Content is a word we throw around a lot as SaaS marketers, so let me try to start with a basic definition:

Some sort of information designed to move whoever reads it closer to becoming a user of your platform.

As you can imagine, some content pushes folks hard toward that goal with a clear tie to the product and a strong call to action, some content plays a softer angle and longer game, and some content strikes some sort of balance between the two.

For smaller SaaS platforms I tend to err on the side of more direct, product-tied content that pushes a little harder, but the thing I want to do today is just document some of the content types I lean on and explore the purpose of each toward the goal of user growth. Rather than just make a list, I’ll try to group them by how hard each one is pushing and share a few examples of each.

Hard Push

Core: For Inntopia, we regularly push messages to our audience that are essentially repackaged versions of our main sales page. We call these “core” messages. They’re not as fun to read, but I like to sprinkle them in to ensure our audience never loses sight of the main thing we do for folks (example).

GTM/Features: Similar, talking about features whether they’re new releases or highlighting those core features users love than often act as the reason folks decide to try. These pair well with a “get a demo” or “try it out” CTA and, given the demand for a given feature, can often be a stronger push toward becoming a user than core messages (example).

Case Studies: I often call these customer stories just to take the edge off, but the point is to show real examples of real people using and loving your product. It’s a strong blend of social proof and core/feature messages in a narrative format that humans enjoy (example).

The upside of these types of content is they sell your product. The downside is that they may be harder to make engaging for your audience.

Medium Push

Free Tools: A free tool helps solve some part of your audiences problem and may set up your product as a nice next step, but there is some amount of value the user is receiving from the tool itself regardless of whether they sign up (example).

How Tos: I love a post that starts with “how to” because not only is that how humans often start things like buying journeys, it’s the stuff that Google/AI likes as well. In other words, it’s both engaging content and easier to rank/distribute. These set you up as an expert for a little branding, solve part of their problem to tap into the law of reciprocity, and pave a nice path toward your product, but, again, the recipient gets value whether they head down that path or not (example).

Tips/Tricks/Insights: This is where you impart some of your wisdom and experience on your audience. Like the other “medium push” content, it’s a great way to show you’re good at what you do and get on their good side, but they can still enjoy their free sample of your expertise even if they don’t buy the whole jar (example).

The upside of this type of content is that it’s much more engaging than the “hard push” stuff, but it keeps a healthy dose of the sales-related message.

Soft Push

Humor: If you post a meme, it may get a lot of engagement and create some affinity for your brand, but it doesn’t really do much to move folks toward becoming users. Especially when you consider that anyone might find it funny rather than just the right people (example).

Name Up in Lights: Shouting out other people or highlighting things you love is a great way to get them to share it with their audiences and build community, but the direct benefits in terms of pushing people to your product are obviously lessened because that’s simply not the topic of the story (example).

Awareness/Branding: As you might have guessed, much of branding fits into this category. These are messages that add a small, lightweight connection between your brand and your audience in a way that nudges them ever so slightly in the direction of your brand as those interactions accumulate into something more or just build top of mind awareness for when they make a decision.

These types of content are often the easiest to make engaging and, in turn, more likely to be consumed, but each interaction has a smaller, individual effect on how much closer it moves any one person toward becoming a user.

No Right Answer

Ideally I want a healthy mix of all of these things: soft pushes to build brand affinity, medium pushes to start getting them to realize we’re experts at this problem, and hard pushes to give them a yes/no moment to actually seal the deal. They all play off each other and play different roles in the journey.

But the reality is that I have to pick and choose depending on my goals and constraints of the smaller SaaS product I’m marketing.

At Inntopia I tend to err on the side of harder pushes, with SendView almost all of my content is in the medium push category, as we talked through some content for AthleteReg today I could see a lot of value in some content that it’s more on the softer push side. For me, the trick is mostly one of choosing the 3-4 that I can sustainably produce and are likely to have the biggest impact on those goals, then embracing the fact that’s all I can do, doing my best with what I’ve decided, measuring the results, and being willing to drop underperformers to make space for trying something new.