In the world of content marketing, providing valuable resources to your audience can make a significant impact on engagement, brand reputation, and lead generation. Offering helpful freebies not only adds value for users but also establishes your company as a trusted authority in your industry. In this article, we will explore six great examples of helpful content that can attract, engage, and convert your target audience:
- eBooks or Guides
- Templates
- Checklists or Cheat Sheets
- Calculators
- Infographics
- Worksheets or Workbooks
1. eBooks or Guides
Ebooks or guides are valuable resources that offer a wealth of in-depth knowledge on specific topics related to your industry or area of expertise. These comprehensive resources are designed to provide readers with valuable insights, practical tips, and actionable strategies that can help them solve problems, overcome challenges, and achieve their goals. With their well-researched content and structured format, eBooks and guides empower readers to deepen their understanding, make informed decisions, and take meaningful actions in their personal or professional endeavors.
And hey, wouldn’t you know… we’ve got some great examples of helpful eBooks and guides:
Read our Guide to Everything Inbound Marketing.
Read our In-Depth Guide to SEO.
2. Templates
Templates save users time and effort by providing pre-designed structures or outlines that they can customize according to their needs. Using templates streamlines processes by providing standardized structures and formats, ensuring consistency, saving time, reducing errors, promoting standardization, aiding in training and onboarding, facilitating scalability, and helping with compliance. Templates offer a framework that can be reused and customized, eliminating the need to start from scratch and allowing individuals and organizations to focus on specific details while maintaining an efficient workflow. By offering templates relevant to your industry, you not only provide value but also position your company as a go-to resource for practical tools and support.
Check out our Lead Scoring Template
Check out HubSpot's library of free templates
3. Checklists or Cheat Sheets
Checklists and cheat sheets benefit people by providing organization, memory aids, increased productivity, reduced stress, improved accuracy and consistency, support for training and delegation, and opportunities for continuous improvement. They offer a systematic approach to tasks, ensuring nothing is overlooked and providing a clear roadmap for action. By following checklists, individuals can optimize their efficiency, reduce stress, and achieve their goals more confidently and accurately. By providing users with practical tools that simplify their tasks or projects, you become a trusted source they can rely on.
Need an example? Here’s our free Website Audit Checklist to ensure your website is set up for success.
Try this Google Ads Checklist to get started with promoting your business.
4. Calculators
More broadly, we should call these interactive tools. They help users perform calculations, estimations, or projections related to their specific needs or industry. Whether it's mortgage calculators, budgeting tools, ROI calculators, or other types of calculators, these resources provide valuable insights and assist users in making informed decisions. By offering calculators, you empower users to assess scenarios, evaluate options, and gain a deeper understanding of their potential outcomes.
Here's a handy calculator to help you estimate the cost of inbound marketing.
5. Infographics
This type of high-value content offers visual representations of data or information that present complex concepts or statistics in a clear and engaging manner. Infographics combine text, illustrations, and graphics to convey information in a visually appealing format. By simplifying complex topics, infographics make it easier for users to grasp key points quickly. They are highly shareable and can enhance brand visibility when users distribute them across various platforms, extending your reach to new audiences.
Here are some examples of infographics we like to call one-pagers that are full of information about HubSpot's powerful software.
6. Worksheets or Workbooks
These are interactive materials that allow users to actively participate in exercises or activities, such as goal setting, brainstorming, or self-assessment. Worksheets or workbooks prompt users to reflect, plan, or take action. By facilitating user engagement and providing practical frameworks, you foster a deeper connection with your audience. These resources can also serve as lead magnets, capturing user information and nurturing them through the customer journey.
Example: Use our free buyer persona worksheet to develop your target audience.
By offering helpful content in the form of e-books or guides, templates, checklists or cheat sheets, calculators, infographics, and worksheets or workbooks, you provide value to your audience while generating leads for your business. These freebies showcase your expertise, build trust, and position your company as a reliable resource.
Just as importantly, you can offer helpful content to users in exchange for providing their email addresses or other relevant information. This enables you to capture valuable user data and nurture leads through targeted marketing campaigns. Remember, helpful content engages your audience and sets the foundation for long-term relationships and customer loyalty while driving your business growth.
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