Content marketing covers everything to do with creating and distributing content. B2B content marketing refers specifically to the content that drives traffic, generates leads and grows sales for a B2B company.
Blog posts are the most obvious example, but content marketing includes much more, and we will go into it with specific examples in this article.
What is the difference between B2B and B2C content marketing?
Before going into how to set up a strategy, you should know that creating content for a B2B company and a B2C company differs in substantial ways. The differences fall into three main areas:
- the audience;
- content distribution;
- the formats to choose.
In B2B, audience research is more complex because it has to account for the customer journey and the level of awareness of several stakeholders within a company.
It follows that the strategy is completely different from B2C, where you address the end customer.
There are several reasons for this:
- the target audience is different;
- the audience has different goals and looks for different content to meet them;
- a B2B company's objective differs from a B2C company's.
This image groups the main differences.
To see what to focus on when designing a content strategy for a B2B company, let's look at the steps that lay the foundations.
The basics of a B2B content marketing strategy
A well-structured content marketing strategy helps build brand awareness, generate leads and increase sales. In fact, 49% of marketing teams use content marketing specifically to increase sales. (Source: Content Marketing Institute report)
How do you build a strategy that works?
Start by understanding these points:
- there are different distribution channels for content, and each one needs content structured appropriately;
- there are different content types, including blog posts, e-books and videos;
- when choosing the channel and content type, keep the audience and the stages of the messy middle in mind;
- you need an action plan for creating and publishing content.
Let's take these stages one at a time.
Choosing the right distribution channel
Creating great content is not enough if you don't know how to get it to your audience. That is why, when defining the strategy, you need to settle on the distribution channels you will use.
Channels fall into three main groups:
- Owned channels: all those where we have full control over the content we produce. These channels are essentially free.
- Earned mentions: this group sits between the other two. We have no control over these channels, but we should not ignore them.
- Paid channels: this covers advertising content.
This image shows examples for each type of channel.
Finding the best format
Choosing the content type is a key stage in content marketing, and it gets harder still in a B2B strategy.
Here, as well as designing each type of content for the channel it will be distributed on, there is a further consideration. Whenever we create content, whether a blog post or a report, we need to be aware of the stages of the customer journey.
This means that before building a content strategy, it is worth analysing the buying journey so you can create the best content for each stage.
The image below collects some examples of content types that suit each stage of the messy middle.
At Visilay we rely on detailed analysis of the target's buying journey to build SEO strategies and plan content for B2B companies.
Remember that the audience is varied, and each lead may be at a different stage of the messy middle.
- Awareness is the stage where people start to recognise they have a need.
- In consideration, they look for solutions to the problem they have identified.
- In the conversion stage, they compare alternatives or start trying different solutions before making a purchase decision.
With the stages of the buying journey in mind, you can decide which content type will work best.
For some concrete examples, here are the content types with the greatest impact according to Semrush's "State of Content Marketing" report.
The image above shows the most effective content types, led by video. Of course, when planning a strategy you then need to make specific choices for your sector.
Building a roadmap for content creation and distribution
Another important step in an effective content marketing strategy is putting it all together.
Identifying the distribution channels and the most suitable content types is not enough: you also need to put it into practice with a strategic plan that sets out the next steps.
At this stage it helps to create a proper roadmap for producing and then distributing content.
Several tools can help you build a content distribution calendar. Task and team management apps such as ClickUp are ideal for this and offer ready-made templates you can customise into a content calendar.
What matters most, though, is not the tool you choose but knowing which essential elements to define.
For each piece of content, define:
- content type
- topic
- distribution channel
- publishing frequency.
As the examples above show, the same content type can have more than one distribution channel. This is where content repurposing comes in: reusing content by turning it into new formats.
One example is a video tutorial that is reworked into a blog post. Or a blog post that becomes an infographic to share by email.
To turn content into new formats you can also use dedicated tools such as HubSpot's Content Remix, which uses AI to create new formats from a single piece of content.
You can also use ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI tools directly for the same purpose. They are useful for gathering ideas and reworking material: according to data collected by the Content Marketing Institute in 2025, 81% of B2B marketing teams use AI, up from 72% the previous year.
4 practical examples of content marketing strategies
Now that we have covered the fundamentals, let's look at some practical content marketing examples you can put into action as part of your strategy.
We have picked four strategies that work well today and that you can focus on to get good results.
Invest in video content
According to Content Marketing Institute research updated in 2025, video is considered the most effective content type.
The research found that video is the content type that performs best in B2B (58%), followed by case studies (53%) and e-books (45%).
These figures are a strong argument for adopting this type of content and including it in your content marketing strategy.
Don't underestimate email
One distribution channel that still performs very well is the newsletter.
Newsletters are used to distribute content by 71% of marketing teams, and other types of email by 63%. (Source: Content Marketing Institute)
For content creation, newsletters are also a good way to repackage blog content in a shorter format that can be read quickly.
Conduct and publish industry research
Reports and industry research are among the most effective examples of content marketing.
This type of content works on several fronts:
- it gets more shares than other formats;
- it gets cited, so it can become a good source of backlinks;
- it lets you become the source in your field, which also strengthens your brand's authority.
Write blog posts that capture searches
As we saw, blog posts, both short and in-depth, are among the most effective content types.
Running a blog that targets specific searches linked to keywords relevant to your business can be a strong way to win organic traffic.
This format suits an audience looking for detailed explanations, comparisons and expert opinion from within the industry.
Blog posts therefore help you grow both in organic search (SEO) and in authority.
Finding your way in B2B content marketing
Let's sum up what we have covered, so you can take the first steps towards a B2B content marketing plan.
- Choose the distribution channels: analyse the channels you already have and any new assets you need to create.
- Define the content type: content should be created with the distribution channel in mind and the stage of the messy middle your audience is in.
- Create a roadmap: at this stage you start building an editorial calendar that links content types to distribution channels. Consider content repurposing to adapt one piece of content to several channels.
The whole content marketing strategy has to revolve around one thing: the audience. To make progress, start from thorough market research and be clear about the goals you are aiming for.
At Visilay we always analyse each client's starting point and market so we can agree measurable objectives together and set out the concrete actions to take. We can support you in both the strategy phase and the tracking phase that measures how well your content performs.
