Updated June 2026 · 13 content types covered
13 types of content marketing to create in 2026
Content marketing works. But not every format works for every goal, every team, or every stage of the buyer journey.
This guide breaks down 13 of the most effective types of content marketing: what each one is built for, what it costs to produce well, and what separates a version that performs from one that doesn't.
01
Blog posts—best for organic traffic and topical authority
Blog posts are written articles published on your website and optimized for search. They're the workhorse of most content marketing programs—and the most common entry point into content marketing for companies that are just getting started.
The goal is to rank for queries your buyers are already searching, answer those queries better than the current top results, and build enough topical authority that search engines trust your site for related queries over time.
A well-executed blog compounds in value. A post that ranks in the top three for a competitive keyword can generate leads for two or three years without additional investment. That compounding return is what makes blog content marketing one of the highest-ROI formats available.
What it takes to produce
Good blog posts require keyword research, competitive analysis, a clear outline, writing, editing, and SEO optimization. Add internal linking and a distribution plan on top of that.
A thorough post takes 6–12 hours of skilled work. Technical or research-heavy topics take longer. Outsourcing to a writer who also handles keyword research and SEO saves time and usually produces better results than splitting those jobs across multiple people.
Publishing once and forgetting is also a mistake. Blog content needs periodic refreshes to stay competitive—and a content refresh is often the highest-ROI content marketing investment a company can make.
What strong blog posts look like
Example
Intercom's "Inside Intercom" blog
Intercom built one of the most loyal audiences in SaaS by writing about product, growth, and customer service from the perspective of people who lived those problems. The blog felt like access, not content marketing. Animalz did the same thing in the content marketing space: honest, specific, written by practitioners.
From my work
Zapier · CoSchedule · HubSpot · Vimeo
A single article I wrote for Zapier displaced over $24,000 per year in paid search spend by ranking for a keyword they'd been buying ads on. A piece for CoSchedule converted 3% of readers to email subscribers. I've written for HubSpot, Vimeo, Sinch, and Softr across a range of topics in the B2B and SaaS space. You can see some of that work on my portfolio page.
The posts that drive the most consistent results are pieces that treat the reader like an expert, go deeper than anything else in the SERP, and make the conversion path feel natural rather than forced. If you want that kind of SEO content writing, that's the approach I take.
Typical conversion path
Blog readers rarely convert on the first visit. The goal is to move them to a next step: subscribe to a newsletter, download a resource, or read a related post.
Mid-funnel blog posts can link directly to service pages or case studies. The conversion path should feel natural, not forced.
How to measure it
Track organic rankings, organic traffic, scroll depth, internal link clicks, and newsletter signups. If you have attribution set up, measure assisted revenue. Blog posts often appear in the conversion path of buyers who later become customers, even when they didn't convert directly.
02
Case studies—best for converting buyers at the decision stage
A case study is a documented story of a customer achieving a specific result using your product or service. It's the most direct form of proof a company can produce—and one of the most important types of content marketing for moving buyers off the fence.
Unlike a testimonial—which is a claim—a case study shows the problem, the approach, and the outcome in enough detail that a prospect can see themselves in the story.
Case studies sit at the bottom of the funnel. The people reading them aren't looking to be educated. They're looking for confirmation that your solution works for companies like theirs.
What it takes to produce
Good case studies require a customer interview: typically a 30–60 minute conversation that needs to be scheduled, conducted, and synthesized into a coherent narrative.
After the interview comes the writing, the approval process, and often a design pass. The approval process alone can add weeks. Companies that skip the interview and write from survey responses usually end up with something too generic to be useful.
What strong case studies look like
Example
Specific outcome, named customer, clear before-and-after
The best case studies read like a profile piece, not a press release. They name the specific problem, the specific result, and the specific reason the customer chose your product over alternatives. "Increased qualified pipeline by 47% in one quarter" beats "improved business outcomes" every time. Vague results tell the buyer nothing useful.
I've written case studies for B2B software companies where the finished piece consistently appeared in sales conversations as the content that moved the deal forward. That's what a great case study does: it shortens the sales cycle by doing part of the sales team's job for them. It's one of the most underutilized types of content marketing in B2B—and usually one of the highest-impact.
Typical conversion path
Case studies are often shared directly by the sales team in active deals. They can also live on a public case studies page, which prospects visit when evaluating the company on their own.
A strong call to action at the end of a case study should invite the reader to book a call, start a trial, or speak to sales—not send them back to the blog.
How to measure it
Track download volume if gated, page views if ungated, and how often the case study appears in the paths of closed deals. Ask your sales team which ones they send most. That's the clearest signal of what's actually working.
