You’ve heard the saying, “Content is king.” This maxim is especially true in digital marketing, where 58% of marketers say B2B content marketing has helped them generate sales or revenue in the last 12 months. When done right, SaaS content marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach high-quality leads and build credibility.
SaaS content marketing has undergone significant changes recently. AI-generated content and fast-changing search engine optimization (SEO) best practices mean brands must go beyond traditional blogging to encompass different styles and channels.
This post explores these shifts in SaaS content marketing and how thought leadership content helps you gain an advantage. Plus, we’ll show you how to leverage thought leadership content to boost your B2B content marketing strategy.
AI-generated content is changing the SaaS content marketing landscape. The rise of AI tools has significantly increased the volume of content online. This saturation poses a challenge for healthcare SaaS companies that rely on B2B content marketing to educate prospects, generate leads, and build trust.
Meanwhile, Google’s emphasis on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) in its ranking algorithms favor content that delivers deep expertise and unique insights. To win the healthcare SEO game, you must go beyond generic, impersonal, AI-generated content.
The rise of intent-driven and conversational search means users will increasingly expect search results to provide immediate, relevant answers to their queries instead of generic content that requires them to sift through the noise.
Moreover, healthcare SaaS companies must go beyond attracting traffic to deliver a personalized experience throughout the customer journey. To accelerate your pipeline, you should create content that addresses the concerns of various personas at different stages of the buyer’s journey.
The proliferation of AI-generated content and the shifting healthcare SEO landscape may be intimidating. However, they present opportunities for companies willing to invest in high-quality thought leadership content to offer original, forward-thinking insights.
Let’s explore how you can develop a strong voice and share actionable insights to position your brand as an industry leader and build credibility.
You may wonder, “How is thought leadership content different from blogging?”
They’re both essential components in a B2B content marketing strategy to attract customers and help them solve their challenges. However, they have different objectives and approaches.
Blogging involves creating, publishing, and distributing targeted content on a company website. It works with a healthcare SEO strategy to drive traffic from organic searches. For example, your blog topics and keywords should help you rank high on relevant search engine results pages (SERPs) to attract high-quality leads.
Blog posts should be engaging, provide valuable information, and turn website visitors into leads. Most visitors expect you to tell them about your SaaS solutions after you've shared useful information. Your posts should also convince visitors to further engage with your brand, such as signing up to download high-value content or requesting a demo.
On the other hand, thought leadership content is often distributed externally (e.g., via industry publications or third-party websites). These pieces provide an educational resource on topics the industry deems important. Instead of describing your SaaS solution, they present you as a subject matter expert to the broader industry audience.
Thought leadership content helps you build trust with prospects and customers while establishing expertise with new contacts and the media. It may take many forms, such as an article in an industry publication, a speech or presentation at a conference, or an interview with a media source.
Thought leadership content helps you reach audiences you otherwise don’t have access to. Publishing content on reputable third-party platforms also enables you to build high-quality backlinks to enhance your website’s domain authority and improve healthcare SEO.
Moreover, thought leadership content allows you to stay relevant by joining timely conversations on what people in the industry are most interested in or concerned about. Identifying a unique angle on these subject matters can set you apart from your competitors.
Building thought leadership isn’t a one-and-done initiative. Cultivating your reputation and credibility takes time, but your effort will create a snowball effect. The more you deliver valuable and engaging content to editors and event organizations, the more trust they place in you, and the more likely you’ll get featured in reputable publications.
Thought leadership content helps you stand out in a sea of mediocre AI-generated content while earning high-quality backlinks to boost your healthcare SEO. Here’s how to set the stage for success:
Since most thought leadership content will send the audience to your website via the byline, you should build a solid foundation with a well-designed and user-friendly site before pitching publications. For example, include plenty of engaging, targeted content and opportunities for visitors to convert to leads.
Nail down your strategy and have sufficient resources ready to achieve your objectives. Consider these questions:
Even if you’re starting from scratch, don’t pursue every publishing opportunity available. Adopt a targeted approach and only go after those that align with your objectives, help you reach the right audience, highlight your expertise, and strengthen your brand positioning.
Healthcare audiences want to learn about industry trends, regulatory changes, and innovative solutions. Data privacy and compliance are often top-of-mind, and many executives want to understand the role of AI in healthcare (e.g., predictive analytics and patient data management).
Real-life examples of how a similar organization achieved the desired goals with your product demonstrate how your audience can benefit from your solutions. Discuss the process, the initial pain points, how the customer vetted the alternatives, what worked for them, and the lessons learned.
Public relationships can put your thought leadership content and byline in trusted publications to reach high-quality prospects while augmenting your brand image and building credibility. These tactics also support your B2B content marketing strategy by enhancing content distribution and promotion.
A healthcare marketing agency with deep expertise in B2B content marketing can support your blogging and thought leadership strategy to get the most out of your investment.
An expert team can identify keywords and healthcare SEO trends, improve your blog production workflows, drive high-quality traffic, and create a website to convert visitors into leads. They can also leverage their relationships with editors and conference organizers to put your thought leadership content in front of the right audience.
Moreover, an agency with expertise in SaaS content marketing understands how editors vet topics. It can help you identify the best subject matters and angles to appeal to publications and refine your subsequent customer journey touchpoints to nurture the leads you attract through the content.
Schedule a time to chat and see how we can help you make all aspects of SaaS content marketing work together to achieve your content goals.
Rebecca Graves co-founded Spot On in 2012. As a partner and leader of client services, she takes immense pride in being in charge of “client happiness.” The role allows her to wield her problem-solving skills while fostering big-picture perspectives and team building. Rebecca’s more than 35 years of experience have equipped her to translate strategic planning expertise for the advancement of tech companies transforming the healthcare, financial, and legal industries.
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