The content world is changing, but people still know its value. A 2023 survey from the Content Marketing Institute showed that over three-fourths of marketers indicated that content marketing generates demand and leads.
This is no surprise when you realize 70 percent of people would prefer to learn about a company through an article rather than advertising.
Content marketing can generate huge amounts of traffic, leads, and sales for your business. If you’re a company looking to get started with content marketing, it can be tough to find the resources and expertise you need.
What kind of content do your customers want from you? Is that the same kind of content that creates revenue for your business? Today we’ll take a look at the best content marketing companies in the industry to help you answer those questions and more.
Key Takeaways
- Content agencies often specialize in certain industries or subsets of content marketing, such as technical SEO or conversion-focused content.
- Our list of some of the best content marketing brands in the business covers a range of services and specialties.
- Check out their client lists and portfolios to see if their work aligns with your expectations and preferences.
- Knowing what to look for in a content marketing company and the right questions to ask can help you identify the ones with the abilities and capacity to help you expand and improve your content strategy and reach your marketing goals.
1. NP Digital – Best for Immediate and Consistent Revenue Growth
NP Digital is my content marketing company. We created NP Digital in 2017 to serve the millions of people who needed help with their content marketing to grow revenue.
Rankings are important, but many marketers still focus obsessively on keywords and content that doesn’t lead to revenue. I’ve always focused on helping readers build a business that generates traffic, leads, and, most importantly, revenue. So we have a big focus on developing high-quality content that ranks high and converts visitors into customers by aligning with user intent.
Today, we’re one of the top content marketing brands in the business. a powerhouse global agency with one of the top 100 blog destinations in the world.
Another thing that’s different about NP Digital is the fact that we incorporate technical SEO into our content marketing planning. SEO — technical, on-page, off-page, local, etc.— it’s always a package deal with content marketing.
We stay on top of Google’s updates and algorithms and adjust our strategies accordingly. This means the content we create for our clients automatically performs well with Google. here’s no extra work required.
NP Digital is my way of helping everyone achieve the revenue and growth they deserve in their business.
NP Digital’s client list includes:
- CNN
- Adobe
- Western Union
- Brightside Health
- SoFi
- LiquidWeb
- ConnectWise
- ModKat
2. Seer Interactive – Best for Big Data Search and Content
Wil Reynolds founded Seer Interactive, which got its start as a search engine optimization company. What makes Seer one of the best content marketing companies on our list is its focus and emphasis on big data.
Using a combination of in-house and third-party tools, they’ve built a massive data warehouse with almost 12,000 gigabytes of data they can analyze to identify new, hidden, and unexpected customer trends.
If you’re in a competitive or cutthroat industry (e.g., finance, banking, or mortgages), this data is what you need to stay ahead of your competitors.
With Seer Interactive, their approach is SEO-heavy. That should be an important priority for every company, whether you’re big or small, but not every company is ready for Big Data.
Seer Interactive’s client list includes:
- Asos
- Intuit
- SendGrid
- Terminix
- Think Company
- Time Inc.
3. Brainlabs – Best for Technical SEO
Brainlabs was founded by Daniel Gilbert in 2012. Understanding that marketing was becoming all about data, he took the unusual tactic of hiring mathematicians, scientists and programmers to support automation and data-driven insights.
His approach paid off: Since 2020, the agency has expanded its services by acquiring other marketing companies, including the SEO-focused Distilled, a leader in the space.
Today Brainlabs is known as one of the top content marketing agencies for technical SEO and helping companies evolve in an increasingly competitive SEO landscape. They are constantly experimenting and testing to improve conversion rates.
Brainlabs’ client list includes:
- Formula 1
- Estée Lauder
- Capital One
- Polaroid
4. Fractl – Best for In-Depth, Research-Heavy Content
Fractl is a research-heavy, data-driven content marketing company. They’re focused on rapid, organic growth that’s driven by content marketing, data journalism, digital PR, and search engine optimization.
Research makes Fractl unique.
