What secret do Salesforce, HubSpot, Asana, Shopify, and other successful SaaS companies use that makes them continuously grow organically? They have a well-developed SaaS content marketing strategy.
According to the State of Content Marketing 2023 Global Report by Semrush, 70% of SaaS companies say they have a fairly developed or advanced content marketing strategy.
Having a well-documented content strategy enables you to consistently create high-quality content that resonates with your audience. This cannot only establish your brand as a thought leader but can help you attract visitors who are interested in your product, boosting your sales.
However, creating a killer content marketing strategy for a SaaS company is never an easy task.
Fret not. In this blog post, I’m going to share simple steps to build a SaaS content marketing strategy that wins.
Let’s get started.
How to Develop a Killer Content Marketing Strategy for SaaS
Follow these steps to create a successful SaaS content strategy.
1. Understand Your Target Audience
Forget one-size-fits-all! To craft content that truly converts, you need to get personal. That’s where understanding your target audience becomes your secret weapon.
Define buyer personas meticulously, delving into demographics, behaviors, and motivations. This human-centric approach ensures tailored content that resonates.
Identify pain points and needs through thorough research. Pinpoint challenges your audience faces. This will help you create content that provides solutions.
By understanding your audience, you optimize content for maximum relevance and engagement.
This foundational step sets the stage for a content strategy that not only attracts but genuinely connects with potential users, making your SaaS content marketing efforts more effective and impactful.
2. Set Clear Objectives
Content marketing without goals is like sailing without a compass – you might end up somewhere interesting, but not necessarily where you intended. So, to chart a course to SaaS content glory, you need sharp objectives: your North Star in the content jungle.
Start by outlining specific achievements, such as increasing brand awareness, generating leads, increasing sign-ups, encouraging event registrations, and boosting downloads or user engagement.
Here are the SaaS content marketing goals for 2023 according to the Semrush survey I mentioned above.
Source: SEMrush
Make them specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
Then align these objectives with broader business goals to ensure synergy and a unified direction. For instance, if the business aims to expand its user base, the content strategy should focus on attracting and converting new users.
Next, establish SaaS-specific metrics to measure the success of your objectives. This could include metrics like trial sign-ups, conversion rates, or user retention.
By clearly defining, aligning, and measuring objectives, your SaaS content marketing strategy becomes purposeful, measurable, and seamlessly integrated with overall business objectives, increasing its potential for success.
3. Choose Keywords That Drive Leads
Creating great content isn’t enough to rank your SaaS content high in search results.
You need to target the right keywords and optimize your content to get to the first page of Google.
That’s where SaaS keyword research comes in. It helps you understand the language your audience uses, enabling you to attract the right kind of visitors to your website and convert these visitors into paying customers for your SaaS business.
Utilize keyword research and competitor analysis tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to discover high-ranking and high-volume keywords specific to the SaaS industry.
Remember that keywords are more than just search phrases. They whisper search intent: the “why” behind the search.
Someone typing “SaaS pricing models” might be exploring options, while “compare SaaS accounting software” suggests they are almost making a buying decision. Understand intent to tailor content that speaks directly to your audience’s needs.
4. Create a SaaS Content Calendar
Developing a killer content marketing strategy for SaaS requires meticulous planning and consistency, achieved through a well-structured SaaS content calendar.
Plan SaaS content releases by strategically scheduling blog posts, articles, or multimedia content.
This involves aligning content with industry trends and keyword opportunities to maximize relevance and engagement. It ensures a steady stream of valuable content that keeps your audience engaged and your brand top-of-mind.
Ensure consistent content marketing by establishing a regular publishing cadence.
According to GrowthBar, 43% of SaaS marketers say they publish content multiple times per week.
Source: GrowthBar
You can incorporate content scheduling tools into your SaaS editorial calendar to ensure consistency in your content publishing.
5. Set Content Creation Guidelines
Words and visuals are your raw materials, but without the right blueprint, your SaaS content will remain a shapeless lump. That’s where SaaS content development guidelines become useful.
First, define your tone of voice. Will it be informative and friendly, witty and engaging, or data-driven and authoritative? Choose a style that resonates with your audience and reflects your brand personality.
Then, craft content that captivates: inject storytelling into blog posts, sprinkle data-driven insights into eBooks, and craft social media snippets that spark curiosity.
Choose the right content types for your SaaS.
This could include informative infographics for complex features, bite-sized video tutorials for quick tips, and in-depth case studies to showcase results.
A Demand Gen Report on content preferences suggests that 72% of B2B buyers engage with more than 3-7 different content types before making a purchase decision.
Source: Demand Gen Report
The same report also shows webinars, eBooks, research/survey reports, blog posts, whitepapers, and case studies to be the most consumed content types by B2B buyers.
Equally, for your SaaS content strategy, you should diversify your content arsenal to satisfy different preferences and learning styles.
Finally, incorporate visual elements into your SaaS marketing strategy: high-quality images and videos, stunning infographics, and even eye-catching animations can break up text, illustrate complex concepts, and grab attention in social media feeds.
