Nowadays, there are more and more SaaS (Software as a Service) companies. Agile practices have proven to be more than effective at delivering working products to consumers. But since there are so many SaaS companies, the competition has become more serious than ever.
This is precisely why SaaS companies need content marketing. The fact of the matter is that a lot of people don’t really know what SaaS really is or how such products differ from other solutions available on the market.
How can software even be delivered as a service? Helping people familiarize themselves with the concept is the key to success. That’s where content comes in.
You can’t just tell people what your product is or that it’s based on continuous improvement that will make it even better based on user feedback. However, the right content marketing strategy can paint the bigger picture seamlessly.
Since content marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies, it can do much more for SaaS companies than just help their target audience familiarize themselves with what SaaS is or what it means. That being said, here are a few reasons why content marketing is so important for SaaS.
1. Improve awareness
As mentioned before, a lot of consumers don’t really know what SaaS really is or what companies that develop such products/services actually do. That’s why it’s important for SaaS companies to establish an online presence and build awareness for both their brand and their products.
Content can make such an endeavor quite seamless. Here are a few things you can expect if you use content marketing for improving visibility and brand awareness.
· Improved organic traffic.
· More qualified leads.
· Improved brand recognition.
· Improved conversion rates.
· Higher customer lifetime value.
· Better SEO (Search Engine Optimization) rankings.
· Increased customer engagement.
Content can do all of that and more, provided you use it the right way. In other words, you must develop high-quality content that’s highly relevant to your target audience.
Furthermore, you must choose the right channels for publishing your content so that you can make sure it reaches a broader audience. Here are a few examples of marketing channels to consider.
· Create a blog.
· Start a YouTube channel for video marketing.
· Leverage social media platforms.
· Use email for lead nurturing.
· Combine SEO and PPC (Pay-Per-Click) strategies.
The type of content, its originality and freshness, as well where and how often you publish it can greatly impact your efforts. Different strategies will help you achieve different goals, which is why it’s important to develop and test such strategies.
2. Help your audience understand your product
Onboarding is essential for the success of SaaS products. Since this is a subscription-based model for products. Your customer must know what your product is and what it does. This is especially true if your product has numerous features that contribute to the product’s quality.
When a customer subscribes to a SaaS product, they’ll try it out for the first month and if they have to poke around on their own, you can be sure that they’ll most likely unsubscribe. The main reason is people don’t want to find out how your product works on your own.
However, if you help them along and educate them about how your product, as well as every individual feature works, it can be a completely different story. Once again, a series of well-placed content can be of great service in such situations.
For example, with the help of web design services, you can create an entire onboarding page on your website. This page will serve as a guide for new users. You can combine articles, videos, infographics and even provide new users with an eBook, which explains your product and its features in great detail.
This will help customers understand your product and how it works, which greatly increases their retention rates. You won’t have to worry about new customers bouncing off because they found your product to be a bit too confusing.
3. Lead magnets
Whether your SaaS product is a B2B or B2C solution, content marketing will help you acquire new leads. This is very important because the more active users your SaaS company has, the more profitable and successful it will be.
That’s why it’s important to acquire every lead you can get. A good way to do so is to leverage email marketing. Email is very effective at leading potential customers down your sales funnel.
Moreover, you can send out personalized and customized content to each individual lead so that you’ll encourage them to take the necessary action. You can acquire people’s contact information lie an email address in more ways than one.
In most cases, potential customers will sign up for your newsletter on your website, blog or social media pages. Using email, you can create lead magnet content that will help you encourage more potential customers to convert into paying customers. Here are a few examples.
· Offer a free eBook.
· Create promotional offers with discounts.
· Offer free trials.
· Provide free access to a webinar.
Offering something for free by using marketing automation crm will help you not just get more leads but also help you have more leads closer to conversion.. Getting leads to move further down your sales funnel is a lot less complicated when leads realize they’ll get something valuable in return.
4. Lead nurturing
Content marketing is a very powerful tool that can help SaaS companies achieve almost every business goal. That being said, content can help you establish a strong relationship with your audience at every step of their buyer’s journey. This is especially true when it comes to lead nurturing. As mentioned before, SaaS products are subscription-based.
Simply having a lot of users opting in for your products is not enough in the long run. You have to ensure that they remain your subscribers. This is why the customer journey begins way before they become actual customers and it doesn’t end once they do convert.
In other words, you have to be at every step of the buyer’s journey even post-purchase or in this case, post-subscription. Fortunately, there’s content you can use for every stem ranging from building awareness to nurturing customer relationships.
It’s an omnichannel approach that involves different content strategies. Showing inters in your customers even after they’ve subscribed to your product means that you’re willing to do what it takes to ensure they remain your customers for as long as possible.
After all, SaaS products are ongoing projects. There’s always something new to add or something to improve.
You can use content to inform and educate your customers about every update you introduce for your product. Think of it as an onboarding strategy that continues on indefinitely. That way, your customers will always remain informed about new features, fixes and patches.
5. Expand your business
Content marketing is a strategy that you never stop using. The main reason is that it can help you expand, grow and develop your business further. One content strategy creates new opportunities for another and so on and so forth.
You can constantly improve your marketing efforts to serve new purposes, just like you can do with your SaaS product. For example, you’ve used different content marketing strategies to acquire new customers and establish customer loyalty.
Now, loyal customers can help you get even more customers and thus help you expand your business. Satisfied customers provide positive reviews and testimonials. This type of user-generated content (UGC) can help you create new strategies.
Word-of-mouth is far more effective than many business owners realize. Moreover, loyal customers provide more valuable feedback that can help you create even more effective content. This can help you move your business in the direction you deem fit. Here are a few examples.
· Developing new product features.
· Creating market penetrations strategies.
· Expanding internationally.
· Targeting niche markets with new products.
By developing a specific content marketing strategy, you can ensure that your SaaS business keeps moving forward. Content marketing complements other marketing strategies and improves their effectiveness. That’s why you cannot disregard content’s true value.
Closing Words
Content marketing for SaaS companies and products is of vital importance. It can not only promote your business the right way but it can also help your audience understand what your product is all about. This is crucial for encouraging people to use your product, in the first place.
Since you’re not selling your product in a conventional way, it’s also essential that you retain your customers. This is another task that content marketing can assist you with.
That’s why every SaaS company needs to strongly consider developing different content marketing strategies that will help them achieve their business goals.
In today’s digital world, you can’t hope to get very far without leveraging the full potential of content marketing. After all, online consumers expect and demand that you provide them with content, to begin with.
