Content marketing inspiration for B2B SaaS companies
Content marketing is an essential part of any B2B company’s marketing plan today. Blogs are ubiquitous, and everyone is distributing enewsletters, webinars, white papers, and videos. As part of the digital marketing team at a B2B SaaS company, I’m constantly on the lookout for fresh content marketing inspiration from other B2B marketers. SaaS may seem like a tough subject to build stimulating content around, but there are some great examples of companies out there that do it consistently and effectively. Here are my favourites:
KISSmetrics – Keeping It Simple (Stupid) by offering free quality content, no strings attached
I’m a big fan of Neil Patel and his mad blogging skills. I’m also a huge fan of his company KISSmetrics – a massively popular, paid customer analytics platform that competes with internet Goliath Google’s free analytics tool. For me, as a digital marketer, the KISSmetrics blog is not just a brilliant example of content marketing done right, it’s also a go-to resource for quality online marketing insights, guides, and webinars from industry experts. As a content consumer, I love that KISSmetrics offers me this treasure trove of valuable information without asking for anything in return. It’s no wonder that KISSmetrics’ blog is responsible for 70 per cent of its total incoming traffic.
Moz – Bringing together like-minded people
Like KISSmetrics, SaaS marketing tool company Moz runs a first-rate online marketing blog that features great advice, research, how-tos, and insights for digital marketers. But what I’m most awed by is Moz’s genius in creating and nurturing the extremely large and highly involved Moz community. Members actively post original content, engage in discussion, attend Moz events, and compete for top user status. For me, that’s the gold standard in online user engagement.
MailChimp – Lessons in lightening up
It can be a big challenge to give a SaaS application personality and make it sound fun and approachable. Email marketing service MailChimp has nailed it with its quirky branding and lovable mascot – Freddie.
In my experience, when B2B SaaS brands try to come across as industry experts, they frequently end up sounding overly serious and stodgy. MailChimp, on the other hand, embraces humour and still comes across as confident and smart. My favourite thing about MailChimp’s content strategy? Their consistent use of a friendly and informal voice across content channels.
Hootsuite – Keeping things current
Social media management tool Hootsuite is another SaaS brand with a warm brand personality and a likable and recognizable mascot. It stands to reason that there’s a lot to learn from the way the brand handles its own social media pages.
All SaaS companies share industry-relevant blog articles, how-to guides, and videos on social media, and Hootsuite, of course, is no exception. But for me what stands out is how well the brand manages current or topical content. It’s been a few years since Hootsuite released its well-timed, epic Game of Thrones inspired video, but it continues to resonate considering the TV show’s pervasive popularity, aggregating almost a million views on youtube.
