Each time when you’ll begin a new content creation project after developing your basic ideas and performing your comprehensive research, you’ll have to find the optimal structure for your valuable new content piece to present your message as efficiently as possible.

Right now, I am going to show you the 9 most engaging content structures. These templates will work for written, audio and video content as well and obviously, you can – in fact you should – mix them to create long, value-packed thought leadership masterpieces. Variety adds to the overall impact of your content, so instead of being lazy or mingy try different structures, formats and templates to find those that can help you most in your content marketing strategy.

1. List

People love lists. The longer the better. All you have to do is to use a short, concise introduction emphasizing the value of your list and to creatively list some relevant items in your list.

Also, you should consider including some beautiful, highly relevant and professionally branded images. Give them a brief, yet strong close, a well-designed call to action element and you are done! People love lists, people love images and people tend to act if you’ll tell them what’s the next step. Period.

2. Example

People love example-based content because they have the possibility to see and to compare multiple relevant examples in one place without having to do time consuming researches themselves. The actual value you provide is the example itself showing your readers how other people successfully applied the information you share.

Of course, you’ll have to clarify your point by evaluating and explaining the given example(s). Tell them, show them how it works and how can they benefit from using similar practices. Needless to say, more – or more detailed – examples will have a bigger impact, so it’s always better to use long-form content associated with detailed in-depth evaluations.

Also, you should always close your content with a final conclusion and a strong call to action.

3. Review

The review is probably one of the most efficient ways to provide thought leadership. Recommending books, products or services, curating helpful, interesting ideas and helping people to find the information they need to succeed will always be an easy and efficient way for you to build authority and trust as a reliable solutions provider for your readers.

Evidently, you’ll have to start your review with an interesting introduction that gets people curious about the given book, product, etc.

In a book review you’ll also have to introduce the author, so do your preliminary research by visiting his website, checking out his/her social media profiles, getting some original quotes, etc. Additionally you can always combine the book review with an interview made with the author.

Then, make a summary of major points, provide a brief overview of the main ideas and give an interesting, captivating and more importantly honest review of the book. Finally, draw a conclusion, give your recommendation, tell your readers whether they should buy the book or not, include a link to a trusted online marketplace where the book can be bought and close your review with an engaging call to action element.

The product review it’s very similar to a book review. Introduce the product (service) and tell them what it does and why (whether) it’s worth the purchase. If you can, you should also introduce the producer just as you would do with a book author.

Then give them a detailed product description and write your honest in-depth review by answering a few simple but essential product-related questions. What problem does it solve? How does it do it? What’s the story behind its production? Why it’s different from other similar products or alternatives? At the end draw a final opinion, give your recommendation, include a link to the producer’s website and of course, don’t forget the CTA.

4. How-to

Understandably, these are the most-read and most-searched-for content categories all over the internet. No matter how short or long your content is, you can follow the very same basic content structure.

First of all, tell people about the problem you are solving and tell them that you have an awesome, reliable solution. Also, explain them how can they benefit from the given solution. If your how-to solution involves multiple actionable steps you should consider using a numbered list to organize your information. Additionally, you’ll have to provide a lot of detailed information, screenshots, clear explanations and instructions to guide your readers through the whole process.

And of course, you are going to close your valuable how-to content piece with a concise conclusion and an outstanding call to action element to create a final subhead with the bottom-line benefit of your solution.

5. Case study

The case studies are excellent forms of mid- to deep-funnel content because they help people to recognize and to understand the value of a given product, service or solution.

You can start by providing a brief summary of the study itself by explaining the main goals that were accomplished and the methods used to successfully overcome the original challenges or roadblocks.

Then, you’ll have to share the steps you used to solve the actual problem by providing a very detailed presentation and explanation of each step implemented in the given process. At the end you’ll have to itemize the achieved results and evidently, you’ll have to be as specific as possible. It’s always a good idea to include percentages of improvement for example.

And yes, you are going to close your case study with a strong call to action and a link to a landing page or website that sells the given solution.

