This shouldn’t be such a shocker, right?

As the SaaS industry continues to grow and evolve, the importance of content marketing becomes increasingly apparent. By 2024, it’s projected that 50% of SaaS companies will have a dedicated content marketing team.

But why is this shift happening?

And what does it mean for the future of SaaS marketing?

Gone are the days of the early 2010’s where companies would throw a couple thousand dollars to ads and see a massive return without creating additional buyer journeys, email sequences, and varied touch points.

As a business blogger, social media strategist and email marketer I’ve noticed that content marketing has shifted tremendously over the years.

Just when folks thought that people didn’t want to see more blogs and emails something contrary happened.

Tech firms, government corporations, and other complex businesses have increased spending drastically on organic content marketing shifting from the once hot buzz topic of “Facebook ads.”

Ads still work to a certain extent, in driving awareness and building a social following which builds quick credibility in these times – but, when you’re asking for a business or customer to investment hundreds if not thousands of dollars into your offer — > it pays off handsomely to have a slew of content marketing strategies in your arsenal.

Can I give you a tangible roadmap so you can identify how to create a highly converting content marketing strategy for your company in 2024 and beyond?

Let’s dive in…

The Rise of Content Marketing

Content marketing has proven to be an effective way to attract, engage, and retain customers. Through creating and sharing high-quality, relevant, and informative content, SaaS companies can position themselves as industry leaders, build trust with their audience, and ultimately, drive more leads and sales.

1. According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about 3 times as many leads.
2. HubSpot reports that companies that publish more than 16 blog posts per month get almost 3.5 times more traffic than companies that publish zero to four monthly posts.
3. Per the State of Inbound report, marketers who prioritize blogging efforts are 13x more likely to see positive ROI.
4. Social Media Today states that 54% of social browsers use social media to research products.
5. According to Statista, there are expected to be 4.41 billion social media users by 2025.
6. Optinmonster reports that email marketing can provide a 4400% ROI and $44 for every $1 spent.
7. Data from Litmus suggests that for every $1 spent on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $42.
8. According to Emailmonday, segmented and targeted emails generate 58% of all revenue.

These statistics indicate that content marketing is a cost-effective method that generates more leads than traditional marketing.

Despite people saying that ‘blogs are dead’ these statistics show that regular blogging can significantly increase traffic and ROI, and that consumers prefer learning about companies through articles rather than adverts.

— > Let it be known that email marketing also has a high ROI and segmented emails generate the majority of revenue. The proof is here: There’s unbeatable the value in investing in your strategic content marketing approach.

The Need for Specialization

It’s no longer enough to simply create and share content. Today’s content marketers need to understand SEO, analytics, social media, email marketing, and more.

They need to be able to craft a comprehensive content marketing strategy that aligns with the company’s overall goals and targets the right audience. A dedicated content marketing team can bring this expertise to the table.

Now, your content shouldn’t be all about your accolades and case studies.

I’d argue that you’ll want to take a psychological approach before stuffing content down your audiences’ throat.

Try these models and inspire your content marketing team to write empathy driven, witty copy that resonates on a deeper level.

1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: This framework can help us understand and address the fundamental needs of our audience, from basic survival needs to the need for self-actualization, in our communications.
2. Fogg Behavior Model: This model suggests that three elements must converge for a behavior to occur: motivation, ability, and a prompt. We can leverage this to create communications that motivate our audience, make the desired action easy, and provide a timely prompt.
3. The Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change): This model outlines the stages individuals go through when contemplating a behavior change. Understanding these stages can help us tailor our communications to meet our audience wherever they are in their journey.
4. Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion: This framework outlines six principles (reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity) that can be used to influence others. We can use these principles to infuse empathy in our communications and effectively persuade our audience.
5. The Elaboration Likelihood Model: This model suggests that there are two routes to persuasion – the central route, where individuals are persuaded by the content of an argument, and the peripheral route, where individuals are persuaded by other cues, like the attractiveness of the presenter. Understanding which route our audience is likely to take can help us craft more effective and empathetic communications.

The Role of a Content Marketing Team

A dedicated content marketing team is responsible for all aspects of a company’s content marketing efforts.

Let’s walk through the main functions in a content marketing studio or team and how you can leverage them whether you’re a small firm or large corporation.

No matter what industry, and what business you run – content marketing, tangible stories, and relatability are more crucial than ever before.

An Email Strategist plays a crucial role in shaping the company’s overall content marketing strategy. They design and manage email campaigns that engage the audience, drive traffic to the company’s blogs and website, and nurture leads through the sales funnel.

A well-crafted email sequence can guide leads to take desired actions, be it signing up for a service, purchasing a product, or simply engaging with the content. An Email Strategist uses storytelling, empathy, and persuasive techniques to foster a deeper connection with the audience, giving them a humane experience while promoting the company’s services.

A Social Media Strategist is responsible for leveraging social media platforms to amplify the reach of the company’s content. By sharing articles, blogs, infographics, and other content types on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, visibility can significantly increase.

They engage with the audience through comments, likes, and shares, which in turn improves the brand’s reputation and fosters stronger relationships with the audience. Additionally, the Social Media Strategist keeps an eye on the latest trends and audience preferences to align the social media strategy effectively.

**Social media should also be used as means to drive traffic back to your free resource or lead magnet but we’ll dive deeper into lead generation in this blog (click here)

A Data and Analytics Expert provides valuable insights into the performance of the content. They track metrics such as page views, time spent on page, bounce rates, and conversion rates, to understand what type of content resonates with the audience. This information is used to identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to enhance the content strategy, ensuring that every piece of content contributes to the company’s goals.

Product Marketing Insights are vital in shaping the content and messaging of the company. Understanding the product’s unique selling points, the problems it solves for customers, and its position in the market helps create content that not only educates the audience but also showcases the product’s value. This approach can be particularly effective in the bottom of the funnel content, linking directly to the company’s services and products, and allowing the audience to visualize what it looks like to use the software.

**If you have a small team that’s okay too – but you still need to be aware of each role within a marketing department. Larger companies see even bigger organization structures than this such as graphic designers, UX designers, and product managers being crucial to the development of a product and bringing it to market.

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