B2B SaaS Content Writing: A No-Nonsense Guide for 2024 (+ Free Downloads)
Creating effective B2B blog posts can be challenging, but it’s essential for reaching your prospective customers. Whether you’re considering launching your company’s first blog or struggling to understand why your current content isn’t delivering the desired outcomes, this guide is here to help.
I’ll walk you through understanding who you’re writing for, how to create content that keeps your business top-of-mind along their buyer’s journey, and how to measure success.
How to find and understand your audience
If I were your B2B content marketing advisor, I’d tell you that the foundation of all successful content strategies is to figure out two things:
Who your target audience is
Problems they need solved
Do deep audience research
Audience research should be the first step in your strategy, even if you’re just starting out. If you skip this step, your content will end up missing the mark.
If your business is new, you’ll need to make educated guesses about who your audience is, and then, you can refine this over time as you gather more data.
Create buyer personas
‘Buyer personas’ sounds like the ultimate marketing jargon, but they’re not that complicated. The buyer persona is a snapshot of your dream customer and isn’t just about their job title but goals, pain points, and struggles.
You need to define this so you’re not writing for everyone, because ‘everyone’ isn’t your customer.
A solid buyer persona helps you:
Choose topics that will hit the mark
Speak the language of your target audience
Be the calm in the content chaos
But don’t overthink this. You’re not trying to write a 20-page novel for each persona! Keep it simple:
Give each persona a name “Dave the Data-Driven” or “Marion of the House of Marketing” (…sorry might have gotten a bit carried away with Game of Thrones).
IT manager or Head of Marketing is not memorable.Add a few key details like industry, company size, and their biggest challenges
Figure out where they hang out online
Here’s what it could look like:
Download a blank version of this template.
Tool tip: I recommend using Canva to edit this, but you can also use tools like HubSpot’s Buyer Persona Generator or Xtensio to create detailed personas
3 Tools and techniques for gathering audience insights
1. Competitor analysis
Checking out what your competitors are doing well (or not) will help you identify opportunities for your own strategy. Here’s how:
Step 1: Identify your competitors
Who are the businesses offering similar products or services? This could also be indirect competitors with different offerings who target the same audience.
Step 2: Analyze their content
Use tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Moz to gather data on your competitors’ top-performing content. Look for:
Keywords: What keywords are they ranking for? Where are the gaps you can exploit?
Content types: What content formats (e.g., blog posts, videos, socials) are they producing? Where are they getting the most engagement?
Topics: Identify recurring themes in their content. Are they focusing on specific audience pain points or industry trends?
Step 3: Evaluate their engagement
Take a look at the level of engagement (e.g., comments, shares, likes) their content is getting. Tools like BuzzSumo can help you see which pieces of content are being shared the most across social media.
Check out their social media profiles on networks like LinkedIn. What kind of posts are getting the most interactions? What tone do they use? How often do they post?
Step 4: Identify content gaps
Compare your findings to your own content. Are there topics your competitors cover that you don’t? Or maybe it’s the other way around - you’ve discovered topics that they’re not covering. Now you can use these gaps to inform your content strategy and exploit them.
2. Market research reports
Market research reports are valuable for understanding the broader industry trends, customer behaviors, and market dynamics. Here’s what to do:
Identify relevant reports:
Gartner, Forrester, or McKinsey are good places to start for a broad view.
Market research firms like Statista or Nielsen offer great data.
Extract key insights
Focus on sections that discuss customer behaviors, emerging trends, and industry forecasts.
Pay attention to statistics that highlight shifts in buyer preferences or industry-specific challenges.
Apply your findings to your strategy
If a report indicates that a significant percentage of B2B buyers are moving towards digital solutions, consider producing content that aligns with that shift. For example, you could create a guide on adopting digital tools.
Validate with other sources
Cross-reference your data with other reports or case studies to ensure accuracy and relevance. This will also give you a heads-up on spotting trends highlighted across different reports.
3. Social listening
Social listening is about monitoring online conversations to so you can understand what your audience is talking about, what they struggle with, and the trends they care about.
Here’s where to start:
Choose your tools
Hootsuite, Mention, or Brandwatch help you track mentions of keywords related to your industry, competitors, or even your brand.
