The Content Marketing Hall of Fame: 13 Ways to Build Your Business

Content marketing is “the future of marketing,” says Daryl Colwell, vice president of digital media/performance marketing agency MediaWhiz. “It’s how you should be building your business.”

Don’t know anything about content marketing? Take our crash course on content marketing. Or click through our Content Marketing Hall of Fame, with 13 examples from small businesses such Taxi Mike and the Dollar Shave Club to enterprises that include IBM and Starbucks.

James A. Martin is an SEO and social media consultant and writes the CIO.com Martin on Mobile Apps blog. Follow him on Twitter @james_a_martin and on Google+.

Every quarter, Taxi Mike updates and distributes copies of his printed guide to dining and bars in Banff, Alberta (a town of 7,600 within Banff National Park). This “one-man Yelp,” who drives a taxi and offers computer repair services, maintains a website for his Banff recommendations, too. “This is my favorite small business example of content marketing,” says Jay Baer, social media and content strategist and author of the forthcoming book Youtility. Baer appreciates Taxi Mike’s tourist guide because the engaging, helpful content isn’t about Taxi Mike at all but, rather, serving his target customers’ interests.