Content marketing is a valuable tool for SaaS companies to increase brand awareness, gain authority, educate their audience and drive organic traffic to their websites. According to HubSpot,82% of tradersactively use content marketing.
SaaS products are not physical, so bringing them to market can be more difficult. Using a SaaS content strategy, you can educate potential customers about your product and how it solves their problems and what your value proposition is. You can also encourage potential customers to book demos or sign up for free trials to test your product.
With the right mix of content strategies for your niche, you can create thought leadership and brand bias in a highly competitive market$145.5 billionSaaS market.
Here are 22 types of content assets and channels your SaaS business should consider.
1. Product oriented messages
Product-oriented messaging solves customer problems and shows how your product can solve their problems. They usually focus on keywords that describe the category of your product or solution that your potential customers are likely to be searching for.
Why use product-based communication?
- It shows the audience how to use your product, especially if it has many features and serves different industries.
- It generates more qualified leads who sign up for free trials or book demos after reading your post.
- It reduces user turnover by giving potential customers the confidence to use your product even before they sign up.
- It positions your product as the best solution to your customers' problems.
- Remembers your product when potential customers are ready to buy.
Ahrefs, the leading SEO software package, does a great job of creating product-based posts. For example, see it in detailkeyword research guidewhere Ahrefs seamlessly combines its tools such as Site Explorer, Content Gap and Keywords Explorer.
In the lastthread on TwitterTim Soulo, Chief Marketing Officer at Ahrefs, shared how promoting their products in articles helped them generate ROI.
2. "Competitive Alternatives" Posts.
"The Alternatives [Your Biggest Competitor]" posts are an ideal content strategy for SaaS companies, as potential customers use these terms when evaluating various SaaS products. They compare your product to one or more of your top competitors.
Messages like this highlight the features and benefits your ideal customer is looking for and show how your product is better than the competition. Instead of intimidating the competition, emphasize your superiority in terms of price, customer service or ease of use.
Since their search intent is to increase conversions, they are considered middle or bottom of the funnel content.
Why Use "Competitive Alternatives" Posts?
- They help smaller or lesser-known tools position themselves against big brands.
- They can help you outrank your competition by targeting branded keywords.
Moosend, an e-marketing and marketing automation platform, publishes many of these alternative messagesPublish with MailChimp alternatives:
It is positioned at the top of the post as a viable alternative to MailChimp for customers who find MailChimp too expensive. Moosend claims to be 49% cheaper than MailChimp for the same features.
3. How to post
"How To" posts appear in the SERPs when your potential customers are looking for a way to perform a function that your product can help them with. Pay attention to your target customer's problems and create a series of how-to posts with practical advice.
There are two approaches to identifying strong topics to post about:
- Identify frequently asked customer questions - chat with customer service teams, search for support requests or track site searches in Google Analytics.
- Research the keywords used in your niche
There are two types of how-to posts: a collection of tips or step-by-step instructions.
Generally, each step is subtitled so readers can read the article before diving in. Also include images, screenshots, videos and examples to illustrate each step.
Why Use Tutorial Posts?
- They build your knowledge and expertise in a specific niche.
- They create organic backlinks and increase conversion.
- They improve website performance by generating more organic traffic.
Check out how Crazy Egg, clickmapping software, created a "how tos" post.How to interpret and use clickmaps to improve your website's UX:
The post includes click maps for potential customers unfamiliar with the topic and includes using Crazy Eggs to determine user click behavior.
4. View the message list
Letter messages have a high perceived value to the reader. They like these messages because they break the information down into digestible chunks and make it easier to understand. Search engines also tend to reward list-type posts, which is why this is the most common form of SaaS content at the top of the funnel.
They are also easier to create than other types of SaaS content, such as surveys or charts, because they require fewer resources and time. They are effective at building backlinks, provided they are created with the needs of the audience in mind. This means that an extensive list is not necessarily as useful as a smaller collection categorized by valuable criteria such as cost or capability.