03
Landing pages and comparison pages—best for conversion and sales enablement
Landing pages and comparison pages are the most directly commercial types of content marketing on this list. Landing pages convert a specific audience on a specific offer. Comparison pages target buyers who are actively evaluating options.
Comparison and alternative pages are consistently underused in B2B content marketing. A searcher typing "[competitor name] alternative" has already decided they don't want to buy that product. They're looking for a replacement. That's about as warm as a search intent gets—and most companies don't have a page positioned to capture it.
I write landing pages and comparison pages for B2B businesses that need to rank for high-intent queries and convert the visitors who find them. It's the format where strong copywriting and SEO strategy have to work together, and it's where I spend a lot of my time.
What it takes to produce
Strong landing pages require conversion copywriting, CRO thinking, social proof, and usually design work. Every element needs to address a specific objection or reinforce a specific reason to act.
Comparison pages additionally require honest competitor research and SEO work to rank for the right queries. Both requirements need to be planned together, not separately. As a BOFU content writer, I work with a B2B SEO specialist to make sure these pages rank and convert.
What strong landing and comparison pages look like
Example
Notion's comparison pages for tools like Monday.com and Asana are widely cited in conversion copywriting circles because they're honest about who Notion is and isn't for. That honesty is what makes them persuasive. A page that tries to be everything to everyone converts no one. Basecamp's pricing pages use the same logic: long-form copy that addresses specific objections rather than bullet-pointing feature lists.
From my work
Service landing pages for B2B and SaaS businesses
I write service pages and comparison pages for B2B companies that need to rank for high-intent keywords and convert the right buyers. You can see the format in action on this site: the B2B SaaS content writer page and the BOFU content writer page are both written to rank and convert, not just describe a service.
Typical conversion path
The entire page is the conversion path. Every section should move the reader closer to the CTA: a trial signup, a demo request, or a contact form.
Secondary CTAs (newsletter, case study download) can capture visitors who aren't ready to convert on the primary offer and keep them in the funnel.
How to measure it
Conversion rate, organic rankings and traffic for comparison pages, demo or trial request volume, and directly attributed revenue.
04
Whitepapers and research reports—best for authority and lead generation
Whitepapers and research reports are long-form, research-backed documents that take a detailed position on a business problem, trend, or decision. They're typically gated: a reader provides their contact information to download them. As a content marketing format, they carry the highest perceived authority of anything on this list.
A whitepaper argues a point of view using existing research and expertise. A research report publishes original data and tends to earn significantly more backlinks because other content creators cite it as a source. If your company has unique access to data, a research report is almost always the higher-leverage investment.
What it takes to produce
Whitepapers require deep research, a strong structural argument, and writing that respects an expert audience. They also need a design pass before publishing.
For a B2B content writer with subject matter expertise, a whitepaper typically takes 20–40 hours of work including research, writing, and revision rounds.
What strong whitepapers look like
Example
SalesLoft consistently publishes in-depth guides on sales engagement and revenue intelligence that their audience of sales leaders actually keeps. The content earns links and trust because it takes a position and backs it with evidence from their platform data. Original data beats assembled research every time. HubSpot's annual State of Marketing report works for the same reason.
The weakest whitepapers are the ones that are really 12-page blog posts in PDF form. A strong whitepaper takes a position, backs it with evidence, and leaves the reader with a framework they can apply.
Typical conversion path
Most whitepapers are gated behind a form, so the conversion happens at the download. From there, readers enter a nurture sequence that moves them toward a demo, a trial, or a sales conversation.
Some companies ungate whitepapers to maximize reach and backlinks. That's a reasonable trade-off if authority is the primary goal rather than lead capture.
How to measure it
Downloads, MQLs generated, backlinks earned (especially for original research), and downstream pipeline from leads who downloaded the document and later converted.
05
Email newsletters—best for retention, nurture, and owned audience
An email newsletter is a regularly scheduled communication sent to subscribers who've opted in to receive it. Unlike every other type of content marketing on this list, email is a channel your company owns outright.
You're not subject to algorithm changes, platform policy updates, or ranking shifts that can cut your traffic overnight. That ownership is the strongest argument for building an email list, especially as organic reach on social platforms continues to decline. It's also why email remains one of the most resilient content marketing channels available.
Newsletters serve every stage of the funnel. A welcome sequence moves new subscribers toward a first conversion. A regular editorial newsletter keeps existing customers engaged. A nurture sequence moves cold prospects toward a buying decision over weeks or months.
What it takes to produce
Consistent newsletters require consistent writing. That sounds obvious, but most companies underestimate the editorial discipline involved in producing a useful issue every week or two.
