SaaS Startups that have a content marketing engine churn out a consistent stream of valuable content that attracts and engages their target audience. These startups have seen first-hand how effective content marketing can be in driving business results.
Creating a content marketing engine is no small feat, but it’s not impossible. It takes time, planning, and most importantly, commitment from your entire team.
Why You Need A Content Marketing Engine
Content marketing has become one of the most important tools in a startup’s arsenal.
The vast majority of SaaS startups today rely on content marketing to drive leads and sales. Often this is done in the early days through the founder building in public.
Content marketing allows startups to reach a wide audience with little to no marketing budget. By creating and distributing high-quality content, startups can build trust and credibility with potential customers.
Done well, content marketing can be a powerful tool for driving growth. But it’s not a magic bullet, and it takes a lot of hard work to create content that resonates with your audience. If you’re thinking about starting a content marketing program for your startup, make sure you’re prepared to commit the time and resources necessary to make it successful.
The Benefits of Having a Content Marketing Engine
The benefits of having a content marketing engine are vast. A content marketing engine is a process for consistently creating and distributing high-quality content that attracts and engages your target audience.
With a content marketing engine in place, you’ll never have to worry about what to post next or how to get your content seen by more people.
Plus, high-quality content will help you build trust and credibility with your audience, which can lead to more customers and sales. If you’re not using a content marketing engine, you’re missing out on a powerful tool that can help you grow your business.
A content marketing engine will help you build brand awareness and generate leads. It will also help you connect with your customers and create content that resonates with them.
Define Your Target Audience
A SaaS startup’s target audience is the group of people most likely to buy its products or services. When defining your target audience, it’s important to consider their needs and pain points.
- What are they looking for?
- What are their biggest challenges?
By understanding your target audience, you can create messaging and experiences that resonate with them and meets their needs.
This will not only help you better connect with your audience, but it will also help you save time and resources by not creating content that is not relevant to them.
If this still seems difficult reach out via LinkedIn to do some 15-minute virtual coffee chats to get feedback on your product.
Yes, I leave my calendar open for early-stage founders seeking product feedback.
This experience will also help you to identify who’s attracted to your product the most.
Research What Type of Content Your Audience Wants.
Now that you know who your target audience is, it’s time to do some research to figure out what kind of content they want.
Your target audience is the group of people who are most likely to buy your product or use your service.
Try starting with a simple Google search. See what kind of content comes up when you search for keywords related to your business or brand.
You can also check out social media to see what kind of content your audience is sharing and engaging with. If you can’t find anything, you can always ask them directly!
For example, consider using Twitter’s advanced search filter
Also, try surveying your audience or reaching out to them on social media and asking what kind of content they would like to see from you.
As you can see building in public allows you to tap into social networks and develop a fast feedback loop.
If you can provide the kind of content they’re looking for, you’ll be well on your way to reaching your target audience.
Researching Your Industry & Competitors
Your competitors are a great source of information. By studying their strategies, you can learn what works and what doesn’t.
You can also find out what they’re doing that you’re not, and use that to your advantage. Tools I recommend you use for competitor analysis include Ahrefs or Moz for content marketing. They are both great to keep an eye on your competitors.
Understanding what topics are most popular in your industry can help you create content that resonates with your audience. It can also help you identify gaps in the market, and areas where you could create new, original content.
If you can be the go-to source for information on a particular topic, you’ll be able to build a loyal following and establish yourself as an expert in your field.
Define Your Content Marketing Goals
Any good content marketing strategy begins with clear, achievable goals. Without goals, it’s impossible to measure success or determine whether your content marketing efforts are paying off.
When setting goals, make sure they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. In other words, don’t set goals that are impossible to reach, or so broad that they’re not useful. And make sure your goals align with your overall business objectives.
Some examples of SMART content marketing goals include:
- Grow your website traffic to 50,000 monthly visits in 6 months
- Publish 30 long-form blog posts per month
Once you have defined your goals, you can create a content marketing strategy that will help you achieve them.
There are a number of different things you might hope to achieve with your content marketing.
Maybe you’re looking to generate leads or create more valuable relationships with your customers. Whatever your goals, it’s important to define them early on so you can create content that is aligned with those objectives. By doing so, you’ll be more likely to see the results you want.
Creating Your Content Marketing Strategy
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best way to achieve your content marketing goals will vary depending on your specific situation.
However, some tips on how to create an effective content marketing strategy include understanding your audience, defining your goals, and creating a content calendar.
If you take the time to understand your audience by building in public, you will naturally create content that appeals to them.
Figure out what kind of content your audience wants to see by consistently publishing short-form content on social media before adding in long-form content. This way your building an audience and also improving as a content creator.
Based on what type of content is resonating create a content calendar that outlines when and where you’ll publish this content. By being strategic about your content marketing, you can increase your chances of success.
Once get feedback from your audience and know what kind of content resonates, you can start planning how often to publish. Keep in mind that quality is more important than quantity, so don’t bite off more than you can chew.
Finally, decide where you will publish your content. If you have a blog, post 3-5 times weekly.
You also can publish short-form posts on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram daily to get immediate engagement with your content.
Ok! Here’s what my content strategy currently looks like:
- Write and publish 2K+ word blog posts daily with Letterdrop
- Post Twitter Thread daily with Hypefury
- Repurpose Thread into an Instagram/LinkedIn carousel daily with Contentdrips
Create a Content Calendar
Download my Notion content creation template for free.