Why use mailing lists?
- Their structure makes them scannable and therefore useful for busy readers browsing your content to extract value.
- They are very easy to share, memorable and generate backlinks.
check this outList of Calendly postswhere they summarize the top 20 lead generation software. They follow this basic structure: introducing the software, describing the best features, explaining prices and designs.
Notice that they take the opportunity to position themselves at the top of the list and justify why they are better than their competitors. It is a great way to position your product so potential customers can easily find you and understand your USP.
5. "What's this" messages.
"What" posts, also known as insight posts, are in-depth posts of at least 3,000 words intended to serve as a source of information on a specific topic. They establish your brand authority and help you rank for your chosen keywords.
The "What's About" posts are full of screenshots, images, examples, and helpful tips. The idea is to provide readers with real value, such as lessons from a business experiment or insights from an expert interview or a first-hand case study.
Why use "what's this" messages?
- They are very willing to share through social media.
- They generate organic backlinks.
- They position your brand as an authority in the industry.
Close's blog has many sales posts like this one:What is sales tracking? 5 steps to sales tracking + templates and tools.
The table of contents gives readers an overview of what to expect from the post. It also includes downloadable templates and a brief description of Close CRM in the Tools section before ending with a call to action to encourage readers to try Close.
6. Checklists and cheat sheets
Checklists and cheat sheets are intended as quick references to specific tasks that your customers perform on a regular basis. They are highly sought after resources and drive organic traffic to your website.
Checklists are the perfect content type for lead magnets like content updates. Most companies offer downloadable versions of checklists and cheat sheets in exchange for contact information.
Why use checklists and cheat sheets?
- They facilitate the smaller, tactical aspects of a larger strategy.
- They generate organic backlinks and work well as lead magnets.
Moz offers a variety of checklists and cheat sheets for various aspects of SEO, such asTen:
I toSEO Cheat Sheet for Web Developers:
7. Research/statistical positions
Statistical collections are an essential part of a SaaS content strategy. They are relatively easy to put together because of the many reports and studies available in the SaaS industry. Accordingmeans of work, digest posts are the most effective type of content for generating results.
They are great link building resources as bloggers are always looking for up to date statistics to reference in their blog posts. To be useful, statistical compilations should not contain data from sources more than two to three years old.
Research posts present data in a visually appealing way with charts, graphs, tables, images and charts using a narrative approach. They talk not only about the analysis of the results, but also about the questions and the methodology used.
Why use posts and polls for analytics?
- They contain many common elements such as graphs, charts and drawings.
- People link to such posts to validate their own content or to support their claims.
- They build brand authority.
GUnbounce Conversion Benchmark Report 2021is an example of a research post from Unbounce, a conversion analytics platform that provides actionable insights on optimizing landing pages to increase conversions across all industries.
Vidyard, a video hosting and creation platform, publishes extensivelyMarketing and sales video statistics collect news. Every statistic is linked back to its original source.
8. Glossary pages
Glossary pages are indexes of commonly used terms related to your SaaS product, such as the MailChimp marketing glossary or the BigCommerce e-commerce glossary.
Each term is given a simple and clear definition with a short description. Some SaaS companies includeleft for more floorsInformation.
Why Use Glossary Pages?
- It is a great opportunity to build backlinks.
- They clear up confusing terminology for beginners.
- They indirectly promote the features and benefits of the product.
Here isMailChimp Marketing Liststhat uses text comments and images to engage readers:
9. Pillar cluster content strategy
The pillar-based content strategy was created by HubSpot after a series of major updates to the Google algorithm. As search engines get better at understanding semantics, ranking individual pages for specific keywords becomes wasted effort. Instead, organize your content ideas around a few main themes or “pillars”. These are the topics you want to rank for in the SERPs.
How to develop a pillar-based content strategy:
- Identify your thematic centers or "pillars".
- Research and brainstorm for each 'pillar'.
