Understanding Product-Led Content Marketing

Product-led content marketing is a concept that's been around for a little while now and it's something I've been writing and reading about a lot recently.

Regardless, I still think there's lots of confusion around what product-led content marketing really is and how different businesses should apply it to their marketing funnel, so in this post, I'm going to explain exactly what it is and how you can use it to market your Product.

What Is Product-Led Content Marketing?

Before starting... Let's understand how has content marketing changed with product-led growth.

The biggest change has been a shift in the way we think about content marketing.

In the past, it was all about creating and distributing content that would drive traffic to your website. But now, as product-led growth has become the norm, we are focusing more on creating content that helps your customers solve problems and make decisions.

This means that your content must be valuable and offer practical advice - not just links to other websites. It also means that you need to craft your content in such a way that people remember it long after they have read it.

As a result, many marketers are using tools like Google Analytics or Kissmetrics to measure how well their marketing efforts are working. This allows them to see what works and what doesn't, and then adjust their strategy accordingly.

In some ways, it's a fairly simple change. The shift from an "emails is where my customers are" approach to one of "I'm not just selling products, I'm also selling ideas and experiences," was inevitable — but it was only when marketers started talking about it that it became tangible.

The product-led growth model is simple: start with a product that solves a problem, then add features that address customer pain points and let them continue to use the product in new ways.

Content marketing can be used to create content for all these different types of content — blog posts, videos, infographics, and so on — but it's not just about creating content anymore; it's about creating content that will help you sell stuff!

Product-led content marketing is all about creating blog posts, emails, videos, or other forms of content that have your products at their core. Instead of just talking about the problem that your product solves, you're actually demonstrating how you solve it by showing people what your product looks like and where they can buy it.

The content itself isn't an ad or an attempt to get people to buy something immediately. Instead, you are educating them on the problem they face, why it matters to them, and how you provide the solution. Because you are using real-life examples of your product.

The goal is to lead prospects to purchase your product using content that informs and educates them.

Product-led content marketing is a great strategy for B2B products. Consumers don't want to know about your products, they want to know how they will make their lives better.

Product-led content marketing is a mix of content marketing and product development. Product-led content marketing is more focused on the product than it is on the marketer. In other words, the focus of this type of content marketing is to help customers understand how your product works, why they should buy it, and how to use it in their lives.

Product-led companies have a deep understanding of their products and the market. They have developed a relationship with their customers by providing them with information that helps them make informed decisions about their purchases.

Why Does Product-Led Content Marketing Matter?

It's more important than ever to understand the roles of product-led content marketing, particularly when it comes to the SaaS industry. Product-led content marketing is one of the best ways for self-service SaaS to promote their services and products online. Here are some of the reasons product-led content marketing can be so beneficial:

• Product-led content marketing is authentic. Using real users as content can help you cut through the inauthenticity that plagues most content marketing. ?If you're not using user data to inform your strategy and strategy development, then you're just writing a bunch of words (or worse, trying to create an emotional connection with people who don't know you or the product). The only way to get authentic is to use real user data.
• Product-led content marketing is more engaging than traditional methods. Traditional methods of promotion can get boring after a while, but product-led content marketing is something people will want to read because it's interesting. This type of marketing can also help build your brand by introducing your product to potential customers in a way that feels personal.
• Product-led content marketing is relatively inexpensive. It generally costs less money to create this type of material than it does to create traditional advertisements or other types of promotional material.?
• Product-led content marketing is scalable. If you have more products, you can create more information about them and publish it online. As long as people are interested in what you have to say, you'll be able to continue finding new ways to market yourself online.

This type of content tends to be quite focused on the features of the product as well as how it can make someone's life easier or better in some way. In essence, it's an opportunity for you to show off your product and convince people that they need it. therefore increasing product adopotion

Product-Led Content Marketing: A Triangular Framework for Optimal Distribution and Effective Added-value

Product-led content marketing is all about creating content that shares the story of your product. It's helpful for new users to learn about your product by seeing it in action, and it can also help to build trust with potential buyers.