They’re always researching industry-related topics, and they share their understanding of the art and science behind newsworthy content. They share their research in top publications, leading market resources, scientific journals, and authoritative conferences around the world.
Their research has been published in MarketingProfs, TNW, The Economist, Time, the Harvard Business Review, the New York Times, Pub Con, and many other publications and journals.
If you’re in a research-heavy industry and you’re looking for a high-growth content marketing company, Fractl is a good choice. Aside from being one of the best content marketing brands, they’re one of the few companies that have a division dedicated to client growth.
Fractl’s client list includes:
- Sapio
- Porch
- Fanatics
- Travelmath
- College Finance
- Alcohol.org
- NVISION
- Superdrug
5. Column Five – Best for Data and Content Visualization
Column Five describes itself as a creative content agency. They’re primarily focused on the visual side of content marketing — storytelling, design, data visualization, video, interactive motion graphics, even exhibition design.
They are most known for their “child of the 90s” viral video on behalf of Internet Explorer, which launched their reputation as one of the best content marketing brands out there.
As a content creation company, Column Five is focused primarily on content strategy, content creation, and content distribution. They rely on a simultaneous mix of organic and paid distribution channels to draw attention to client content.
The company mantra is “the best story wins,” showing their commitment to developing great content that delivers big results. It specializes in content that is “inherently newsworthy,” making it more likely to get traffic, links, and media attention.
The Column Five client list includes:
- Deloitte
- Cornell University
- Harvard University
- J.P Morgan
- MetLife
- ASPCA
- The World Bank
- Charles Schwab
- Dell
- eBay
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Zendesk
6. Single Grain – Best for Conversion-Driven Content Marketing
In 2014, entrepreneur and leading marketing expert Eric Siu made a big gamble. He bought a failing SEO agency for less than the cost of a cappuccino — $2. This wasn’t the first time he’d made a seemingly risky bet — in the past he led the growth strategy for an online education company when it had just a few months of cash left in the bank.
“A month into it, the CEO pulls me aside,” Siu recalls, “and he’s like, ‘Eric, you know, 48 people, their families, they’re riding on your shoulders right now, and if you can’t hit numbers in the next month, we’re gonna have to let you go.’”
Did I mention he was just 25 years old at the time?
Eric leveraged his marketing know-how and entrepreneurial outlook to turn Single Grain around and take it to where it is today: solidly among the ranks of the best content marketing brands out there.
Eric Siu and the Single Grain team can do for your business what they do best: turn it around. They know how to turn a faltering business into a successful one with an approach of optimizing for conversions and focusing on rapid growth.
Single Grain’s client list includes:
- WineDeals
- Nextiva
- Peet’s Coffee
- Semrush
- Warby Parker
- Crunchbase
- Lyft
7. The Content Bureau – Best for B2B Content Marketing
The Content Bureau bills itself as a premier B2B content marketing company. This agency is woman-owned, 100 percent virtual, and their team is 90 percent female, of which a third are women of color. The Content Bureau focuses its attention on the technology, venture capital, and financial sectors, working almost exclusively with global corporations that rely on them year-round.
Many of their clients are long-term, stable clients who prefer their premium approach, exclusive attention, and veteran workforce; 80 percent of their team have been with The Content Bureau for 10+ years.
As an organization, they give their clients lots of handholding; they’re open and transparent with each of their clients, and they deliver amazing service with their extraordinary content.
The Content Bureau’s client list includes:
- American Express
- PayPal
- Royal Bank of Canada
- ADP
- Unilever
- Magento
- Microsoft
- Cisco
- Atlassian
8. Webprofits – Best for Growing Brands
Webprofits is the content marketing and advertising company that was co-founded by Sujan Patel and Alex Cleanthous. Their company focuses on challenger brands in the e-commerce, consumer, and retail space that want to grow their business fast. They’ve refined their process based on real-life, in-the-trenches experience.
In fact, Patel doesn’t think of Web Profits as an agency. He calls it a marketing “hit squad,” a team of specialists who understand your business inside and out.
