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Ask any founder about content marketing today, and you’ll hear the same sigh:
❌ “It takes forever to create.”
❌ “The ROI is hard to measure.”
❌ “It feels like shouting into the void while ads get instant clicks.”
Here’s the truth most founders miss:
Ads buy you attention for a moment.
Content buys you trust for years.
The fastest-growing companies didn’t scale by cranking ad budgets.
They picked content formats that:
Cost less than paid ads
Built lasting relationships
And kept delivering traffic, sales, and community long after the campaign ended
This Marketing Monday, we are breaking down 10 company-specific examples of content formats that beat ads, and exactly how you can apply them to your startup without burning out or hiring a 10-person content team.
Let’s Get Started….
1. Dollar Shave Club - The $4,500 Video That Made $1B
What they did: In 2012, DSC launched with a cheeky, low-budget video titled “Our Blades Are F***ing Great.” It went viral, gaining 12,000 customers in 48 hours.
Why it worked: Humor, relatability, and clarity. Instead of polished ad-speak, it felt authentic and that authenticity spread.
How you can use it:
Write a script that explains your product’s core benefit in 60–90 seconds.
Film it casually with personality, don’t overproduce.
Upload to YouTube, then cut short clips for TikTok/Reels.
Lesson: One great story-driven video can outperform months of ads.
2. e.l.f. Cosmetics - UGC at Scale with #EyesLipsFace
What they did: Launched a TikTok hashtag challenge with original music. Result: 4M+ videos created by users, 7B+ views, massive product lift.
Why it worked: People love participating in trends. A simple, fun challenge gave them a reason to create content for the brand.
How you can use it:
Create a simple action (pose, transformation, reveal) tied to your product.
Pair it with a catchy sound or jingle.
Incentivize with small rewards.
Lesson: If you make it fun and repeatable, your customers will do the marketing for you.
3. Glossier - From Blog to Beauty Empire
What they did: Before Glossier, founder Emily Weiss ran “Into the Gloss,” a blog interviewing women about their beauty routines. It built a loyal audience long before products existed.
Why it worked: Audience-first strategy. By the time Glossier launched, thousands of readers were begging for products.
How you can use it:
Start by creating content around your category (guides, routines, tutorials).
Listen to what readers ask for, then build products that solve those gaps.
Lesson: Build the audience → then build the product.
What they did: 1440 started as a simple daily news digest. Today, it reaches millions of subscribers, monetizes via ads/sponsorships, and has a higher ROI than most media ad campaigns.
Why it worked: Consistency and curation. No fluff, no spin, just high-value content people wanted daily.
How you can use it:
Even if you’re small, start a weekly newsletter in your niche.
Curate 5–7 relevant insights with short, skimmable commentary.
Grow organically.
Lesson: An owned list beats rented clicks.
5. Canva - Tutorials + Templates
What they did: Canva dominated YouTube with tutorials (“How to make a YouTube thumbnail”) and provided free templates alongside. Beginners instantly turned into loyal users.
Why it worked: Solved the “time-to-value” problem. Users could get results within minutes.
How you can use it:
Film 3 tutorials answering “How do I [X] with [your product]?”
Pair them with downloadable templates.
Lesson: Teach your audience, and they’ll adopt your product faster.
6. Gymshark - Influencer + Community Hybrid
What they did: Instead of running massive ad campaigns, Gymshark seeded gear to fitness creators, hosted meetups, and created a “movement” around training.
Why it worked: Authenticity. Fans trusted creators more than glossy ads. The community felt like a club, not a campaign.
How you can use it:
Identify 5–10 micro-influencers in your niche.
Send free product.
Then run a community challenge (30-day challenge, leaderboards, etc.).
Lesson: Community > Campaign.
7. Sephora - Power of UGC Galleries
What they did: On product pages, Sephora added galleries of customer-uploaded photos and reviews. These became their highest-converting assets.
Why it worked: Peer proof > polished ads. Shoppers trust shoppers.
How you can use it:
Add a “Show us your [product] in action” upload option.
Feature these on landing pages.
Lesson: UGC converts better than brand copy.
8. HubSpot - Education as Marketing
What they did: Built the HubSpot blog and Academy thousands of free tutorials, guides, and certifications. Inbound leads became their main growth channel.
Why it worked: Owned authority. By giving away more value than competitors, they became the default trusted source.
How you can use it:
Create a 2,000-word pillar page on one high-intent keyword.
Build 3 supporting posts.
Funnel readers into a free trial or lead magnet.
Lesson: Teach first, sell later, trust wins.
9. Red Bull - Content Before Product
What they did: Invested heavily in extreme sports content, videos, events, documentaries, long before energy drinks became mainstream.
Why it worked: Sold the lifestyle, not the drink. The product blended naturally into the culture.
How you can use it:
Identify the lifestyle your product empowers.
Create content around that lifestyle, interviews, events, short films.
Lesson: If you own the culture, you don’t need ads.
10. Case Study Collabs - B2B Growth Hack
What they did: Companies like Salesforce co-published case studies with successful clients. Shared through both networks, they reached 2–3x more prospects.
Why it worked: Borrowed trust. A customer’s voice is more powerful than your ad copy.
How you can use it:
Choose 1 happy client.
Write a short case study (problem → solution → results).
Publish together. Promote via email + LinkedIn.
Lesson: Your best ads are your customers’ stories.
Ads are like renting a hotel room:
Expensive, temporary, gone when the money stops.
Content is like building a house: it compounds, gains value, and you own it forever.
The fastest-growing companies didn’t “outspend” competitors. They out-contented them.
👉 My challenge to you: Pick one of these 10 formats and test it this week.
Reply with the number you’re choosing, I’ll send you a 3-line execution plan tailored for your startup.
Your growth engine doesn’t need more ad spend. It needs smarter content.
👉 Next Monday, we’ll share 10 Micro-Experiments That Moved Metrics, real examples from companies who mastered the art of moving users from “just trying” to happily paying.
Don’t miss it. this one can change the way you grow.