In marketing, good e-book design isn’t just about making something pretty; it’s about enhancing your viewer’s experience with your content. When you turn a boring cover into a stunning calling card, or a cluttered layout into a visual treat, or a confusing data set into an elegant visualization, you make it that much easier to grab—and, most importantly, keep—your audience’s attention.

We love it when we see brands from all industries up their e-book game by applying A+ design, and we think seeing others’ good work can inspire you too. That’s why we’ve rounded up some of the most standout examples of e-book design we’ve seen lately.  

7 Excellent Examples of E-Book Design

If you’re facing an e-book design project and need a little inspiration, we have just what you need. Here are seven great takes on e-book design from both B2B and B2C brands. 

1) The Secret Sauce by LinkedIn

Why we love it: A great cover

We’re suckers for a bold visual, and this e-book cover hits the mark for several reasons. 

1. It’s a clever theme, demonstrating that LinkedIn has the literal secret sauce (bonus points for making it the only bottle with a label).
2. Its clean photography really pops, especially compared to most of the boring covers in the B2B space. 
3. It reflects LinkedIn’s brand identity via their signature bright blue (a visual differentiator). 

When you’re looking to make an impact, a visually arresting cover is the way to do it in an instant.

Note: While a cover is incredibly important, maintaining a design aesthetic throughout all of your content is equally as important. LinkedIn decided to promote the e-book by creating an infographic, which also carries the same visual theme. A+ all around.

Tip: Make sure your e-book design reflects your brand identity. To make it easier for content creators to replicate, find out how to craft a strong brand’s style guide.

2) Your Field Guide to Foraging Intent Data by Terminus

Why we love it: A clever theme

Gathering data is a crucial part of a marketer’s job, but you can feel like you’re lost in the weeds. Terminus does an excellent job of translating this metaphor into an exciting adventure guide. From the people and animals to the maps and trails, this interactive e-book is a perfect example of how a little creativity can drastically enhance a viewer’s experience. By giving it this unique twist, learning how to gather data feels like an exciting adventure—not a dull chore.

Tip: It’s easy to come up with obvious visual metaphors (e.g., lightbulb = idea), but challenge yourself to come up with a visual theme that is both relevant and interesting.

3) Break Free of Boring B2B by Ceros

Why we love it: Unusual imagery

This is a perfect example of super creative e-book design for a subject that can be notoriously, well, boring. This interactive e-book is an explosion of color, pattern, and surprising imagery that is totally unexpected. From a screaming bear to a soda-drinking cat, it takes Internet meme aesthetic to a whole new level while delving into the ins and outs of B2B content marketing. We love an eye-catching interactive, and this brings the best of animation and information together in one easy-to-navigate package.

Tip: Since you don’t have to be literal in your metaphors, think about the real message you’re trying to deliver. Ceros wanted to prove that B2B doesn’t have to be boring, so they created a totally surprising and whimsical e-book design to prove just that.

4) STFU Already by Unbabel

Why we love it: Bold palette and typography

Not all e-books have to be interactive adventures. Unbabel’s thoroughly entertaining PDF e-book proves you can make a big impression without a ton of bells and whistles. Its bright and bold color palette, playful illustrations, and beautiful typography make the subject matter that much more interesting. Whereas they could have taken the technical route, espousing their software benefits in a boring brochure, this technicolor approach generates excitement and curiosity about their offering. F yeah, Unbabel.

Tip: Bold colors can help you stand out from your competition, especially when you use them for your cover. If you’re not sure what fits your message, find out how to curate the right color palette for your brand. 

5) How EU Banks Can Ensure EPI’s Success by Feedzai

Why we love it: Pops of personality

Any time a brand can transcend their product offering and show us who they are, it’s a win for brand storytelling. Feedzai is a perfect example of this. For an e-book about financial safety, which may seem rather droll, they do a good job of adding personality via people-centric illustrations (which feature a balance of genders and more than one skin tone—thank you).

Tip: Depicting diversity is crucial. Be mindful of who you’re representing through imagery (be it illustration or photography).

6) How to Successfully Negotiate a Higher Salary in 4 Easy Steps by Her First 100K

Why we love it: Simplicity with style

Good e-book design doesn’t mean you have to design a custom font, create hand-drawn illustrations, or conduct a 5-day photoshoot to get the best images. This guide makes great use of photography, typography, layout, and negative space to deliver the information in a straightforward, cohesive package. If you wanted proof that strong design can elevate even the simplest e-book, this is it.

Tip: If you don’t have a ton of design resources, simple typography treatments and callouts can do a lot to make content easily digestible.

7) Einstein’s Guide to AI Use Cases by Salesforce

Alright, so this one isn’t technically an e-book, but it is a clever piece of lead generation. You answer a few questions about what type of work you do, and this interactive guides you to the most relevant case study for you. This is a very clever way to create a personalized, guided experience through strong design. The Einstein character animation, the simple and clean navigation, and the brand colors make this a clearly branded experience.

Tip: Simple interactivity can make all of your content more engaging, whether it’s an e-book, guide, or questionnaire. If you’re curious to learn more, find out how to brainstorm great interactive content ideas. 

How to Nail Your Own E-book Design

We want to see better e-book design in the world, so we’re always happy to share the tips we’ve learned from our own projects. If you’re looking for more tips to improve your e-books…

• Learn more about why design can make or break your e-book. 
• Follow our step-by-step guide to create an effective e-book from scratch. 
• Try these helpful tips to improve your e-book design.
• Get even more inspired by these 50+ examples of great e-books.

And if you need a partner to help bring your next e-book to life, here are 12 tips to find a good content agency. You can always hit us up too.