Set up monitoring
Set up alerts for specific keywords, phrases, or hashtags related to your business. If you’re in SaaS, you might track terms like “B2B software” or “SaaS challenges,”
Analyze conversations
Look for recurring themes. Are their particular challenges people talk about a lot? Can you address emerging needs or frustrations in your content?
Engage with your audience
Don’t just monitor–engage. See someone discussing a problem your offering solves? Jump in with a helpful comment or share relevant content. This helps position you as a thought leader and builds relationships with potential buyers.
Now that you have some solid information on who you want to write for. Let’s talk about content creation!
Crafting B2B content your audience loves (and gets you customers)
Think of your content like a Swiss Army knife–it’s most valuable when it provides a solution, not when you’re just waving it around showing off how many tiny tools it has.
Your product or service might be amazing, but if your blog reads like an endless instruction manual, you’ll be driving prospects away instead of attracting them.
Your prospects honestly don’t care about your fancy features. They care about results. Instead of listing those features, address the pain points you uncovered when you were building your buyer personas.
For example:
time saved
revenue gained/money saved
frustration eliminated
How to be customer-centric with your B2B content
→ Stop the “Look at me!” approach
Instead of a post titled “Our 10 Best Features,” go with “How to Solve [customer pain point] in Half the Time”. One is a sales pitch disguised as content, the other is a promise of value.
→ Actionable, not just informational
Don’t just tell your prospects something, help them do something. Include step-by-step guides, checklists, or templates related to the problem you’re solving.
→ The power of ‘Because’
Don’t just stop with explaining how a feature helps, add ‘because’ to take it to the next level.
Here’s what so many competitors of yours are writing:
- Our software integrates with your CRM [🤷🏽♀️so what?]
Don’t be like them, tell your prospects why:
- Our software integrates with your CRM because we know that manually updating data is a soul-crushing waste of time. [YES! Tell them you know what they’re going through.]
Always remember that your target audience is searching for answers, not just your fancy product demo. Be the solution and your content will start doing the selling for you.
💡Pro tip: Content formats that work well for your B2B audience
I previously talked about the importance of step-by-step guides and checklists to help your prospects. But your B2B audience will love other formats like case studies or whitepapers that are relevant to their interests or industry. They’re popular because they provide tangible evidence of your solution’s effectiveness.
Okay, you get how to solve problems, not just pitch your product. But to reach the right people, you need that content to be valuable and findable. Cue a bit of SEO magic...
Optimizing your B2B content for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO bridges the gap between your content and your audience. If you get this right, it will help your content rank well on the search engine results pages (SERPs) so potential customers can find you.
In this section, we’ll be covering:
Keyword research
On-page SEO implementation
Technical SEO for accessibility
Keyword research: The foundation of SEO
You know by now that your content can’t be random. Here are four steps you can take to get your keyword research right:
1. Brainstorm potential keywords
List out topics relevant to your content
Think about the terms your audience might search for when looking for solutions you provide.
2. Use keyword tools
Free options
Google Keyword Planner: Part of the Google Ads platform, it’s freely accessible and gives valuable data on search volume and related keywords
AnswerThePublic: Visually maps out questions and phrases people are searching for, providing excellent insights into search intent.
Ubersuggest: There are free and paid versions. The free version is still quite robust, offering keywords suggestions, difficulty scores, and competitor analysis.
Paid options
KWFinder: A favorite for the easy interface and focus on long-tail keywords. Usually, these kinds of keywords are less competitive for SaaS brands. They offer short free trials and pricing starts at USD $29 per month/$19.90 per month, annually.
Semrush: This is a powerful suite of tools, and they offer limited free searches and a few basic features without a subscription. Lots of add-ons to grow with your needs. Pricing starts at USD $129.98 per month/$108.33 per month, annually.
3. Analyze competitor keywords
Put your competitors’ websites into these tools to see the keywords they’re ranking for
Find the keywords you might have overlooked
4. Select the right keywords
Choose a mix of high-volume keywords for broad reach and long-tail keywords for more specific, intent-driven searches
Prioritize keywords that align with your content and business goals
These keywords will help you craft content that your audience finds but if you have existing content, don’t neglect it!
