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Apart from being a way to communicate valuable information to customers, a big reason SaaS brands prioritize content marketing is this:
SaaS content marketing fills their sales funnels with qualified leads.
If you're new to this marketing concept and want to know more about what it means and how it can help you grow your SaaS business, you’re in the right place.
The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing generally as "a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action."
That definition lays a solid foundation, but when we narrow it to SaaS businesses, the definition shifts a little.
When we look at content marketing specifically for SaaS companies, we arrive at a definition more like this:
SaaS content marketing is a long-term marketing strategy that SaaS businesses implement to attract, convert, and retain a target audience by creating and distributing value-packed, unique content consistently.
Pay close attention to the bold text—we’re going to drill down into each of those themes.
Content marketing puts the spotlight on your potential customers—not your software product. So, your ultimate goal shouldn’t be to hard-sell your products but to build a concrete long-term relationship with your target customers.
Relationship-building isn't a one-day job. Don't expect to see overnight results.
An increase in organic traffic, for example, is one sign that a brand's content marketing efforts are paying off. But your blog post won't just hit Google's first page immediately after you publish it. You might have to wait for three, six, or even over nine months to see results.
SaaS content marketing isn't about attracting heaps of people into a marketing funnel without considering their level of relevance to your business. You'll see positive results from your SaaS content marketing when you produce content for only a specific audience—not for everybody.
Let's assume you have a farm management software product. Every piece of content you produce should attract and interest your target audience only—that is, farmers. Deviating from content that appeals to them is a recipe for disaster.
If you don’t know who qualifies as the "right audience" in your business, develop a customer avatar to get clarity.
Content marketing isn't a one-off exercise. You’ll see positive results only when you produce quality content consistently.
It’s critical to keep putting out new, valuable content even as you’re waiting for positive ROI over time from your previously posted content.
Playing your content marketing game consistently, in the case of blogging, could mean maintaining your weekly or bi-weekly blog schedule—even if that means outsourcing content creation to a blog writing agency.
As a SaaS business, you have a range of content formats to explore. Let's quickly look at three popular ones that SaaS businesses use.
Blogging is an essential content marketing tool for SaaS businesses. And, there are various blog formats you can explore, depending on your content marketing goals. These include how-to guides, comparison posts, and more.
Videos are powerful content marketing tools you can use to share insightful information with your audience.
SaaS businesses can use videos for lots of different purposes. Apart from publishing them on your blog, you can repurpose them for social media and as other types of content.
You can use e-books to share industry reports and other in-depth, valuable information with consumers.
E-books are also effective lead magnets. In other words, you can use them as incentives to build your subscriber list.
Content marketing can help grow your SaaS company in several ways. Below are a few positive results you can expect when you get on board with SaaS content marketing:
Publishing premium-level blog posts consistently will increase your odds of ranking at the top of SERPs. Higher rankings result in an increase in click-through rates (CTRs) and visibility.
Businesses spend less money (and receive 3x more leads) when they embrace content marketing over traditional marketing.
(Source)
You don't need to break the bank to create quality content. You can assign the task to an in-house team member or sign up with an agency for affordable premium services.
Content marketing is a tool you can use to build relationships with your customers and move them further down your marketing funnel. And, beyond purchasing your products, a customer who constantly benefits from your content will likely recommend your software products to others.
You'll find excellent examples of SaaS content marketing on BuzzSumo, Ahrefs, and other leading SaaS companies' websites (and social media pages).
Successful SaaS companies publish value-packed content regularly to educate their audience and attract potential leads via search engines.
On Neil Patel's blog, for example, he shares in-depth content (blogs and free courses) that cover subjects that are of interest to his target audience.
His content marketing approach brings him millions of pageviews monthly and generates new users for his premium SaaS product—UberSuggest.
HubSpot is another top brand that harnesses content marketing to attract qualified leads. The brand uses in-depth blog posts, reports, and free certification courses to generate new users for its SaaS product.
Content marketing is a profitable long-term marketing strategy. By consistently creating high-quality, targeted content, your marketing efforts will pay off over time.
Need a hand creating consistent content for your SaaS blog? SaaSpirin can help. Choose your plan here.
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