No BS blogging strategy for your SaaS business

Here’s a simple experiment for you. Search the benefits of blogging for a business. If you do, you’ll read the following benefits:

1. Marketers that blog see 13X ROI than companies that don't blog.
2. You increase your search engine rankings. And get 55% more website visitors than businesses that don't blog.
3. You can get 67% more leads than companies that don't blog.

These benefits are mouth-watering. And, so, people decide to blog. But, blogging alone isn't enough. People have written over 6 million+ blogs today itself. If you think, you can hit 'Publish' and appear before your audience, you're wrong.

You need to have a proper blogging strategy. That's it, you may be thinking.

But, in spite of knowing the benefits of blogging, 56% of marketers don't have a content strategy. They don't know their users' needs and what to write about. Or even how to promote their blog and track their content's progress.

But, you will. In this blog, you'll learn how to create a blogging strategy for your SaaS business. So, that you get consistent results.

Table of contents

1. Know your audience
2. Research keywords to rank higher on search results
3. Build a content calendar
4. Write content and optimize for SEO
5. Promote your content
6. Track and analyze your blog’s performance

A blogging strategy will let you know about your audience’s pain points. You’ll then be able to create content that benefits your readers. The content will solve their problems. They’ll then be more likely to sign up and pay for your service.

Here’s how to create a No BS blogging strategy for your SaaS business.

Know your audience

Put your audience first. Always. Focus on their pain points. Understand their likes/dislikes and interests.

You need to have a clear idea of whom you're writing for. Their needs, challenges, what kind of content they like, and where you’ll find them. If you know these, you'll serve them better. You'll create content that's tailor-made for your users. This will increase product leads and sales.

But, if you blog without knowing your customer, it'll fall on deaf ears. Every time. You should know whom your blog is targeting, what value it is bringing, and its ultimate goal.

So, how do you know your customer? Start your research here:

1. Answer these questions:
   i. Who is your ideal customer? Describe them. Stick it on the wall. When you blog, always refer to this definition. For, e.g. Nike describes its customer as anyone who has a body. Salesforce sells its product to large enterprises to manage their customer service.
   
   ii. What are their needs, interests, and challenges? Here's how to answer this question.
2. Go to Q&A forums like Quora and Reddit. Interact with your users in the comments. Ask specific questions related to your product. Take their feedback.
3. Browse social media channels like LinkedIn groups and Twitter. Engage with your users. Survey them.
4. Talk with your salesperson. They interact with your target users all the time. They know their needs, pain points, and challenges.
5. Use the free HubSpot tool to make buyer personas and know about your customers.

Use these insights to craft your content accordingly.

Research keywords to rank higher on search results

How did you search for this blog? You would've used the keywords "blogging strategy," "blogging strategy for SaaS business" or something related to that. And because we have used these keywords in the blog, Google directed you to our blog.

That's what keywords do.

But, if you don't know what your customers are typing in the search engines to look for you, you'll never reach them. Keywords help here.

They're the reason blog posts appear on the search results page. Use tools like Ahrefs to find what keywords your users are using. Then, create content relevant to what your customers are looking for.

Begin here:

1. List down terms that align with your business. Say, you sell blog writing software. The relevant keywords would be: Blogging tools example, content writing tools, content writing software for startups, and more.
   
   Use Answer the public tool to discover what people are asking about relevant to your keyword.
   
   How to use the tool: Put the keyword. It’ll give you questions your potential customers are searching for.
2. Focus on long-tail keywords. Narrow them to cater to answer a specific answer. Like "What content writing tools help for SaaS blogging?" "Why is blogging important for a business?" Write in-depth content on these topics.

Read how to do keyword research for SEO: A Beginner’s guide

Build a content calendar

You now know whom to write for and what keywords to target. Now, create a content calendar. Blogging would help only if you stay consistent. The first step is to have a strict plan to focus on.

Don't play the catch-up game. Plan at least one month's content in advance. Make a list of topics (and the keywords) you'll write on. Fix the publishing date.

Determine your blogging goal. Each blog should have its own. Decide whether you want to provide information, educate, or sell. Don't blog just for the sake of it.

Define the post length and choose the content format for each blog topic. Such as how-to guides, case studies, in-depth explainers, opinion posts, and more.

Stick to your schedule. If you do, the benefits will compound - gradually, then suddenly.

Write content and optimize for SEO

The fun part begins now.

Write content that answers the questions people are looking for. Don't speak too much about your product. Users don't care about your PR and features. They only care how you'll solve their problem.

