Your website can be accessed by users at various stages of their buyer journey. Some have already compared your product with others, while others don’t yet know that your tool can solve their problems.
No matter their stage, the right content can help you drive user registrations and sales. How do you go about it?
This article will provide information on creating high-converting content for various stages of a SaaS funnel. We also show you successful examples to help you.
SaaS businesses are what we are focusing on. They are not like eCommerce or a typical B2B business. Let’s start by looking at how.
What makes SaaS Content Marketing different?
Over the last few years, lead generation for SaaS has changed significantly.
B2B companies offer free resources (ebooks and newsletters) to those who provide an email address.
It works for SaaS businesses, but is it worth the effort?
It is important to create free content for SaaS businesses to help them reach their key SaaS goals. To help you get more sign ups, content must communicate the benefits of your product to users.
Zapier shows how their tool makes integrations simpler and aims to be related to the content in their articles. You can even sign up for a trial by using different call-to-actions.
CTA buttons are a great way of getting users to sign up for a trial. However, it is important to keep in mind that user acquisition is just one aspect of a SaaS company.
Imagine that B2B businesses use content marketing to acquire customers, and then to retain them.
Content is essential for SaaS businesses at every stage of the funnel, including onboarding. Omer Usanmaz is the CEO & Cofounder of Qooper Mentoring & Learning Software.
Let’s be clear: SaaS products can be complex, so you need to be creative in explaining their value to users before they register for a trial or purchase your product. This is not the same thing as explaining the benefits of a coffeemaker!
This means you will need to address various uses cases for your software and then weave your tool into the story.
You will see the difference in reporting when evaluating your content creation and distribution efforts. These metrics are not used often by other businesses, such as enterprise B2B firms.
How to Create a SaaS Content Marketing Funnel
You must tailor your content to the sales funnel stages in order to create the best content marketing strategy. Let’s look at some examples and compare the differences.
Top of the Funnel Content SaaS
Your top of the funnel content is not intended to be used for purchasing tools. They also often type queries without a transactional intent.
SaaS companies tend to prioritize top-of-the-funnel content in their content calendars. It would take time to nurture leads until they convert, and who has the time when it is your top priority to generate sales as quickly as possible?
SaaS companies often fail to provide top-of-funnel content because they lack a strategy that can bridge the gap between educating customers, and presenting product value.
You must do this in order to make your top-of-funnel content successful. Even though your audience may not be ready to convert into paying customers, it is possible to raise awareness and create user registrations.
Miro demonstrates how they are able to do this by using their product as an example.
You can use listsicles, articles, and even how-to pieces to cover the top content of your funnel. It’s up to you to think creatively about how to use it to promote your product.
You don’t need to be too promotional. Just use your product reference as a natural example of the case you are highlighting in your content. Add a persuasive CTA that conveys value to a customer, and voilà ! Your top of the funnel content has generated product registrations as well as sales.
Middle of the Funnel Content SaaS
Users are looking for solutions at this point. Users should be able to identify their problems and concerns. This is the time for you to give them options.
Start by defining the use cases and keywords that users search for in Google. These are some examples of use cases you might come up with if you want to promote a project management tool. Let’s take Monday.com as an example. 
Here are some examples of possible uses:
- Project management
- Content calendar
- Event management
- product launches
- Strategic planning
This list could go on. It can grow if you write more case articles about the industry. These are just a few of the many options available.
- Project management for sales
- Marketing project management
- strategic planning for developers
You can create different content types for the funnel stage. For example, how-to videos and articles. You could refer to the previous example using a project management tool to create this topic: “How to Create Content Calendar in 7 Steps”.
Templates is another way to approach MOFU content. There are more than 120K queries that contain the phrase invoice templates. How can you increase user interest and create demand for the keyword through more registrations?
InvoiceOcean, for example, offers invoice templates in various formats on its landing page. It also offers an alternative — an automated system to issue invoices, instead of the manual one. These templates can be used to help avoid problems with late or missed payments.
You can also use checklists in place of templates and case articles. Hypercontext uses checklists to generate registrations. It prepares ready-to-use lists that can be used immediately — without the need for registration.
Registering is the next step if you wish to save information about your progress and keep data.
Bottom Funnel Content
You are targeting people who are actively comparing services and are ready to buy.
These phrases are what people type in Google when they look at the options.
- Alternatives to [software]
- [software 1] vs. [software 2]
- [Software] Reviews
- best/top [software]
They can use the content found online to help them better weigh their options and make the right choice.
They often end up looking at review sites, comparison pages, listicles, and articles from independent bloggers after they have completed their search. These are the results of your search for the best email client.
Let’s take a look at the most important content types at this stage.
You can create comparison listsicles for users searching for keywords like “best”, top, or “most popular” [software].
You can see several tools for onboarding in this example. They aren’t all competitors to the site where the article was published.
Listicles with the most useful tools can be a great way to drive high-value traffic that will eventually convert into paying customers. What else are you able to do?
You can also ask your users to type [your program] vs. the of your competitor , or [competitor] alternative.
You can use this to create an article or landing page that compares your tool with your competitor.
You’re already thinking, but is it legal? If you’re objective, it is possible. It is important to select a set criteria to compare tools, and to present truthful and objective information. You can’t be too proud of your tool or critical about the competitors.
How to set up a content production & promotion workflow (+Tips).
Now you are able to start writing your content strategy. Planning is only one step towards success. You must ensure that your content production process works.
These are some suggestions to help you implement your strategy.
- Prioritize better – Once you have a list, choose which content stages to focus on first. It is a good idea to begin with content that converts better — the bottom and middle content of the funnel before moving on to the top topics.
- Conduct a thorough research – identify the primary and secondary keywords for each article. Also, assess top 5-10 competitors who rank for your core keyword online. Use keyword research software and other SEO software to do this.
- Set a timeframe – set deadlines for each article’s promotion and production. Each stage should have a deadline. To avoid any delays, reserve some buffer for each stage.
- Create content briefs – clearly define each article’s scope. Use the primary and secondary keywords you selected during your research phase. You can either add an outline to your article, or leave it up to a content writer.
- Define roles and coordinate the work of your team. This includes creating tasks and a description of each team member involved in content promotion and distribution. This process can be made much easier by a marketing resource management tool.
- Keeping a content production staff in-house can prove costly. Sometimes freelancers and content agencies work with the best writers. You might consider looking for associate writers, or a content producer partner to help you out instead of doing it all in-house.
- Focus on visual content – Not only should you focus on writing content, but also visual content. To improve your content quality, create quality images and GIFs. Online image editing software can be used to reduce time and increase productivity.
Summary
A SaaS company must create a content strategy that meets the needs of all users at different stages of the sales funnel.
SaaS companies make the most of their content writing by sounding too sales-oriented or not mentioning their product. Instead, they present it as a solution for user problems.
This article should help you set the right direction for creating content that converts, not just to grow your email list. Now it’s time for you to break down this strategy into smaller steps, and then implement it!
Scoop.it Blog published the article How to Create a SaaS Content Marketing Strategy that Converts.
Did you miss our previous article…
https://onlinemarketingagencies.net/?p=5366
Leave a Reply