These days, content marketing plays a massive role in your business. If you don’t have a solid online presence, there’s a chance your business won’t perform well and be invisible in the eyes of the market. Effective content marketing requires a systematic approach that starts with understanding your business goals, then works backwards to determine the content inputs needed to achieve those outcomes. This strategic framework ensures your content efforts directly contribute to revenue growth rather than just vanity metrics like page views.

As technology continues to advance and reach new heights, many things have transitioned to the online world. Brick-and-mortar stores are an excellent example of this phenomenon. Today, we can easily find our favorite brick-and-mortar stores on the Internet with a simple Google search. For SaaS companies, this digital shift means your content marketing strategy should focus heavily on search engine optimization, as most potential customers will discover you through Google searches rather than browsing your website directly. This requires creating content for each stage of the customer journey, from awareness to consideration to decision-making.

Gone are the days where traditional marketing used to dominate the streets. The era of digital marketing is now, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. This is why it’s vital for every business, especially SaaS companies, to invest time and effort into content marketing to reach their target audience further and increase their conversion rates. However, content marketing success requires more than just publishing blog posts. You need a comprehensive distribution strategy that leverages multiple channels including social media, email marketing, guest posting, and online communities to amplify your content’s reach and impact.

With effective content marketing, SaaS companies can boost their online presence and get the results they’re seeking. The key is understanding that content marketing is not just about writing blog posts, but about creating a systematic approach that includes customer research, strategic planning, content creation, distribution, and measurement. In this article, we’re going to dive into seven SaaS content marketing tips to help your business grow online.

This is a guest submission by Ebnu Sudarso , cofounder of Milkwhale.

1. Get to know your users.

Your users make the most of your company, so it’s essential to know them to the hilt. Before you start content marketing, you have to understand your audience and users, such as their pain points, what they’d like to see from you, and what kind of content they find valuable. Start by analyzing your highest lifetime value (LTV) customers to understand who resonates most with your product. These users typically represent your ideal customer profile and should guide your content strategy decisions.

One way to get to know them is by doing thorough research and understanding your demographics. With tools such as Google Analytics and observing your site’s traffic, you can quickly know your audience’s age group, gender, and behavior, which gives you a rough idea of who they are. Beyond demographics, create detailed customer profiles that include their role, industry, where they consume content, and specific use cases for your product. For example, you might have “Marketing Agency Founder” who uses Google and YouTube for learning, or “Recruiting Manager” who primarily uses LinkedIn for professional content.

If you want to go the extra mile, try looking at your company’s reviews or even ask existing customers for feedback. Additionally, analyze customer support tickets to understand common pain points and questions. Set up interviews with your highest-value customers to gain deeper insights into their challenges, goals, and content consumption habits. This qualitative research will help you create more targeted and relevant content that resonates with your ideal customer profile.

Once you understand who your users are, it’s worth putting time into developing user segmentation strategy. Create detailed customer profiles for each segment, giving them names and specific characteristics. For example, you might have “Sarah the Marketing Manager” who consumes content on LinkedIn and Google, or “David the Sales Director” who prefers video content and industry reports. These personas will guide your content creation decisions and help ensure you’re addressing the specific needs of each audience segment.

2. Identify your content marketing goals.

Once you have a clear idea of who you like to market your content to, it’s time to figure out your content marketing goals. Start by aligning your content goals with your business revenue objectives. For example, if your goal is to increase visitors to your site, you’d need to focus on building your blog by creating interesting content. However, consider setting specific, measurable goals like “drive 500 signups from SEO” rather than vague metrics like “increase traffic.” This approach helps you work backwards to determine the specific content inputs needed to achieve your business outcomes.

Goals can vary depending on what you are aiming for. Another example would be if you’re trying to increase your newsletter sign-ups, it’s best to work on a lead magnet that’ll prompt more visitors to download your content. When setting content marketing goals, ensure they align with your overall business objectives and are measurable. Instead of vague goals like “increase brand awareness,” set specific targets like “generate 100 qualified leads per month from content marketing” or “achieve 50% of new signups from organic search traffic.”

3. Build an email list.

An email list is often overlooked, but it’s an effective way to build an audience and keep your users on their toes. One of the most important assets is your list of potential prospects. It’s a great way to stay in touch with those leads and offer your latest content. To build your email list effectively, create valuable lead magnets like free courses, templates, or resource hubs that provide immediate value to your target audience. Gate these resources behind email signup forms to capture qualified leads who are genuinely interested in your expertise.