6. Link post

This content structure – also called round-up – can be efficiently leveraged as a “SEO steroid”. Why? Because when you create web pages that link to other respected, high-value websites, Google may begin to see you as a trusted authoritative site. Also, when you create internal links between your own web pages, you’ll have a chance to keep visitors on your site longer.

In this case the content length doesn’t really matter. Actually, the basic content structure that does the job. Make a short, captivating introduction introducing your topic and telling your readers why your information is different and valuable. Then, list your articles or resources you are linking to, and add some nicely formatted links. If your links are pointing to various different topics, you should always use a nice, clean categorization with sub-headings and short blurbs included.

In this case the final final conclusion or wrapping-it-up section is purely optional, but it’s a good practice to tell your readers what to do next. It can be a regular call to action, a link to a sign-up form or a landing page, an invitation to comment or share, etc.

7. PIE (point-illustration-explanation)

Basically, it’s an advanced form of a regular example structure. The difference? You won’t simply share examples of your point, but you are going to make strong statements about your topic. Usually it’s a segmented content structure and each segment or section provides another clearly illustrated and thoroughly discussed point.

Introduce the main topic, emphasize its importance and make your first relevant and strong-minded point. If you can, include relevant screenshots or images under your subhead, then add one or two paragraphs to expand your point, and close the given segment with a must-follow rule, a practical tip or an actionable advice. Finally, repeat the process with your remaining sections following the very same content format for all your points.

This type of content structure needs a very strong close with a concise, straightforward conclusion and a truly powerful, outstanding call to action.

8. Interview

Usually, an interview shares insights and inside information that most people don’t have access to, and as a result always will be considered a high-value, unique content. Usually these are interviews presented in written form, but they often will contain video or audio as well. Or you can rely on pure audio or video interviews if any of these formats is more popular among your readers. However, you should always include written content too, and especially transcripts along with your media files.

As you may guess, the very first step is to introduce your interviewee in order to give a useful background information about him or her. Then make a clear statement about the general – or specific – topic of your interview and start asking your questions. If you are using a written format, all you have to do is to keep listing the questions and the answers until the interview is done.

Finally, wrap up your interview with a few major highlights, some powerful conclusions and of course, a few kind words about your interviewee. If there are any useful and relevant resources available online include some links and don’t forget the usual call to action.

9. Syllogism

When you want to convince or influence somebody, one of the best ways to do it is to create and present an indisputable logical argument that leads people to arrive at the very same conclusion you have.

You’ll have to make your way progressively towards a solid final conclusion, so this time you won’t start your content with your main point. You are going to start with an idea that is already known and accepted by your audience, and then you’ll start to build up your point using the logical framework of a syllogism. Let me show you how simple it is …

• Start your content with a really short but very interesting introduction such as a captivating story, a shocking statement, an astonishing thought, etc.

• Then, proceed to a first idea which is already accepted by your readers and elegantly tie it to your opening idea using research data, stats, stories, etc. This is the point where you show them that A (the idea already accepted by them) = B (your opening idea).

• In the second step you are going to develop your opening idea further in order to create a strong logical connection with your main point. This is where you’ll prove them that B (your opening idea) = C (your main point).

• Finally, connect the dots and make your final statement showing them a final conclusion which basically will be a logical extension of the initially known and accepted idea. This is the point where A (the original idea) becomes equal with C (your main point).

You should close your reasoning with some additional rock-solid facts and a very strong conclusion statement placed right before the usual CTA.

One final word …

Regardless of the length or format, you should use as many content structures as you can in your content marketing strategy. Also, it’s a good idea to mix and match various formats within a long-form content to efficiently structure your information in order to increase the readability and the engagement level. The most exciting thing about content marketing is that you have almost unlimited content creation opportunities. The only limit is your own imagination.

And here is the most important advice: when you are developing a content marketing strategy for your business, don’t think of content as written or spoken words. Think of it as remarkable messages and ideas and share your ideas in the way that communicates best and fits to your unique style!

Which brings us to the next lesson …