This article was originally published on Authory’s blog.
This guide is for content writers and those working in any form of content writing, whether it is the writing itself, editing, content planning, content marketing, and more.
The article has a collection of 30 content writing examples from various spheres, bucketed under 3 broader headings of content marketing, content writing, and journalism, respectively, with 10 examples of content from each.
Even if you're not a content writer yourself and are looking to hire one, this guide will stand you in good stead, as it will give you an idea of what the best-in-class content writer does via the examples that have been curated below.
Before jumping into the examples, let's first cover a few basics.
What is content writing?
Content writing is the act of creating content in written form.
The history of content writing
Ever since the advent of the written language, humans have been writing in some form or the other. In the past, books were written by hand and copied meticulously and painstakingly by expert scribes who possessed phenomenal skill in handwriting. The invention of the printing press simplified this process and brought about a surge in writing and reading all over the world.
Then, a relatively short time later (in cosmic terms), the internet came about, and practically overnight, humankind created more content than our forefathers had in millennia.
Content writing today
Most content writing nowadays is meant to serve online audiences. That said, the act of writing and creating remains the same. Content writing, at its heart, is the art of making something new — it is creativity at its core — a throwback to those early humans who, like us, yearned to create, as exhibited by their cave paintings and even their rudimentary tools — while borne out of necessity — were some of humanity's earliest creations.
What is good content writing?
Content writers worth their salt, not only explore the artistic side of the process but also delve deeply into more scientific, logical, aspects of writing. A result of that process is good content writing which, in essence, is great storytelling. And great storytelling is backed by research, thought, love, soul, creativity, art, and all the things that make us human.
What is great content writing?
And so, what makes for great content writing? In a word, great content writing achieves what it sets out to do. And that can be a host of different goals depending on the situation. A blog post may look to garner signups, a social media post might look to attract engagement, and a poem will hope to make us feel and think.
To sum up: Since you're reading this on the internet, you understand that most content writing is for folks like you. To that end, content writing is the act of creating written content backed by research, that engages its audience (through emotion, fact, or both), tells a great story, and, most of all, achieves its objectives.
And that leads us to the various content writing types.
Different types of content writing
As touched upon earlier, content writing takes many forms and has different goals. Here's a (most decidedly non-exhaustive!) list of the various types you would've come across. It has been divided into three sections for easier parsing.
🗒️ Note: ALL of the examples below can apply to any industry, from food to finance and across geographies from Trinidad to Tasmania.
Types of content writing in marketing
- Blog content: Content written to build awareness around products and services, to help prospective buyers compare solutions, or to finally nudge them into purchasing (possibly with how-to guides).
- Emailer content: To inform an existing target audience about a company's pursuits and engage with them meaningfully.
- Social media posts: Folks write content for social media posts with various targets, like engagement metrics, to inform their audience of happenings, solicit requests, or act as a helpline.
- Newsletter content: Marketers create content for newsletters to connect with their current audience, build new readership, and generally educate and inform.
- Website content: Written primarily to market to customers and potential customers about the numerous offerings businesses have. That said, each page of the website usually has, depending on their digital marketing strategy, different types of content to cater to those specific customers and audiences, serving to achieve the marketing goals of these businesses.
- Advertising copywriting: Clever, concise, catchy copy that captivates customers, coaxing them into commerce via a call-to-action.
- SEM content: SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing — typically referring to Google Ads — where the copy is written to entice viewers into clicking through.
- SEO content: SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the act of optimizing your content for search engines like Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc. And SEO content writing is the act of creating content that follows SEO guidelines. In fact, there are other types of SEO as well, such as App Store Optimization (ASO) for apps on Android and Apple. SEO content is also created for sites like YouTube, Amazon, and more.
- Social media advertising content: Copy created for social media ads on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Again, each ad usually contains a call to action.
- Landing page content: Landing pages are where prospective customers land on a website. This can be via an ad, a video, a social media post, a Google search, or more. Typically, marketers create content for landing pages with conversion in mind.
