SaaS Content Marketing 101: Tools & Best Practices for 2023
SaaS Content Marketing 101: Tools & Best Practices for 2023
Denis Shatalin
Founder of SaaS Camp
Before you launch your SaaS product, you should have your SaaS content marketing strategy firmly in place. According to Gartner Research, 43% of SaaS customers report that they don’t want to interact with salespeople and would rather use a self-service. So, what does this tell us?
It tells us that SaaS businesses need to be mindful and detailed about how their products work for their customers. B2B buyers will value companies that provide valuable information on how their product will solve their problems over those less specific.
Today I’ll discuss how you can build a successful SaaS content marketing strategy as a startup. As a professional SaaS coach, I’m dedicated to helping founders like you find your footing in this crazy world of SaaS!
Read on to find out why you need to make content marketing your first priority.
It tells us that SaaS businesses need to be mindful and detailed about how their products work for their customers. B2B buyers will value companies that provide valuable information on how their product will solve their problems over those less specific.
Today I’ll discuss how you can build a successful SaaS content marketing strategy as a startup. As a professional SaaS coach, I’m dedicated to helping founders like you find your footing in this crazy world of SaaS!
Read on to find out why you need to make content marketing your first priority.
What is Content Marketing for SaaS?
SaaS content marketing is a useful business strategy for SaaS companies to help reach and attract your desired customers and scale growth organically. This happens when you become more intentional with your content creation and distribution. SaaS content marketing includes basing your content on real data and setting achievable goals. With a strong content marketing strategy in place, you won’t need to worry about pouring a lot of money into advertising.
Although a great strategy can really help your business flourish, it’s a little more complex for SaaS companies. Here are some things that make you different:
Ultimately, your content marketing strategy is the key that unlocks your product value as a SaaS business. You shouldn’t only pay attention to this initially. You need to be in it for the long haul. This is where a valuable SaaS coach like myself can come in handy for SaaS founders, because I can give you the perfect formula to build and maintain your clientele.
Although a great strategy can really help your business flourish, it’s a little more complex for SaaS companies. Here are some things that make you different:
- You need to make sure to prioritize customer trust to build your reputation because, as we know, SaaS needs a higher level of commitment than other businesses.
- Your product is intangible, so it’s important to consider things that provoke online buyer hesitation and provide detailed education on them.
- Google should be your best friend. Your customers primarily use it to research SaaS products, so SEO must be crucial to your content strategy. You can use Search Console and Ahrefs to initiate your strategy.
Ultimately, your content marketing strategy is the key that unlocks your product value as a SaaS business. You shouldn’t only pay attention to this initially. You need to be in it for the long haul. This is where a valuable SaaS coach like myself can come in handy for SaaS founders, because I can give you the perfect formula to build and maintain your clientele.
Examples of SaaS Content Marketing Formats
1. Blog Posts
Blog posts are a great content marketing channel because they can fit seamlessly into your website. Your customers can have all the information on upcoming features or the best way to use your product just by accessing your website.
B2B buyers value businesses that make it very easy to access their content, and blogs make that possible. Square is a great example of a payment processing company that promotes its content on its blog to help small businesses. Square’s blog is especially unique because their customers help write it. This makes the content way more valuable because insights are coming directly from users with experience with the product but who have no direct affiliation with the brand.
B2B buyers value businesses that make it very easy to access their content, and blogs make that possible. Square is a great example of a payment processing company that promotes its content on its blog to help small businesses. Square’s blog is especially unique because their customers help write it. This makes the content way more valuable because insights are coming directly from users with experience with the product but who have no direct affiliation with the brand.
2. Videos
Videos give you a chance to share both short-form and long-term content. They also give your customers more time to engage with your content during their purchase journey. YouTube is a great platform to share your video content, and I also take advantage of it.
The best part about Youtube that B2B buyers love, is that SaaS businesses can demonstrate how their products work and provide step-by-step tutorials that customers can follow. Your audience will love that you’re providing everything they need to know in order to use your product.
Ahrefs is an SEO software company that takes advantage of video content by providing tutorials on tackling any issue related to SEO. By doing this, Ahrefs also attracts potential customers who don’t even realize how valuable their tools can be for them.