Blend’s digital platform streamlines the journey from application to close—for every banking product. For this project, Blend was specifically interested in a report that would explore the state of the industry as it relates to the application process for deposit accounts, the keys to a good process, and how institutions can best serve their customers.

However, this wasn’t a standard data design project. Before we could bring the data to life, we needed to get it. So we crafted custom criteria to outline the key factors you need to create a successful application experience and audited a list of 100 financial institutions (including banks and credit unions) to score each. Of course, the challenge with all data storytelling is identifying the most relevant information (aka the real story). Because the primary goal of the report was to help readers improve their own application practices, we focused on identifying industry trends and the most interesting insights to turn into relevant takeaways for the reader.

The result was a high-value piece of content that establishes Blend’s authority and expertise in the industry, and positions the brand as a trusted resource to their customers—a content marketing win-win.

Content takes time, money, and resources to produce, which is why we believe you should get as much mileage as possible from anything you create—especially with cornerstone content like e-books. Unfortunately, marketers are usually sitting on an archive of great content that’s just gathering dust, either because it never had much traffic to begin with or because it’s been forgotten. This is a huge waste.

You can get a lot more from your existing assets by using them to create fresh content. This approach is called a divisible content strategy, and not only is it economical but it expands your reach, takes less work, and helps you promote other content, helping strengthen your entire content ecosystem. 

One of the best ways to breathe new life into old content is to create infographics. Things like e-books, reports, guides, research, and surveys are filled with valuable information and interesting data insights that can be used to tell many different types of stories—and infographics can help bring those stories to life in unique ways.

5 Ways to Create Infographics

If you’re not sure what types of infographics to make from your e-books, here are some of our favorite ways to extract stories and come up with new ideas.

1) Expand on a Topic

E-books and reports are full of valuable information, but they can only cover so much on a given topic. By exploring a related subject or doing a deeper dive into a single topic, you can create an interesting infographic that educates your reader—and encourages them to learn more by checking out the original e-book. Pro tip: Comb through the sidebars or callouts in your e-books or reports—those are often great subjects to explore.

Example: To promote their What DDoS Attacks Really Cost Businesses survey, we helped Incapsula create an infographic on the anatomy of a DDOS attack. While the survey covered how the issue affects businesses, it didn’t precisely explain how these attacks happen. Creating this infographic allowed Incapsula to further educate people while promoting the survey.  

2) Create a How-To

People are always eager to learn something, and if you can provide them with practical information that makes their lives easier, they will love you for it. Turning your best tips and tutorials from e-books or other cornerstone content into compelling infographics is a great way to provide value—in a highly shareable format.  

Example: We partnered with LinkedIn to create a fun infographic that offered tips on how to create a great marketing machine. The infographic was used to promote the brand’s e-book, The Marketing Skills Handbook, which included many more great tips.

3) Summarize a Chapter or Topic

Infographics are an effective form of storytelling because they help people process information visually, making them a great way to communicate concepts that may be complex or challenging to explain. Also, not everyone has the time to dive into an e-book or research report. Creating a condensed infographic version that includes the most important, interesting, or relevant information provides a great service.

Example: Education company Course Hero is dedicated to helping people learn online, so we partnered with them to create a series of infographics that summarize famous works of literature. These infographics are useful study materials for busy students, helping them learn in less time.  

4) Find a News Angle

Newsjacking can be a great tactic to give older content new relevance, as long as it’s done appropriately. (Follow these tips to make sure you do it the right way.) Think about the trending topics in your industry or in the larger media landscape. Do you have data that might shed light on an industry trend? Is there a social tie-in that might make your content more interesting?

Example: To promote their Definitive Guide to Digital Advertising, we helped Marketo create an infographic on the “Mad Men” of the millenium, showing the major trends that define today’s marketing landscape—contrasted with those of the Mad Men era. Thanks to the popularity of the show, it was an interesting, unique, and relevant angle that helped Marketo join the conversation in an organic way. It was also picked up by Ad Week, helping Marketo expand their reach.

5) Tell a Surprising Story

Data and research often contain interesting, unique, or surprising insights and discoveries that tell a very interesting story. Turning that type of information into a compelling infographic is an easy way to repurpose content and get more attention.

Example: We helped High Five craft an infographic based on their 2015 Workplace Culture and Communication Report. The story revealed the negative effect that tech has on the workplace—a surprising take that is relevant to people in all industries.

How to Make a Truly Great Infographic

Coming up with a strong infographic idea is just the first step. Once you’re ready to start creating that infographic, you must follow best practices at every stage of the process. To ensure your infographic is as successful as possible, follow these tips to nail everything from copywriting to promotion.

• Find out how to craft a compelling infographic narrative.
• Avoid the 15 most common infographic design mistakes.
• Optimize your infographic for SEO to get the most traffic.
• Use this tactic to get publishers to feature your infographics.
• Try these 19 tips to drastically improve your infographic marketing.

If you need a little help getting everything done, find out what to look for in an infographic design company. Or let us know what you’re struggling with. We’d love to chat.

Providing people with high-quality, comprehensive content is a great way to build relationships, increase leads, improve SEO, and more. That’s why e-books are such a valuable tool for marketers. The problem is they are also one of the more difficult pieces of content to produce. From copywriting to e-book design, it can take a lot of time and energy to create something of quality. But there are always ways to work smarter, not harder. And we’re always on the hunt for the best tools, tips, and tricks to make your life easier. So let’s talk about one of the easiest ways to create quality e-books in less time: e-book templates. If you are a brand that produces a lot of e-books (or wants to), templates will change your life.