What makes Web Profits one of the top content marketing companies? They use a unique “fluid marketing” approach, which combines digital strategy with performance marketing. This enables its team of experts to identify hidden correlations and connections that can point to exciting opportunities for content marketing.
This makes the Web Profits team uniquely qualified to serve challenger brands that want to make a big impact.
Web Profits’ client list includes:
- Logitech
- Philips
- Nespresso
- Swarovski
- HP
- LG Electronics
9. Siege Media – Best for Scalable Content
Siege Media prides itself on taking a “scientific approach” to scaling SEO-focused content. The agency works with a wide range of companies, from established Fortune 500 businesses to small startups.
The focus of the business is on link-building. Siege Media creates content that serves as passive link generators, a tactic they say is more effective than manual outreach. Their formula results in high-impact content that produces instant results—and it’s a cost-efficient tactic, too.
Siege’s superpower is a proprietary solution for link management. Siege maintains the tool for its clients on a monthly basis, ensuring that websites are always aligned with overall goals and updates.
This commitment to innovation and leveraging technology for content marketing makes Siege one of the best content marketing companies for the future.
Siege Media’s client list includes:
- Zillow
- Quicken Loans
- Inuit Mint
- Shutterfly
- Airbnb
- Healthline
- Casper
- TripAdvisor
- Asana
- ZenDesk
10. Directive – Best for Performance Marketing for Tech Companies
CEO Garrett Mehrguth founded Directive when he was just 21, focusing on SEO. Today it works with some of the world’s most prominent tech companies, helping them become more discoverable in a dynamic and often challenging industry. Since its founding, it’s generated more than $10 billion in revenue.
The agency uses a unique data-driven methodology to generate quality leads organically across the marketing funnel. The team prefers to act as a partner rather than a vendor, serving as an extension of its clients’ in-house marketing teams.
Directive’s client list includes:
- Amazon
- Bill.com
- Matillion
- Sumo Logic
- Eden Health
- Vyond
- Brooklyn Solarworks
- ActivePDF
- SentinelOne
4 Characteristics that Make a Great Content Marketing Company
A good content marketing company will have no problem demonstrating that they have the expertise and the resources they need to make your campaign a success. These are some qualities to expect in a high-quality content marketing agency.
1: A Stable Team of Content Creators
Content mills produce poorly written filler content that’s mainly written for search engines. Not only is that a short-sighted approach, but Google’s algorithm is more likely to ding sites that use it—especially now that it is incorporating AI.
The best content marketing companies have a roster of regular and consistent writers on their team. Stable writers are skilled at writing, grammar, logical consistency, and storytelling. These writers can draw your readers in, creating content that moves people towards a specific goal or objective that you have in mind.
These writers don’t need a lot of babysitting, and they’re able to figure things out, to a certain extent, on their own. They’re dependable, and they’re able to match your brand voice.
When you contact a content marketing company, you’ll want to ask them questions about how they run their business.
- How many writers do you have on staff?
- Are they freelance or W-2? Do you use a mix of both?
- How many of your writers are full-time? Part-time?
- How do you manage your team of writers?
- How many years of experience does the average writer on your team have?
When you ask companies these questions, listen to their answers carefully. Look for any inconsistencies or red flags. If you spot any, bring them up immediately and ask for an answer.
2: Access to Publishers and Influencers
According to Derek Halpern, founder of Social Triggers, you should be spending 20 percent of your time on content creation and 80 percent of your time on content promotion. The content marketing companies you work with are no different. If you’re investing a significant amount of time and money in creating an amazing piece of content, you should be spending 4x as much time on promotion to make sure your target audience sees it.
When you’re working with a content marketing company, they should already have a list of influencers and publishers in their address book. They should also have strong connections and relationships with the right people, so they’re reasonably sure they can drive traffic to your content.
3: Specialized Knowledge About Your Industry
In an ideal world, your content marketing provider has a significant amount of experience in your space, or the ability to connect with experts who do. At a minimum, you’ll want to ensure that the content marketing company you choose can write credibly about the topics that are relevant to your business.
The more specialized the content, the more important these criteria are for your business.