- Case studies: Metric-driven content highlighting a company's achievement in a specific project. The template generally speaks to the problems, outlines how they were solved, and the results (read: numbers) thereby attained.
- Success stories: Slightly similar to case studies, success stories focus on the happiness of the customers and are not number-driven and hence have a softer approach when compared to case studies.
- White papers: Heavily researched, thought-leadership content written by subject matter experts that are highly sought after.
- Scriptwriting for video content: Scripts written to entertain, engage, educate, and explain via the video medium. Generally created for YouTube, along with the descriptions, but it can be made for ads, TV commercials, etc.
- Ecommerce-specific content : Product descriptions and the like to help a potential buyer make a purchasing decision.
Types of content writing in journalism
- News: Everyday reporting by news journalists covering nearly two hundred countries across five continents, from New York to New Delhi to New Zealand. Also, these journalists write on Covid, Climate Crisis, Breaking News, Environment, Science, Global Development, Politics, and more.
- Opinion: Columns and Editorials by respected journalists and writers who critique, comment, and expound on topics that are of local, national, and international concern.
- Sport: Journalists who write content on international sports like soccer to the Olympics, as well as national sports franchises, for example, say, the US-based ones such as the NBA, NHL, NFL, and MLB.
- Culture: Journalists covering Culture write on topics such as Books, Music, TV, Radio, Art, Design, Film, Games, Stage & Theater, Movie Reviews, etc.
- Lifestyle: These journalists write on Fashion, Food, Recipes, Love, Sex, Health, Fitness, Home, Gardening, Men/Women/People, Family, Travel, Dance, Science, Luxury, and more.
- Business: Industries such as Manufacturing, Trade, Technology, Finance, Construction, Education, and Agriculture, are just some of the beats that these journalists write on.
- Features, Interviews, and Others: There are so many more types of journalists creating content and reporting on various topics in formats such as video, podcast, photojournalism, doing features, interviews, and more.
Types of content writing in other creative pursuits
- Scriptwriting: Content written for videos, TV shows, podcasts, audiobooks, movies, and plays all the way from William Shakespeare to Aaron Sorokin.
- Poetry & Music: Poets from the times of Lord Byron to more recent work by Rabindranath Tagore, who was a prolific music writer as well, to contemporary artists like Nikita Gill.
- Novels: Since this is a bit more obvious, I'm going to name a few of my favorite authors: Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, PG Wodehouse, Terry Pratchett, Isaac Asimov, Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Jane Austen, Jhumpa Lahiri, Agatha Christie, and Zadie Smith.
- Non-fiction books: Covering innumerable topics from productivity guru David Allen's Getting Things Done to lexicographer Susie Dent's Word Perfect.
- Short stories: Isaac Asimov and Italo Calvino are masters of this genre, but there are a ton of writers working on short fiction online.
Content writing for content marketing
Over the last decade, content marketing has become integral to digital marketing strategy. To lend some context to what to look for in top content writing examples from a marketing perspective, let's briefly talk about what it is.
🗒️ Note: Since most content writers work in marketing in some form or the other, we've expanded on this section.
Parts of content marketing
The final goal of all marketing is to lead to sales. But there are many steps to get there. As with all marketing, there are a few parts to this process.
- Content marketing strategy: Based on an understanding of the audience, the product or service, and with the use of research tools, a macro content strategy is formulated, i.e., what content is going to be created or written, for whom, when is it going to be published, and which channels is it going to be promoted on.
- Content writing or creation: At this step, written content, usually a blog post, is created for the part of the marketing funnel (we'll go over this in the next section) that it is in. Here, when possible, quality content, as discussed before, is created.
- Content distribution: Once created, the content needs to reach the target audience, and that's achieved via distribution — social media posts, newsletters, emailers, SEO, etc., are all distribution channels that can be explored, depending on where the audience is most likely to be found.
The content marketing funnel
For writers working in the marketing sphere, it's most important to understand what this funnel is. The funnel is generally divided into 4 stages:
- Super Top of the Funnel (Super ToFu): Content writing at this stage recognizes that the audience is problem unaware and will try to educate potential customers on the problem's existence in the first place. Some examples of Super ToFu content are books, quizzes, symptom-focused articles, press articles, long-form articles, etc.
