Best B2B Content Marketing Agencies, Services, & Companies in 2023
Because B2B content marketing is our core business, we’ve done the hard work for you.
Based on our own experience and knowledge, we’ve researched the best B2B content marketing companies, agencies, and consultants in the world to give you a list of recommended resources that are tried and tested.
But before we get to the list, it makes sense to understand the importance of content marketing agencies, so we’ve thrown in a section on what content marketing is, the most common reasons it fails, what an agency does, when you should outsource, and how to choose the right B2B content marketing company.
What is content marketing?
According to Demand Metric, 67% of B2B companies who even just blog as a marketing strategy, receive more monthly leads than companies that don’t.
Content marketing is more than just blogging, and it works because it builds awareness, relationships, and adds value for the people most likely to buy from your business.
But let’s backtrack a little to find out what makes it so powerful as a marketing medium, and why 75% of B2B marketers are likely to use content marketing as part of their social media marketing strategy.
Before the internet, marketing worked very differently. Today, with so much information available online, the marketing process has shifted dramatically so that it’s the buyer who has the power instead of the brand.
Research shows that most B2B buyers first conduct online research before making a purchasing decision; in fact, 62% of B2B buyers say they make a purchase based solely on digital content.
Content—aka free helpful stuff—that is distributed attracts buyers, builds authority and credibility for your brand, grows your audience, and lowers acquisition costs.
But to succeed, content marketing has to be done right. And almost always, that means getting an agency to do it because they have the skill and experience you need.
Content marketing is not something that works without the right talent.
Common reasons for content marketing not working
When does content marketing not work?
The strategy is not well thought out.
Not enough money is spent on it.
When done internally, the resources doing the work lack skill or experience.
Your content is not being promoted, or it’s being distributed to the wrong channels.
The content doesn’t add any value.
There are too many competitors in your niche.
You haven’t given it enough time (content marketing takes time to reap results).
You don’t know your audience well enough (this impacts value and copy).
What is a content marketing agency?
A content marketing agency works with your brand to create a strategy based on your needs, and then drives it via an experienced and skilled team. A comprehensive content marketing process per piece of content may look something like this:
Working on a strategy
Conducting keyword research
Writing copy for the asset and social media posts
Creating graphics for the asset and social media posts
Performing a quality audit
Publishing the content on the business website
Publishing the content to social media sites
Monitoring and reporting for improvements
To do all this means using resources with skill and experience in relevant software, as well as the following capabilities:
Digital marketing and keywords expertise
Graphics design
SEO
Copywriting
Writing expertise in content type (eg. use cases, white papers, landing pages, and so on)
Social media
CMS (Content Management System, eg. WordPress)
Quality assurance
Analytics and reporting
In addition, the workflow needs to be driven by someone and the project management system updated for a seamless process.
Because of the complexity of content marketing, most brands that are serious about digital marketing either have their own highly-skilled team dedicated to content marketing or they outsource the task to an agency.
Why hire a B2B content marketing agency?
There are two unparalleled primary reasons why it’s a good idea to hire a B2B marketing agency:
ROI is higher (when the right agency is used), and
Your team does not need to focus on content marketing which is skill- and experience-intensive, which ultimately translates into higher costs.
There are other great benefits too, such as:
Outside-the-box creativity. When keeping content marketing in-house, it can result in tunnel vision. An external team can freshen up your marketing efforts which will impact results.
Because content marketing for clients is their core business, agencies tend to keep up with trends in order to ensure their clients receive the best results.
How to choose a B2B content marketing agency?
As with all products and services, not all B2B marketing agencies are made the same; choose the wrong one, and you’ll only know it months down the line because content marketing is a long-term strategy and never a quick fix.
Marketing and sales agencies are rife with “founders” who lack integrity and who set up marketing agencies to make a quick buck before disappearing.
And then you also get those who are legitimate, but still cutting their teeth and will use your brand as a stepping stone to experience.
Common pitfalls to watch out for
Exciting promises of “secrets to success.” If an agency tells you they can get results faster because of some “secret recipe” or technology, run. It is not possible. Every brand has to follow the same long, drawn-out process of reaping rewards over time. It cannot be rushed.
