SaaS Content Case Study

Case studies on SaaS content are few and far between, partly due to the compartmentalization of information between content marketers and writers.

This case study focuses on the complete content development journey of a single long-form article for a B2B SaaS client. It aims to demonstrate the efficiency of crisp, direct-response ToFU (Top-of-Funnel) SaaS Content.

The Client

The client in this case study is a B2B SaaS brand that offers Subscription Management solutions to businesses seeking better recurring payment tracking. Their product focuses on commerce, finance and billing, from one platform. The client caters to businesses in Europe, North America and Japan.

The Content Problem

The client wants to provide a "more than average" understanding of Subscription Management. Their readers are other SaaS brands struggling to track the automated and non-automated sections of their revenue.

These readers are also "well-educated about the B2B industry". They require exciting, yet straight-to-the-point ToFU content about Subscription Management.

My Role

For this project, I was the content writer, working closely with the other members of the content marketing team. I was provided with a content brief and required to follow through with research, using the provided reference resources.

The focus was to maintain a direct, in-depth tone throughout the first draft. The expected turnaround time for the first draft was 4 days.

The Solution

I took each section on the content brief, one after another. While fleshing them out, there was the tendency to merge sections or skip some altogether. However, steadily iterating through the content sections saves time and minimizes errors.

Walk Through

I used the "research-write-edit" method. For research, I consulted 3 to 5 research sources for each section. Some of the research sources existed in the content brief. When writing, I boiled down the information from the research sources into my unique voice. It lets me avoid plagiarism and achieve the content goal.

After each section, I edited paragraphs. The editing was brutal and reductive, with the intent to pass the most information using the least words.

Results

The first draft of the content was completed in the expected turnaround time. The marketing team spent less time editing, having found the draft already close to the final product feel. The draft was immediately approved for link insertions and other optimizations necessary for the piece to go live.

Key Takeaways

Below are my key takeaways over the course of writing the article:

• AI isn't that useful for in-depth, direct long-form SaaS content. While I tried AI prompts to help make my sentences tighter and lose the fluff, I quickly found the results incoherent and easy to detect. Writing from scratch and editing along the way is surprisingly quicker and less hassle than AI prompts
• Skipping through or altering content briefs will only cause more revisions and hassles. As the content writer, you don't want the buck on your side. Rosemary Egbo tells it better in her tweet.

Conclusion

This case study highlights the relevance of a direct, in-depth approach to content for a B2B SaaS brand. With a steady, iterative writing method, I was able to deliver the first draft of the long-form content, while minimizing errors and keeping to the content direction.