The Benefits of Custom E-Book Templates

When some people hear the word “template,” they think of a ‘90s PowerPoint slide. But well-designed templates don’t turn your content into a boring brochure. They are an efficient way to create content that is:

• On-brand: An e-book design template is designed around your visual language, including fonts, colors, logos, etc. You don’t have to get approval from an art director, and you can be confident that you’re producing something that always reflects your brand.
• Consistent: If you look through your archive, you will probably notice your e-book design reflects a range of styles and design aesthetics. This is problematic if you’re trying to build an instantly identifiable brand (and who isn’t?). Whether you’re working with a freelancer, an agency, or an in-house designer, templates ensure that everything you do will have a cohesive feel.
• Easy to replicate: Building an e-book design from scratch takes a ton of time. But you can reduce that time tremendously with a comprehensive template. You just pick and choose the elements you need, then plug your content in. This makes it easy for novice designers (or even marketers) to create something of quality with a quick turnaround.
• Economical: If you don’t have to create a brand-new design every time, you can reduce costs while increasing your output. That gives you a higher ROI for every e-book you create.

So, how do you create these magical templates?

How to Build E-Book Templates 

We know marketing teams are usually overloaded, especially designers. But remember that a little bit of work up front can save you a ton of time down the road—and make designers’ lives a lot easier. If your team doesn’t have the time, you might consider using a content agency (or baking templates into an engagement you already have). But if you’re going to DIY it, here’s the simple 3-step process to create an intuitive visual design system that anyone can use.

1) Go Through Your Existing E-Books

You might only have a handful of e-books, or you might have a huge archive (in which case you can choose, say, 10). Go through each to identify the common elements that you will need to build into your e-book design template. The goal is to build something that works for any e-book subject, so it should be comprehensive and scalable.

This might include things like:

• Cover design
• Data visualization (charts and graphs)
• Illustrations
• Diagrams
• Sidebars
• Callouts and pullquotes
• Images/captions
• Chapter breaks
• Headers/subheads
• Iconography

Identify the most common design elements in your e-books. 

Make sure to poll your team about what they might also need. You can also look at brands whose content you admire. (Here are 5 great e-book design examples you can learn from.)

2) Build Your Design System

Once you know what your design should include, start building those elements. At this stage, you’re building your visual system, such as:

• Grid system
• Typography (heirarchy, headers, bodycopy, bullets, hyperlink style)
• Color palettes
• Graphic elements
• Data visualization styles
• Photography style
• Illustration style
• Layouts

Everything should adhere to your visual language. Don’t have one? Here’s how to make one, as well as everything it should include.

3) Create Your Template

To turn your visual system into a practical guide, build out your design files, providing mockups of actual pages that reflect best practices. (If you already have an e-book design that works well, you might adapt it to the guidelines.) Examples:

The important thing is to offer clear explanations and visual examples of everything. Whoever picks it up, whether a freelancer or in-house designer, should be able to understand it and replicate it without asking questions.  

You might also include any relevant design tips. (And make sure you avoid these 30 common e-book design mistakes.)

Once you put your e-book design templates to work, you’ll see how much easier they are to produce, and you’ll be grateful you put the work in. 

Remember, too, that you can also make the most of your work by repurposing your e-books after their first run. (Try these 9 tips to do that, and check out this roundup of 101+ resources and tools to make better e-books.)

Look for More Ways Template Can Improve Content Creation

There are always ways to improve how you do things, so think about how templates might help in other areas of content marketing, including:

• Infographic templates
• Interactive templates
• Social templates
• Reporting templates
• Ad templates

We know that not everyone has the resources to tackle design templates, though. If you need a little help or someone to help lighten your content load, holler at us.  

If you don’t have video in your content mix, you’re missing out. It’s simpler to make than ever, and people really want to see it. (A 2014 Levels Beyond survey found that 51% of millennials would rather watch a video than read.) Now is definitely the time to dive in.

But we know you might be a little intimidated (or overwhelmed) to start, and you probably have a lot of questions. We’re here to help.

Our new interactive e-book, The Content Marketer’s Guide to Brand Video, covers everything (seriously, everything) you’ve ever wanted to know about brand video but were too shy to ask, including:

• Why are humans biologically wired for video?
• How can brands use video to deliver a strong message?
• What makes a truly great brand video?
• How do you measure the ROI of video?
• What does it take to produce video?
• How should you act on set?

It’s all there, plus great data, pro tips, and great examples of brand video. We also made it interactive so you can skip to the stuff you want to know—and bookmark it when you want to come back. Click below to check it out now. 

And if there’s anything we didn’t answer, we’d be happy to chat.

How’s your latest e-book doing? How’s your oldest e-book doing? Have downloads dipped? It’s frustrating, we know, but sometimes a few quick tweaks to your e-book design can really improve your readers’ experience, making them more eager to consume your content and connect with your brand. If the content in your e-book is gold, but people are tapping out before they get to page 2, consider how a makeover might help.

Does Your E-book Design Need a Makeover?

Design integrity has a lot to do with how content quality is perceived. First, print out your latest e-book. Take a critical look at what’s in front of you:

• What catches your eye?
• How does it flow?
• What do you feel when you look at it?

These gut reactions and first impressions are what your reader probably experiences, too. We hate to see you give off the wrong impression, so we’re here to help. All it takes is a little creativity to turn a blah design into something beautiful. Here are 6 ways to do it.

1) Choose a Theme

The problem: Your design is totally generic or all over the place, mixing clashing styles, imagery, and visual metaphors right and left.

The fix: E-books are awesome because they give you a nice creative canvas to tell your story. The best, most effective e-books deliver a single story, and use every element of design to support it. Choose a single theme or concept to ground the design, then use your creativity to bring it to life.

