I created Perceptric to help B2B companies who are looking to ramp up their content marketing efforts. And the approach that we almost always use is the Knowledge – Narrative content strategy.
To be honest, it is not something too revolutionary. Hundreds of B2B brands have been implementing and getting satisfactory results from the approach. Some call it by a different name, but the essence remains the same.
In this article, I am going to share:
- What the Knowledge – Narrative approach really is
- Why it works
- How to implement it properly
The Knowledge – Narrative content strategy
The Knowledge – Narrative content strategy describes two fundamentally different approaches to organizing and producing content. It helps content teams choose how to structure their blogs, what types of content to prioritize, and how to measure success.
- The Knowledge Model treats content as a structured, evergreen knowledge base like a reference library.
- The Narrative Model treats content as a stream of timely updates like a magazine or news site.
1. Knowledge content
The Knowledge approach to content is about building the most evergreen and useful resource on a subject overtime.
HubSpot is the pioneer of this approach, where they build an incredibly comprehensive resource center for readers at any level to self-educate about their products and services. Knowledge-style articles are usually SEO-driven, like this:
Here are some attributes of Knowledge-style content:
| Attribute | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Evergreen, SEO-first | Content is designed to last and rank well in search engines over time. Notable content types are guides, how-tos, and foundational explainers that are high-utility and discoverable. |
| Depth over frequency | You prioritize depth and thoroughness over pushing out posts on a rigid schedule. You might publish less often, but each piece is a long-term asset. |
| Topic-based navigation | The blog is organized around themes or categories. Readers can easily find all articles about a specific topic, even years after they were published. |
| Reliable traffic growth | SEO and evergreen utility drive consistent organic traffic without relying heavily on social media or newsletters. |
| Foundation for long-term ROI | Content compounds in value. A strong library improves discoverability, supports product education, and reduces support burden over time. |
2. Narrative content
The Narrative approach to content is about publishing content driven by insights and opinions.
The writers for Publication content generally have much greater level of freedom in what they can write since they are not constrained by keywords and topic clusters, and they can even go contrarian if needed. These articles are usually not SEO-driven.
| Attribute | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Trend-driven, brand-first | Content is shaped by what’s happening now: news, events, industry trends. It reflects your company’s voice, opinions, and point of view. |
| Frequency with perspective | Posts are published on a regular cadence to maintain engagement and relevance. Timeliness is key. |
| Time-based navigation | Content is displayed by publish date, like a blog feed. Latest posts appear first, but older content may become buried or outdated. |
| Engagement & thought leadership | This content builds trust, interest, and brand affinity but doesn’t always perform well in search. It is for your existing audience, not necessarily for acquisition. |
| Needs strong distribution | To succeed, you need a newsletter, social presence, or direct channels. Without them, even the best insights go unread. |
Also using HubSpot as an example, this is an article written in the Publication approach. It is more trendy, expresses a strong opinion, and there is no specific keyword to be optimized. The article is meant to be written more liberally to showcase their Loop marketing initiative.
Why does the Knowledge – Narrative model work?
Through years of doing content marketing, I notice how most content teams approach their work either in the Knowledge style or the Narrative style.
- The Knowledge-style content team prioritizes SEO value. They treat content as something to be optimized for the search engine. The keywords are rigorously selected, which are then strategically placed across the entire article to signal to search engines that this article is exactly what should be ranked in the top 3.
- The Narrative-style content team doesn’t care that much about SEO value. They write whatever topics that they deem fit for their audience, sometimes in a highly liberal writing style. The article is then shared in their network, on social media, private groups, basically wherever the audience hangs out.
Both approaches work, but they surely have their shortcomings:
- The Knowledge-style content can rank really high, raking in traffic and revenue, but at the expense of creativity and originality. I’d argue that SEO content tends to have a certain detachment in its tone. Writers can’t stray too far away from the guidelines, and usually they have to water down the originality so that their content fits into the “good-for-SEO” box. They also aren’t too engaging to read either, since the goal is, again, to rank on Google, not to provoke thoughts and excitement.
- The Narrative-style content is more freestyle and opinion-driven, and may even has a distinct style that makes it immediately memorable. Publication-style content is the type of content that cements your brand in the minds of web visitors. However, they don’t get to be optimized for SEO, and consequently nobody can discover them organically. You need to put efforts into distributing these pieces of content, or else they are going to decay very quickly. Publication-style content also needs to be written for a specific audience with specific expectations in terms of tone, style, and depth.
In short:
| Model | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge |
– Drives consistent SEO traffic – Evergreen content compounds over time – Great for product education and acquisition – Scales well with small teams |
– Slower to show results – Less engaging on social – Can feel impersonal without human voice – Requires keyword research and SEO rigor |
| Narrative |
– Builds brand voice and trust – Great for social and email engagement – Flexible and timely – Showcases thought leadership and POV |
– Needs strong distribution – Less SEO value over time – Content decays quickly – Harder to scale without a team or audience |
A combination of both approach gives you the best of both worlds.
- Knowledge-style content brings in new audiences through search. Publication-style content keeps that audience engaged by showing thought leadership and perspective.
- Publication content pumps Knowledge content up. You can recommend opinion-based content across a SEO content piece to give readers a fresh perspective on a common topic.
- Knowledge content is algorithm-friendly because it satisfies Google’s need for structure, clarity, and depth. Publication content is audience-friendly because it satisfies the reader’s need for voice and authenticity.
- The Knowledge content tells Google that you are writing content about these certain topics, while Publication content shows your values and human side, and that establishes a connection with the readers.
How to implement the Knowledge – Narrative content strategy
Let’s meet Alice, who’s going to share about how to implement a Knowledge – Narrative content strategy:
I have also made a detailed B2B content marketing strategy template in the Knowledge – Narrative style here:
Free B2B Content Marketing Strategy Checklist
Plan and streamline your content marketing with these free templates:
- ✓ Goal Tracking Template
- ✓ Expertise Extraction Guide
- ✓ Audience Mapping
- ✓ Editorial Calendar
Download your Content Marketing Strategy Checklist here 👇
Just fill in the details, and your download starts right away!
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