How to implement on-page SEO to optimize existing content
Many businesses like yours have content that’s just sitting around gathering dust. Here’s how you can outplay them in the B2B content game:
Optimize titles and headers
Make sure your main keyword appears in your title (H1) and at least one subheading (H2 or H3). This helps search engines understand the structure and relevance of your content.
Craft effective meta descriptions
Write a meta description that includes your primary keyword and gives a brief but engaging summary of your content. This needs to be under 160 characters or Google won’t display all of it in the search results.
Optimize images and alt text
If you have images in your content, optimize them by using descriptive file names, including keywords in the alt text. File names like ‘img10890423.jpg’ aren’t going to cut it and including alt text improves accessibility and helps with SEO.
Internal and external linking
Link to other relevant content on your website (internal linking) and to authoritative external resources (statistics from McKinsey, for example). This helps with SEO and provides additional value to your readers.
Use keywords naturally
Integrate your primary and secondary keywords naturally throughout your content. Avoid keyword stuffing, or placing as many keywords as possible in your content, even if affects the flow. Always focus on readability and user experience.
Pro tip: Avoid the lure of content scoring apps
Many B2B content marketers love content scoring apps like Clearscope, Frase, or Surfer.
These are tools that help assign a “grade” to your content to let you know how well you’ve optimized it. Grades A or B (or 70% and above) is usually what the app tells you to aim for.
Here’s the issue: You’ll feel compelled to score as high as possible which usually means adding as many of the tool’s suggested keywords as possible - aka, keyword stuffing, which is what you need to avoid.
A high content score is meaningless if the rest of the piece is garbage.
Search engines are getting smarter, and so are your potential customers. They can spot keyword-stuffed fluff a mile away.
Your most powerful SEO weapon is to understand your audience and create genuinely useful content.
Now let’s look at the technical side of SEO.
Technical SEO: Ensuring your content is accessible
Have you ever navigated away from a page because it was taking too long to load? This is where technical SEO optimization comes in.
How to improve technical SEO
Ensure fast loading times
Use Google PageSpeed Insights to check your site’s loading times.
Optimize images with a reliable hosting service and minimize code.
Make your site mobile-friendly
Ensure your website is responsive.
Optimize for mobile devices. Google tends to favor mobile-friendly sites in its rankings.
Set up and monitor Google Search Console
Use GSC to monitor your site’s performance in search results.
Use the insights to identify and fix issues like broken links, indexing problems, or security issues.
Pro tips on how to make your content stand out:
Focus on E-E-A-T, or Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
Create content that showcases your expertise and builds trust with your audience.
Cite reliable sources, include author bios, and highlight any industry certifications or awards
Optimize for user intent
Consider your reader’s intent behind each search query. Are they looking for information, comparing options, or ready to buy?
Tailor your content to meet those needs.
Keep your content updated
Keep your content current and relevant.
Refresh older blog posts with new information or recent trends to help maintain or improve rankings.
Now that you’re armed with SEO knowledge and tips for solid, effective implementation, I’ll break down how to write that winning B2B blog post.
How to write B2B blog posts in 5 steps
You’ve researched your audience, you understand what a good piece of content should involve, and you’ve learned how SEO can get your content seen.
Time to stop talking and start executing.
Here’s the method I use to write a solid B2B blog post:
Step one: Start with a solid content brief
Whether you’re using an in-house or freelance writer (or doing this yourself), a content brief gives you important expectations and guidelines for the content you’re writing.
You can use a content brief for any piece of content you’re creating whether it’s a website landing page or a 20-page ebook.
Why you need a content brief:
Clarity of purpose: A brief outlines the goal of the post, the target audience, and the key message you want to convey.
Consistency: It ensures that everyone involved in the content creation process is on the same page, from writers to designers.
Efficiency: With a clear brief, you can avoid unnecessary revisions and focus on crafting content that meets your objectives.
What to include in a basic content brief:
Title and topic overview
Target audience
Key points or sections
SEO keywords
A link to your company’s style guide*
Call to action
*Why a style guide is important: A style guide helps the writer ensure that the content aligns with your brand’s voice. It helps save time. You or your writer won’t have to guess how to format content or decide what tone of voice to use.
