68% of marketers planned to increase their content marketing budget in 2021. As the dust starts to settle around COVID-19, we’re eager to see how companies use this additional investment to adapt and evolve their content marketing efforts. Already, it’s evident that many have found ways to grow their audience, increase their brand visibility, and boost ROI by leveraging content—even during the pandemic. In this post, we’ll explore four brands leading the way with their content efforts this year.

Taking an Innovative Approach to Content

1. Canva

Canva is a graphic design platform that makes it easy for everyone to create beautiful visual content, regardless of their skill level. The company offers a comprehensive learning hub containing a blog, tutorials, and courses that cover a wide range of topics.

What We Love About Canva’s Content

During COVID-19, we saw brands lean heavily into their online presence—whether that’s by doubling down on their personal branding or revamping their approach to social media. This renewed focus on virtual (and visual) marketing efforts made Canva a go-to resource for people looking for additional guidance. Here’s why we think Canva does an exceptional job with its content:

• Demonstrate a deep understanding of their target audience. It’s clear that Canva has taken the time to understand who its consumers are. Their blog speaks to distinct audiences—ranging from marketing teams to nonprofits to educators. Not only does this make it easy for people to find exactly what they need, but it also demonstrates that Canva cares about understanding and meeting the needs of all its users.
  

• ‍Deliver real value. A survey found that consumers today prioritize values like ‘quality’ and ‘purpose’ over ‘convenience’ and ‘availability.’ Canva manages to strike a balance of all these values by creating high-quality content that addresses the skills people most urgently need in a post-pandemic world—such as social media management and personal branding—while making them bite-sized and easily digestible, like the videos shown below.

‍2. Gong

Gong is a Revenue Intelligence platform that helps sales teams collect valuable data, insights, and information about their customers. Gong manages an incredibly diverse content hub that offers everything from podcast episodes to webinars to blog posts.

What We Love About Gong’s Content

COVID-19 only made it more competitive to capture the attention of readers. With more companies relying on content to generate leads, people are being bombarded left and right with blog posts, social media posts, and case studies. Despite this, Gong has managed to capture a loyal audience base that’s obsessed with its content and only continues to grow. How exactly do they accomplish this?

• Position their brand as the go-to resource for sales teams. Gong named itself the number one blog on the internet for sales. While we don’t know the validity of this claim, we also don’t doubt it. There’s no other blog out there that offers the scope and breadth of sales-related content that Gong does. So whether you’re looking for negotiation tips or revenue-boosting strategies, it’s pretty much guaranteed that Gong will have a podcast episode, blog post, and guide addressing that very topic. This makes it easy to see why they’re the go-to resource for sales teams everywhere.
  

3. Hubspot

Hubspot is an inbound marketing, sales, and service software that helps businesses grow. The company has multiple blogs for marketing, sales, and services that are centralized in one location. They also offer other types of educational content, such as ebooks, courses, and certifications for certain skill sets.

What We Love About Hubspot’s Content

Hubspot is known for having one of the best B2B blogs out there, and it’s no surprise why. This brand always finds ways to innovate on its content in a direction that resonates with its target audience. Below are a few reasons why we believe Hubspot is a content leader.

• Take a creative approach to the standard blog. It would be easy for Hubspot’s blog to feel overwhelming, given the number of topics they cover. However, they’ve done an excellent job with their navigation features, allowing readers to click into specific topics or even job functions. This demonstrates a clear understanding of their target audience and an effort to make the content experience as seamless as possible.
  

• Allow personalized learning paths. We also love that Hubspot enables every reader to create their own learning path. For example, if you’re interested in learning more about remote work, you’re directed to a page that’s filled with blog posts and reports specifically about that topic. You even get the option to organize the posts depending on your level of expertise. This is a highly effective way to create hyper-targeted, personalized experiences.
  

4. Unbounce

Unbounce is a landing page builder and platform that helps businesses see higher conversion rates. In addition to having a comprehensive blog and additional marketing resources, Unbounce also offers an in-depth education about the anatomy of a good landing page, along with real-life examples.

What We Love About Unbounce’s Content

To convert someone from a reader to a customer, you have to demonstrate the value that your brand can deliver. Unbounce does a remarkable job with this. With their content alone, you can learn how to build a high-quality landing page that converts—even before investing in their solution. Here’s what we specifically loved about their approach:

• Create an interactive learning experience. While Unbounce has a fantastic blog, these landing page examples are the cherries-on-top. Every example is interactive, allowing the reader to click into a page and explore the features of each one. This is an effective way to educate people on the ins and outs of a high-converting landing page, while also demonstrating that your team knows what it’s doing and can help take any business’ page to the next level.

We’re excited to watch brands continue to innovate on the strategy and execution of their content marketing strategies. Are there any other brands that deserve to be on this list? Let us know! Also, if you’re curious to learn how content marketing might change in a post-pandemic world, check out our piece 4 Ways Content Marketing Will Change Post-COVID.