Industries like healthcare, engineering, or finance require large amounts of specialized experience. It’s unrealistic to expect an inexperienced company to write credibly about a highly technical topic.
Specialization requires specialists. The more technical your business, the more important it is to hire a content marketing company with experience and expertise in your field.
4: Content Analysis and Measurement
When you’re investing in the services of a content marketing company, you’ll want to see the numbers. The agency should be able to provide you with a detailed breakdown that includes data outlining your performance as well as the KPIs, metrics, and sentiment surrounding your content.
This information should give you the answers to the following questions:
- Does this content move us closer to our campaign goals?
- Does this piece of content (e.g., blog post, whitepaper, e-book, infographic) lead to enough conversions?
- How far are people reading into your content?
- Where in our flywheel are we losing customers?
- What do we need to change/optimize to improve our conversion rates?
- Which content marketing opportunities are we missing, and where?
Creating content isn’t enough. The content marketing company you choose should provide you with the actionable data you need and a comprehensive strategy to create profitable content for your business.
What To Expect From a Great Content Marketing Company
Top content marketing agencies are able to get you up to speed on their processes and provide you with a consistent and comprehensive set of deliverables. These deliverables ensure that your content marketing campaigns stay on track and that you’re able to achieve the consistent results you need.
To do this, your content marketing provider should provide you with onboarding guidance and specific deliverables throughout the pre-launch, launch, and post-launch phases of your campaign. These should include:
- Content samples demonstrating your knowledge and expertise
- The information and materials (e.g., credentials, existing content) they need from you to get started
- A statement of work and a list of deliverables (e.g., 14 2,500-word articles each month, edits included)
- Their process (if they’re not working with you and yours)
- Projected campaign milestones, timelines, and calendars
- Your point-of-contact, including their name, and contact information
- Hours of availability
- The best way to communicate (e.g., Slack, email, phone, chat, or text)
- Expectations from you
- Their process, policies, and procedures
- Analysis and reports, including business goals, objectives, KPIs, metrics, strategy, tactics, and risks
- Content audits
- Consistent updates on your campaign performance
- Regular (weekly or monthly) calls to discuss performance
- Consistently updated due dates and delivery timelines
- Monthly debrief to discuss successes and failures
Here are some additional details you should also expect from your content marketing providers:
- Good boundaries (including the ability to say no)
- Prompt and clear feedback
- Accurate information on various parts of your campaign, including financial, campaign, and performance data
The best content marketing companies ask a lot of questions. They make sure to provide you with the upfront information you need to vet their company and make an informed decision. Once you’ve decided to move forward, they ask you for all of the information and materials they’ll need to produce the results you want.
FAQs
What makes good content marketing?
Good content marketing is different for every business, but in general, it involves creating well-written content that provides valuable information for your target market. It also draws in qualified leads and converts them into customers at a rate that justifies your investment.
How do you track content marketing results?
Tracking content marketing results involves setting clear goals, identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, inquiries, and conversion rates to use as metrics, and monitoring the results. Most content marketing agencies use analytics tools to track and measure results.
How do you optimize for content marketing?
Optimizing for content marketing involves several steps. First, research who your target audience is and their needs. This will guide you toward topics for content development that can answer their questions and provide valuable information. Incorporate SEO to ensure your content ranks high on search engine results pages and brings in organic traffic. Finally, analyze the results to refine content topics, formats, and overall strategy.
Conclusion
Content marketing produces more leads and revenue than traditional marketing methods. If you’re looking for a good content marketing company to help you get started, it can be tough. Use this list to identify the companies that are a good fit for your business.
With this post, you should have a pretty good idea of the questions to ask, what to expect, and how to select the right content marketing provider.
Invest the right amount of effort with the right company, and your content marketing will grow faster than you expect. It’s tough in the beginning, but it will take effort, push through, and keep creating really helpful content, even if it’s hard.
You’ll see consistent revenue growth once customers realize that you’re serious about helping them solve their problems. Content marketing is the best way to show them that you understand, and you can help.
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