- Schedule separate pages (cluster pages) for each subtopic.
- Each cluster page links back to a pillar page and signals that it is the main topic.
- The pillar page links to each cluster page to provide detailed information on each subtopic.
Why use a pillar cluster approach?
- It creates a clear and well-connected content structure for your website. Search engines can better index your website and rank relevant pages higher in SERPs.
- It helps to more quickly build up-to-date authority on key concepts in the industry.
- It provides a better user experience by making the website easier to navigate.
- It allows you to create content at the top and bottom of the funnel for each pillar, engaging prospects at different stages of the buyer's journey.
OptinMonsteremail marketing guideis a great example of a pillar page that covers all aspects of email marketing and also promotes the product as the best solution for potential customers looking for email popup and conversion.
10. Creative infographics
Charts are ideal for SaaS content marketing because they can easily convey complex messages through data visualization. They can exist as standalone pieces of content on your blog or serve to break up the monotony of your blog posts.
You can easily turn the content of your surveys or statistical collections into creative, visually appealing infographics to get the most out of your data. Tools like Piktochart, Canva, Visme or Venngage make it easy to create charts.
Why Use Charts?
- They areSEO friendlyand easy to share on social media.
- They are cost-effective and do not consume too many resources.
- Because they are visually appealing, they generate more engagement than other types of content.
Charts can also be used as lead magnets, e.gLater(visual marketing platform) did:
11. Assets that can be combined
Contains 94% of all content itemsnul external linksbecause they offer no value and have nothing worth associating with. Backlinks are important in SaaS content marketing as they play a vital role in content performance in SERPs.
Linkable assets are high-quality, in-depth content created with the express purpose of attracting links from trusted sites on the same niche or social network site. They contain information that people find worth sharing.
Examples of effective elements that can be combined include free tools, trend posts, research and analysis, link posts, guides, statistical reviews and case studies.
Why use combinable resources?
- They generate organic traffic and build backlinks from reputable websites.
- They're easy to share and spark valuable conversations with your audience.
- They increase conversions by giving visitors a taste of your product.
Venngage, an online infographic design tool, creates linkable elements that are directly related to your product and of immediate value to your customers.
12. Competitor vs. company - head to head
Posts that compare your product to competitor products help potential customers make an informed purchase decision. They evaluate your product against one or more competitors on topics such as features, capabilities, and pricing. You can also compare products that target a specific type of user or specific use cases.
When you create a [your product] post and a [competitor] post, you can rank for those brand-related keywords and position your brand to potential customers. You also steal the competition's attention (even if you mention it) by highlighting your main strengths.
Why Use Comparable Posts?
- They give you the opportunity to highlight your product's key offerings that your competitors may not have.
- Their purpose is to change the minds of potential buyers at the consideration stage.
Trello compares itself to competitors Asana and Monday to convince readers why it's a better work management solution for enterprise teams inten post:
13. Webinary
Webinars are usually live training sessions where you teach your participants something valuable. Some SaaS companies create pre-recorded webinars that potential customers can access regardless of time zones, but live companies gain more engagement with the ability to ask and answer questions.
They are useful if you want to sell with a one-to-many approach, your product is relatively self-serve, or your sales volume is low.
Why use webinars?
- You can demonstrate your knowledge and experience in your position.
- You can convince potential customers of the value of your product.
Webinars require a larger investment of time than other content strategies. You need to write content, create slides, and use webinar hosting tools like WebinarJam, GoToWebinar, or Zoho Meeting. However, they can be reused in webinar preview blog posts to get more value from your content.
Zendesk has an extensive collectionwebinaria, both live and on-demand, on customer service and customer engagement:
14. Podcasts
Podcasts are gaining popularity as a form of SaaS audio content marketing. According to SEMRush,60% of listenerswas looking for a product after hearing about it on a podcast.
They can easily be reused in blog posts, transcribed content, sent as part of newsletters or posted as audiograms (created with Descript) on social media.
