5 B2B Content Marketing Examples to Inspire Your Team

B2B content has gained a reputation for being astoundingly stale and corny. 

The landscape-shifting, white-glove-turn-keying jargon. The 10X-hypergrowth bros on LinkedIn. The deluge of increasingly deranged outbound emails. It feels like an industry more obsessed with self-aggrandizement than innovation or problem-solving. 

Yet against this drab backdrop, some efforts stand out in technicolor. They make us say YES finally, some good f*cking food.

We’re circling back and double-clicking on a few examples of stellar B2B content. We’ll talk about why they work and what you and your teams can learn from them. 

Perhaps together, we can save B2B content. 

1. The Hustle newsletter

Launched as a daily email in 2016, The Hustle was acquired by HubSpot in 2021 with more than 1.5 million readers. The Hustle makes complex business stories feel digestible and entertaining with its quippy tone. In an industry that could maybe use some restraint, The Hustle stands out because it publishes every day, and every day it provides real value. 

Why it works

The Hustle contains a lot of content — a startup spotlight, a news section, a big idea section that provides the main meat of the newsletter, a newsworthy statistic and the story behind it, and a roundup of random cool stuff. The Hustle team knows that most people aren’t going to consume the whole thing. But subscribers know there will be something in there that’s worth their attention. The Hustle teases each piece by knowing why it’s interesting to the person most likely to care 

The consistent structure and tone give the newsletter a unique identity and editorial perspective, one that readers can enjoy, trust, and learn from. 

A few other great ones

• The Open Source CEO and Build It Right newsletters both come from founders with distinct personalities and points of view. 

2. Palo Alto Networks’ Global Incident Response Report

Palo Alto Networks provides cybersecurity products and services to organizations of all types across the globe. Their managed services division, Unit 42, produces in-depth threat research, so security leaders can adapt to new threats and attack types. Each year, Unit 42’s Global Incident Response Report compiles learnings from the past year of monitoring and responding to threats. The security world eagerly anticipates this report, which even informs cybersecurity strategies at the nation-state level.

Why it works

The report is packed with proprietary information, some of it so technical it can make the casual reader’s eyes cross. Yet this is where the report shines: it ladders up its insights from technical observations to C-suite-level strategy recommendations. It speaks to several stakeholders. Technical teams see exactly how attackers are succeeding. Security Operations teams see where to spend their resources most effectively, and executives understand the business implications of various cyber risks. 

Palo Alto gets a lot of content mileage out of the report, which our team has helped them produce for the past several years. Typically, we atomize the report into half a dozen or so blogs that explore facets of the report more deeply, and a few one- or two-page executive summaries that hit the high points of cyber strategy. 

As you read this report, you can feel Unit 42’s expertise, experience, and confidence. Whatever proprietary research or data your organization has, your content should own it on the page. Be explicit and definite about what your research means for readers, and tell them straight up what they should do or think about next. 

A few other great ones

• Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report
• Gong’s report

3. Gusto Insights content hub

Gusto is a platform that helps small businesses manage payroll, HR, and other admin-type needs. We love how Gusto knows their audience — small business leaders who are both doing the thing and running the business, often evolving into a whole new skillset as a leader. Everything about Gusto’s product and content is oriented around making this transition easier. Gusto’s Insights content hub helps clients understand the broader economic and business environment, whose trends may affect their own business. 

Why it works

Gusto relies heavily on proprietary data from its client base of 500,000+ small businesses to create authority in their understanding of small businesses and the logistics of running them. Gusto Insights content looks at broader trends affecting small businesses across the country so owners can understand how those changes are impacting their own experience. 

This combination of data and knowledge makes the brand relevant and gives it compounding value over time. It is a well-running content engine that achieves thought leadership at scale, without hinging on a particular face or personality. If your customer data can tell your audience something about themselves, publish it. 

4. PayHOA’ state law guides

Everyone wishes their neighborhood was just a little better, but no one wants the liability that comes with running the neighborhood HOA. That’s where PayHOA normally steps in with their software, but convenient tools aren’t the only barrier for most board members. They also have no idea what they can and can’t do. The average homeowner couldn’t tell you what the State of California allows residential communities to do, and what it requires of their leaders. 

So PayHOA jumped into the gap by breaking down the cornerstone pieces of residential community and non-profit board laws for dozens of states where their customers are based. The pages include exhaustive research into the latest legislative rulings, instructions on how to navigate the state’s codes, and plain-language summaries of what is required of the board members.

Why it works

There are way more people worried about the legality of their actions than their bookkeeping and community management software. “Is my HOA allowed to…” is more common than, “Which software will help me streamline my HOA workflows.” 

And while that is a datapoint about search, it’s really a datapoint about what people need help with. And who better to help them out than the company that is also trying to be helpful in other ways. It connects with the audience and addresses their question without an upsell.  Find the question your audience asks before they think about your product or services, then answer it. 

5. Notion’s customer stories

The software company’s YouTube channel is full of stories of Notion users talking about their work. Sure, there are feature pages and tutorial videos, but they create well-produced video interviews and testimonials that highlight the people who use their software, letting the software itself just be a prop in the story. It promotes other innovative companies, and shows people how the anything-and-everything software can be used in specific ways.

Why it works

One of the hardest things for an enterprise software company to do is explain itself. How can software that’s built to be so many things be distilled down into a video clip? Notion decided it’s the user that all of these stories have in common. The human with a problem they’re trying to solve or an area they’re trying to innovate. If your product is hard to explain, let your customers explain it.

So, can B2B content be saved?

Put these five side by side and the jargon is nowhere to be found. Nobody is shifting a landscape. Nobody is 10X-ing anything.

Each one starts with a specific person and a specific question. The reader skimming for one story worth their morning. The security leader who needs to know what to do next. The small business owner wondering if it’s just them. The volunteer board member Googling what they’re allowed to do. The team trying to picture how someone else actually uses the thing.

Then they answer with what they know better than anyone: their own research, their own customers, their own point of view.

That’s the whole trick, and it’s available to your team too.

You don’t need a bigger budget or a louder voice. You need something worth saying and the nerve to say it plainly.

That’s how B2B content gets saved. One piece at a time, by teams who had something to say.

Looking for your something worth saying? Chatter pulls the real stories that matter to your brand and audience into one feed, so your team has something real to react to.

Start for Free →