The best part about Youtube that B2B buyers love, is that SaaS businesses can demonstrate how their products work and provide step-by-step tutorials that customers can follow. Your audience will love that you’re providing everything they need to know in order to use your product.
Ahrefs is an SEO software company that takes advantage of video content by providing tutorials on tackling any issue related to SEO. By doing this, Ahrefs also attracts potential customers who don’t even realize how valuable their tools can be for them.
3. Podcasts
A podcast works great to create brand awareness and build a solid customer relationship. As podcasts tend to be informative and entertaining, you can build a community where your users feel like you care about solving their problems, more than just selling your product.
According to the Edison Research Infinite Dial 2022 report, more than 62% of Americans listen to podcasts, and B2B buyers are among those listeners.
If you’re not ready to start your own podcast, you can consider collaborating with an established podcast that’s willing to share your content with its loyal listeners. The best part about this is you don’t have to worry about building an audience first.
According to the Edison Research Infinite Dial 2022 report, more than 62% of Americans listen to podcasts, and B2B buyers are among those listeners.
If you’re not ready to start your own podcast, you can consider collaborating with an established podcast that’s willing to share your content with its loyal listeners. The best part about this is you don’t have to worry about building an audience first.
4. White Papers
Next to blog posts, white papers tend to be the most shared type of content because industry experts write them. A white paper can cover a topic in a lot of depth, and it’s a great way to showcase your expertise. Once people see how knowledgeable you are in your SaaS field, they’ll be more inclined to deem you trustworthy.
Bike Europe released a white paper about “How to improve lifetime, reliability and safety of e-bike batteries”. You can see how they highlighted a crucial issue that comes up with e-bikes and provided valuable information on how to solve it. That’s how you market content.
Bike Europe released a white paper about “How to improve lifetime, reliability and safety of e-bike batteries”. You can see how they highlighted a crucial issue that comes up with e-bikes and provided valuable information on how to solve it. That’s how you market content.
Why it’s Important to Have an Effective SaaS Content Marketing Strategy
Uphold your brand identity: Nobody’s going to purchase a subscription from a brand they don’t trust. An informed strategy can help you build the necessary engagement and trust with your customers. This is only if your content aligns with your overall goals.
Attract your desired audience: B2B buyers prefer to do their research before purchasing a product. And about 48% of them make sure to engage with 3 - 5 pieces of content before even considering making a purchase. Focusing on your strategy will ensure that you attract customers who genuinely need your product.
Develop authority in the industry: Once you achieve organic growth, your customers speak for you. As you provide truly valuable information through your content, your business will undoubtedly be pushed forward as an industry leader.
Now that you’ve seen the importance of a great SaaS content marketing strategy, you may think you can’t reach that level as a startup. I beg to differ! If you need an extra push of confidence, consider being a part of my SaaS Accelerator Camp to learn how to run a successful SaaS business from the start.
Now, let’s look at how you can build your successful SaaS content marketing strategy from scratch!
Attract your desired audience: B2B buyers prefer to do their research before purchasing a product. And about 48% of them make sure to engage with 3 - 5 pieces of content before even considering making a purchase. Focusing on your strategy will ensure that you attract customers who genuinely need your product.
Develop authority in the industry: Once you achieve organic growth, your customers speak for you. As you provide truly valuable information through your content, your business will undoubtedly be pushed forward as an industry leader.
Now that you’ve seen the importance of a great SaaS content marketing strategy, you may think you can’t reach that level as a startup. I beg to differ! If you need an extra push of confidence, consider being a part of my SaaS Accelerator Camp to learn how to run a successful SaaS business from the start.
Now, let’s look at how you can build your successful SaaS content marketing strategy from scratch!
How to Build Your SaaS Content Marketing Strategy as a Startup
Step 1: Establish the problem you’re solving with your SaaS product
Knowing the problem you’re tackling with your product is the foundation of your content marketing strategy. It helps you mold your overall brand message, which customers can immediately link to your brand.
By establishing all the problems your product is the answer to, you can then outline your business goals which affect your business's bottom line. You should know the following:
By establishing all the problems your product is the answer to, you can then outline your business goals which affect your business's bottom line. You should know the following:
- Your brand positioning and what it offers
- Your value proposition
- The goals you want to achieve through your content marketing strategy
Step 2: Identify 3 customer personas that would benefit the most from your product
You need to have a clear picture of who you’re actually creating content for. But I need to be clear here. Regarding personas, I don’t mean superficial demographic information like gender, age, or even job type.
