Guide to SaaS Content Marketing

SaaS content marketing is a powerful strategy for businesses in the software-as-a-service industry.

It shares valuable knowledge with customers and plays a crucial role in filling the sales funnel with qualified leads.

Creating and distributing informative content is a safe way for SaaS companies to attract and engage potential customers, resulting in improved conversions and sales.

Sharing helpful content, tips, and industry information shows thought leadership and build trust with the audience, differentiating a business from its competitors.

In this blog, we willl dig into the various ways of content and strategies successful SaaS companies use to attract and retain possible customers with helpful and informative content.

What is SaaS Content Marketing?

SaaS Content Marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on creating and distributing helpful and informative content to attract and engage customers in the software-as-a-service industry.

Via various channels such as blogs, e-books, social media, and webinars, SaaS companies can use content marketing to fill their sales funnels with qualified leads, making it a necessary piece of any SaaS business's growth strategy.

And you know what they say, "Content is king, but distribution is queen, and she runs the household."

So, let's dive deeper into how to compose a winning SaaS content marketing strategy and make sure your distribution is as good as your content.

What is Special about SaaS Content Marketing?

There are many reasons why SaaS content marketing strategy can often be complex.

First, SaaS services require a certain level of commitment from customers, and so building a strong reputation and establishing trust is essential. This is a critical step in the customer's journey, as it sets the foundation for a successful relationship.

Another challenge that SaaS companies face is the complexity of B2B transactions. These transactions often involve multiple decision-makers and influencers, and have longer sales cycles. This means that your content marketing strategy needs to be able to effectively educate and persuade a wider audience. It's crucial to create content that addresses the pain points of each decision-maker and influencer, guiding them through the buying process.

Additionally, SaaS products often involve technology, which can be complex and difficult to understand initially. Creating content that effectively explains and demystifies the technology for your potential customers makes it even more crucial.

💡 For all these reasons and more, you need to think of your SaaS content marketing strategy in terms of a marathon, not a sprint. It requires a long-term, strategic approach that takes into account the unique challenges and considerations of this industry.

Steps to producing your SaaS content marketing strategy

Here are the key steps to take when developing your content marketing strategy:

Outlining Business Goals

Understanding the goals of your business is the first step to developing a successful content marketing strategy. It's essential that you set measurable objectives, known as OKRs, that will help you reach your targets. 

At the end of the day, it all comes down to revenue. Without paying customers, your business won't be able to thrive, so your goal should be geared toward achieving that. 

So how do you get started? Before you can begin producing content, you need to understand who your audience is and what they are looking for. To do this, you need to start at the bottom of the funnel and work your way up. This means focusing on business goals and revenue first. 

Once you have a clear understanding of what your objectives are, you can begin to craft your content strategy. Remember, your goal should always be to create content that resonates with your target audience and helps you achieve your business objectives. By defining your business goals and objectives, you can set yourself up for success and create content to help you reach your goals.

Collecting Customer Data

If you're looking to collect customer data, creating buyer personas is a great way to understand your target audience. You can use existing customer data, or work with a product marketing manager, to learn more about your highest LTV (lifetime value) users and see who they are. You can gain valuable insights into their pain points through customer support tickets and meetings with customers. 

Once you have all the data you need, you can create customer profiles to help you easily remember who your target customers are. Jot down their role, industry, where they find content to learn from, and why they would use your product, and then give each profile a name. Once you have your profiles, you should put them somewhere you can refer to them often, like sticky notes on the corner of your computer monitor. This way, you'll always remember who you need to be creating content for.

Crafting a Content Lifecycle Model

Creating content for B2B SaaS is a process that can help you reach your business goals and engage your target audiences. It's important to have the right pieces of content in place to maximize conversions when qualified traffic visits your website. 

Content should be organized in a way that follows the customer journey and takes into account the stages of the content lifecycle. By doing this, you can ensure that you have the right pieces of content to drive engagement and conversions.

Content Marketing Stages

The “who I am and what I do”

Through your homepage, product/feature pages, and company updates on your blog, you can showcase your business and all that it has to offer. Your customers will be able to gain a better understanding of your product’s capabilities, and what it can do for them.

You can also use your blog to inform your customers of upcoming events and news, as well as provide helpful resources and tips.

The “how to use me”

This is the phase of your company that can be the difference between a user that is active and one that is inactive. It is a crucial part of the journey and can make all the difference in a user's experience. By providing educational resources, you can show people how to use your product and make sure they keep their subscription.

A great example of this can be seen in the form of Semrush's Semrush Academy or Webflow's Webflow University. Having a resource center is paramount for keeping users engaged and ensuring that their experience is positive.

The “why you should use me”

This is the phase of your company that will see you focus on growth and finding your target customers. You'll be going after non-branded keywords on your blog, use case pages and your competitors, paving the way for inspirational list posts, 'how to' posts that are not directly related to your product, vs pages and customer highlights/case studies.

