7 Effective Examples of B2B Content Marketing
What is B2B Content Marketing?
B2B content marketing is a strategy of producing and distributing content that generates desired results. This can be in form of leads and sales, brand awareness, and website traffic for business-to-business companies.
Distributing engaging content is a viable marketing strategy for business-to-business companies more than ever before. In a study updated for 2023, 71% of B2B content marketers said this strategy is more important than it was last year. Despite its importance, just 29% of B2B content marketers say their organization has experienced success from content marketing campaigns.
This discrepancy should be seen as an opportunity for your B2B brand to capitalize on. Content marketing can bring about high-quality leads when it is done in engaging and effective ways.
B2B vs. B2C content marketing
Business-to-consumer (B2C) content marketing can be found any time you open your personal social media apps and start scrolling. This content appeals to your interests, situations, and desires, and is often considered by marketers to be more “fun” than that of B2B content marketing campaigns.
But it isn’t true! B2B content marketing can be just as eye-grabbing as that of B2C because the passion that drives content creation is just as strong for B2B companies as it is for their B2C counterparts.
The bottom line is that no content marketing is uninteresting when done correctly, and we’ve rounded up some examples of exceptional B2B content marketing ideas that demonstrate its usefulness.
Real-World Examples of B2B Content Marketing
Content marketing techniques can be broken down by the kind of content asset (blogs, webinars, etc.), the channels it is distributed on (email, website, social media, etc.), and also the subject matter category.
We compiled 7 common categories of content subject matter and exceptional examples of each in action, from B2B companies we trust.
The Game-Changing Tool
What it is: The game-changing tool is a piece of content with the “secret sauce.” Examples include “the secret executives use to organize their projects” or “how to simplify your business’ budget [downloadable guide].” Game-changing tools are effective forms of content marketing when they link directly to what your business sells or the services they offer.
CONTENT EXAMPLE
Company: Canva
Content type: Blog and video/how-to guide
Hook: Use our product to do this
Canva is a free online graphic design tool that is easy to use for design beginners and professionals. Canva’s resource center is filled with how-to content that ultimately hooks back to Canva products. The answer to how to do X is always by using Canva! This company is especially skilled at looping in ways their paid “Pro” version is useful for completing the tasks outlined in guides.
In the “How to make a t-shirt with Canva Smartmockup“ content piece, Canva introduces the subject with this lead-in: The easier way to design a t-shirt. For businesses without clothing personalization knowledge, this offers an appealing solution.
The blog outlines how to use the product to design a t-shirt and presents an even more appealing solution: pre-designed templates. Of course, there are more templates available for use with Canva Pro. And if you’re a company looking to distribute branded products with ease, you might be inclined to upgrade.
Breaking News
What it is: Sharing current events and news updates that are relevant to your business should be a main pillar in your B2B content marketing strategy. Discussing happenings that are top-of-mind for your target audience gives you credibility as a company and authority as a subject matter expert.
CONTENT EXAMPLE
Company: Basis Technologies
Content type: Webinar
Hook: This is the state of affairs, how it affects our industry, and how our product will help your business thrive during this time.
Basis Technologies provides software that simplifies and automates programmatic advertising. In a webinar titled “Advertising through uncertainty: how marketers can navigate economic downturn,” high-level Basis Media Innovations and Technology team members broke down how advertising can be approached during uncertain times.
One of the biggest takeaways from the webinar is encouraging brands to “plan to automate” their advertising techniques. This tactic resulted in 77% of study respondents moving from planning to action faster. This result came from a survey conducted by Basis, a company with a main selling factor of automation.
Webinars require a lot of resources to plan and conduct, but they work because their marketing value is unmatched. The evergreen content that is shared in webinars can be redistributed through other marketing channels. Receiving event sign-ups earns businesses new contacts that could develop into paying customers down the road.
Case Studies
What it is: Case studies allow B2B companies to demonstrate how their product or services have worked to create measurable results. Case studies can be results-driven or data-driven or have a combination of both qualities. They should allow other companies to visualize the results they could achieve themselves if they were to work with the distributor of this type of content.
CONTENT EXAMPLE
Company: Sprout Social
Content type: Case study
Hook: How our product helped another business succeed.
In a case study that reviewed the success Rover experienced while using the Sprout Social platform, the social media scheduling company demonstrates its value. Rover is an application that allows people to find pet sitters, but this case study is relevant to any company with a global presence and especially those with an application.
In the case study, Sprout Social explains how Rover measured and optimized performance on a global scale by using specific Sprout products and tools. The piece includes both customer testimonials and descriptions of how certain tools can be used for this type of business. This example is more anecdotal than data-driven, but it still demonstrates value by providing a real-world example of a positive experience with the program.
Coined Term Piece
What it is: “Coined term” refers to the creation of a phrase or word that describes something specific to your industry and that your business directly relates to. The goal of developing a coined term is to begin a conversation using the term that ultimately leads customers back to where it originated: in your company’s content marketing piece.
CONTENT EXAMPLE
Company: ClickCease
Content type: Blog
Hook: This is what a coined term means and how our product is related to it.
