As we all know, Software as a Service (SaaS) has grown to be a mountain of an industry, creating opportunities in the marketplace that is anticipated to grow astronomically- to $75.7 billion by 2020. The demand continues to heighten as both consumers and business services rely more and more on the power and capabilities for day-to-day continuity.
But with all great opportunity comes equal competition.
More than ever for SaaS companies, the power of being able to differentiate your value and services to consumers within content should be at the forefront, as the Saas Report estimates a growing 10,000 private SaaS companies in today’s marketplace (up approximately 22%). But you may already be feeling this and are stuck with your boots in the mud on the how and overall strategy.
To help, here’s a five minute jump-start to get you trekking down the unbeaten path.
The needs you solve for your clients are in their nature complex, multi-faceted, and likely require deep analytical thinking. And the people you’re building them for may just be the same. You are wanting to build a relationship with more than the average user. You’re trying to engage holistic decision makers that need a vision of how all the parts fit into the greater whole (kind of sound like yourself?). And lucky for you, your people aren’t an inclusive group targeted to only one specific business unit or job type, but rather the whole company gambit. That means from the C-suite needing to remain on the cutting edge of efficiency, to our ever-valuable end users who ultimately make or break success as our frontline.
This group can be slightly more multi-dimensional as well weighing heavily on not only the product, but also the service that comes with your company structure as a whole. They may be willing to consider a strong financial investment into this as a long-term solution on their end, so the support of training and resources post-implementation should match to keep delighted our most important people: our customers.
Okay, so now that we have a general idea of the range of personas we’re targeting, I think it’s safe to say that this vast and diverse group of professionals likes to receive and digest information differently.
The world of content has changed drastically with a variety of mediums beyond blogging where your people want to meet! Here are a few different markers to help direct the trail:
| Podcasts | Infographics | Vlogs | Webinars | Video Testimonials | Case Studies | Charts/Graphs | Polls | Social Media |
**Climber Beware** Although we have great options of how we can produce content, this curation can take some time, so it’s important to remember to keep focus on having a steady pace to the top by consistently posting content that is relevant to your audience and their needs.
Step Three – Follow Up (Quickly!)
So now that we have who we’re leading on this hike and how we’re leading them up, all we are missing is the what. That is, what to talk about. Fortunately, this should look and feel familiar to you and your visitors as the content you develop should resemble the journey that the buyer goes through in your sales cycle.
For SaaS based companies, this typically requires longer sales processes that put focus on extended periods of education to our visitors on first understanding their true challenges, then consulting them on how your product and service can be a great solution for them.
When in doubt, start back at base camp – know your people. These solution-oriented individuals want to be constantly refreshed with new solutions or concepts that can help them learn and grow their business. Whether it be prospects or customers, their thirst for knowledge is never quenched, and they are looking for credible industry thought leaders to help guide them along their journey as a consistent resource.
Think that the altitude is getting to my head? Our friends at Impact may agree, reporting that only “11% of SaaS companies are investing in content marketing.” The summit is for the taking to those who are focused on consistently helping and providing value for other climbers on their path to the peak!
For those more experienced on the content mountain, check out this article on how topic clusters are the new solution to the updated SEO algorithm.