Use content buckets to skyrocket the efficacy of your content marketing campaigns.
Content buckets help improve content groupings, content ideation becomes less of a headache, and your readers will have a better experience on your site.
But what are content buckets, exactly?
In this guide, we’ll explore what content buckets are, how they work, why they matter, and how to make one.
Let’s get this party started.
Pro tip: Before you experiment with content buckets, make sure you have a reliable content tracking system in place. Having one lets you determine which content bucket is generating meaningful results, which require improvements, and which must be dropped altogether.
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Table of Contents
- What are content buckets?
- Examples of content buckets
- 3 tips for using content buckets
- FAQs about content buckets
- Put your content marketing on steroids with content buckets
What are content buckets?
From a 30,000 ft. view, content buckets are content categories used in digital marketing campaigns.
Some create content buckets based on topics, while others base their buckets on the customer journey. (e.g. Research stage, consideration stage, decision-making stage, etc.)
A brand can have multiple content buckets that target an audience segment. These buckets can impact every aspect of a content marketing strategy, including social media, email, blog posts, and even content curation.
Who needs content buckets?
Everyone who depends on a content strategy to reach their target audience can benefit greatly from using content buckets.
As a content creator, it’s crucial to commit to your social media content buckets to make your brand more recognisable. If you’re a business, blogger, or renowned expert, content buckets help establish your brand’s credibility as a trustworthy information source in your industry.
Here are a few more benefits of using content buckets:
- Simplify the content ideation process. Content buckets drastically reduce the time your spend on content research. Look for topics you already covered and see if they fit another content bucket to come up with new ideas.
- Tailor content to a specific audience. Diversified content bucket strategies enable brands to cater to multiple audiences with varying needs. They ensure each audience segment receives relevant content and offers. It’s the polar opposite of a “catch-all” strategy that treats every audience segment the same—which often causes a disconnect between the content and offers served, and the readers.
- Help customers fully understand your business. Create content buckets for every aspect of your business to cultivate loyalty by helping your audience understand your brand in all dimensions. Content buckets also ramp up lead generation by showcasing your expertise in various relevant topics.
- Optimise lead generation. Content buckets can push your audience deeper into your marketing funnels. Some content buckets will help you win new leads, while others nurture and convert them into paying customers.
Examples of content buckets
Now that we covered the basics, it’s time for some real-world content bucket examples.
1. User-generated content bucket
User-generated content or UGC buckets use content submitted by your audience. These can be submitted on social media channels, review sites, or their own blogs
Brands like Life of Dad regularly feature UGC on social media networks like Instagram and Facebook. They use this content bucket frequently to generate tons of views and user engagement.
Feature UGC to regain momentum if you’re struggling with creating content. Not only do they take little to no effort to create, but they’re also guaranteed to help you connect with the community through relatability.
2. Customer testimonials and reviews bucket
Review content buckets focus on highlighting what other customers say about your brand. This helps you build buyer confidence and convert more prospects into paying customers.
Testimonials prove that you’re capable of helping customers accomplish their goals. On the other hand, reviews let you win over savvy prospects who conduct hours of research in their buyer’s journey.
Reviews and testimonials can also be repurposed in different ways to fit the distribution channel attached to your content bucket. They can be shared as images, videos, or sections on a landing page.
3. How-to content bucket
How-to content buckets are one of the go-to content pillars of bloggers, businesses, and social media influencers. They’re straightforward, easy to make, and highly valuable for any type of audience.
This bucket may contain how-to videos on YouTube, instructional guides on Pinterest, informational posts on blogs, and so on.
A how-to content bucket is more effective than typical sales posts in terms of generating demand for products or services. They also help brands showcase their expertise in specific topics.
4. Short-form videos bucket
Short-form video buckets on TikTok, Instagram Stories, Facebook My Day, and YouTube Shorts gained ground as one of the most in-demand content buckets in recent years.
They’re especially effective in mobile conversion optimization since most short-form videos are consumed via mobile.
Remember, short-form videos may overlap with other content buckets, including customer testimonials and how-to content.
For example, How to Cake is a popular culinary brand on TikTok built on short-form videos about baking.
5. Blog social media updates bucket
Blog update are a simple, no-nonsense content bucket for social media.
Use this content simply by turning your blog posts into headline images on social networks like Instagram. You can also experiment with other formats like Twitter image quotes.
If you feel extra creative, pull the takeaways from your long-form content and design a visually engaging Instagram carousel. This is a series of up to 10 images in a single post that functions as a mini slideshow.
Here’s an example from Ditto Insurance:
6. Listicles bucket
Listicle content buckets are incredibly easy to plan and write. They also provide enriching and convenient experiences for the audience.
List-based posts are also flexible—useful not just in full-length blog posts, but also in social media content.