2) Rehab Your Cover

The problem: The cover is the first thing people see, but too often marketers miss the mark. The most common mistakes: too cluttered, no imagery, irrelevant imagery, boring typography, generic design.

The fix: Let your content be the guide. Use high-quality imagery to catch the reader’s eye and draw them in. The cover should match the content theme and infuse a little brand personality into it. There should also be an intuitive grid-based layout and logical header hierarchy so that everything is clear at a glance.

3) Add Personality with Imagery

The problem: Your e-book looks like a PowerPoint: generic templates, boring iconography, etc.

The fix: Consider both the tone of the content and your brand personality. The images you use should help cultivate a feeling that supports your message. Is your e-book about employee collaboration? Let’s see people working together. Is it about increasing revenue? Let’s see some tasteful data visualization.

4) Condense and Trim Down Copy

The problem: Someone got a little carried away in trying to build suspense, so you have to flip through 5 pages of “teaser” content before you get to the meat of a section. Conversely, they packed so much in that you’re facing a cluttered mess on each page.

The fix: Know two things: Negative space is your friend, and pages should be used economically. While chapter breaks may deserve their own page, condense content to deliver the message efficiently. Oftentimes this means trimming down content on a page. Removing an extraneous pullquote or sidebar can make a huge difference. Also look for opportunities to let design do the heavy lifting. A paragraph explaining a process can be visualized in a single diagram. A stat in a callout can be turned into a chart. These are great ways to break up the text. 5) Kill the Visual Junk

The problem: Some designers hear the word “visualize” and go nuts, packing every page with illustrations, photos, charts, or iconography.

The fix: Look critically at every visual element. Ask yourself:

• Does this enhance the story? Things like illustrations are often added arbitrarily without much thought.
• Can it be condensed? Data visualization can sometimes make things even more confusing if, say, you’re trying to compare three bar charts when a single grouped bar chart would do it better.
• Does it make sense? This is especially true for icons, which can be far too abstract to represent anything meaningful.

If the answer isn’t yes, say bye.

In addition visual elements, colors can sometimes overwhelm. A helpful tip: Use 1-2 main colors and 2-3 accent colors.

6) Tame Your Typography

The problem: There are so many fonts and sizes it looks like a teenager’s notebook.

The fix: Limit the number of type styles (the combination of kerning, leading, point size, etc.) to create consistency and harmony. Also, don’t use more than 2 typefaces, and do follow a grid. For more of our tips on great e-book design, here are a few posts you might like:

• Learn about the elements of great e-book design.
• Avoid these 8 design mistakes in your visual communication.
• Find out how to design the most common charts and graphs.
• Learn everything you need to know about visual content marketing.

If you need an expert to help you out, let’s chat.

Content marketing is all about diversity: high-value evergreen content that informs, mixed with high-impact, real-time content to bring awareness to your brand. But content marketers are often pulled in every direction, tasked with creating a high volume of content to fill each bucket while ensuring that every piece feeds long-term brand goals.

With limited resources and ever-increasing demands, how do you create content that is economical and impactful? Enter microcontent—an effective approach to content creation that requires little effort and provides maximum value.

In this e-book you’ll learn:

1. What microcontent is: Learn about the different formats to get an idea of what you might want to experiment with.
2. Why microcontent supports your content strategy: From long-term goals to day-to-day publishing, learn how microcontent helps support your efforts
3. How to create effective microcontent: Whether you’re just starting to create content or have an enormous archive, find out how to produce a high volume of content with minimal effort.

DOWNLOAD THE E-BOOK

How do you get the most results from your content marketing? With a killer content marketing strategy. Of course, in a real-time world, it can be hard to plan ahead. When news stories break or a product launch gets postponed, you have to adapt your content while keeping your long-term goals in mind. And no matter what you publish, you also have to keep everyone from your sales team to your social following happy. It often feels like you’re serving two masters—or five or six. But with the right planning, you can create a long-term strategy that saves your energy and your sanity.

A well-crafted, long-term strategy has built-in flexibility and a solid foundation, letting you fill in your content needs as you go—even if (and when) your larger goals change. It means you can stay agile enough to react to the latest trending hashtag while scheduling production for your next evergreen infographic. (Trust us, we did it last week.)

Want to know how? Check out our new e-book, How to Build a Long-Term Content Strategy in a Real-Time World. We cover everything you need to know to create a strategy that works for you, including: 

• Why a long-term strategy saves you time, energy, and money
• How to identify your objectives
• What type of content will serve your objectives
• How to map content to your objectives
• How to effectively schedule content

Check out the e-book, and let us know your tips for creating a content strategy.

NEED HELP WITH YOUR CONTENT STRATEGY OR CONTENT CREATION? LET’S CHAT.

Though content marketing is the new frontier, marketers are still facing the age-old question: How do you get your brand’s content in front of an audience? Thanks to the proliferation of new media, with the right distribution strategy, you can reach more consumers than ever before.

Still, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Sure, you can create content, but how do you know if it’s serving your marketing goals? Once it’s created, where do you publish? And how do you optimize content for maximum results? Over the last few years, we’ve heard these concerns from all corners of the content marketing globe. And, in many ways, things have only become more confusing as more platforms pop up.

Because we’re in the business of making confusing things easy to understand, we thought it was time to help make sense of it all. At Column Five, we’ve assembled a pro Communications team to help some of the world’s biggest brands reach the right audience. We’ve also made friends over at Onboardly, a PR agency that specializes in content marketing for startups. Our brands have learned plenty over the years (both the easy way and the hard way), so we joined forces to create the new e-book, The Ultimate Guide to Content Distribution.