6. Choose Content Distribution Channels
Get this: More than 90% of content gets no traffic from Google:
Source: Ahrefs
Crafting killer content is only half the battle.
To make it visible to your audience and drive traffic, you need the right stage – your content distribution channels. Think of them as the concert halls, and speakers that blast your content into the world.
First, dominate social media platforms. According to a recent Content Marketing Institute survey, social media platforms are the preferred nonpaid content distribution platforms by most B2B SaaS companies.
Choose the ones where your audience lives, breathes, and scrolls endlessly.
Share insightful blog posts on LinkedIn, spark conversations on Twitter, and showcase product features with short, punchy videos on TikTok.
The above survey shows LinkedIn as the top-performing distribution channel for B2B SaaS companies and Facebook for B2C SaaS.
Be present, be engaging, and tailor your content to each platform’s unique culture.
Explore email marketing for SaaS to deliver targeted content directly to your audience’s inbox. Craft newsletters highlighting blog posts, industry news, or exclusive offerings.
7. Implement SEO Best Practices
Creating stellar SaaS content is one thing, but getting it seen by the right eyes is another. That’s where SEO best practices become your trusty climbing gear, helping you scale the search engine peaks and conquer the content jungle.
First, master the art of on-page SEO for SaaS content. Strategically place relevant keywords in titles, headings, and throughout the text, and ensure your website is mobile-friendly.
Remember, search engines crawl your pages, not just read them, so make it easy for them to understand your content and its value.
Note that the climb doesn’t stop there. To reach the very top of Google’s SERPs, you need high-quality backlinks: think of them as bridges from other websites leading to your SaaS content.
Reach out to industry influencers, and guest bloggers on relevant platforms, and create content so valuable that others naturally want to link to it. Focus on quality over quantity – a few impactful backlinks are worth more than a swarm of irrelevant ones.
8. Measure and Analyze Performance
Launching a killer SaaS content strategy is thrilling, but without knowing its impact, you’re sailing blind. That’s where measuring and analyzing performance comes in.
First, define your key performance indicators (KPIs)- are you aiming for more website traffic, higher lead generation, or increased brand awareness? Align your KPIs with your overall marketing goals and choose the metrics that truly matter.
Then, dive into the data offered by analytics tools like Google Analytics. Track website traffic, analyze engagement metrics, and uncover which content resonates best with your audience.
But don’t get lost in a sea of numbers! Use analytics tools effectively: create custom dashboards, set up automated reports, and learn to interpret the data beyond basic metrics. Look for trends, identify gaps in your content strategy, and adjust your course based on what the data reveals.
Remember, insights are only valuable if acted upon, so use them to refine your content, target your audience more effectively, and watch your performance soar.
9. Iterate and Refine Your Content Strategy
A killer SaaS content strategy isn’t a static masterpiece. It requires constant polishing and improvement. That’s where iteration and refinement come in.
First, listen to the whispers of your audience by gathering feedback through surveys, social media interactions, and email analytics. What resonates? What leaves them scratching their heads?
Use this feedback to understand audience preferences and refine your content accordingly.
Finally, adapt to industry changes by staying abreast of evolving trends and technologies.
Flexibility in response to emerging industry dynamics ensures your SaaS content remains current and resonant, maintaining its effectiveness in engaging your audience and addressing their evolving needs.
10. Scale Your Content Strategy
To truly dominate the SaaS content space, you need to scale your strategy.
To achieve this, you need two potent tools: expanding content reach and repurposing for diverse platforms.
Leverage paid advertising platforms like Google Ads and social media ads to reach new audiences beyond your organic reach.
Partner with industry influencers or relevant publications for guest posts and cross-promotions.
Think beyond your website – explore guest appearances on podcasts or webinars to expand your reach and tap into new user pools.
But don’t treat each piece of content as a one-hit wonder. Repurpose it appropriately.
Turn blog posts into bite-sized social media snippets, create infographics from data-driven research, or condense insightful eBooks into video summaries.
Adapt the format and length to fit different platforms, maximizing the value of your existing content and reaching diverse audiences where they consume information.
Remember, scaling doesn’t mean weakening your content. Maintain your high-quality standards, tailor your approach to each platform, and track your efforts.
With strategic reach and clever repurposing, your SaaS content will soon reign supreme at the top of Google’s search results, attracting customers and conquering the market.
Conclusion
Thinking that having a great SaaS product or service is enough to conquer the market and drive more sales is deceiving yourself. Competition in the SaaS space is over the ceiling and many companies are coming up every day.
Without an effective SaaS content marketing strategy, you will struggle to reach more people and stand out from the crowd.
Remember that successful content marketing for SaaS companies involves focusing on your audience’s needs, and providing high-quality educational content that resonates.
Use this comprehensive blueprint to develop a killer content strategy for your SaaS company.
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This is a goldmine for SaaS marketers. Loved the emphasis on understanding the buyer journey and the value of educational content. Definitely sharing this with my team!
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