Even tweets and Instagram posts can contain a bite-sized listicle. You can fit them in an Instagram carousel or single post using a simple bulleted list.
Another type of listicle that the best B2B SEO agency would recommend are expert roundups. These are perfect for ego baiting, which can help you win backlinks and shares IF the experts liked the way you covered them.
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7. News bucket
News content buckets can help any brand garner attention on social media. Their short lifespan demand-wise may not be enough to help small sites rank in search engines, but they can provide a quick spike in traffic.
The best part is, you don’t even need to write the news to make this content bucket work. Simply share the news from an authoritative source, chip in a sentence’s worth of your original thoughts, and you’re good.
Influencers like MKBHD use a news content bucket by curating articles from well-known publications to effortlessly generate user engagement.
8. Income reports bucket
The income report bucket showcases internal financial results to boost a brand’s credibility.
Self-made bloggers and startups started the trend of publishing income reports to inspire their audience, build trust, convince new leads, and attract potential backers.
Kristina of Fork in the Road, for example, publishes detailed monthly income reports that include her expenses, traffic growth, and lessons learned. This allows her to increase subscriptions to her mailing list, which is made evident by the opt-in form in each report.
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9. Data-based content bucket
Data-based content buckets use statistics to make their message more believable and compelling.
Every digital marketing consulting service will recommend citing up-to-date and accurate data to maximize the impact of your content. In a data-based content bucket, you turn those data into one cohesive piece, like an eBook, infographic, or roundup post.
B2B brands like Semrush are huge fans of curated pieces of data, helping them appeal to savvy B2B leads.
10. Product reviews and comparisons bucket
Product reviews and comparisons are an excellent content bucket that will help propel your authority.
This content bucket can be used on a variety of channels, be it your blog, YouTube channel, or Instagram.
Plenty of influencers make a living off of product reviews, which usually come with an affiliate link in the description. An epitomical example would be Dave2D, which publishes tech product reviews multiple times per month.
3 Tips for using content buckets
Content buckets are not a magic bullet that can fix all your content marketing problems in a pinch.
Just like anything else in digital marketing, you need a strategic approach to make content buckets work.
Here are 3 crucial tips for creating content buckets effectively.
1. Know your audience on a deeper level
To decide which content buckets to use, pick the ones that resonate with your target audience.
Use website analytics, social media user insights, and SEO platforms like Mangools to make data-driven decisions. This will help you answer questions like:
- What topics get the most user engagement?
- What gender, age, and other demographic groups are most active?
- Which content formats do they enjoy the most?
These are crucial pieces to the content bucket puzzle. Find these pieces to create content bucket ideas that serve different audience groups.
For example, Gen Zers and younger Millennials are huge consumers of short-form videos. White papers, case studies, and original research, on the other hand, are more in-demand for a professional audience.
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2. Tie content buckets back to value propositions
Create content buckets that best communicate your message to your audience.
Let’s say you dabble in the world of custom PC building.
Your mission is to help different audiences build the best system for their needs through product recommendations and DIY tips. To communicate these value propositions, your two main content buckets could be video tutorials and product reviews.
3. Go up and above in terms of visuals
Most content buckets rely on eye-catching visuals to be effective, including repurposed customer testimonials, original data, income reports, and other types of social media content.
Understandably, hiring a professional graphic designer can be costly. However, relying on stock photos and adding text overlays will get you nowhere.
The good news is, there are drag-and-drop graphic design apps like Canva that make it easy to create custom, professional-looking graphics. The app also features fully-customizable templates for every content bucket mentioned in this list—from listicle-based carousels to customer testimonials.
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FAQs about content buckets
1. What are content buckets for social media?
In social media marketing, a content bucket pertains to a content category or theme that guides the content creation process. It ensures every piece of content published is consistent with the brand’s values and specific marketing goals.
2. Why are content buckets important?
Content buckets allow brands to engage multiple audience segments with different pain points, goals, and demographics. It also streamlines the content creation process while ensuring consistency and quality.
3. How to create content buckets?
To create content buckets, identify your audience, determine your value propositions, and use the necessary tools for content creation. Some useful content bucket examples are:
- Customer testimonials
- How-to guides
- Listicles
- Original data
- Reviews and testimonials
4. What are the different types of content buckets?
Different types of content buckets for social media:
- Blog updates
- Short-form videos
- Listicles
- News
- Reviews
- User-generated content
5. What are 3 essentials of content that go into each content bucket?
Content buckets should follow your standard in terms of quality and value to the audience. They should also align with your brand’s mission to ensure consistent messaging across content channels.
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Put your content marketing on steroids with content buckets
Using the content bucket ideas above will put your content development initiatives miles ahead of your competitors.
What’s more, planning and executing your content strategy becomes so much easier.
If you’re sold on the power of content buckets and you’re keen on using them to power up your content marketing campaigns, I welcome you to reach out at any time.