Whether you’re a PR pro or DIY content marketer, this e-book covers everything you need to know about content distribution, including all our insider tips and tricks. Want to make the most of your content? Download the e-book to learn about:

Crafting a killer content strategy: Get tips for strategic ideation to make sure your content serves your objectives.

Content formats and types: Curate your content marketing mix to include a variety of formats primed for different platforms.

Tips for making media contacts: Learn how to cultivate relationships with journalists and social influencers to expand your content’s reach.

Choosing the right distribution channels: Learn about how each channel can serve your goals and identify which channels to target.

Measuring your ROI: Find out which metrics help track your content’s success at every stage of the sales funnel.

Good content deserves to be shared. With a little bit of structure, planning and foresight, your content can make a major impact.

• Find out how to get the most mileage from your content by Maximizing Your Publishing with Microcontent.
• Learn everything you need to know about visual content in The Ultimate Guide to Visual Content Marketing.

Outlook for the future.

The right content marketing agency plays a huge role in how people see your brand and how far your message goes. You want someone in your corner who gets what you’re trying to accomplish and creates work that helps you grow. If you’re on the hunt for the right agency, two names that often come up: Column Five and Siege Media. Both have solid reputations and bring a lot to the table, but they use pretty different playbooks.

This guide dives into the differences between Column Five vs. Siege Media, including the details that matter most: what each team is good at, how long they’ve been at it, how deep they go with strategy, their creative chops, what their clients actually get, how they handle sharing content, what it’ll cost, and how fast they work. This should help you easily figure out which one fits your unique needs.

Quick Intro: Column Five vs. Siege Media

Column Five

Back in 2009, Ross Crooks, Josh Ritchie, and Jason Lankow started Column Five with a knack for data visualization and infographics. Over time, they took on much more—think brand strategy, video work, and content strategy. Now, they help B2B tech companies tell stories that stand out, spark interest, earn trust, and pull in leads through smart SEO/AEO-focused content marketing strategies.

The team is distributed across the country, and their clients are often companies in SaaS, finance, and education. Their biggest strengths are brand building, content strategy, content production (video, motion graphics, static content, data visualization, etc.), and distribution to get your brand in front of the right people.

Siege Media

In 2012, Ross Hudgens set up Siege Media with a focus on SEO-driven content and link-building. The company is fully remote, working across the U.S., and got its start in San Diego.

Siege works mostly with SaaS, e-commerce, and enterprise software companies that really care about organic growth. They handle SEO-optimized articles, digital PR for SaaS, technical SEO, and GEO (generative engine optimization). Their team even built Rise, a WordPress tool for on-page SEO fixes and managing links within a site.

How Long They’ve Been Doing This

Column Five has been around since 2009, so they bring more than 15 years of experience. Early on, they got noticed for pioneering infographics, as well as big creative projects like the “Child of the 90s” Internet Explorer ad with 50 million views and a spot on AdWeek’s Top 10 Viral Ads list. (Their team’s podcast series for SAP also earned them Content Marketing Project of the Year at the Content Marketing Institute Awards.)

Over the last 15 years, they’ve continued to grow both their offerings and their culture (including winning the 2025 Breakthrough Culture Award), and their decade-plus of experience helps them bring unique insight to each project.

Siege Media has also grown quickly since 2012. They’ve appeared more than once on the Inc. 5000 list and made Inc.’s Best Workplaces. Founder Ross Hudgens continues to shape how the agency works, including which clients they take on and how they strategize.

Digging Into Strategy vs. Rolling Up Sleeves

Both agencies say they do strategy—but their styles are easy to tell apart once you ask a few questions.

Column Five kicks off by figuring out who you’re trying to reach, what makes them tick, and how they move from curious to committed. Their process rarely starts without an audit, which helps identify your brand’s strengths and weaknesses. From there, they map out what stories to tell and how to share them, building custom content plans tailored to your audience. Beyond just handing off ideas, they actually work closely with teams through research, creative builds, and distribution. This type of holistic approach helps them achieve more success. (For example, they helped increase Dropbox’s brand perception 19% with this approach.)

Siege Media, on the other hand, centers every plan on the SEO playbook. They run technical SEO audits, plan how content should show up over the year, and map out link-building efforts. Their goal is to help sites climb higher in Google searches. Siege likes structure. They sell annual retainers, help build the groundwork for long-term search success, and have a team that lives and breathes SEO, content, and links.

• Column Five digs deep on brand, insights into the people you’re trying to reach, and creative approaches.
• Siege focuses on SEO performance, site fixes, and getting high-quality links.

Creative Work and What’s in Their Portfolios

Column Five stands out for big creative projects and campaigns—animated videos, interactive websites, or eye-catching data visuals. Their campaign for SAP’s podcast picked up top industry awards. Their work with VideoAmp increased MQLs 850% in one month.

They work with huge names and find ways to blend brand stories with strong visuals. Case studies cover everything from infographics to video series. If you flip through past projects, you’ll see how they make companies like Instacart or Microsoft look memorable.

Siege Media’s creative style puts SEO front and center. They produce content like calculators, interactive tools, and data-driven graphics, all meant to bring in links and boost stats. Their videos and interactive pieces work for search but don’t lose sight of the company’s message. Reading through their case studies, you’ll see things like a 117% traffic boost for Uscreen after just eight months, or Secureframe seeing their organic traffic value double.

• Column Five tells bigger brand stories and plays up creative production.
• Siege builds content with SEO and performance as the north star, showing results in increased traffic and site value.