Don’t rely on a Google search to show you the best marketing agencies. Just as a good plumber’s home will display poor plumbing, so it is with many of the best content marketing agencies—just because you don't see their website at the top of search results does not mean they are not good, it just means they are too busy with client work to worry about their own website and content marketing.
Checklist: choosing a content marketing agency
B2B & niche experience
The agency must specialize in B2B, because the skillset for B2B content marketing is different from that for B2C. Avoid B2C firms.
Word of mouth
Speak to your professional network to find out who they use and what kind of results they’ve seen.
Ask your network for referrals you can speak to, and carefully plan what to ask those referrals.
Experience
Check reviews, ratings, and testimonials, but don’t only rely on these sources because they can be bought. Check these things against other factors, such as use cases, case studies, and so on.
Their process
A critical factor is this: what kind of questions are they asking you? The more questions, the better. No questions? Run far, far away.
Questions you should ask:
What process will you use to achieve our goals?
What is your communication process with us?
What exactly does your agency commit to doing for us?
What reports can we expect?
What metrics do you use to determine results?
Domain expertise
The agency should have expertise in your particular niche, because its knowledge will reflect in your content.
Service offerings
Its service offerings must match your objectives. For example, if you wish to launch a podcast, it must offer podcast content marketing. If your goal is to publish one video a week to Facebook or LinkedIn, it must be able to produce that video. Generally speaking, content marketing agencies usually offer the following services:
Podcasting (limited)
Video (limited)
Writing
Social media advertising and management
Search engine optimization
Google ads management and PPC
Email marketing
Website development
Link building (limited)
Culture fit
Avoid frustration by choosing an agency that not only makes things easy, but also displays the right culture fit. If you walk away feeling frustrated after a conversation, pass.
Price
You get what you pay for but, having said that, you have to be able to pay them at the end of the month, so price is a factor. Nonetheless, we recommend that you don’t choose an agency based on price, or you may end up actually wasting money.
Top B2B content marketing agencies
The following is a list of demand generation professionals, skilled at using modern-day public relations to boost buyer engagement and the number of qualified leads in the buyer’s journey and sales funnel. This results in increased conversion rates.
Most of the recommended agencies below offer high-quality content in the form of infographics, white papers, blog posts, case studies, ebooks, and so on, all created to target relevant decision-makers, e.g. the CEOs of the companies you need to attract. A few of these agencies also produce videos of all types, or may even repurpose webinars and offer a podcasting service. One or two may also provide their own software for content automation purposes and guidance around PR tactics.
Let’s check them out:
Content Allies
Content Allies is a B2B content marketing agency that specializes in podcast content marketing as the core pillar of your content strategy.
From a single podcast episode, Content Allies will create:
SEO optimized article
Podcast episode for Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, etc.
YouTube video
Social media content for LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter
Guest post content for guest’s website
Podcast show notes
With Content Allies’ white-glove service, you show up for interviews and Content Allies handles everything else.
In addition, Content Allies is a full-service agency that includes an account manager, podcast strategist, and production lead on every account.
Animalz
Animalz offers content marketing services to all sizes of SaaS companies. Its client list includes some of the most well-known SaaS companies in the world.
Based in New York, this agency boasts more than 114 employees who all work remotely.
Codeless
Codeless provides high-quality content, and it has the numbers to prove it. For example, on its website, it shows case studies that demonstrate results for some of its clients, such as search rankings for a particular phrase, amount of referring domains, number of backlinks, and so on.
Velocity Partners
Velocity Partners is a no-nonsense B2B marketing agency that combines three methodologies in its content compilation: it looks for meaning so that the copy resonates with your audience, it focuses on metrics for the sake of performance, and it focuses on voice to make your brand more likable.
It expects a lot from its clients because it says it gives a lot, so passivity is not a quality it accepts in prospective clients.
It has offices in London and New York.
Modicum Agency
A design agency that specializes in B2B marketing and creative services, bring Modicum your strategy and it will transform your goals into consumable content that is not just blog posts or the other usual content offered by many agencies.
Bop Design
Bop Design creates or recreates your website and then builds it up into a resource center for your ideal audience. It creates your content and then publishes it to the right marketing channels to give the best inbound marketing lead generation results for your company.
Ironpaper
For B2B businesses that have a long sales cycle, Ironpaper—a Databox premier certified agency partner and HubSpot diamond certified agency partner—specializes in creating content that educates, inspires, nurtures, and converts the B2B buyer.