If your content isn't helpful to your readers, all the hard work goes into vain.

Few points to consider:

1. Focus on the user's pain points. Structure the content according to it.  Provide key takeaways on how to solve their problem.
2. Create content for every type of customer:
   
   Blogging helps you become the go-to source in your niche. You can build a relationship with your audience long before they become customers.
   
   Publish content for customers at various stages. There are 5 stages of customer awareness:
   
   i. Unaware
   They aren't aware of their problems yet. Write blogs to educate users about their problems.
   
   ii. Problem aware
   These users know they have got an issue. But, now they have plenty of questions: What is causing the problem? What effect will it have on them? And many more. Write articles answering these questions.
   
   iii. Solution aware
   These users are seeking solutions to their problems. Blog about case studies. Show what differentiates you. Talk about how you've helped peer customers. Write about why they should trust you.
   
   iv. Product aware
   These users are now looking for various products. You're one among them. Write how-to guides, product differentiation, and be clear about your offering.
   
   v. Most aware
   These users know everything; their problem, the solution, and even about you. All you have to do now is persuade them to pay you. Handle customer objections through FAQs.
3. People looking for a SaaS solution want to trust an expert. So, write in-depth guides showing your expertise. Users should feel confident that they're capable of solving their problems.
4. Write actionable CTAs (call-to-actions). Guide the readers on what do you want them to do next. Pair your CTAs with discount codes on your product. Or you can gift them playbooks. Or a free industry webinar registration.

Provide anything that will help your readers in exchange for their emails. Use this tool to write personalized CTAs to drive more traffic and sales.

When your blogs will help users, they'll become brand advocates. They'll spread the word about your business. This will increase business leads and paying customers.

P.S: Optimize your articles for SEO. Make sure the keywords fit in the title, meta description, heading tags, image, and body copy. Read how to write an SEO-optimized article to rank higher on search engines.

Promote your content

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

Likewise, if you blog, but there's no one to read it, does it even matter what you've written?

It's, therefore, necessary to promote your blog. Share it on social media: LinkedIn, Twitter, or Reddit. You can also promote your blogs in groups too. Search for relevant groups on LinkedIn and (Subreddit on) Reddit.

(Browse through 100+ Subreddits here. Look for what suits your product. Also, learn how to find relevant LinkedIn groups.)

There are other ways to promote your blog too. Do it on online forums like Hacker News, Indie Hackers, and Quora. You can even reach out to influencers. Guest post on other websites.

Don’t share your blog on every platform. The goal is to research where your users are and share it there.

Pro Tips:

1. Don’t just share your blog. Write down why the users should check and what they'll gain from reading it. If you focus on adding value, people will definitely read the blog, and, even share it. (Here’s what we mean)
2. Every platform is different. What works on Twitter won’t work on Reddit. Promote your blog accordingly (See here how to do it).
3. Pay attention to where your blogs are getting the most reach. See where the users are engaging more. Double-down on that channel.

Track and analyze your blog’s performance

You need to check whether what you're doing is providing results or not. This will let you know where you're doing good, and where you're falling short. Keep doing the good part. But, improve the shortcomings regularly.

Here's how to do it:

1. Install Google Analytics (Read how to use Google Analytics to track your blog’s performance).
   
   (illustration like this)
2. Select the metrics you want to focus on to judge the blog's performance. A few of the relevant metrics are:
   
   i. Traffic on the blog post.
   ii. Number of likes, comments, bounce rates, shares, and mentions in other blogs.
   iii. Where the traffic is coming from? Organic or social media or through other channels like referrals.
   iv. Number of conversions and sales (If your blog's goal is to convert traffic into sales).
   
   Compare your best blog performance with the one that didn’t perform. See what made the first blog perform better. Apply the changes to the mediocre blog.

Remember: Blogs take time to perform. So, don't sweat if the results aren't better in just one month. Keep testing and find what works best. You'll eventually find the 'best practices.'

Be consistent with your blogging personality.

Now create the blogging strategy for your SaaS business

Creating a strategy for your SaaS blog is only the first step. But, it's the most important one. You should then follow the strategy religiously.

Once you do it, the benefits are multifold. In the near term, you'll attract online traffic. Plus, educate your users about your business, and sell the product.

But, in the long-term, you'll gain the trust and credibility of your customers. This will build your brand and increase your revenue too.

So, what are you waiting for? Use the above guide to get started. Go on and build the strategy for your SaaS blog.