Who They’ve Helped and What’s Happened

Column Five’s client list reads like a who’s who of SaaS, tech, consumer products, and nonprofits. They’ve partnered with Instacart, Dropbox, Coinbase, Netflix, Amazon, Teach for America, and Girls Who Code. Their case studies focus on brand-building and go-to-market campaigns that scale. (For example, they helped Instacart produce 115 assets in two weeks.)

Siege Media works with companies focused on e-commerce and software, like Airbnb, TripAdvisor, and Shutterfly. Their stories often come down to the numbers: traffic lifts, increased site value, or jumps in leads. Uscreen doubled their results in under a year through an ongoing content push, while Casper added hundreds of thousands in monthly traffic value with Siege’s guidance.

The big takeaway:

• Column Five showcases creative and brand-focused wins.
• Siege measures success in terms of search engine growth and revenue.

How Content Gets Out There—and How It’s Measured

Column Five offers distribution help using paid social, targeted outreach, media buys, and planning so the right people actually see the work. They use Google Analytics, SEMrush, Moz, HubSpot, Tableau, and more for tracking—covering impressions, organic visits, leads, and sales. Measurement isn’t cookie-cutter; KPIs always match what each client actually wants.

Siege Media focuses on owned and earned channels, with digital PR and link-building at the core. They’re heavy users of SEO tools like Ahrefs and Semrush, plus their own platforms, for tracking links, site authority, and value per visit. Siege’s reporting is all about SEO: if organic numbers grow, they did their job. Their proprietary tools help speed up finding and boosting content inside WordPress sites, too.

• Both teams track content with top tools and care about results.
• Column Five thinks about the big picture—paid and organic combined.
• Siege zeroes in on SEO, links, and ranking positions.

Partnership Models and What It Costs

Column Five gives clients a few ways to team up:

• Brand Studio — Starts at $10,000 monthly and gets you a creative squad ready for ongoing design without hiring in-house.
• Iris AI — Starts at $15,000 monthly, covering audit, strategy, creative, and ways to get noticed via SEO and AEO.
• Individual projects — Priced by what you need, from brand foundations to video production or content campaigns.

Column Five usually kicks things off in about 30 days, with deep discovery time before locking in the details. They aim to build real partnerships, not just deliverables.

Siege Media lays out pricing clearly: packages typically begin at $11,000 a month, most clients sign annual contracts, and they do custom deals when ROI is clear. Their retainer structure covers steady content and link-building over a full year, but they’ll take on specific one-time projects too.

• Siege sets clear monthly rates and contract lengths upfront.
• Column Five adapts to different scopes and needs as they go.

How Fast They Deliver

Column Five is upfront about timelines:

• Brand development: 4–12 weeks
• Content strategy: 5–6 weeks
• Infographics: about 4 weeks
• Motion graphics: 4–8 weeks
• Interactive projects: 5–10 weeks
• E-books: 4–6 weeks
• Live-action video: 6–12 weeks

They put quality first, but they are adept at scaling production. Clients often mention how the agency responds quickly—Zendesk shared a testimonial about fast turnarounds.

Siege Media gives rough timeframes through how they package work: blog posts run 2–4 weeks, with full campaigns spanning 8–12 weeks. Their teams stay lean (about 4–6 people) so execution moves faster and scales easily.

• Column Five’s timelines line up with complex creative work.
• Siege rolls out SEO content on a predictable schedule, with quick production for fast-growing sites.

Choosing Between Column Five and Siege Media

So, who’s going to be best for your company? It all depends on the kind of results you want most.

• Pick Column Five if you care most about brand storytelling, multimedia projects, and standing out with creative work. They’re especially good for SaaS clients needing a trusted partner who can handle content from ideas to big campaigns.
• Pick Siege Media if you need to scale organic visitors, boost SEO, or earn links that matter to search. Their systems help sites climb fast and with impact, making them a go-to for companies hungry for measurable growth in Google.

Both can handle nearly any content task, but Column Five leads with creativity and big-picture thinking, while Siege focuses on results in search and performance marketing. Sometimes, the best answer is a mix—use each for what they’re best at.

Your Next Move for Content

The Column Five vs. Siege Media comparison paints a picture of two teams with different strengths. Column Five shines in multimedia, storytelling, and campaigns that turn heads. Siege Media gets results by boosting organic growth and building content that Google loves.

Your perfect fit depends on your goals. Want your brand remembered for its story and creativity? Column Five fits that need. Want bigger search numbers and steady revenue growth from organic traffic? Siege Media specializes there.

Both agencies have proof that what they do works. The most important step? Match your goals to what each one does best.

To see how Column Five can help shape your next move, check out their case studies for more examples and ideas.

Finding the right marketing partner changes everything. You want a team that not only gets the job done but makes the process enjoyable. When comparing Column Five and Ironpaper, you see two capable agencies taking different roads. Both help you grow, but the daily experience varies significantly. Use this guide to see which approach matches your specific goals.

Column Five focuses on building strong stories for B2B SaaS and tech companies. They make complex ideas easy to understand by prioritizing:

• Creative storytelling that connects with humans.
• Sharp data visualization and design.
• Content systems that ensure every piece feels on-brand.

Ironpaper helps companies create demand and master HubSpot. They often support large tech or manufacturing teams who need to:

• Automate the buying process.
• Turn interest into real sales opportunities.
• Track exactly where results come from.

The choice comes down to your current friction points. Do you need the people you are trying to reach to know and trust your brand? Or do you need to focus strictly on the mechanics of how people buy? This guide will dig into this by comparing Column Five to IronPaper.