InterGrowth
Intergrowth uses a 3-step data-driven growth framework with its content marketing solutions: first it discovers everything it can about your business, then it analyzes how your business is doing online and looks for growth opportunities, and finally it builds a growth implementation strategy.
Gorilla76
Gorilla76 is an interesting marketing agency because its target audience is mid-sized B2B manufacturers.
This agency says your business is a fit if: you are an expert B2B manufacturer that sells customized solutions requiring a consultative sale; have a mostly long and complex buying process; have noticed that your customers’ buying process may shift online; and you are looking for a sustainable growth strategy that is not a quick fix.
Viral Nation
Viral Nation offers a full spectrum of marketing services, one of which is content marketing for B2B. Within its content creation solution is digital branding, website design, articles, blogs, social content, video, live-video, static imagery, animation, and graphic design.
The Mx Group
The Mx Group says it will, “transform your deep internal knowledge into persuasive assets that provide value at every stage of the funnel.”
Using your deep internal knowledge to create content adds tremendous value, because this kind of knowledge cannot be found elsewhere; it has to be extracted from those who work in the organization, and it’s not something many agencies say. Five stars for that statement!
Jellyfish
Jellyfish is a total digital transformation agency that offers content marketing solutions within its scope of capabilities. The team molds a cohesive content strategy for your business and streamlines publication workflows to ultimately deliver copy that attracts your audience across relevant digital platforms.
Earnest
Targeting New York and London, Earnest is a full-house award-winning B2B marketing agency that offers planning, creating, and distribution of content meant for the people behind B2B businesses, so that your content stands out amongst the competition.
Something that it offers that its competitors do not are “idea sprints” to innovate your marketing.
Disruptive Advertising
For more than six years, the Disruptive Advertising team has refined its internal processes to efficiently produce high-quality creative copywriting for clients in order to achieve high-performing and profitable results.
This award-winning agency boasts over 1,000 positive reviews and manages more than $250M in digital advertising budgets annually.
Bruce Clay
Known as the “Father of SEO,” Bruce Clay offers search engine optimized content development and social media advertising and management, as well as other digital marketing agency services focused around search engines and social media.
Sociallyin
Sociallyin is a social media agency that offers content production and creative services for social media. Data-driven, this team does not provide “cool” ad waste, but delivers results based on what will work for your business.
Optimist
Optimist is a content marketing agency for B2Bs, startups, growth-stage companies, and SaaS businesses. Its formula has worked for its own agency, generating $1.5MM in 100% inbound sales leads in its first year.
The Optimist approach to content marketing isn’t simply about blogging, but rather making the content do the legwork it takes to generate real value.
Foundation
Utilizing data and research, Foundation provides an end-to-end B2B content marketing strategy and implementation for B2B companies. Industry research stimulates useful content creation topics, distribution channels, and formats. Distribution of content is powered by the right audience channels to attract leads and convert prospects to clients on a regular basis.
Squaredot
Squaredot is a content marketing agency for B2B technology companies. It makes a special mention of Irish businesses (although they’re not its only audience), so if you are situated in Ireland, this one’s for you.
This agency takes on any role your business needs, be it a complete A–Z solution, or part of it. For content marketing, it offers strategic work, branding, web design, content production, campaigns, and promotion.
Content Guppy
Content Guppy is a content marketing service. It does not offer content marketing as a solution, but rather allows marketers to find qualified content backlink contacts within minutes, in order to include them in copy for SEO purposes.
Heinz Marketing
Heinz Marketing is a strategic planner propelled by data, and a creative problem-solver that builds content solutions to achieve a predictable pipeline, enabling your customers with immersive customer experiences to accelerate revenue and grow and scale your business.
Conclusion
Content marketing is complex.
If you don’t have a skilled marketing team in-house or one which is experienced in content marketing, choosing the right B2B content marketing agency is your best option for growing online.
Would podcasting work to grow your business?
80% of podcast listeners stick around for most or all of a podcast episode, while people only spend on average 2–3 minutes max reading content on a website page before clicking away.
Podcasts build brand fans that text can’t.
Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts, making podcasting a superior content marketing method.
Contact Content Allies.