The other requirement is list hygiene: keeping the list clean, segmenting subscribers appropriately, and testing subject lines. A well-managed list consistently outperforms a large, poorly managed one.
What strong email newsletters look like
Example
Lenny Rachitsky charges a premium subscription fee for a newsletter covering product management and growth. It works because the content is specific, expert-level, and not available anywhere else. Morning Brew built an audience of millions by making business news feel like a conversation rather than a bulletin. Voice and consistency made both work.
The newsletters that perform best for B2B companies aren't weekly roundups of company news. They're the ones that send one useful thing per issue: an insight, a framework, or a curated resource that makes the subscriber glad they opened it. If you want help thinking through the right format and cadence, a content marketing consultant can help you define that before you commit to a publishing schedule you can't sustain.
Typical conversion path
Readers click through to blog posts, landing pages, or product pages directly from the email. A well-placed CTA at the bottom of each issue drives consistent traffic to whatever you're prioritizing that week.
How to measure it
Open rate, click-through rate, list growth rate, unsubscribe rate, and revenue influenced by email touchpoints in the conversion path.
06
Video content—best for awareness, product education, and brand recall
Video is the highest-engagement format in content marketing and the most expensive to produce consistently. A well-produced explainer video can drive significant organic traffic via YouTube—the world's second-largest search engine. As a content marketing type, it's uniquely capable of building emotional connection at scale.
The range inside "video" is enormous. A founder recording a 10-minute tutorial with a good camera and microphone is video content. So is a $50,000 brand film. Production level should match the distribution context.
What it takes to produce
Short-form social video can be shot on a phone. A product demo for a sales page benefits from professional editing and sound design. Hero videos for homepages or campaigns typically require a full production crew.
The ongoing cost is the real challenge. Most companies can produce one strong video. Producing 4–8 per month at consistent quality is significantly harder to sustain without dedicated resources.
What strong video content looks like
Example
Wistia's video learning content
Wistia built a loyal audience by teaching people how to make better videos—a format that perfectly matched their product. Their content attracts the exact audience most likely to buy, and every piece demonstrates product competence without a single sales pitch. HubSpot's YouTube channel earns millions of views annually by targeting specific queries their audience already has.
Typical conversion path
YouTube videos link to landing pages or service pages in the description and pinned comments. On-site videos include a CTA overlay or a follow-up prompt at the end of playback.
Product demo videos on landing pages often drive direct trial signups. Educational videos typically move viewers toward a newsletter or a follow-up resource.
How to measure it
Views, watch time percentage, click-through rate on in-video or below-video CTAs, and conversion rate lift on landing pages that include video versus those that don't.
07
Podcasts—best for authority, community, and long-form audience building
Podcasts are audio programs distributed through platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. As a content marketing type, the primary value is building a relationship with an audience over time—not reach, but depth.
Podcast listeners typically engage for 20–60 minutes per episode. That's an extraordinary amount of attention compared to the seconds most other content formats command.
The strategic case for podcasts is depth, not reach. You'll likely never build a podcast audience as large as your social following. But listeners who stay for 40 episodes know your company at a level no other format achieves.
What it takes to produce
Recording is only part of the work. A weekly podcast requires guest sourcing, pre-interview preparation, recording, editing, show notes, and distribution—typically 6–15 hours per episode.
Most companies underestimate this and let the show go quiet after 10 episodes. The brands that succeed with podcasts either have a dedicated producer or outsource production entirely and focus on the hosting and guest relationships.
What strong podcasts look like
Example
Dave Gerhardt built Exit Five into one of the most listened-to B2B marketing podcasts by being genuinely candid about what works and what doesn't. The show doesn't feel like a marketing vehicle. It feels like a conversation between practitioners. That's what keeps listeners subscribing through hundreds of episodes. The common thread in successful brand podcasts is a real point of view and a host worth spending time with.
Typical conversion path
Listeners visit the host's website, follow the brand on social, or click links mentioned during the episode. Many companies find that podcast listeners convert at higher rates than other traffic sources because of the trust built over repeated episodes.
How to measure it
Downloads per episode, listener growth rate, in-episode retention percentage, and survey-based attribution. Accept that podcast attribution is imperfect, and measure what's available.
08
Infographics—best for link building and visual distribution
An infographic translates data or complex information into a visual format designed to be quickly understood and easily shared. At their peak around 2015, infographics were one of the highest-leverage link-building assets in content marketing.
That era has passed, but well-executed infographics backed by original data still earn links and social distribution more reliably than most text-only content marketing. The key word is original. Generic infographics summarizing publicly available information earn almost nothing.