ClickCease is an ad fraud and click fraud detection and protection service software that prevents fraudulent activity in digital ad campaigns. This company services businesses that want to cut down on costs from pay-per-click activity from fake users and fraudulent IP addresses.
In a blog titled “Everything you need to know about Click Farms,” ClickCease introduces the phrase click farm – a location that generates internet traffic in bulk. The company explains that click farms are not necessarily illegal, but their actions are frowned upon and lead to incomplete or irrelevant data for advertisers.
According to the content piece, the key to avoiding illegitimate data from click farms and saving money on CPC is to sign up for a free trial of ClickCease.
The ‘Hot Take’ Piece
What it is: The hot take piece presents a stance on a subject or situation that might be controversial. The appeal of declaring something less mainstream in content is that it often inspires conversation, regardless of how it is received, which leads to high engagement.
CONTENT EXAMPLE
Company: Hotjar
Content type: Blog
Hook: Here’s our controversial stance on this thing related to our industry.
Work from home (WFH), “quiet quitting,” and remote productivity are hot topics of discussion these days. Hotjar is a website user experience insight tool with a fully remote staff located all over the world.
In a recent blog, Hotjar declared that work time is more than just laptop time; time spent thinking and reflecting is just as legitimate a form of work as time spent in meetings or on email. In a world that frequently debates the productivity of remote workers, it’s a big deal for a fully remote company to take this stance.
Taking this stance may not lead brands to purchase a Hotjar product, but it may encourage conversation in the comments when it’s shared on social media, increasing brand awareness. Additionally, it demonstrates a flexible stance held by the company, which may encourage talent to apply for open positions if they align with that stance.
This banner on the blog functions as a subtle CTA for prospective job applicants.
Thought-Leadership
What it is: Thought leadership demonstrates authority in an industry or on a subject that is trustworthy and engaging. Thought leadership can be used in many different formats of content but is especially useful when presented in a resource center.
CONTENT EXAMPLE
Company: Semrush
Content type: Learning center
Hook: Take our courses, which demonstrate how to do industry-specific tasks using our product.
Semrush is a content marketing and SEO research tool that allows brands to perform competitor analysis and discover ways to improve their search engine results positions.
The Semrush Academy offers free courses to anyone on the topics of SEO, content marketing, social media, sales, and PPC advertising. Each course ends with an exam that, when passed, earns the user a branded certificate.
The courses all utilize the Semrush software at some point, which requires a paid subscription (after the free trial) to use. The Academy is no doubt an intensive undertaking to create and update, but it is worthwhile when it directly results in new customers for the company.
Industry-Relevant and Interesting Lists
What it is: Listicles. We know them, we love them. Since the dawn of Buzzfeed in 2006, articles positioned as must-know lists of things have dominated content marketing. And in B2B content marketing, listicles are just as relevant. The key is that one of the items on the list ties back to your business.
CONTENT EXAMPLE
Company: Unbounce
Content type: Blog/Listicle
Hook: One of the ways to do this thing is by utilizing our B2B services.
Unbounce is an artificial intelligence-powered landing page builder that allows users to create high-performing marketing campaigns with ease. Unbounce routes website visitors to the best landing page for them based on their user data and demographics.
Building and optimizing landing pages can be a confusing process for someone new to marketing or a company that is just starting out. Unbounce recognizes the pain points businesses experience when creating their web presence and creates content that can help get people started.
In You’re Doing Landing Page Testing Wrong: These are the 5 Rules to Do it Right, Unbounce provides an overview of landing page testing and best practices for implementing it. Step 5 recommends using the Unbounce AI algorithm to match visitors to the landing page variant they’re most likely to convert on, a clear reason to sign up for a free trial.
This listicle is relevant, engaging, and highly shareable–all qualities that content marketing pieces should seek to achieve. And though the lead is buried at the end, business owners might walk away from this article thinking, “I should be using Unbounce.”
Partnering on Your B2B Content Marketing
Whether your company is just beginning to lay the foundations of branded content or it already has an extensive resource library, our agency can help develop your B2B content strategy.
We pride ourselves on our ability to develop B2B content marketing campaigns that convert. We use an SEO-first approach, and prioritize content topics that will give your website value and output. When we work with your brand, we will customize a content strategy that fits your business model, industry, and sales goals. Book a discovery call to get started!
FAQs
What is a B2B content marketing strategy?
B2B content marketing strategies encompass all the content ideation, creation, distribution, and conversion tracking related to content from brands that target other brands for their sales.
What is the difference between B2B and B2C content?
Business-to-business (B2B) content speaks to a different audience than that of business-to-consumer (B2C) content. B2B companies earn conversions from other businesses through content marketing efforts, whereas B2C companies use content to speak to an individual.
How do you get sales from both consumers and other businesses?
Some companies might be both B2B and B2C. For example, a new startup selling a digital tool might have an enterprise package for a full company to subscribe to and also sell individual licenses. A mix of both B2B and B2C content marketing would benefit brands of this nature.
