How to Use Blogging Within Your SaaS' Marketing Strategy

Your Software exists to make our lives easier and better:

The software you developed came from the notion that there is something lacking in our professional lives. It solves common problems, creates extra space and time, and it's fun and easy to use.

Now, how do you transplant all of that knowledge into the brains of your target audience? How, indeed.

Have you tried pop-up ads or robo-dialers for your sales teams? What about straight up cold calling? Maybe a little bit of everything? I don't have to tell YOU this, but it's expensive, isn't it?... And exhausting, and it just feels stressful... something that you're trying to minimize for your subscribers.

But what about blogging? No, I don't mean posting a couple of ads or case studies. I don't even mean unleashing your stream of consciousness on the rest of us... I mean, what about implementing a blog campaign that finds your audience through white-hat SEO techniques, engages them with value-driven content (not ads), and leads them down the path of becoming a lead... and eventually a customer? 

All that and then some... Your SaaS marketing strategy is lacking big-time if you're not blogging, so here's how to get it going in 8 steps:

Start with your ideal readers - and blog for THEM

What is the sweetest sound a person could ever hear? Short answer: Our names. We love it when people talk about us. One of the most influential people in my sales career, Dale Carnegie, celebrated this very idea in his book "How to Win Friends and Influence People." Read it if you haven't - It changed my life, and it could change yours. Seriously.

We could be humming along, completely in auto-pilot with noise all around - conversations and radios and tvs behind us, next to us, in front of us... and still maintain focus on what we're doing - but what happens when your name pops up or something that just sounds like your name?

Exactly. Now, we're engaged and interested.

So, the most basic rule of blogging is to blog FOR your audience and ABOUT your audience. Spending too much time talking about yourself is a sure-fire way to lose their interest quickly. As we go through this exercise, keep that idea in mind, even when it starts getting technical.

Step 1: Be Empathetic

Knowing how to start a successful blog for your corporate objectives means knowing the minds of your customers. Ie - Be empathetic.

But empathy is not as easy as it sounds. It doesn't mean to feel bad for somebody, but to actually feel their pain from their perspective. Put yourself in their shoes. You know nothing about the software services your business provides, but you feel the pain. Now, how you are going to resolve it?

Maybe a Google search? Perhaps ask a friend or colleague?... who will then run a google search in front of you? Yes, I think it could very likely start with a Google search. - or Bing or Yahoo. But a search nonetheless. We're going to use this to our advantage.

Step 2: Do Some Research

"Measure twice, cut once." It's something my dad used to say to me growing up. I would always roll my eyes, because I wasn't interested in the seemingly longer route. But he was right, and missing this tiny extra step never ended well. Working with mistakes engrained in the foundation, no matter how small they may seem, will double or triple the amount of work you have to do, and you'll never feel confident in its overall stability.

Yes, I'm still talking about blogging, because it's a marketing tool - something that will work for you 24/7/365, driving new leads to your doorstep for YEARS to come.

Do the research. Find out about your audience. Know your competitors. How are they attracting traffic? Where does everybody seem to hang out online? Are they active in any social channels? If so, which ones? 

Step 3: Get the Right Tools

Corporate blogs require a series of checks and balances - both creatively and technically. Having tools to help you manage your blogging strategy is a really important part of the equation so you can stay organized, hit on all of Google's requirements, and fit into your bigger picture marketing strategy.

Here are some tools you cannot live without:

~ Blogging platform - You want this integrated directly into your website, meaning, it should be attached to your domain (ie: http://www.orangepegs.com/blog). For the Wordpress masses out there, this is available. You should also find it in most of the all-in-one marketing software solutions like Marketo or (my favorite) Hubspot.

~ Keyword tracking - Being able to identify keyword strings that your prospective customers will use to find you is critical to your blogging strategy. MOZ Pro is a great standalone option, but you can also install plugins in Wordpress that do it. Again, I use the all-in-one software, so I have it already integrated with my blog, website, emails, landing pages, etc.

~ Other SEO tools - It's nice to have a software program looking out for you, so you don't miss anything important. There are a lot of programs that will analyze your pages to make sure you have your keywords properly placed, including the URL, headers, titles, body, and alt image text.

Step 4: Develop Your Keyword Strategy

Now that we have the foundation poured and hardened, let's talk about how to develop good blog topics. Enter your keyword strategy.

Remember how we were so empathetic during our research? Now it's time to use what we learned about the language our customers used when they were looking for us. Let's tie them up in a handy keyword strategy (your tools will help you uncover the gems that have decent traffic but lower competition).

Now, let's turn them into titles. "How to" this, a list of that, and visuals that engage and attract.

Step 5: Follow the Rules but Rock the Boat

Now that you have visitors reading your blog, make sure they stick around for the whole thing. First, let's talk about the blogging strategy rules we must follow:

1. No thin content - shoot for posts between 1,000 and 1,500+ word-counts
2. Use the right formats: How-to, list, and visual
3. Keywords in their right places: URL, title, meta description, body - but make it natural - no stuffing
4. Break it up with visuals: Feature image is a must - body images too. Make sure they have their alt text
5. Post some internal links
6. 70 characters or less for your title
7. Go evergreen
8. Don't sell - just teach

Rockin' the boat:

1. Don't regurgitate the same bland materials as your competitors
2. Question the norm without criticizing (yes, it's a balancing act)
3. Make them question why they put up with this pai

I call it "fluid marketing," and it's really important. You've attracted readers. You've engaged them. Now, take it a step further and turn them into leads that you can contact about your services.

A simple way to do it is by making it easy for them to subscribe to your blog - but don't stop there, because that's just the beginning of their journey with you, and it's a relatively light beginning. To step it up a notch, place calls-to-action at the end of your blog and links throughout that deliver readers to content offers relevant to the post.

Bada bing.

Step 7: Distribution

Don't forget to give Google and friends a little helping hand! Social media LOVES blogs, so make sure you make them available through LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ at minimum. Those are the Big 4, and they each represent an important part of the buyer's journey.

Be careful though not to abuse your social media streams with a barrage of corporate blogs and ads. 

If your social following is engaged to you, they'll even help you distribute your blogs by sharing and reteweeting! If you end up ranking for certain keywords that you framed your blog around, then it'll come up in search queries all on its own. Google+ especially...

Step 8: Keep it Consistent

Blogging is going to drive a lot of important traffic to your website, and each post will build upon the last, but don't stop because of a surge here and there, or even if you are satisfied with your average volume. You want to keep it fresh both for your followers and the search engines. 

Strength comes from commitment and repetition. Tweet

I like blogging for my inbound marketing agency twice a week. Some do more. Some do less, but for us, twice a week hits the sweet spot for the growth we are trying to achieve.

Don't forget:

Remember, it's all about your readers, not at all about you. The sweetest sound somebody can hear is their name - The sweetest picture they can see is of themselves. Now, if you were to get your visitors to visualize themselves in your blogs, where you expertly positioned yourself as a thought leader, they may very well pick up the phone when you call, or better... pick up the phone and call YOU.

Even though Carnegie's book was first published in 1936, it's still quite relevant. Why? Simply because he focuses on being genuine, honest, and true - It's what people want, and if you deliver, they'll buy - It's about staying away from the gimmicky stuff that comes and goes and essentially tricks and bullies people into buying. These basic principles don't evolve - just the technologies we use to deliver them.

Blogging addresses the technological AND personable components that are so important for outreach and branding. The benefits of blogging for business support the same notions that your software does. If we can make it easier for others to function, we've done our jobs. 

Interested in learning more from a genuine-article inbound marketing agency? Schedule a free inbound marketing assessment today!