Free Comic Book day is not in May for the first time in 20 years, but you can still feature comic books in your May 2021 content.
Not all skateboards are the same. A comparison guide might explain some of the differences. Image: SkateboardersHQ.
Beyond Silver Jeans, check out these articles about photography and storytelling.
1. National Photography Month
Your guide could also compare the specifications from different models of the same product.
The challenge many content marketers face is what to write about. Here are five ideas to help.
Topic clusters are an internal linking strategy to help readers and search engines recognize your site as an authority for a given topic. Topic clusters help attract visitors.
That definitive pillar page could include a lead capture form for a PDF version of the guide and an heirloom seed catalog. The spokes of the topic cluster could include instructional articles to:
There are plenty of times when visitors will have questions not just about your products but also about how those products are related.
2. Free Comic Book Day
From a marketing perspective, try using photography to tell a visual story or capture your audience’s attention.
With few exceptions, conversations in Clubhouse, the drop-in audio app, are not recorded. The spoken words disappear into memory, like most human conversations.
Need content marketing topics for May 2021? How about photography, comic books, the Clubhouse app, springtime, or the very products your business sells?
But Clubhouse rooms can also achieve these aims albeit in the moment instead of long-term.
A guide could compare different types of the same kind of product. For example, SkateboardersHQ describes the differences between longboards, cruisers, and regular skateboards.
- Apparel retailer. “The 10 Best Dressed Comic Book Heroes of All Time”
- Auto parts retailer. “41 Comic Book Cars That Inspired Real-world Vehicles”
- Kitchen supply retailer. “What Do Superheroes Eat? 11 Recipes for Superhumans”
3. Clubhouse Conversations
In many ways, comic books both reflect our culture and reform it. Many of your store’s customers are likely familiar with comic books and comic book characters either directly or through their cultural impact.
You could host a scheduled Clubhouse room, say each Tuesday at 5:00 p.m., to discuss important backpacking skills. You might even invite well-known adventurers such as Nirmal “Nims” Purja or Conrad Anker to share stories. In each case, Clubhouse members interested in backpacking and hiking would have the opportunity to get to know your brand.
Silver Jeans used quality photography to help tell a story about an organization it supports.
The Clubhouse app is not a place to sell, per se. Rather it is an opportunity to talk about topics relevant to your audience.
Here are a few example headlines for comic-book-related articles.
For 20 years the comic book industry has offered free comic books on May 1 to attract attention and raise awareness. But that changed for 2021.
For example, an online store specializing in heirloom seeds for gardeners could create a pillar page such as “The Procrastinator’s Guide to Growing Heirloom Tomatoes.”
When is it too late to plant heirloom tomatoes? A guide could provide the answer. Image: Ferry-Morse Seed Company.
Clubhouse members can discover your business via a conversation in a room (that is, attraction). Folks familiar with your brand may engage with your company on Clubhouse (engagement). And that could lead to a close relationship with your business (retention).
Content marketing is the act of producing, publishing, and promoting content to attract, engage, and retain an audience of customers.
- Get an invite. At the time of writing, the Clubhouse app was by invitation only.
- Listen first. Drop in to rooms and listen. Do this for at least 30 minutes per day for a couple of weeks to learn Clubhouse etiquette.
- Invite your customers. Start with a couple of invitations to share. And each week, you should get more. Consider inviting some of your best customers.
- Start hosting a room. Let the conversation attract, engage, and retain your audience.
4. Springtime Topic Cluster
Covid concerns caused the organizers of Free Comic Book Day to move the event in 2021 from May 1 to August 14. You can still feature comics in your May content marketing, however.
If you want to try Clubhouse in May, consider this approach.
Marketers often think about these aims in the context of a blog or podcast or video series that can be read, listened to, or watched repeatedly.
May is National Photography Month in the United States. It’s an opportunity to show off your company’s pictures.
- Save heirloom tomato seeds,
- Dry heirloom tomato seeds,
- Harvest heirloom tomatoes,
- Preserve heirloom tomatoes.
Clubhouse’s short-lived format can still be useful for content marketing goals — to attract, engage, and retain customers.
5. Product Comparison Guides
Using photos for storytelling does not mean excluding words. For example, last November Silver Jeans posted an article about the Indigenous Education Foundation of Tanzania, an organization Silver Jeans supports. The post was simple in form and language but photography helped to tell the organization’s story.
Nims is one of the best know mountaineers in the world. He would be a compelling guest for a Clubhouse room.
For your company’s May 2021 content marketing, create a topic cluster around springtime uses for your products.
Does your shopper need the four-quart, five-quart, or six-quart mixer? If he wants to cut down hardwood trees, does the consumer need a new chain for his chainsaw? What is the difference between the regular brake pads and the ceramic ones?
Imagine, for example, that you sell backpacking and hiking equipment. Perhaps you manage REI, Moosejaw, or Backcountry Gear.
