Content marketing is hugely popular nowadays due to the growth of the world-wide-web, social media and marketing automation platforms like Hubspot. However, content marketing is thought to be a slow-burn investment in terms of generating sales pipeline. However, I believe it’s critical. Here are 6 reasons why B2B SaaS Start-ups should start content marketing. And ideally as your first marketing channel.
6 Reasons why B2B SaaS Start-ups should use Content Marketing
1. Long-lasting impact:
In marketing, you broadly have 2 types:
- Brand Marketing
- Lead Generation (also called Demand Generation)
Brand Marketing has a longer-lasting impact but might not generate immediate results. Meanwhile, Lead Generation is short-term and might provide a quick hit of leads and interest. However, when you stop doing it, you’ll soon see the effects of it wear off. The ideal is a combination of both. Performing brand marketing over a period of years will mean that your short-term channels will be more effective later down the line. And that makes sense. Bigger, more well-known brands will typically find it easier to attract and convert leads.
Content marketing fits into the category of brand marketing and therefore has a long-lasting impact. Additionally, even the content itself is long-lasting: Once you create a piece of content, it’s always available, and you can re-use it multiple times.
2. Content marketing helps you build authority with your audience
Much of content marketing involves you sharing tips or free information with your audience. This helps build credibility as you can build authority as someone who is knowledgeable about a certain field. When people begin looking to your content for advice on how to do something, it shows they respect you.
It’s like building out your network, but online. If you visit a diner, listen to people’s problems and offer advice every day for a month, there’s a good chance those people will remember you. And, if they have a problem in the future, they’re likely to ask you and be more likely to buy from you when the time is right.
3. Building authority with digital platforms:
Similarly, to how you build authority with your audience, you will also build it with the platform you’re on. The more content you produce and post on various platforms, the more these social media platforms and Google will like you and your website. This likely brings more visitors to your website on a regular basis and means that any Lead Gen marketing activities you do will have a greater impact.
4. Content marketing is free to start:
Did I mention content marketing is free already? Well, it is. For start-ups especially, your time is valuable, but when you’re cash poor, a method of marketing your business without upfront costs should be grabbed with both hands! Especially one like this. You don’t have to pay advertising costs or have any specific skills, you just need to be able to write or talk to a camera.
As a business owner or founder, you’re on an exciting journey and people would love a behind the scenes look at how you grow your business. And with Social Media, there are no barriers to just getting started. You could share:
- Some of the challenges of being a founder
- What you’ve learned
- What are your key milestones? And what are you looking to do next?
- Or pretty much just a daily update with what you’re working on.
For more content ideas to get started, check out my guide to Content marketing for B2B SaaS Start-ups.
5. You get market feedback:
When you share your message online, it can help identify which messages resonate with your audience and which don’t. The good thing about social media is that if your customers don’t like it, they won’t like, comment or share it. But if they enjoy your content, they will like it and actively tell others about it. This can be incredibly helpful for product development and for when you want to start marketing more in the future.
6. Content marketing generates sales pipeline!
Most importantly for any marketing channel is that it has a great conversion rate for turning into pipeline and revenue. Especially for B2B! A recent study analyses the results of 4.6 million B2B content downloads. And the research demonstrates that content marketing is a key signal of intent for buyers. Indeed close to 1/3 of B2B buyers expect to make purchases within the next 12 months after downloading an ebook or piece of content.
Will you adopt content marketing for your B2B SaaS Start-up?
While content marketing may not be for every founder, it’s the channel I recommend to every B2B SaaS start-up as the first marketing channel to deploy. And the earlier you can start the better. Most SaaS founders grow their business initially through their network, and it’s when that gravy train runs out that you turn to marketing. But, if you start with content from day 1, you can build your audience while gaining those first few key clients and creating your product.
If you would like some more help, I recommend you read my full guide on how to start content marketing for your SaaS start-up. It includes tips on which channels to use, how often to post and how to overcome the barriers to get started.
Or to receive updates every time I post, you can subscribe to my blog.
Nice