What it takes to produce
A strong infographic requires a clear data story, a skilled designer, and a distribution plan. Without active outreach, even the best infographic won't earn backlinks on its own.
If you're investing in an infographic primarily for link building, budget for an outreach campaign alongside the production cost. The two should be planned together, not separately.
What strong infographics look like
Example
Visual Capitalist built an entire media business around high-quality data visualizations. Their infographics earn hundreds of links per piece because they package data that journalists and content creators genuinely want to cite. The design quality matters as much as the data: a well-structured visual gets embedded; a cluttered one gets ignored.
Typical conversion path
Infographics are primarily a top-of-funnel, awareness format. The conversion path is indirect: someone discovers the infographic, visits your site to see more, and enters your content ecosystem from there.
Including an embed code with a link back to your site helps convert the backlinks into referral traffic over time.
How to measure it
Backlinks earned, social shares, referral traffic from sites that embedded or linked to the infographic, and reach on platforms where it was distributed.
10
Interactive content—best for engagement, lead capture, and personalized value
Interactive content includes calculators, quizzes, assessments, configurators, and comparison tools. Any content marketing that responds to user input and delivers a personalized result qualifies.
It consistently produces the highest average engagement time of any content marketing format, and it's one of the most effective lead capture mechanisms available. The value exchange is explicit: users share information to receive a result tailored to their situation.
What it takes to produce
This is the most technically demanding format on this list. Building a good interactive tool requires defining the logic, designing the user experience, developing the front end, and maintaining it over time.
A well-built calculator might cost $5,000–$15,000. A sophisticated assessment or multi-path configurator can run $50,000 or more. The best tools become compounding assets that generate traffic and leads for years.
What strong interactive content looks like
Example
HubSpot's Website Grader has driven traffic and lead generation for over a decade by offering immediate, personalized value. Enter a URL, get a score and specific recommendations. The tool attracts the exact audience most likely to buy HubSpot's products, and it does the job without a single sales pitch. The pattern: genuine utility, not thinly disguised lead capture.
Typical conversion path
Users complete the tool and receive results. A gated version requires an email address to unlock the full output. From there, the user enters a nurture sequence, or they're invited to book a call directly from the results page.
How to measure it
Completion rate, leads captured, average time spent, and the downstream conversion rate of users who completed the tool versus those who didn't.
11
Webinars—best for lead generation and mid-funnel education
A webinar is a live or live-to-recorded online event combining presentation, demonstration, and Q&A. It's one of the few content marketing formats that creates real-time connection between a brand and a large group of prospects.
The registration requirement is both the weakness and the strength. Fewer people sign up for a webinar than read a blog post. But the people who do register have explicitly committed time. They're further along the funnel, more engaged, and more likely to convert.
What it takes to produce
A well-run webinar requires content planning, slide design, promotion, hosting, moderation, and a follow-up sequence. Most companies underestimate the promotion component and end up with strong content and weak attendance.
Industry average attendance is 35–45% of registrants showing up live. The follow-up sequence to the no-shows often drives as many conversions as the live event.
What strong webinars look like
Example
AirOps runs webinars focused on AI-powered content workflows that attract exactly the operators and marketers most likely to buy their product. The sessions teach real tactics while naturally demonstrating what the platform can do. Attendees leave with something actionable, which is why they come back for the next one.
The biggest waste in webinar programming is using the format to deliver a glorified product demo when attendees registered for educational content. That's a trust violation that ends the relationship before it starts.
Typical conversion path
During the event, attendees see a CTA to book a demo, start a trial, or download a follow-up resource. After the event, registrants receive a recording plus a follow-up sequence that continues the conversation.
The 30–90 days after a webinar are often when most of the pipeline actually closes.
How to measure it
Registration rate, attendance rate, in-session engagement (polls, Q&A participation), and pipeline generated from attendees in the 30–90 days following the event.
12
eBooks—best for lead capture and deep-funnel education
An eBook is a downloadable document—typically 15–50 pages—that covers a topic in more depth than a blog post but with more accessibility than a dense whitepaper. In most B2B content marketing programs, eBooks are used as gated lead magnets.
The distinction between an eBook and a whitepaper is primarily tone and format. Whitepapers are evidence-heavy and analytical. eBooks are more visual, more practical, and written for a broader audience. Both are typically gated, but eBooks tend to attract an earlier-stage buyer. As a content marketing type, eBooks work best when the topic is specific enough to attract qualified leads rather than a broad audience.
What it takes to produce
Strong eBooks require research, a coherent structure, clear writing, and a professional design pass. The design matters more than most people expect: a well-structured, visually clean eBook communicates expertise in a way that a poorly formatted PDF doesn't.