Algorithms change all the time, and sometimes your content won’t appear on search results like it used to. Having an email list ensures that your content will reach the target audience you have carefully collected and nurtured over the years. Beyond just collecting emails, develop a systematic email marketing strategy that delivers your content to subscribers based on their interests and stage in the customer journey. Use email automation to nurture leads with relevant content that gradually builds trust and demonstrates your expertise.

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4. Consider guest posting.

Guest posting is a great way to reach new audiences. Guesting isn’t just limited to writing. You can do everything from writing guest posts to doing podcasts or even appearing in expert roundups—the options are endless. When guest posting, focus on platforms where your target audience already consumes content. This strategy not only drives traffic but also builds valuable backlinks that improve your domain authority and search engine rankings. Consider creating a systematic outreach process to identify and pitch relevant publications in your industry.

Appearing on the right blog, podcast, or expert roundup can introduce you to a whole new audience and a market full of potential clients who haven’t heard of you before. If you get the opportunity to guest post, make the most of it and increase engagement on these posts to grow your audience. Develop a systematic approach to guest posting by identifying publications where your target audience already consumes content. Create a outreach process that includes personalized pitches, high-quality content proposals, and follow-up strategies to build long-term relationships with editors and podcast hosts.

5. Gift visitors with valuable resources.

Are you looking to increase your visitors? Creating resources your visitors can download for free is a great way to retain traffic and gain more visitors. Sometimes a little gift is all it takes to bring in some traffic to your site. The key is creating resources that serve as bridges between your content and your product signup. Instead of asking blog readers to immediately sign up for your SaaS, offer them a free course, template, or tool that provides immediate value while demonstrating your expertise.

You could also gain subscribers by providing them with a valuable lead magnet. A lot of sites have used this strategy to grow their email list and gain newsletter subscribers. When done correctly, it can be a massive game-changer for your content marketing efforts.

Although it might seem wasteful to invest time and effort into creating free content for visitors, it’s a great way to retain subscribers and grow your business. Think of it as providing product samples for your visitors— if they like the product, they’ll buy it! This approach typically yields higher conversion rates because it follows a more natural progression: inspirational blog article leads to free resource, which then leads to product signup, rather than asking for an immediate commitment from cold traffic.

Pro Tip: Case studies are some of the most valuable lead magnets out there!

6. Have a blog and maintain it.

Having a blog is essential for content marketing. If your site has a blog, but you haven’t had the time to update it, then it’s time to start crafting some content for your audience. However, successful SaaS blogging requires a strategic approach to keyword research and content planning. Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify keywords your target audience is actually searching for, focusing on topics that align with your customer profiles and business goals.

Focus on creating content that your audience would love to read. The key to having and maintaining a blog is to keep your readers in mind and be consistent with your posting schedule. Don’t be too ambitious and focus overly on quantity. It’s okay not to post every single day. The most important thing is the quality of your content. However, for meaningful SEO results, aim to publish one to five high-quality, SEO-optimized blog posts per week. It’s not a quality versus quantity decision, but rather a quality and quantity approach that helps you compete effectively in search results.

So, take your time and make sure the content you post is something that you’re proud of, offers value for your readers, and keeps your audience interested and scrolling for more. Beyond your main blog, consider creating different types of content pages including use case pages that show how different customer segments use your product, and competitor comparison pages that help prospects make informed decisions. These bottom-of-funnel content types often convert better than general blog posts because they target users closer to making a purchase decision.

7. Observe your competition.

Competitor research is a great way to figure out what your competitors are doing right. It’s also an excellent way to help you find your company’s unique selling points. So, make time to observe your competition and identify their weaknesses and strengths carefully. Create dedicated competitor comparison pages on your website with URLs like “/vs/competitor-name” to capture search traffic from users comparing different solutions. These pages should objectively present both products while highlighting your unique advantages and use cases where you excel.

Once you know what your competitors are lacking, you can use their weaknesses as a strength in your upcoming content strategy. For example, you might notice that they’re not posting a lot of content on a topic that their audience shows a lot of engagement in. You could bring in traffic to your site by creating more content on that topic. Use keyword research tools to identify content gaps where competitors rank poorly or don’t have content at all. Look for keywords with decent search volume but lower competition, then create comprehensive, helpful content that better serves user intent than existing results.

The Wrap Up

Content marketing doesn’t provide instantaneous results, but nurturing your audience and working on creating valuable content will benefit your SaaS company in the long run. Don’t expect meaningful results from blogging and SEO for at least six to twelve months, sometimes longer. However, once you have a collection of high-ranking articles, they can act as a competitive moat for your startup, similar to how HubSpot dominates search results for most marketing-related topics. There are several ways you can boost your company’s online presence but enhancing your SaaS content marketing efforts might be one of the best ways to do that.