I’m talking about the customer needs in relation to your solution. I specified you need 3 customer personas because it helps you focus your overall brand message. You won’t be able to develop a clear message if anybody can be your potential customer.
You want in-depth insights into your real customers to shape these customer personas. Focus on figuring out your customer’s struggles and what leads them to search for solutions. The best way to do this is by finding out directly from the people.
Send out surveys to find out what your customers are actually looking for. Tools such as SurveyMonkey or Google Analytics can be perfect in helping you get that information through analytics and direct feedback.
Once you’ve identified your target audience, you should start investigating which channels they use to look for their solutions. It could be LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, podcasts, or some thorough blog surfing. Make a note of whatever it is, because you’ll need it in the next step.
I’m talking about the customer needs in relation to your solution. I specified you need 3 customer personas because it helps you focus your overall brand message. You won’t be able to develop a clear message if anybody can be your potential customer.
You want in-depth insights into your real customers to shape these customer personas. Focus on figuring out your customer’s struggles and what leads them to search for solutions. The best way to do this is by finding out directly from the people.
Send out surveys to find out what your customers are actually looking for. Tools such as SurveyMonkey or Google Analytics can be perfect in helping you get that information through analytics and direct feedback.
Once you’ve identified your target audience, you should start investigating which channels they use to look for their solutions. It could be LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, podcasts, or some thorough blog surfing. Make a note of whatever it is, because you’ll need it in the next step.
Step 3: Select your content marketing channels
Once you’ve established where your customers flock to when researching new SaaS solutions, you can start selecting the channels to apply your content strategy. Don’t just focus on one. Using a multi-channel marketing approach is much more beneficial to ensure your content won’t be missed.
I previously gave some great examples of marketing channels you should consider but here are a few more:
I previously gave some great examples of marketing channels you should consider but here are a few more:
- Interviews. You can interview other SaaS founders or even customers. These are great because you can transfer an interview into audio or video content. You don’t have to be on TV; you only need a camera, microphone, and someone willing to interview.
- Reports. These work great when you want to translate your statistical data to your customers in a readable format.
- E-books. If you have a lot of knowledge to share about your product, why not put it in an e-book?
- Webinars. These are great for building a community and trust within your brand, because your customers can also be introduced to each other. If you’ve chosen video content as one of your channels, the best way to elevate it is to offer webinars to teach people how to use your products live.
Step 4: Establish the right brand message
Once you’ve completed the first 3 steps, you can create your brand message. This message should be in line with what would resonate with your customers. This won’t be hard to figure out because you’ll know their struggles and where they should look in order to solve them.
You can gain insights from your first sale if you’ve already launched. The best people to tell you what message attracts them, are those that were immediately drawn to your product. Here’s where you can make great use of surveys, especially right when your product is fresh on your users’ minds.
Still unsure about your brand message? My Founder Transformation Program can be a great help. The 3rd module covers “Supercharging your message” and I’ve specifically tailored it for SaaS founders like you.
You can gain insights from your first sale if you’ve already launched. The best people to tell you what message attracts them, are those that were immediately drawn to your product. Here’s where you can make great use of surveys, especially right when your product is fresh on your users’ minds.
Still unsure about your brand message? My Founder Transformation Program can be a great help. The 3rd module covers “Supercharging your message” and I’ve specifically tailored it for SaaS founders like you.
Build Your First-Class Content Strategy Today!
Genuinely reaching and connecting with your target audience as an online business brings fulfilling benefits. Think about it; you build greater brand awareness, establish credibility, and display your real value. You’ll soon be well on your way to gaining more organic search rankings and qualified leads.
As a SaaS founder, it’s really difficult to make sure your confidence in your product translates to others. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, feel free to join my SaaS Camp to gain more insight into how you can scale your SaaS startup. Anything is possible with the right coach!
As a SaaS founder, it’s really difficult to make sure your confidence in your product translates to others. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, feel free to join my SaaS Camp to gain more insight into how you can scale your SaaS startup. Anything is possible with the right coach!
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