The writing typically takes 15–25 hours for a comprehensive eBook. Add design, review rounds, and a landing page to promote it, and the total investment is usually $5,000–$12,000 when accounting for all moving parts.
What strong eBooks look like
Example
HubSpot's library of practical eBooks on inbound marketing and lead generation built their audience before the company had significant brand recognition. Each eBook delivered on the premise of its landing page. No bait-and-switch, no thin content padded to 20 pages. The eBooks that fail are the ones that over-promise in the headline and under-deliver in the content.
Typical conversion path
A reader provides their email address to download the eBook. They enter a nurture sequence that moves them toward a demo, a trial, or a sales conversation over the following weeks.
The landing page CTA should set clear expectations about what the reader will get. Vague or sensationalized headlines attract unqualified downloads and inflate MQL numbers without improving pipeline quality.
How to measure it
Downloads, MQL conversion rate from eBook leads, nurture email engagement, and pipeline attributed to leads that entered through an eBook download.
13
UGC and testimonials—best for trust, social proof, and conversion lift
User-generated content (UGC) and testimonials are content created by customers: reviews, social posts, quotes, video testimonials. Unlike every other type of content marketing on this list, the company doesn't write the content itself.
The value is credibility. A claim made by a company on its own behalf is inherently suspect. The same claim made by a customer who had nothing to gain by making it is significantly more persuasive. That's what makes UGC one of the most cost-efficient types of content marketing a company can invest in.
What it takes to produce
UGC programs require systems for collecting reviews, curating the best of what customers produce, and distributing that content across the right touchpoints. The production work is outreach, curation, and design—not writing.
For testimonials specifically, the same rules apply as case studies: specificity is everything. A generic quote from a happy customer is nearly worthless. A specific quote with a name, title, company, and measurable result is extremely valuable.
What strong UGC and testimonials look like
Example
G2 built a large business around peer reviews precisely because buyers trust them over vendor content. The most effective company review pages are ones with detailed, specific reviews that describe real use cases. Vague praise doesn't move buyers. Specific outcomes and named use cases do. Airbnb built an entire content marketing program around host and guest stories that function simultaneously as social proof and inspiration.
Typical conversion path
Testimonials and reviews appear on landing pages, comparison pages, and pricing pages to reduce friction at the moment of conversion. They're the final reassurance a buyer needs before committing.
UGC on social media feeds into top-of-funnel awareness, while reviews on third-party platforms capture buyers who are actively researching during the decision stage.
How to measure it
Review volume and average rating on third-party platforms, conversion rate lift on pages that include testimonials versus those without, NPS trends over time, and organic reach of customer posts that mention your brand unprompted.
Need a writer for any of these?
I write blog posts, alternative and comparison pages, whitepapers, and case studies for B2B and SaaS companies. Month-to-month, no agency overhead.
Work with me
09
Social media content—best for brand awareness and community building
Goal
Awareness · community · brand affinity
Funnel stage
Top · middle
Typical cost
$1,500–$6,000/month
Key metric
Reach · engagement · follower growth
Social media content is any content marketing distributed on platforms like LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook. It's the highest-volume format most marketing teams produce and often the lowest-ROI when treated as a broadcast channel rather than a deliberate strategy.
The core challenge is competing for attention in a feed designed to surface whatever earns the most immediate engagement. The content that spreads is typically native to the platform and conversational in tone. The content most companies default to is promotional and formal. Those two rarely overlap.
What it takes to produce
Effective social content requires platform knowledge, a consistent voice, community management, and a publishing cadence that can actually be sustained. Most companies understaff this and post inconsistently as a result.
For LinkedIn specifically, ghostwritten thought leadership from founders or executives consistently outperforms content published from brand accounts. That's a format I cover on the LinkedIn ghostwriting page.
What strong social media content looks like
Example
Adam Robinson—RB2B on LinkedIn
Adam Robinson built one of the most-followed founder brands in B2B SaaS by documenting his journey building RB2B in public. Revenue numbers, lessons from failures, honest takes on what's working. The content earns trust because it's specific and unvarnished. It sells the product by demonstrating that the person behind it actually knows what they're doing. Wendy's and Duolingo did something similar by committing fully to a distinctive voice and never breaking character.
Typical conversion path
Social media rarely drives direct conversions. It builds the brand familiarity that makes every other channel more effective. The conversion path typically looks like: social content to website visit to newsletter signup to eventual purchase.
How to measure it
Reach, engagement rate, follower growth, profile link clicks, and website traffic from social channels. Track how social-referred visitors behave once they land on your site.