The beauty of podcasting is that you can get leads for up to an hour, which is impossible with other types of SaaS content. A caveat here: a podcast that consists entirely of product promotion will not succeed. You need to share something that adds value to your audience.
Why use Podcasts?
- They are easy to prepare and produce. All you need is a good microphone and podcasting software like Ringr, Squadcast or Pro Tools.
- Aside from the initial investment in installation, they don't cost much to run.
- People listen to podcasts while doing other tasks that require less focus. So they engage with podcasts longer.
Intercom collectionpodcastsfocused on business strategy and scaling, provide deep and unique business insights.
Rarely longer than 35 minutes, these podcasts feature in-depth interviews with industry experts on topics such as leadership, cybersecurity, data analytics, and productivity.
15. Lead Magnets/Exclusive newsletters for members only
Lead magnets, also known as custom content, are offered in exchange for a visitor's email address, which helps build a professional mailing list. The CTA is placed at the bottom of the main magnet landing page to encourage visitors to download it. The key is to give people enough opportunities to take the desired action.
Email newsletters are sent to subscribers who have opted in to receive exclusive content from you. They should not only be sales or product oriented, but should provide value in the form of blog posts, contest alerts, tutorials, tips or business information.
Why Use Lead Magnets/Subscriber Only Content?
- They help cultivate qualified leads.
- They build trust and brand authority.
- They will help you grow your email list.
Buffer, a social media management platform, sharesnewslettersfilled with useful marketing tips and we rarely talk about product updates.
16. Expert knowledge
Interviews with industry experts can provide deep insights that cannot be found anywhere else. Make an appointment with a founder in your position, rewrite it and state your main points in a blog post.
The effort put into collecting such pieces of content is rewarded by the fact that the founders likely refer to a post on your site giving you backlinks. They can also promote your post on social media and generate more exposure and traffic to your website.
Check out this merging Databox articleinformation from 25 expertson popular pages in Google Analytics:
17. Micro Course Academy
Many SaaS companies not only talk about their benefits and capabilities, but also educate their potential customers with short courses at a learning center or academy. It's a surefire way to keep up with your audience.
Brand shareable certification courses use social media word of mouth to increase brand awareness, authority and conversion.
Why Use Short Courses?
- It informs potential customers about your product, especially if it is complex.
- It increases brand awareness and puts you as an authority in your position.
- Certification badges are easy to share and encourage conversations about your brand.
HubSpot Academycontains a number of free marketing, sales and service courses and certificates.
18. Case study
Selling SaaS products can be difficult, especially to potential customers who don't know the value you can add to their business. Case studies are detailed analyzes of how your product or service helped a customer achieve their goals.
They provide an overview of how the customer used your product or service in their business and achieved the desired results. They are made in such a way that customers can easily deal with them and understand the main points.
Case studies should focus on your ideal customer and include real numbers and statistics. You need your client's cooperation to write a good case study, so highlight the benefits for them, i.e. exposure through your blog, newsletter or social media.
Why use case studies?
- They promote the value of your product or service.
- They improve the image of your product or service and improve your credibility.
- They can be reused, are highly recognizable and get more conversions.
Case studies have the following basic structure: introduce the customer, explain the challenges the customer faces, talk about the solution provided by your product or service, and list the results achieved. The piece shouldn't sound like promotional material in any way - it's better to be honest about the mistakes you made and explain how you fixed them.
Case studies usually end with a customer success statement.
Groove, a sales engagement platform, features a collection of visually appealing and engagingcase study. The text is divided into useful subheadings - Problem, Solution, Results and Conclusion - with illustrations and drawings for easy understanding.
19. Detailed instructions
Guides are large, comprehensive content that covers a topic and provides readers with helpful tips. They present the problem, propose solutions, give practical and detailed steps on how to implement the solutions, and end with a summary of the results.
It's a way to convey your knowledge and experience to customers in a more detailed way than blog posts. Great content also creates an average77.2% more linksrather than short articles.