- Top of the Funnel (ToFu): Some consider this stage to be the true beginning of the funnel. In this stage, potential customers are problem-aware but solution unaware. And content aims to outline the solution to the problem they're facing. Also known as the Awareness stage of the funnel. Some examples of ToFu content are checklists, webinars, guides, templates, and ToFu blog posts.
- Middle of the Funnel (MoFu): At this stage, potential customers are solution-aware but not product aware. And the objective is to inform them of the presence of your product or service. Also known as the Consideration stage of the funnel. Some examples of MoFu content are calculators, buying guides, industry reports, product choice quizzes, scorecards, and MoFu blog posts.
- Bottom of the Funnel (BoFu): Finally, potential customers are now product aware, and the goal is to convert them into paying for your products and services. Also known as the Decision stage of the funnel. Some examples of BoFu content are case studies, comparison pages, use case pages, ROI calculators, and BoFu blog posts.
SEO content writing
One of the most important content distribution channels is SEO. And that's where SEO content writing comes in.
In essence, SEO content writing is the process of creating content for search engines, primarily for Google, as they have the most search traffic.
The process is as follows:
- Technical SEO: Done to ensure that your website is crawlable and indexable by search engines. Usually involves seeing that the web development side of things is SEO compliant.
- Keywords research: Using tools like Ahrefs or Semrush, research is conducted to find the best keywords to target. This process then informs the overall content strategy.
- Content writing for SEO: Using tools like SurferSEO or Frase (these are optional), a content writer will create content that is likely to rank, using the best SEO practices, such as using the correct headings, keywords, or more.
- Off-page SEO: After the content has been published and indexed, many marketers will try and solicit backlinks to help rank higher on search engines. This step doesn't strictly fall under "SEO content writing," but I thought it helps round out an understanding of the SEO process.
Content writing for journalism
Journalists frequently report on actual occurrences while meeting deadlines, digging through sources to locate the most accurate information, and completing all of the above tasks incredibly quickly.
Journalists also have to adhere to journalism ethics and standards. According to Wikipedia, journalism ethics and standards are defined as:
"Truth,” "accuracy,” and "objectivity" are cornerstones of journalism ethics. Journalists should strive to detach themselves from regions, groups, and even countries they reside in. Allowing for that separation to prevent influenced bias plays a part in their journalistic writing.
There are many kinds of journalists: some are freelance, some are staff journalists, and others work in the space as editors, reporters, writers, and more. In the section above (types of content writing in journalism), we've discussed the numerous "beats" that journalists can be on.
Content writing for writers, authors, poets, novelists, and more
Besides marketing and journalism, content writers come in all forms creating content in all manner of formats. Authors, poets, novelists, short-story writers, podcasters, scriptwriters, non-fiction writers... the list goes on and on.
💡 Click here for more writing portfolio examples.
10 amazing content writing examples from top content marketers
Here's a curated collection of fantastic content writing examples of content writers working in the marketing space.
1. Bruce Kasanoff — social media content writing example
Leading businesspeople use social media ghostwriter Bruce Kasanoff.
He assists each client in identifying what is most important to them and sharing that information on social media. Over 850,000 people follow him on LinkedIn because they value his practical advice on "doing well by doing good."
One of Bruce Kasanoff's social media content writing examples on LinkedIn Pulse
Here's a link to the article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/gearing-up-excellent-8000-mile-adventure-bruce-kasanoff/
Check out more of Bruce's content here.
2. Marijana Kay — B2B content writing example
ConvertKit, Shopify Plus, Hotjar, CoSchedule, and other top B2B SaaS firms in marketing, e-commerce, and analytics use Marijana's services as a B2B freelance writer.
She's also the founder of the Freelance Bold, a library of tools for aspiring independent authors.
One of Marijana's B2B content writing examples on Shopify Plus
Here's a link to the article: https://www.shopify.com/retail/merchant-services
Check out more of Marijana's content here.
