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Have you ever read a blog post from your favorite clothing store?
It might have detailed something like the reasons why having a nice winter coat is important. And, while it did not directly tell you to go buy a winter coat from them, you know they have winter coats, so you went and purchased one after reading their post.
You just demonstrated to them that their content marketing strategy was successful. By definition, content marketing involves the creation and sharing of online material that does not explicitly promote one brand but rather generates interest in the product or service of the brand. And, it plays a major role in several industries:
From fashion companies creating blog content full of style tips to skateboarding companies creating videos to show the pros using their product. But, as a SaaS company, an effective content marketing strategy is especially vital.
Why? Because:
The revenue might be subscription based. If so, the content is used to grab the customers’ attention, get them engaged and retain them. A lack of engagement can quickly lead to customer’s jumping ship to another competitor.
Inbound marketing is where the sales are at. Potential customers don’t want to just see a flashy landing page – show them your SaaS has some substance through videos and pictures to close the deal.
Content marketing is far less costly than outbound marketing. And, it can be engineered to educate your audience and sell your software at the same time. So, you are killing two birds with one stone, which is much more cost-effective, as well.
Even if a SaaS business is still in the pre-launch stages, a content marketing strategy should already be in the works to get ahead of the competition. Today, most SaaS companies are using content marketing, so the longer you wait to get started, the further behind in sales your product or service will fall.
These helpful tips might just kick start a SaaS content marketing strategy in the right direction:
Start by finding out who you are up against.
How can a company beat the competition if they do not even know what the competition looks like? Simple – they can’t. To effectively outdo someone, you need to know what you are working with. A SaaS business owner should start by assessing the competition and brainstorming how what they are doing could be improved, how they can demonstrate why they are better, and then use this information to develop a strategy that will work.
Tap into your customers’ desires and interests
Ultimately, the customers are who a SaaS business should be aiming to please. They are your revenue generation.You can survey customers to see what they might be interested in reading about or watching. Or, you could do some research on the common habits of your target audience to find out what should be most effective. It is all about tapping into the true desires and interests of your customers – sometimes, even before they do themselves.
Put some leg work into your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts
Not only does the content itself need to be good, it needs to be readily visible to clients in an online search. While an effective content marketing strategy does not require an SEO expert, there should be someone involved who can offer a basic understanding of the importance of “keywords” and other key items the search engines are looking for, such as engaging content and high-quality backlinks.
Promote the technical features and specifications
When it comes to the promotion of your product, if your product differentiates from and offers better features than competitors, use that to your advantage. That differentiation is the key point to the content in your content marketing strategy – it is like the gold. The key aspect that sets you apart from the competitors is your biggest selling point.
Determine the CMS to be used
Content management system, or CMS, just refers to the outlet for which the content will be put out for everyone to see. For example, blogs are commonly distributed on WordPress. There are several options for a CMS, just ensure it is easy to navigate, the content is easily viewed, it is a reputable site that visitors already frequent.
Make the content shareable
One of the biggest ways to gain new customers is through word-of-mouth…If Sally really loves the new software, she will share it with her entrepreneur friend, Jim, encouraging him to test it out. And, so forth. While this process often happens via word-of-mouth, it can also happen through other channels such as social media and the forwarding of an email.Ensure the content is high-quality and shareable (i.e. include a “share this” option at the bottom of the content). If a “share” option isn’t readily available, people simply won’t share it.
Promote, promote, promote – and use all outlets from social media to email
For each piece of content created, there should be a few social media posts to complement it. The outlet – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or even email – will depend solely on the targeted market.Social media posts make the content easily shareable, easily found, and can also be used to tag influencers, introducing the content to a new audience. You can also set up an email subscription so that the content is sent straight to your target audience’s inbox.
Final Thoughts
A good product or good software is nothing without marketing…
How can anyone purchase a product they know nothing about?
Quest Post: David Smith is a blogger and world traveler, with experience in China’s manufacturing industry as well as social media marketing in his hometown of Los Angeles, California.