Guides are 5,000 to 6,000 words and include lots of pictures, graphs, charts, or graphs to engage the reader. They are well researched, well edited and of great value to the reader.
Why use step-by-step instructions?
- They build your authority on the subject.
- They generate organic traffic to your website using strategic keywords and SEO elements.
- They encourage backlinks and increase conversions.
Focus on effective keywords for your domain and develop topics around them that will grow into detailed guides. This will help the guides rank higher in the SERPs.
GetResponse, an email marketing and automation platform, is detailed and impressiveresource libraryconsisting of 68 downloadable guides. Topics range from email marketing and marketing automation to lead generation and e-commerce. Some SaaS companies, like this one, close their directories and use them as a primary magnet to grow their email lists.
The guides are well laid out with a table of contents and a short summary at the beginning and make generous use of bullet points and spaces. Videos, images, tables, charts and graphs break down the text and make it easier to understand.
20. Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing in the SaaS space is complex because a product can have a wide audience. The challenge then becomes finding the right influencers to work with.
Sprout Social defines Influencer Marketingas "a form of social media marketing that uses recommendations and product listings from influencers, i.e. people who have a dedicated following on social media and are considered experts in their niche."
Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat have their own influencers who have large followings across demographics.
Here are the general steps for creating an influencer marketing strategy:
- Do some research with social media tools like BuzzSumo to find the right influencers based on your criteria.
- Create a budget and management strategy. Consider using an influencer marketing agency.
- Define the goals you want to achieve - usually these are increased sales and brand awareness.
- Plan your range of influences.
- Review and refine your strategy.
Why should you use Influencer Marketing?
- Thanks to the "halo effect", your brand immediately gains credibility. Since your target audience already values the influencer's opinion, they extend that goodwill to your brand.
- It drives conversions and leads to greater ROI.
- Influencer recommendations are more authentic than ad copy, helping to create real connections with your audience.
- It allows for better targeting of recipients, provided the right influencers are selected.
Canva, an online design tool,teamed up with marketing guru Guy Kawasakito increase brand awareness and traction. Kawasaki used Canva to create some of their graphics, which led the company to contact him. Today, Kawasaki is a brand evangelist at Canva.
21. Gastposten on thought leadership
Thought leadership guest posts are useful for social media sharing and discovery. They help gain trust, build credibility and increase product exposure.80% comes from top managementsaid thought leadership increased their trust in the company, and 41% said such messages encouraged them to work with the company.
High performance thought leadership content is authoritative and challenging, but has a human tone. They are best suited to potential customers who are still looking for ways to solve their problems.
Leadership positions can take many forms: sharing knowledge on controversial topics, predicting trends people can expect, or insightful information on specifictrends in the SaaS space. They help create strong bonds with potential customers that lead to increased sales and brand affinity.
Why Use Thought Leadership Guest Posts?
- They help build a solid backlink profile.
- They show your brand voice to a new audience.
- They can also generate more conversions.
Here is an example of onethought leadershipfrom Talkdesk, customer support software:
22. Electronic books and official documents
Ebooks and white papers are a combination of written and visual content on a specific topic in a visually appealing format. They are great lead magnets because they have in-depth content and offer great value. Therefore, they are implemented in a timely mannerMarketing SaaSas sales support.
Why should you use e-books and white papers?
- They capture leads at the top of the sales funnel for leads that aren't ready to convert, but for whom you want your product to be most important.
- They educate potential customers about your product or service as they travel through the funnel until they are ready to buy (for SaaS companies with longer sales cycles).
- They are useful for selling to business customers by creating a customized version with more details.
eBooks and white papers are attractively designed to make them easy to read and understand.
HubSpot has written a broad collection of thorough, well-researched, and engaginge-bookson various topics like branding, advertising, email marketing, inbound marketing strategy, mobile marketing, video marketing and so on.