3. Carin Marais — B2C content writing example
Carin Marais is a freelance content & copywriter creating content for B2C, ATL, BTL, SEO, localization, translation, ghostwriting, and health & wellness.
She has over a decade's translation and copy and content writing experience in South Africa and internationally, working in US, UK, and SA English.
One of Carin's B2C content writing examples on True Relaxation
Here's a link to the article: https://www.truerelaxations.com/relax-stiff-tired-painful-legs/
Check out more of Carin's content here.
4. Jorden Makelle — video content example
YouTube influencer Jorden Makelle has 51.8K subscribers. She discusses books, reading, entrepreneurship, creative writing, self-development, and freelance writing. She also plays music!
One of Jorden's video content examples on YouTube
Here's a link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbfUQMTH1f0
Check out more of Jorden's content here.
5. Scott Baradell — website content writing example
According to O'Dwyer's, Scott Baradell, the CEO of Idea Grove®, is a Top 25 technology PR firm in the United States and a combined PR and marketing agency.
Scott has spoken on PR and marketing-related issues at trade shows across the US and holds an accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from the PRSA. The Dallas branch of the PRSA named his agency, Idea Grove, the 2020 Agency of the Year.
Scott's Idea Grove website is an excellent website content writing example
Here's a link to the website: https://www.ideagrove.com/
Check out more of Scott's content here.
6. Gari Cruze — advertising copywriting example
Creative director Gari Cruze has worked with companies like Slack, Lyft, iRobot, Google, M&Ms, The Home Depot, NPR, Sunglass Hut, P&G, Sotheby's International Realty, Cracker Barrel, Folgers Coffee, and more.
He’s also worked at some brilliant firms as well, most recently at Huge.
One of Gari's advertising copywriting examples on his website
Here's a link to the example: https://www.garicruze.com/#/litespeed-bicycles/
Check out more of Gari's content here.
7. Kayla Lewkowicz — landing page content writing example
Kayla Lewkowicz is a writer, content marketer, and teacher. Her portfolio's landing page is an excellent example — of who she is and what she does — like "turning great ideas into compelling stories.”
Kayla's landing page content writing example
Here's a link to her portfolio and landing page.
8. Rosanne Barrett — business content writing example
Rosanne Barrett is a quality content writer, journalist, and copywriter who writes credible, SEO-ready content for websites and businesses.
She has used her considerable writing skills in content creation for industries and businesses across Education, Property, Health, Supply Chain, and Finance, to name a few.
Rosanne has pinned her top content writing example in her portfolio
Check out Rosanne's content portfolio here.
9. Dan Rosenbaum — PDF content writing example
Dan Rosenbaum is a highly experienced editorial leader, content strategist, and copywriter in content marketing and consumer publishing, having been a top editor of a half-dozen magazines/online properties.
He has extensive experience in conceiving, launching, and repositioning magazines and websites and is also an award-winning advocacy writer with extensive media experience.
Dan Rosenbaum's PDF content writing example at Symantec
Also, check out Dan's wonderful content marketing portfolio.
10. Carrie Cousins — content writing example
Carrie Cousins has more than 15 years of experience in media, design, and content marketing and is a freelance writer and designer.
This is an example of her content writing skills with an article at Design Shack.
Carrie's content writing example on Design Shack
Find more of Carrie's work here.
10 brilliant content writing examples from top journalists
Here's a studied selection of exceptional content writing examples from distinguished journalists working in various spheres, from music and arts to politics and breaking news.
1. Mary Ann Gwinn — content writing examples on current news
Mary Ann Gwinn is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Seattle Times, and Kirkus Reviews.
Here's Mary's insightful article on a hot topic from a different perspective written for the Los Angeles Times.
Mary's article in the Los Angeles Times as a content writing example
Find more of Mary's content here.
2. Simon Denyer — content writing examples from 35 geographies!
Simon Denyer is a wildlife conservation consultant, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and author. He's the former bureau chief with The Washington Post and Reuters and is also the author of "Rogue Elephant: Harnessing the Power of India's Unruly Democracy.”