It's an exciting stage, where you have the opportunity to make a real impact on your business and reach out to the people you know will be interested in the products and services that you offer.

Understanding the customer journey and how to guide them through it is crucial for success. One key aspect to consider is the content you create for your website. Instead of approaching it from left to right, starting with the top of the funnel and working your way down, it's essential to begin at the bottom and work your way up. By first focusing on retention and activation, you can ensure that when website visitors do reach the awareness stage, they have a clear path to conversion.

One common misconception is that simply having inspirational blog posts in the awareness stage will lead visitors to naturally discover lower funnel content on your website. However, this is often not the case. In the world of SaaS, particularly in B2B, the majority of individuals turn to Google to find relevant content, rather than browsing through a company's website. With this in mind, it's important to optimize all of your website's content for SEO so that it appears in search results for all stages of the customer journey.

As you create content for each funnel stage, remember to assume that people will be using Google to find it. By having a clear link for them to click on in search results, you can make it easy for them to discover your company and move through the funnel smoothly.

(graphic - levels of awareness)

Types of SaaS Content to Create

Creating content that resonates with your audience and guides them through the customer journey is an art form. One crucial aspect to keep in mind is the order in which you present your content.

Rather than starting at the top of the funnel and working your way down, it's essential to begin at the bottom and work your way up. By first focusing on retention and activation, you ensure that when website visitors do reach the awareness stage, they have a clear path to conversion.

Use Case Pages

When building your website, it's essential to prioritize content that effectively communicates the value of your product to potential customers. One of the most powerful ways to do this is by creating a dedicated use case section. These pages serve as a window into the world of your product, showcasing exactly what it's for and who it's meant to serve.

By highlighting real-world examples and success stories, a use case section can help visitors visualize themselves using your product and understand how it can solve their specific problem. It's a powerful tool for building trust and credibility, as well as for differentiating your product from competitors.

Think of it as a story-telling section where you can showcase the different ways your product has helped other customers, and how it can help the visitors to your website. Use case pages are not only informative but also persuasive, they help visitors to make a decision about your product.

VS pages

As you continue to develop your website's content, it's essential to focus on the needs of visitors who are nearing the end of their journey and are close to making a purchase. One effective strategy for doing this is to create comparison pages that address the competition head-on.

Chances are, there are many other tools like yours available on the market, each with its unique features and benefits. By creating "vs" or "alternative" pages, you can provide your visitors with the information they need to make an informed decision about your product. These pages not only show that you have a deep understanding of the market and your competition, but they also demonstrate your product's unique value proposition.

When someone is trying to make a purchasing decision and comparing your product to others, it's crucial to have the opportunity to speak directly to them. By creating these comparison pages, you ensure that your product is top of mind when potential customers are doing their research.

Blog Posts

Blogging is a powerful tool for driving traffic to your website and connecting with potential customers. However, it's essential to approach it strategically in order to make the most of the opportunity.

Many SaaS companies make the mistake of only posting product updates and company-related news on their blogs. While these are important to have, they won't necessarily bring in a lot of unique visitors to your website. The key is to create content that appeals to a wider audience, even those who may not yet be familiar with your company.

Think about it, when was the last time you actively sought out a company's blog to read about their product updates? Chances are, most of the time you land on a blog post because you were searching for information on a specific topic, and the post happened to come up in the search results.

To take advantage of this, it's essential to cast a wide net with your blog content and position your company as a thought leader in your industry. This requires a growth mindset, keyword research skills, and the use of optimization tools like Clearscope or Surfer SEO. By focusing on keyword-rich, SEO-optimized content that addresses the questions and pain points of your target audience, you can increase the chances of your blog posts ranking high in search results and attracting new visitors to your website.

Social Media Posts

Social media is a powerful tool for building a community around your brand and connecting with potential customers. However, it's essential to approach it with a strategic mindset and truly understand the algorithms of the platforms you're using.

When it comes to creating a successful social media strategy for your SaaS company, it's essential to think beyond just sharing blog posts and company updates. While these are important to have, they won't necessarily engage your audience on social media. Instead, focus on repurposing your existing content in a way that is useful, entertaining, and plays to the platform's algorithm.

Additionally, creating content just for the sake of entertainment can be highly effective on social media. Think valuable information, memes, educational videos, and more. It's also important not to promote yourself directly on social media, as it can come across as self-serving and turn off potential customers.

Lastly, remember to create content that is specific to the format of each social media platform, rather than just posting the exact same thing on every platform. By understanding the unique characteristics and audience of each platform, you can create content that resonates and drives engagement.

Conclusion

In conclusion, SaaS content marketing stands out as a powerful and indispensable strategy for businesses in the software-as-a-service industry.

The unique challenges and complexities of the SaaS landscape, including longer sales cycles and the need for multi-faceted education, make content marketing a crucial element in building trust, engaging potential customers, and driving conversions.

If you need help with your SaaS content marketing, make sure to get in touch with us.