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Scaling SaaS: How To Use Content Marketing To Boost Consumer Confidence
How can content marketing be used to effectively drive consumer confidence in your SaaS company?
I wanted to get a fresh perspective on this question. So, I asked someone that I greatly admire for their expertise in this field. Tyler Gillespie is a serial entrepreneur who has launched several productized startups, including Applause Lab, Proofreading Pros, and Content Pros.
Tyler's latest venture, Applause Lab, focuses on transforming interviews with your SaaS company's best customers into video case stories and testimonials.
Adam Crookes: What are some of the unique challenges that SaaS companies face in gaining consumer confidence?
Tyler Gillespie: I think there is just a lot of noise in the marketplace. You have to stand out with a strong brand. Top-of-funnel content, thought leadership, and past user testimonials are now more important than ever and will all help to gain the confidence of the consumer. The consumers of today, especially in the SaaS space, are educated and smart. This will help you play a different game of value rather than a feature war.
Adam: How can video testimonials boost consumer confidence in SaaS companies? Why is it important?
Tyler: Video is one of the most powerful ways to build an authentic connection with your customer. All of us know deep down this to be true, but it is often swept to the bottom of the priority list. Many companies settle for written testimonials, but in today's world, they just aren't as powerful as they used to be. Setting up a system around capturing video testimonials is the trick. Make it easy for your company to do it, and make it easy for your customers to leave them. That is what we do at Applause Lab. I think focusing on capturing stories and customer experiences are vital in building consumer confidence and a brand in today’s market.
Adam: How can blog content boost consumer confidence in SaaS companies? Why is it important?
Tyler: Everyone consumes content differently, and I think written content can be extremely valuable alongside video. A nice one-two punch. When I work with consulting customers, the first thing I do when it comes to auditing their content strategy is ensuring they have covered the highest leverage pieces of content first. This is often not SEO-driven. It is more customer-support driven. Ask yourself what are the most frequently asked questions you get from customers? Ask your sales team or customer support team and map out 10-20 content pieces from those conversations. Now build in-depth and rich articles around those questions. You now have not only a clear content roadmap but a very highly leveraged one that your sales team and customer support team can use moving forward that will add real, immediate value.
Adam: Can you give me three examples of SaaS companies who are incredible at content marketing?
Tyler: There are so many that come to mind, but I think Groove HQ, ClickFunnels, and OptinMonster are some of my favorites. They do a great job at creating content across all levels of the funnel.
Adam: In an economic downturn, why should SaaS companies invest in content marketing?
Tyler: Content is a unique asset that will continue to provide value long after it is created. Pending there is an economic downturn (when not if), the value you create in content should continue to bring value to your customer base which, in turn, should help limit your potential churn rate. All in all, it is a good practice to create actionable and high-quality content always. The volume of content produced may change but push yourself to stay consistent with this area of your business. Far too many stop short of seeing the results they desire because they aren’t patient. There will always be ups and downs in business but this is something you can control, invest in and can see long term benefits.
Adam: How can SaaS companies measure the ROI of their content marketing efforts?
Tyler: It is always hard to track the exact ROI from content marketing because it is hard to really provide the right attribution to where a specific customer has come from. I think some things that make it easier are having content upgrades and specific downloads on each post to better track where email opt-ins are coming in from. With some CRMs, you can even leverage tags to get more clarity as well. From a macro, you can track and see traffic and overall opt-ins and from there you can see how those convert into paying customers or trials. The more tracking you can do here, the more clarity you will have. Regardless, content really drives a lot of the top of the funnel awareness that is incredibly powerful.