His work has seen him cover topics in an outstanding 35 countries, such as Japan, North Korea, China, India, Bhutan, South Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Libya, Ukraine, Taiwan, Mongolia, Somalia, DR Congo, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Tibet, Malaysia, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan & South Sudan, Botswana, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Egypt!
Here's his report on concerns around the Olympics in Japan written for the Washington Post.
Simon's article in the Washington Post as a content writing example
You can find more of Simon's work here.
3. Joey Kennedy — expert opinion pieces as content writing examples
Joey Kennedy is another Pulitzer Prize winner who currently writes for Alabama Political Reporter and B-Metro Magazine, is based in Birmingham, Alabama, and has been an opinion writer for 40 years, mostly for The Birmingham News when it was still a newspaper. He's also an adjunct professor at UAB.
Here's Joey's opinion piece on voting in Alabama.
Joey's article in the Alabama Political Reporter as a content writing example
Check out more of Joey's work here.
4. Scott Matthewman — theatre critique as content writing examples
Scott Matthewman is a former Online Editor of The Stage and has been a theatre critic for over 15 years for several publications.
Here's Scott's review of the play titled: "The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes" on The Reviews Hub.
Scott's article in The Reviews Hub as a content writing example
Check out more of Scott's work here.
5. Jarrod Kimber — sports journalism as content writing examples
Jarrod Kimber is a sports journalist who was a global writer for ESPN.
He is a highly respected name in the world of cricket (a tiny sport compared to soccer but still has a following of billions), and he continues to ply his trade in the sport, currently reporting on the T20 World Cup on YouTube.
Here's an example of Jarrod's work.
Jarrod's article in The Cricket Monthly as a content writing example
Find more of Jarrod's sports journalism here.
6. Carrie Back — travel journalism as content writing examples
Carrie Back is a Native American journalist with bylines at Travel + Leisure, Parents, Postcards, Culture Trip, Matador, Popsugar & more.
Here's Carrie's article on the best beaches near Cartagena, Colombia.
Carrie's article in Extraordinary Journeys as a content writing example
Read more of Carrie's work here.
7. Crystal Housman — photojournalism as content examples
Staff Seargent Crystal Housman is a writer, photographer, and brand journalist.
Her work primarily focuses on the Military but also extends to Aviation, Wildfire, News, People, Features, Music, Sports, Food, Travel, and more.
Here's a very compelling story from her on Grizzly.
Crystal's article in Grizzly as a content writing example
You can find more of Crystal's writing here.
8. Steven Levy — tech journalism as content writing examples
Steven Levy is a renowned tech journalist, author, and Editor at Large for WIRED. For almost 40 years, he's had tech columns in Rolling Stone and Macworld and has been leading technology coverage for Newsweek.
Here's his latest article on WIRED.
Steven's article in WIRED as a content writing example
Find more of Steven's work here.
9. Brandon Hill — music journalism as content writing examples
Brandon Hill is a multimedia journalist covering music and culture, public policy, mental health, the labor movement, and social inequality.
He regularly writes for Okayplayer and CentralSauce and co-hosts the "In Search of Sauce Podcast."
Here's his article on Okayplayer about guaranteed incomes for artists.
Brandon's article in Okayplayer as a content writing example
Check out more of Brandon's work here.
10. David Worsfold — finance journalism as content writing examples
David Worsfold is a journalist and author specializing in finance and insurance and has also written books on social media, presentation skills & 20th-century military history.
David's article in World Finance as a content writing example
For more of David's work, go here.
10 outstanding content writing examples from top content writers
Here's a handpicked assortment of content writing examples of acclaimed content writers, many of whom are authors, novelists, poets, short-fiction writers, and non-fiction writers, but ultimately, all artists in some form or another.
1. Brian Clegg — popular science writing as content writing examples
Brian Clegg is a popular science writer with over 40 books in print and specializes in physics, cosmology, and maths (with a touch of fiction).