A Closer Look: Column Five vs. IronPaper

Column Five bills itself as a B2B agency for SaaS growth, and they live up to it. They help teams get noticed and remembered with a resume that includes names like Instacart and Salesforce. Their process is driven by strategy and compelling storytelling, and they dig deep before they create anything. The secret to their successful content marketing is that everything they do feels connected.

IronPaper works best as a growth sidekick for companies that want to see clear, trackable results. They roll out demand campaigns, set up account-based marketing, and know HubSpot inside and out. They put a spotlight on what brings in actual dollars, and show that through dashboards and reports. If you want to see exactly which outreach steps led to new deals, this agency makes it obvious.

Both groups speak B2B tech fluently. Still, it helps to remember: Column Five shines when brand identity and industry-leading content are the focus. IronPaper gets to work when hands-on pipeline growth and marketing tech run the show.

Column Five: Story, Know-How, and How They Work

Column Five started in 2009 with the idea that telling your brand story is the best way to stand out. From their California roots, they’ve grown to a few dozen team members across the U.S. and earned a spot on the Inc. 500 list. They excel in their niche, helping SaaS companies carve out a competitive edge and forge meaningful connections through world-class content.

Before making a single piece of content, they listen. Their approach brings people together from research, strategy, and creative sides, pulling in every detail. It starts with:

• Audit—uncovering what’s already working and what’s missing
• Content strategy—mapping out where to go and what to say
• Creative execution—finally turning big ideas into things people want to read, watch, or share

Results can surprise in the best way. For example, when Blend needed more website visitors, Column Five’s strategy for SEO and content led to a 183% jump in traffic. Dropbox tapped them for a strategy that lifted brand perception 19%. Instacart leaned on their pricing campaign to reshape how its leadership looked at pricing altogether.

What do they bring to the table? Brand frameworks, creative systems, in-depth content strategies, and demand generation. Their menu includes visuals—motion designs, graphics, explainer videos, web pages—as well as written work like ebooks and executive leadership content. If a story helps people “get it” quicker, they’re likely already building it.

IronPaper: Story, Strengths, and Approach

IronPaper launched in the early 2000s and is based in New York and Charlotte. Around 70 people work at IronPaper, and they’ve earned high marks as a HubSpot Diamond partner and Google Partner.

IronPaper pairs strategy with doing. Their main goal is to help companies switch gears from “marketing costs us” to “marketing helps us grow.” They get their hands dirty building automation, running ABM campaigns, and making sure nothing falls through the cracks on its way to sales.

Stories at IronPaper often begin with measurable change. For Ambi Robotics, IronPaper launched a new brand image and fresh videos that moved them toward commercial scale. After tweaking the website and lead process at Goddard Technologies, conversions jumped by over 700% and millions in revenue were influenced. With Mobilewalla, smart tweaks brought in better-quality leads, rather than just more emails.

Core services include:

• Building systems for lead generation
• Creating ABM campaigns from scratch
• Setting up HubSpot and using automation so no inquiry goes cold
• Tuning the steps from first click to handshake
• Giving sales teams better tools and materials

They keep clients updated with clear ROI and pipeline reporting.

People working with IronPaper describe them as true partners. Solartis gained new customers after an uptick in brand awareness. Steelcase saw them as an extension of their own team. These stories repeat across the board.

Industry Focus and Special Skills

Column Five is a go-to for B2B tech and SaaS players. Their client list is highly impressive– LinkedIn, Google, HubSpot, and Oracle, among others. They also pitch in across finance, education, nonprofits, and real estate now and then.

IronPaper leans hard into B2B technology, cybersecurity, industrial, and manufacturing worlds. They “get” the quirks and long timelines of working in these spaces, especially when complicated products or multiple decision-makers are in play.

Their team lives for building demand programs and ABM workflows. They excel at rolling out complex HubSpot set-ups, building automation, and crafting sales materials designed to help real people make choices. Whether it’s running high-converting LinkedIn campaigns or turning SEO into sales conversations, IronPaper makes sure digital marketing doesn’t just sit in a spreadsheet.

Having HubSpot Diamond and Databox Premier partner status means IronPaper brings more than just good ideas; they know the tools inside out and help connect marketing with what works in the real world.

The Value of Staying Power

Column Five’s been doing this for over 15 years, enough time to smooth rough edges and figure out what truly moves the needle for B2B tech. Earning shout-outs from names like Microsoft, Adobe, and Salesforce says a lot about real impact and staying power.

Their agency structure has only grown sharper with time. They run on research, repeat what works, and always tie content back to outcomes. They’ve run blogs with hundreds of tailored posts and handled complex projects for years at a stretch. Consistency like that isn’t easy to find.

Client feedback backs up the hype. Vercel’s Keith Messick singles them out as some of the smartest, most talented partners he’s met. Amanda Smith from Instacart considers them the “gold standard” for close collaboration.

IronPaper, closing in on 20+ years, has a deep bench of experience building demand engines and automating marketing systems. Their work with clients like Steelcase, who juggle multiple product lines, proves they don’t shy away from detailed or messy projects.

The proof is in real numbers. They highlight how many conversions jumped or which pipeline improvements landed the biggest results. Their clients, in turn, often describe IronPaper as a real team member more than an outside vendor.

Strategy or Swift Moves?

Column Five never shortcuts the strategy. Their studio approach starts with precise research, not quick wins. They use their own proprietary frameworks to help brands claim a clear space in the market. In practice, this means doing several strategy reviews for Blend before going live, or spending weeks refining messages for Instacart so everything aligns.

Measurement isn’t just about numbers; it’s about understanding which accounts engage and when. Column Five doesn’t just churn out content. They build as an in-house team might, functioning as a larger extension of your team (especially helpful if you’re looking to scale).