Then create your content calendar by choosing your topics.
- What do you want to write about?
- What would be interesting or useful to your audience?
Once you have a list of potential topics, you can start to narrow them down.
Consider what season it is, or whether there are any holidays coming up that you could write about. You can also think about hot topics in your industry that you could address.
Then you have a few topics in mind, you can start to plan out your content calendar.
Identify Your Content Pillars
Your content pillars are the foundation of your content strategy. They are the topics that you will focus on and the ones that you will come back to again and again.
You should have 2-3 content pillars that you update monthly or quarterly. This will ensure that your content is always fresh and relevant and that you are always providing value to your audience.
The average human attention span is only 8 seconds. In order to keep someone’s attention, you need to give them something worth reading. This is where content pillars come in.
A content pillar is a narrow and deep exploration of a particular topic. The length of a pillar varies by industry, but for a B2B SaaS startup, it is usually 3,000 – 5,000 words.
Content pillars are important because they give you the chance to really dive deep into a topic and explore it from all angles. By writing pillar content, you are showing your audience that you are an expert on the subject and that they can trust you to give them the information they need.
If you’re not sure what kind of content to write, start by thinking about the questions your target audience is asking. What do they need to know? What would be helpful for them? Once you have a few ideas, you can start to flesh out your content pillars.
Build Your Content Creation Process
Building a content creation process might seem like a daunting task, but it’s actually quite simple. It includes things like your editorial process, workflows, and tools.
By taking the time to outline your content creation process, you’ll save yourself time and energy in the long run. Plus, your process will be more efficient and your content will be of a higher quality. Not sure where to start? Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Define your goals: What are you trying to achieve with your content?
- Outline your editorial process: Who will be responsible for creating content, and what steps will they need to take?
- Choose the right tools: What software or platforms will you use to create and manage your content?
- Test and refine your process: As with any process, it’s important to test and refine your content creation process to ensure it’s efficient and effective.
Your content creation process is the system you use to actually create and publish your content. This system should be efficient and organized so that you can produce high-quality content on a regular basis.
A good content creation process will help you save time and money while also ensuring that your content is effective and engaging.
There are a few key elements to a successful content creation process.
- First, you need a clear understanding of your audience and what they want to see.
- Second, you need to be able to generate ideas quickly and efficiently.
- Third, you need to have a system for creating and editing your content.
- Fourth, you need to have a plan for publishing and promoting your content.
If you can master these elements, you’ll be well on your way to creating content that your audience will love.
Having a system in place is key to staying organized and on track.
- Here’s a free directory of no-code tools to build your tech stack.
- Also, if your a creator or founder here’s a free Notion startup template to use.
Currently I’m building Notion OS systems based on productized services we offer at Leadhackrs. They will be offered for free to active members within our Slack communities. If interested, connect and DM me on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.
By creating templates for your content within one of these systems, you can streamline your process and save yourself a lot of time in the long run. Plus, you’ll be able to track your progress and ensure that all your content is consistent with your brand identity.
Create Your Content Distribution Plan
There are a number of ways to distribute your content. Consider using an email newsletter, Twitter Threads, Instagram, and LinkedIn carousels to reach your audience.
By using a variety of platforms, you can ensure that your content is seen by as many people as possible. Email newsletters are a great way to reach a large number of people at once, and Twitter Threads and Instagram carousels are great for engaging your audience and sparking conversation.
LinkedIn is a great platform for reaching professionals and thought leaders in your industry. By creating a content distribution plan that includes a variety of platforms, you can reach the widest possible audience.
Think about which channels will work best for you and your content. You need to consider which channels will work best for you based on your type of content, resources, and target audience. You also need to think about your goals for content distribution.
Are you trying to build awareness, generate leads, or drive sales? Once you know your goals, you can choose the best channels for your content.
Recruit to Build Your Content Marketing Team
A content marketing team should be built with the customer in mind. Every team member should be focused on creating content that is interesting, useful, and engaging for your target audience.
The content strategist is responsible for developing the overall content strategy and plan. They work with the other team members to ensure that all of the content created aligns with the brand voice and messaging.
The copywriter creates the actual content. They write blog posts, articles, emails, and social media posts. They also work on developing any other collateral that might be needed, such as ebooks or whitepapers.
The designer creates the visuals for the content. They make sure that the blog posts are easy to read and look great on all devices. They also develop infographics, email templates, and social media images.
The developer builds and maintains the website and blog. They make sure that all of the content is easy to find and that the website loads quickly. They also handle any technical issues that might come up.
Ideally, you want a team of people who are responsible for creating, distributing, and managing your content marketing. But if you don’t have the resources for that, you can still make do with a smaller team. Just make sure you have someone who is responsible for each key area.
Having someone who is solely responsible for creating the content ensures that someone is always working on new material. And having someone to manage the process ensures that the content is being distributed and promoted effectively.
There are a lot of moving parts to content marketing, and it can be difficult to keep up with everything yourself. That’s where outside help comes in.
Leadhackrs vetted freelance marketplace can provide you with the content creators you need to keep your content marketing efforts humming. We have writers, no-code designers, and other marketers who can help you produce the high-quality content your audience craves. And, because they’re freelancers, you can bring them in on an as-needed basis, which can save you time and money.
A content marketing engine is the key to success for any SaaS startup that wants to take its content marketing to the next level. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you’ll be well on your way to building a world-class engine that will help you achieve your business goals.