Some of his popular science books include A Brief History of Infinity, Cracking Quantum Physics, and What Do You Think You Are. He also writes for magazines and newspapers, has written 7 novels, and has had several short stories published.
Here's a link to his book A Brief History of Infinity.
Brian's book titled "A Brief History of Infinity" as a content writing example
You can find more of Brian's work here.
2. Diana Rosen — flash fiction writing as content writing examples
Diana Rosen is a freelance website content contributor, essayist, flash fiction writer, and poet.
Here's a beautiful piece of content from her.
Diana's piece titled "Bust Stop Story" as a content writing example
3. Kathy Parker — poetry writing as content writing examples
Kathy Parker is a writer, poet, and spoken word performer.
Here's a thought-provoking poem about grief and love.
Kathy's poem as a content writing example
4. Geraldine Brooks — novel writing as a content writing example
Geraldine Brooks is a journalist and novelist.
As a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, she covered crises in The Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans. She has written three works of non-fiction and six novels, including March, which won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the international bestseller, People of the Book.
She speaks about her latest novel here.
Geraldine's novel as a content writing example
Here are more examples of her work.
5. Kaely Monahan — podcast audio producing as a content creation example
Kaely Monahan is a Pulitzer-nominated and Scripps Howard Award-winning Podcast Audio Producer at The Arizona Republic.
Here's an example of a podcast on azcentral.
Kaely's podcast on azcentral as a content example
Find more of Kaely's content here.
6. Tabitha Potts — short fiction writing as content writing examples
Tabitha Potts is a published writer with several short stories in print anthologies as well as online.
She recently had stories long-listed for the Royal Academy Pindrop Award and the Sunderland Short Story Award, one was a Finalist in MIROnline’s Folk Tale Festival, and the other was Highly Commended in MIROnline’s Booker Prize Competition.
Here's one of her short fiction pieces.
Tabitha's short fiction as a content writing example
7. Pam Moore — fitness writing as content writing examples
Pam Moore is an award-winning freelance health and fitness journalist and content marketing writer with over ten years of healthcare experience.
She is a regular contributor to The Washington Post's Wellness section and has also written for Time, The Guardian, Runner's World, SELF, Outside, Forbes, and many others.
She's also a two-time Ironman triathlete and six-time marathoner!
Here's her article on Mindy Kaling enjoying exercise.
Pam's fitness article on SELF as a content writing example
Read more of her content here.
8. Scott Bryan — TV content as content examples
Scott Bryan is a TV critic, broadcaster, and the co-host of Must Watch on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Here's his latest article on the PM situation in the UK.
Scott's article on Variety as a content writing example
Find more of Scott's content here.
9. Stephanie Bernaba — humor writing as content writing examples
Stephanie Bernaba is a writer, journalist, photographer, and award-winning humorist. She writes on news, entertainment, and more.
Here's her article on She-Hulk.
Stephanie's article on Screen Rant as a content writing example
10. Hank Herman — humor novels as content writing examples
Hank Herman is an award-winning author, humorist, and writing instructor whose memoir, Accept My Kid, Please! A Dad's Descent Into College Application Hell has led to speaking engagements throughout the Northeast, and his 15-book series of basketball novels, Super Hoops, is read by grade-schoolers everywhere.
Hank's book on Amazon as a content writing example
See more of Hank's content here.
Showcasing your content writing examples
Remember, writing and creating content is only half the battle. It’s super important to back up your content — read our guide on how to do so — and showcase your work so that you can attract potential clients and employers!
That’s where a solution like Authory is handy: just add your sources to Authory and get a self-updating portfolio PLUS backup right out of the box!
✍️ Sign up for Authory today and get a 14-day free trial!
FAQs
What are some examples of content?
Some examples of content include blogs, emailers, newsletters, social media posts, case studies, website content, landing page content, and more.
Is content writing easy?
Great content writing has great grammar and tone, is well-researched, and achieves its objectives. Depending on the level of writing that you’re aiming to do, content writing ranges from easy to hard.
What is SEO content writing?
SEO content writing is writing that follows best SEO practices to rank on search engines like Google.
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