When it comes to B2B inbound marketing, one of the biggest struggles marketers face, is continuously coming up with relevant, engaging content.
Although writing is a great way to convey information on your blog, it definitely isn’t the only way. There are many different types of non-text based content that will not only keep the writer’s block at bay, but can boost engagement and shares. Here are 11 ways to create content with little or no writing involved.
1. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Instead of using words to fill your blog post, use pictures instead. This isn’t just for B2C companies. If you are a B2B marketer, take a look around your business and consider what you could take a photograph that would be compelling to your customers and prospects. If you need inspiration, check out what others in your industry are doing, or anything outside your industry that catches your attention.Some organizations post ads, others shoot their technology in action, and others have their teams pose in fun shots.
2. Video killed the radio star
People love to watch videos. If you’ve ever innocently clicked on a video on YouTube about ‘best business practices,’ and then an hour later found yourself cracking up over the latest trending video, you aren’t alone. 65% of senior marketing executives believe that visual assets (photos, video, illustrations, and infographics) are core to how their brand story is communicated. Here are two great B2B ideas for video content:
Video interview: An interview with an industry authority is a great way to boost your company’s prestige as a thought leader and can lead to great press for your organization.
Video Q&A: Don’t think you need to enlist other participants to create interesting video footage. One simple way to put together website content is to record yourself answering common questions about your product or service, using the camera built into your smartphone or laptop. With a few quick edits, you’ll have a content piece that provides valuable information without the need for excess writing.
3. To podcast or not to podcast.
Podcasts are an easy way to generate tons of content without the need for writing. If you’re successful, you may even benefit from having your recording featured on podcast websites or at the top of the iTunes listings — leading to, even more, press for your company.
On a relative topic. You can also create a simple audio interview. Ask around to find authorities in your business who would be willing to take part in an interview or question and answer session. The persona does not even have to be with you. You can hold the conversation over the phone or via Skype and record the audio and release it as an MP3 on your post.
4. Make a List
Though there is writing involved. Lists are a very easy and friendly blog post to create. Make sure to create lists that are relevant to your industry and that will grab people’s attention. For example 100 of the Greatest Subject Lines Ever Created, or The 20 Commercial Free Photo Sites. If you really want to get creative, you can use photos to create the entire list with just a few words as an introduction.
5. The Missing Link
Links are an easy way to pack your blog full of content. It involves listing out the top links for a particular subject, along with an image, and a small blurb if needed. These are really powerful, as many users are drawn to them as lists are easily digestible. Just a note here – make sure whatever page you are linking to is relevant to your industry and is a credible website.
6. [Infographics]
Have you thought about creating an infographic for your company, but wondered if it was worth the time? Here’s a statistic that may change your mind. Infographics are liked and shared on social media 3x more than any other type of content. If you don’t have a graphic designer at your disposal, try these online services such as Easel.ly, Piktochart, Canva or Visual.ly.
7. Slide (Deck) Into Home
The beauty of sharing slide decks as content pieces is that you don’t even have to create them yourself. While doing so might improve your branding efforts, you can easily find interesting presentations on sites such as Slideshare to embed in your own website.
8. Take a Poll(or Survey)
Polls and surveys are a great way to gather tons of valuable insight about your customers, marketplace, or product. This information can be used to create targeted content in the future. We recently created a simple survey in our HubSpot portal. If you don’t have HubSpot, SurveyMonkey is easy to use and depending on your format, it can be free as well!
9. Be Our Guest (Post)
Guest blogging is a win-win situation. You have content for your site and the guest blogger receives a backlink in exchange. To keep Google happy and avoid being classified as a link schemer, only accept high-quality, valuable posts for publication.
10. Reblog that blog
If you come across an interesting blog post in your industry, reach out to the author to seek permission to re-blog the post on your site. While you’ll need to provide proper attribution, re-blogging is an easy way to add valuable content to your website with minimal effort.
11. Give up the ghost
If you find that you just don’t have time to create the relevant, engaging content you need, there is nothing wrong with hiring ghostwriters. There are plenty of content creation website that will provide you everything from blog posts, whitepapers to eBooks, and more.
Your blog is an easy, yet necessary way to bring new visitors to your website. Creating fresh and fun ways to share your content will not only drive new leads, but make your life as a marketer easier. 