IronPaper matches strategy with habit and hustle. When it’s time for execution, they get marketing and sales humming together. Automation, ABM, clear attribution—all of it tracks what turns outreach into meaningful growth.

They break down goals into step-by-step programs. Who are the best prospects to reach? What should they see first? Where can automation free up everyone’s time? Results show up not just as more activity, but as actual deals and new relationships. Their dashboards and reporting are built for teams who want to see progress, not just activity.

Creative Work and Portfolio Highlights

Column Five is all about creating compelling content that tells a cohesive brand story across touchpoints, whether that’s video for social, thought leadership for LinkedIn, or in-person advertising. They’re especially skilled at helping brands uncover unique stories and turn them into memorable content that resonates with audiences.

One example is the Fieldguide campaign, which mixed sharp visuals with smart proximity targeting. Their award-winning work with Mozilla used video to strengthen community bonds. And when HackerOne wanted to rally security leaders, Column Five helped turn big, technical topics into clear, motivating stories.

Feedback often highlights two things: creativity and reliability. Intuit’s Mackenzie Pedroza praised their industry curiosity and innovation. Zendesk appreciated fast turnaround and seamless project management. Narrative4’s Felice Belle noticed the close connection and care they brought to each project.

It all pays off in results, too. Their smart content and design pull in organic traffic and keep people sticking around for more—great for teams aiming to educate and inspire, not just market.

IronPaper also helps creative work do the heavy lifting. Their Ambi Robotics website redesign went well beyond visuals, adding motion, photography, and smarter navigation. It didn’t just look better; it worked better in conversations with customers.

For Goddard Technologies, new SEO and content immediately translated to more (and better) conversions. At Mobilewalla, they combined strong design with clear forms to raise the quality of new leads.

Every piece serves a job: landing pages built for answers, ABM creative to build momentum, quick-win sales materials, and technical stories that speak in plain language to the people making hard decisions.

How Working Together Feels: Pricing and Timelines

Column Five prefers ongoing partnerships but won’t say no to the right project. Their price list is open:

• Foundational monthly partnerships start from $15k/month, bringing a dedicated team on board
• Growth packages start from $20K.
• Their Scale packages start from $25K and include all the groundwork for campaign rollouts
• Other projects: Pricing depends on what you need (brand, motion, content, lead programs, paid campaigns, web design, etc.)

Timelines are clear, too. Projects get started a month or so after agreement. Typical delivery times include:

• Brand projects: 4-12 weeks
• Content strategies: about 6 weeks
• Infographics and motion design: around a month each
• Interactivity: 5-10 weeks, depending on what’s built
• E-books: 4-6 weeks
• Live videos: up to 12 weeks

Clients see them as quick and reliable, which matters when schedules stay packed.

IronPaper prefers longer partnerships, with custom retainers from $10k/month, usually running 6–12 months. Pricing is bespoke, adapting to the size and depth of what’s needed. They’re open to sprints for fast projects or steady month-to-month work.

Timelines aren’t posted, but common sense says expect a week or two for blog content, a month for whitepapers, and up to 10 weeks for video. Scoping together sets clear expectations and helps the process feel collaborative, rather than transactional.

When Each Agency Stands Out

Column Five is best for teams who want to stand out with standout with attention-grabbing content, unique storytelling, and cohesive strategy. The sweet spot?

• B2B SaaS companies aiming to outshine competitors through brand strength
• Need for powerful visual storytelling and data insights
• Priority on integrated brand and content systems—delivered with enduring value
• Organizations that build trust through steady, quality content
• Teams ready to use AI creatively, but keep the content sounding human

They know where your real story lives, then help you tell it on repeat without losing the spark or diluting the message.

IronPaper works well for teams focused on demand, pipeline, and scalable operations. Ideal matches include:

• B2B technology and industrial players looking at new growth moves
• Companies rolling out or rebooting automation—including HubSpot
• Teams who want real measurement at the account level, not just traffic gains
• Targets that tie marketing back to money spent and deals closed
• Full-funnel setups where sales and marketing need to work closely

Their work consistently boosts real conversations and conversions, and their hands-on approach gets things moving.

Sometimes two is better than one. When a brand wants to combine deep content with aggressive demand-building, consider working with both. Set clear roles and shared outcomes, and the collaboration will pay off.

How to Decide: Column Five or IronPaper?

The choice really comes down to what matters now. Want to leave a strong impression, tell your story clearly, and build trust? Column Five fits. Their transparent pricing, strong client roster, and standout visual work keep them top of mind for teams that care about brand.

But, if every outreach dollar needs to turn into new relationships or sales, IronPaper’s expertise with automation and pipeline metrics better aligns. Their case stories prove they move the revenue needle, not just the brand markers.

When sizing up agencies, match your main headaches to each agency’s strengths.

• Need a partner who works as an extension of your team to grow your brand? Column Five.
• Care about automation and proven lead growth? IronPaper.
• Faced with mixed needs? Test both. Clearly scope pilots and discuss who leads where.

Pilots help prove the fit. Ask for sample workplans, team profiles, and references that feel relevant—think about your own stage rather than just looking at the biggest brands. Review proposals that outline what success looks like, how teams will interact, and how work stays on track.

Column Five shows that a well-connected system is better than a pile of one-off tactics. With companies like Dropbox and Microsoft, their approach builds momentum—and that matters when the market crowds up. Their three-step playbook (audit, strategy, creative) reflects real experience, not just theory.

Above all, remember that the best agency helps you connect with the people you’re trying to reach, fosters trust, and moves results forward. Match their strengths with your goals, start small if needed, and build the partnership that goes the distance.