Application
Michael Roberts, Head of Marketing Automation at CloudAppsays: “Content builds a brand. A brand leads to trust. Trust cuts through the hype when potential customers are about to buy.”
Prioritize the right type of content for your SaaS business and create a content strategy that will drive traffic to your website, build your email list, and ultimately grow paying customers.
Image Sources -HubSpot Blog,Science Center G2
of the author
Pratik Dholakia
Pratik Dholakiya is the founder of Growfusely, a SaaS content marketing company specializing in content and data-driven SEO.
FAQs
What are the channels for SaaS? ›
In SaaS, distribution channels refer to who sells the product to the customer and what method they use. There are a few commonly used SaaS distribution channels, including inbound and outbound sales forces, eCommerce self-service, and third-party app stores.
How do you create a SaaS content strategy? ›- Define Your Target Audience.
- Identify Pain Points.
- Identify Keywords.
- Define Your Campaign Goals and Metrics.
- Create Your Content Production Procedures.
- Outline Your Distribution Strategy.
- Monitor Your Results and Make Adjustments.
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.
Can you describe two effective marketing strategies for a SaaS business? ›An effective Saas marketing strategy uses organic and paid search to reach your target audience. Paid search helps you attract qualified leads, while organic search drives traffic to your website. Choose highly competitive keywords relevant to your business.
What are the 2 main varieties of SaaS? ›There are two ways of describing the different types of SaaS. Horizontal SaaS refers to applications that are broadly applicable across many industries or organizations and Vertical SaaS Solutions are more specialized and focused on one specific industry or organization type.
Why is content marketing important for SaaS? ›When it comes to growing your SaaS business organically, content marketing is everything. It establishes you as a thought leader and boosts sales by attracting people interested in your services. This ten-step guide will help you squeeze every last drop from your content and put your business in pole position.
How to do marketing of a SaaS product? ›- Embrace SaaS Content Marketing.
- Offer Free SaaS Trials.
- B2B SaaS SEO Strategy.
- SaaS PPC Campaigns.
- Leverage SaaS Review Sites.
- Incentivize Referrals.
- Make SaaS Sign-Ups Easy.
- Refine Call To Action.
Final Thoughts On The Advantages Of SaaS Content Marketing
It helps you establish yourself as a thought leader, connect with your target audience, and drive results throughout the buyer's journey. It's also a cost-effective marketing strategy that can be easily outsourced and scaled to grow your business.
A good SaaS marketing team structure should have dedicated teams and managers for each channel. For example, if you want to focus on growth, then you need a growth marketing team and manager. Or if you want to focus on content, then a content marketing team and content manager are necessary.
What is SaaS and examples? ›SaaS uses the Internet to deliver subscription software services, which are managed by a third-party vendor. Well-known SaaS examples include Dropbox, Google Workspace, and Salesforce. Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offers access to resources such as servers, storage, memory, and other services.
What are SaaS marketing metrics? ›
SaaS (software as a service) metrics are benchmarks brands use to check and track performance and growth. They allow companies to gauge their success, plan for the future, and make adjustments to strategy when needed.
How many SaaS platforms are there? ›SaaS Company Stats 2023 (Top Picks)
There are currently approximately 30,000 SaaS companies. Globally, there are about 14 billion SaaS customers. The US has the largest proportion of SaaS companies (around 60%).
Every expense that you have falls into a different category or “label.” Expense categories include the cost of revenue, research and development (R&D), sales and marketing, or general and administration costs.
What is SaaS channel sales? ›Channel sales for SaaS typically involve a third-party organization that will use its marketing and sales teams to sell on your behalf for a commission on each sale. In some cases, they may even bundle your product with their own to provide higher value to their own customers.
What are the different modes of SaaS? ›There are two modes of SaaS, which are as follows: Simple multi-tenancy model – in this one, each user has their own resources that are not shared with the other users. Fine-grain multi-tenancy – in this one, the functionality is the same but the resources are shared by many users.