Strong communication stands or falls with a well-thought-out content strategy. Do you spend hours writing blogs and social posts to present your SaaS without any direction and result?

Let’s stop that and try to draw up a content strategy before you start content creation. 

If you dive into the search engine results, you will soon discover that there are a lot of different content strategy models that aim to help you generate content for your SaaS. That makes it hard to find one that suits your business.

To make your life a little bit easier I highlighted my three favorite models!

  • The 6C model
  • The 3H model
  • See, Think, Do, Care, model,

6 C model of Content Strategy

The first content marketing model I highlight in this article is Patrick Petersen’s 6C model from the Content Strategy Handbook.

This model is a handy checklist that guides you in creating and distributing your content. The model distinguishes the following six pillars:

  • Content creation
  • Channels
  • Crossmedia
  • Curation
  • Community
  • Comfort

1. Content Creation

The first step is the creation of content. This step is often underestimated, while it is at the heart of this model. Creating content takes a lot of time and energy, and is not something you just add to it.

The content must be aimed at the target group you want to reach. Which tone-of-voice appeals to them? What kind of content are they looking for?

These are all questions you should ask yourself in the first phase, even before you start writing.

In addition, the content must meet the requirements of the 3S model:

  • Snackable: short and sweet
  • Shareable: easy to share
  • Searchable: easy to find

2. Channels

You will (unfortunately) not get there with just solid content. After all, you want it to reach the intended target group, and that does not happen automatically!

In step 2 you also look at how you get your content to the attention of the target group.

On which channels is your target group active? Based on this information, you determine which channels you use to promote your content.

These can be offline channels, such as television, newspaper, and radio. Do you appeal to a young target group? Then the preference is probably for online channels, such as Google, social media, email marketing, and influencer marketing.

You can approach your target group very specifically.

3. Crossmedia Content  Strategy

In practice, few content marketers will choose to distribute their content through one channel. They often use different channels to reach the target group. This is also known as cross-channel.

Why is it effective? Check out this stat by App Marketing Minds

For example, lead people to your website via Facebook and ask them to leave their email addresses there when downloading a whitepaper or subscribing to the newsletter.

Then send them emails with personalized content. This way you let the channels support each other and you guide the visitor through the marketing funnel, which increases the chance of conversions!

4. Curation

Because the internet is already full of content, it is sometimes difficult to come up with something new. Moreover, content specialists can’t possibly have knowledge of all fields.

That is why many get inspiration and input from external sources. You call this curation. Make sure you come up with a new angle so that you deliver added value with your content. 

5. Community

A community on social media is indispensable. A large, loyal online community can help you spread your content.

For example, when followers respond to your social post, it ensures that it spreads much faster. This increases the reach of the mail and more and more people come into contact with your content.

So it is important to invest time in increasing your online community. Create attractive, audience-focused content and turn ambassadors into your followers.

An influencer marketing strategy will speed up the process of creating your own community.

6. Comfort

Last but not least: comfort. The content must be comfortable, which means, among other things, that the website must be mobile-friendly. The target audience should be able to easily access the content on any device.

Adjust the size of images to the type of device, for example. In 2020, you simply cannot get away with a website that loads slowly or is not compatible with mobile devices.

Give the user a pleasant user experience and increase the chance that he or she will come back again.

The 3 H model for SaaS content strategy  

Blogs, social posts, white papers, videos, infographics and so on: there are many types of content for your SaaS content strategy. To give structure and direction to the type of content you send out, the 3H model distinguishes between three different types of content.

  • Hero content
  • Hub content
  • Hygiene content

1. Hero Content

The absolute blast of your content, is hero content. This content has only one goal: to go viral. Here you invest the most money and the most time. You only place this type of content once a year.

You use hero content, for example, when promoting a large event or launching a new product. Companies use this content to increase brand awareness and reach because this content sticks better to the target group.

2. Hub Content

Hub content, unlike hero content, has a permanent, recurring place in your content calendar. This can be, for example, a weekly blog post or a recurring section.

The purpose of this regular, recurring content is to connect the target group to your organization and to build a relationship. So show some of your organization and give them a look behind the scenes.

For example, go vlogging weekly!

3. Hygiene Content

The content that appears most often in your content calendar is hygiene content. Where you send hub content weekly, you often distribute hygiene content (almost) daily.

This kind of content has a completely different purpose. Where you try to build a relationship with your target group with hub content, hygiene content is intended to increase your reach.

You do this by sharing accessible, entertaining content, such as:

  • Tips
  • Facts
  • How-to videos
  • Quizzes

See, Think, Do, Care model for content creation

The third model you can use for your SaaS content strategy is the See, Think, Do, Care model.

With this model, you create content based on the phase of the customer journey in which the candidate is.

For example, if your potential customer just comes into contact with your organization, you want to send him different content than when he is about to make a purchase.

1. See

This phase is the start of the customer journey. At this time, the potential customer is not yet planning to make a purchase.

The content you bring him or her into contact is therefore not yet aimed at convincing the customer. You do not yet show your products or services, but you create top-of-mind awareness.

You increase your brand awareness so that potential customers think of you first when they are looking for a specific product or service.

But how do you create top-of-mind awareness? You do this by sharing interesting, accessible content among your target group. In this phase, your target group consists of people who are interested in your product or service but do not yet have a purchase intention.

You record this information in a buyer persona so that you know exactly who you want to reach and where you can reach it.

Examples of content that you send in this phase:

  • Social posts
  • Blogs
  • Newsletters

2. Think

Is the customer aware of your product or service? Then he or she has entered the Think phase. The customer does not necessarily have the intention to make a purchase, but his interest has been sparked.

In this phase, the customer is looking for more information about your product or service. Moreover, he compares your offer with the offer of competitors.

So make sure to send him informative and compelling content during this phase. Show the customer what you have to offer and convince him that you offer the best solution to his problem.

Examples of content that you send in this phase:

  • Whitepapers
  • Cases
  • Testimonials
  • Informative landing pages

3. Do

It is here! The customer is ready to start converting. In this phase, you guide the customer towards conversion. In the Do phase, it is therefore extremely important that your website is user-friendly.

After all, you want to make the threshold for conversion as low as possible. A website that loads slowly or is cluttered will not help with this.

Also, make sure that the conversion process goes smoothly and that the customer does not have to complete twenty actions before making the purchase.

Does the customer still have questions? Make sure you are easily accessible so that you can quickly remove his or her last doubts.

Examples of content that you send in this phase:

  • Conversion-oriented landing pages
  • Product Pages
  • Contact form

4. Care

The conversion is in! However, the customer journey has not yet ended. The Care phase is the aftercare phase, in which you try to turn your customer into a loyal customer.

For example, send him or her a questionnaire and ask what could be better about your services. Also, make sure you keep the customer ‘warm’ by regularly sending a newsletter.

This way you stay top-of-mind with the customer and you increase the chance that he will converse with you in the future.

Examples of content that you send in this phase:

  • Questionnaire
  • Newsletter

Key Takeaways

These three content strategy models should help you to develop your own strategy for your SaaS. Do you already use one of these models within your content marketing, or do you use a completely different model? Let us know!