

29. Customize Images

Enhance your brand’s images by adding a pithy quotation or shocking statistic, as well as your logo, to gain low cost marketing exposure on social media channels.

30. Take the Plunge into Tumblr

Even though it may feel like you don’t possibly have the time to invest in another social media platform, consider Tumblr.The site is primed for micro-blogging and sharing quick thoughts or quotations.

How do you navigate low cost marketing on a shoestring budget?