Note: As I said, this is the basic version of what should be included in a content brief. The more information and context you provide your B2B content writer, the better the outcome.
Step two: The power of the outline
Your outline is the map for your blog post. Without it, you’ll get lost and end up feeling like you wasted hours with nothing to show for it.
Why you need an outline:
Avoid the blank page: Staring at a blank page is intimidating. An outline gives you the starting point and breaks the task into smaller less daunting chunks.
Stay focused: It’s easy to get distracted by shiny new ideas mid-writing. Your outline keeps you focused on the core message you want to deliver.
Speed up your processes: Your business doesn’t have the luxury of a drawn out creative writing process. An outline keeps your B2B content writing process moving along.
📝 Example blog post outline
You’re not writing a romance novel. Your outline should be the skeleton of your post which includes 3 basic elements:
The main idea: A one-sentence summary
Key points: 3-5 supporting points you’ll expand on
Call to action (CTA): What do you want the reader to do after they’re done reading? This doesn’t have to be a “buy our software now” CTA, by the way.
Sample outline:
Title: “5 ways customer success software can boost customer retention”
Introduction: Opening hook on the cost of churn and why retention is crucial.
Point 1: Improve onboarding (+ sub-topics on how your software helps)
Point 2: Identify at-risk customers (data-driven insights)
Point 3: Proactive outreach & support
Conclusion: Tie everything together. Increased revenue = happy customers.
(If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll be able to see the outline I used to write what you’re reading now 😉)
Remember, an outline isn’t something set in stone. It can evolve as you write. The goal is to start with a framework so you don’t get stuck in your own head.
Step 3: Craft titles and headlines that hook
Your headline is the sales pitch in a single sentence. This is your chance to ‘hook’ your reader so they keep reading.
Here’s how to approach this…
→ Ask a question
Example: ‘Struggling to convert leads? The fix might be simpler than you think.’
→ Use the classic how-to
Example: ‘How to write blog posts that rank on Google’
→ Focus on benefits
Example: ‘5 Easy strategies to boost customer retention’
These aren’t perfect, but it gives you an idea of how to adapt the strategy to what you do. Be sure to read the headline out loud and ask if you’d click on the title if you saw it in your search results or social feed.
Step 4: Tell the story
You’ll need to emotionally connect with your audience. Yes, even in B2B. You’re still dealing with people behind their titles and business needs.
This is where your buyer personas come in. Here are some tips on how to flesh out the body of your piece with storytelling:
Start with a relatable problem: What is the reader’s struggle or what is it they’re trying to achieve? Begin with that.
Use anecdotes or case studies: Share experiences you’ve had with previous customers to put a real ‘face’ to your reader’s challenges. This shows them they’re not alone and how you’ve helped others.
Conversational yet professional: I’m not sure why the world of B2B SaaS decided that robotic = professional. Your prospects are real people, so treat them like that. Talk to them like a trusted colleague or advisor.
Inject your personality: There might be similar offerings like yours on the market, but what is it about your brand that makes you different? Don’t be afraid to show that in your content.
Step 5: Hit publish (but not blindly)
I love the saying “Done is better than perfect” because I’m focused on delivering (as I’m sure you are). But that doesn’t mean you’re publishing without a last check.
Here’s a checklist to make sure it’s the best version possible without chasing perfection:
☑ Read it aloud: This will help you find awkward-sounding phrasing you may miss by reading silently.
☑ Proofread: Typos happen to all of us, and in my case, usually after I hit publish 😅. A tool like Grammarly can help clean up the issues, but I wouldn’t just rely on tools here.
☑ Fresh eyes: Get a colleague’s fresh perspective for clarity. Sometimes I work on something for days and it all starts looking the same!
Never too late to update: You can and should always revisit older posts to improve, update, and refresh.
Now that you have the five steps to writing your blog post, we need to talk about how to elevate your content: with a subject matter expert.
Subject matter experts: Deliver real insights and stand out
More than likely, the content writer you’ve hired isn’t a subject matter expert on the topic they’re writing about, and that’s ok.
