Creating content for a business-to-business (B2B) software-as-a-service (SaaS) company takes expertise and careful planning. The content should reach the target audience, highlighting that the product is the software solution they have been seeking. A Chicago content marketing agency uses a seven-step strategy for content creation:

1. Research your target audience.
2. Learn about your industry.
3. Look beyond problem-solution content.
4. Brainstorm creative ideas.
5. Follow the content marketing funnel.
6. Focus on content promotion and distribution.

We will discuss these steps in this article. Let’s go!

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1. Research Your Target Audience

Researching the target audience is essential for effective content marketing, especially for B2B SaaS companies. Through research, they can gain insights into their clients’ needs and interests to help create content that improves engagement and builds trust. Different audiences have different communication preferences, so researching helps you understand how to effectively contact them. Marketers can tailor their messaging to their clients’ preferences to make a deeper connection with them. Research helps identify content topics and determine the best distribution channels and formats. If the target audience spends more time on social media, marketers may want to focus their distribution efforts on social media platforms. With research, companies can define the characteristics of their target audience, including demographics such as age, gender, location, education, and income, as well as psychographics such as values, interests, and behavior. B2B SaaS companies can research their target clients using the following strategies:

• Gather a combination of quantitative and qualitative data about the target audience. Collect data through surveys, focus groups, interviews, social media analytics, website analytics, and client feedback.
• Analyze the data to identify patterns and trends. Look for common themes, behaviors, preferences, and pain points.
• Create audience personas that represent your target audience. Personas are fictional characters that embody the target audience’s characteristics to help you create content that speaks directly to them.
• Use feedback loops to refine your content strategy. These help marketers understand how their audience responds to their content, what they like, and what they prefer to see.
• Regularly monitor audience data and adjust strategies as needed.

2. Learn About Your Industry

B2B SaaS businesses should learn about their respective industries to stay competitive and relevant. By understanding the industry trends, challenges, and opportunities, they can make informed decisions to help them succeed. Learning about their associated industries helps B2B SaaS companies stay current on industry trends and developments and identify new opportunities for growth and innovation. Part of learning about the industry is competitor analysis. By monitoring what their competitors are doing, B2B SaaS companies can identify areas where improvements are needed. Finally, many industries in Chicago are heavily regulated, and businesses must stay current with any changes or updates to regulations that could impact their operations. B2B SaaS companies can learn about their respective industries by applying the following:

• Joining industry associations and trade organizations to get valuable insights into trends and best practices.
• Subscribing to industry publications such as magazines, newsletters, and blogs can provide businesses with up-to-date information on industry developments.
• Conducting market research, including customer preferences, market size, and potential growth opportunities.
• Attending industry events, conferences, and trade shows can provide businesses with valuable opportunities to network with other professionals.
• Hiring industry experts, such as a Chicago content marketing agency that knows the local industry, is essential for effective content marketing.

3. Look beyond the Problem-Solution Form of Content

Marketers used to believe that for content to be effective, it had to offer a solution to customers’ problems. However, consumers today are looking past the problem-solution type of content. They look for content with which they can connect and interact. Therefore, B2B SaaS companies must offer engaging, interesting, and informative content to enhance engagement and foster stronger client relationships. Businesses can connect emotionally with their audience beyond problem-solving by creating materials that tell a story or provide an experience. While solving clients’ problems is still essential, businesses must look beyond this type of content to build strong relationships with their audience and drive better results. B2B SaaS businesses should use these strategies for better engagement: 

• Understand clients’ value through market research, customer feedback, and engagement on social media.
• Develop a content creation strategy covering materials that provide thought leadership, tell a story, or provide an experience.
• Collaborate with influencers to access new audiences and create content that resonates with their target market.
• Use multimedia content like videos, infographics, and interactive content for better engagement. 
• Create emotional connections by telling stories and creating content that evokes emotions.
• Focus on value by offering tutorials and tips or providing insights into broader industry trends and issues.

4. Brainstorm Creative Ideas

Brainstorming creative ideas can lead to innovation, which is critical for businesses to stay competitive in their respective industries. By generating breakthrough ideas, B2B SaaS companies can create new products, services, or processes to improve their overall performance and gain a competitive edge. B2B SaaS marketers must conduct brainstorming sessions to identify solutions to problems they might not have previously considered. They can identify new and unconventional approaches to solving challenges, which leads to finding more efficient and effective solutions. Brainstorming can bring together individuals from different departments, backgrounds, and levels of seniority, creating a collaborative culture. This leads to open communication and idea-sharing for more effective decision-making and problem-solving. Marketing teams can brainstorm creative ideas through these strategies:

• Researching their target audience, industry trends, and competitors.
• Sharing ideas and building on each other’s thoughts.
• Use mind mapping, which is a technique that involves visually organizing ideas and concepts.
• Consider lateral thinking or looking at a problem from a new and unconventional angle.
• Comparing two things not usually associated with each other inspires innovative ideas and creative solutions.
• Incorporate storytelling to make their campaigns more engaging and memorable.

5. Follow the Content Marketing Funnel

The content marketing funnel is a framework that helps businesses map out their content strategy to attract and retain customers. It consists of three main stages: the top of the funnel (TOFU), the middle of the funnel (MOFU), and the bottom of the funnel (BOFU). Chicago B2B SaaS businesses must use the content marketing funnel to effectively target customers at various stages to improve their local marketing strategies.

     Top of the Funnel (TOFU)

At the TOFU stage, businesses create content to attract new visitors and generate awareness about their software products. Examples include blog posts, social media content, and videos that provide helpful and informative content to potential customers.

     Middle of the Funnel (MOFU)

At this stage of the marketing funnel, businesses develop content that educates and engages visitors who have shown interest in their brands. Examples are white papers, webinars, and case studies that provide more in-depth information about the brand’s software products.

     Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU)

At the BOFU stage, content designed to convert visitors into customers is necessary. Examples of content are product demos, free trials, and pricing information.

6. Focus on Content Promotion and Distribution

Content promotion and distribution are strategies to get content in front of the target audience. It uses different channels, such as social media, email, paid advertising, and search engines, to promote and distribute content to the right people at the right time. Content promotion and distribution are essential for B2B SaaS companies because they increase visibility and reach. Businesses can expect better website traffic, increasing the number of visitors and potential customers. These two can also effectively build brand awareness and generate leads and sales. And by analyzing content performance across different channels, businesses can gather data and insights to optimize their content strategy. Promoting and distributing B2B SaaS content successfully involves using a variety of channels and tactics to reach the right audience at the right time. Here are some ways expert content marketing agencies do it:

• Promote content on social media platforms where the target audience is most active. Use eye-catching visuals, relevant hashtags, and engaging captions.
• Use email marketing to distribute tailored content to your segmented email list.
• Partner with influencers in the industry to reach a wider audience and establish credibility and authority in your niche.
• Use paid platforms such as Google Ads or social media ads to present content to the target audience.
• Publish guest posts on relevant, high-traffic websites to reach a wider audience and build backlinks to your site.

Summing Up

B2B SaaS companies must create a solid content marketing strategy by researching their target audience, learning about their industries, and looking beyond creating a problem-solution type of content. They also have to brainstorm new and creative ideas, follow the content marketing funnel, and optimize their content promotion and distribution. Additionally, these companies should use the expertise of a Chicago content marketing agency to create compelling content creation campaigns. Learn more about how to make valuable content today. Contact Digital Authority Partners (DAP).

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