So far, your blog post cocktail consists of:
the content brief (the guide)
the structure (the map)
the kick (your catchy headlines)
the story (the heart)
the polish (your pre-publish checklist)
But you’re missing the one special ingredient that will make your B2B content truly unique:
Your subject matter expert (SME)
An SME can come from your sales, customer success, or product team as they have deep understanding of customer pain points, deep industry knowledge, and real-world experiences.
But don’t just keep it in-house. A great way to get additional exposure is to reach out to SMEs outside of your company and do a content collaboration.
This is'n’t an interview in the classic sense, it’s a conversation!
Focus on the following:
Give your SME a few guiding questions in advance, not a blank slate.
This isn’t an brain dump. This should be a 15-20 minute focused chat about the subject.
Offer them the opportunity to review the content so they can ensure their insights are presented clearly.
I’ve created an example “interview” template for you to use in your next SME chat:
🧐 View the Google Doc - You’ll need to make a copy of the doc to edit it.
Pro tip: Create an SME overview doc
If you have lots of SMEs, create a doc with their bios, headshots, and blurbs to use over and over.
Effective repurposing: Put your content to work!
Congrats, you’ve published your blog post. But don’t pat yourself on the back just yet because there’s so much more to do now that it’s online.
Repurpose like a pro
You did all that work to gather valuable insights to share with your target audience, so don’t let it go to waste. Repurpose your content to reach a broader audience and extend its life. Here are some ideas:
Create an infographic: Break down one of your blog post sections into a visually engaging infographic. Share on platforms like Pinterest of LinkedIn, where visual content performs well.
Use social media: Turn key takeaways or SME insights into shareable LinkedIn posts, tweets, or even short videos. This helps reinforce you message across multiple channels.
Generate a downloadable resource: Summarize your blog’s main points and turn them into a downloadable checklist, guide, or ebook. You can opt to gate the resource to capture leads by offering it in exchange exchange for an email address.
Note: I understand the need to generate leads but be sure to offer (ungated) free, high-value resources, too.
Purposefully promote your content
You’ve published, and now it’s time to promote it strategically so it reaches your intended audience.
Share where your buyers hang out. Be intentional. Where do your prospective buyers spend their time? If they’re not on Instagram, don’t bother!
Use email marketing. Include your blog post in your next email newsletter. Tease the reader with the key takeaways and remember to include a call to action (CTA) to drive them to the full blog post.
Collaborate with influencers or partners. Build good relationships with industry influencers/partners who can help share your content with their audience. A mention from them could significantly boost your content’s visibility.
Measure what matters
Once your blog post is live and promoted, you’ll need to track it’s performance. But don’t get wowed by vanity metrics like page views, likes, and follower counts. These things may seem impressive, but they don’t necessarily deliver actual business outcomes.
Here’s how you can measure:
Define your goals: Are you aiming for lead gen, brand awareness, or customer engagement? Goals determine the metrics you’ll need to focus on.
Examples: If your goal is brand awareness, you’ll need to track impressions and reach. If it’s lead generation, focus on conversion rates and form submissions.
Track engagement: Look beyond page views. Engagement metrics like comments, shares, and time spent on the page indicate if your content resonated with your audience.
Analyze and optimize: Tools like Google Analytics or HubSpot can help you track your chosen metrics. Regularly review the data to understand what’s working and where you can improve. This will help you refine your content strategy over time.
Your no-nonsense challenge
You’ve got the tools, know-how, and enough of my advice to last you a while, so it’s time to stop overthinking and start doing.
To recap:
Know your tribe: Stop writing for everyone and start obsessing over the specific problems your dream customers desperately need solved.
Help, not hype: Your offering is awesome, we get it. But if your blog reads like a never-ending sales pitch, you’ve already lost.
Progress, not perfection: Done is always better than some half-finished masterpiece gathering dust in your drafts folder. Tweak as you go.
SME spotlight: Find colleagues who work closely with the customer and/or product. Time to tap into their insights goldmine.
Strategically repurpose & promote: Your amazing content deserves to be seen. Get it in front of the right people, in the right places.
Changing your mindset and strategy doesn’t happen over night, so don’t stress about this too much. And if you do start losing your way, book a call with me - I’m always here to help!
Now go out there and kick ass. You got this!