This framework has three main areas where you can create content:

• Practical Information: Product tutorials. These are usually written posts that explain how to set up and use your product. They're usually targeted at new users who want to figure out whether or not to sign up or advanced users who want to know more about your product. The popular SaaS tool Zapier has a great library of these types of posts on its blog.
• Theoretical Information: Product case studies. These are also usually written posts that focus on how a particular user uses your product in their workflow, and why they find it so useful. They work best when you have a customer who is willing to tell you in detail how they use your product, and why they find it so valuable.?
• Product-Specific: Product demos. These are videos that show buyers what your product does and how they might use it in their own workflows. They're great for people who prefer visual explanations over text, but be warned — they can be expensive to produce well!

Obviously, there is room to experiment with different tactics, strategies, and channels.

How To Distribute Your Product-Led Content Through The Different Stages Of Your Marketing Funnel?

When considering how to market your product, it's important to be strategic about where you place content. There are many places on the web where you can share information about your product and each of these channels has its benefits and drawbacks.

To figure out the best platform for your content, you need to consider:

• Who will be consuming this content??
• Are they low-information or high-information consumers? The more information a consumer already has around the topic, the less inclined they will be to consume more.
• The type of content you're creating. Is it a blog post, infographic, ebook, etc.? Different types of content require different platforms.
• How much effort do you want to put into this? Is this a one-off project or do you want to scale this over time? If it's a one-off project and you're not sure about the potential return, it makes sense to start with free platforms like social media and personal blogs. If it's something you want to grow over time and build relationships with influencers and other thought leaders, then paid platforms to make more sense.

In order to ensure optimal delivery, you need to answer these questions and more, but let's focus for now on the customer's minds through different phases of the marketing funnel.

Acquisition Stages:

Fairly consisted of Awareness, Consideration, and Qualification Through Conversion.

Let's see now how product-led content can be applied through these stages

Moving forward to the next set of phases...

Engagement Stages:

It consists of Evaluation, Decision (Purchase), and Activation

Let's see now how product-led content can be applied through these stages:

Moving forward to the last set of stages...

Retention Stages

It consists of the Retention, Expansion, Renewal, and Advocacy phases.

Let's see how the Product-led content strategy can be applied through these phases

Distributing your product-led content through the different stages of your marketing funnel is an effective way to boost your overall conversion rates. By targeting your audience in different ways during each stage of the funnel, you can generate maximum results over time.

By providing the right type of product-led content, on the right channel, to the right user/buyer persona and at the right stage of the marketing funnel, you are closing the value gap between the "Perceived Value" and "The Experienced Value"

Image Source: ProductLed

Let's see it in action...

1. Semrush Knoweldge Base

2. Drift Insider - A new way to bring relatable product-led content to the right people

3. Pendo Product-led Hub

Challenges with Product-Led Content Framework

Product-led Content Marketing Frameworks are certainly gaining traction, and this isn't surprising considering their clear benefits to both marketers and customers alike. With that said, the implementation of such frameworks does not come without challenges to be overcome, which can lead to underwhelming results or worse still, failure. We'll take a look at 5 of the most common challenges you'll face when implementing such a framework, along with some solutions to help you overcome them along the way.

Not Being Product Driven

One of the most common mistakes that businesses make is not being product-driven. Remember, your customers are always looking for ways to solve their problems and they will gravitate towards the products they think can help them. That said, it's important that every piece of content you publish has a corresponding product or service that solves the problem discussed.

Your Sales, Product, and Marketing Silos Are Too Deep

Another common mistake companies make is having silos so deep that, Marketing, Product, and Sales often don't know about each other's work. What does this do? Essentially, it puts all the key actors in the awkward position of trying to convince each about what features are most important, and marketing can't prioritize their list without understanding the context of whom they're targeting. This is one reason that Product Led content marketing isn't always successful- because Marketing hasn't yet been given the information they need to measure success on their end either. If this has you feeling frustrated, rest assured there are solutions!

Stakeholders Aren't Getting Onboard

One of the biggest challenges for product marketers is getting the Leadership Body on board with the change. Some executives may feel threatened by this new way of marketing, which is based on metrics and data instead of intuition or traditional advertising methods. Acknowledge this and work together with them to find solutions that will help them understand their role in this new marketing strategy.

Alienating The Audience With More Salesy Messaging

When creating content around your product, it is important not to alienate your audience with more salesy messaging. Some companies get so excited about their products that they forget about the audience and focus solely on what is cool about their product. This leads to them using more salesy language in the content which can turn people off from wanting to learn more.

Not Setting Up The Right Set Of KPIs

Content marketing is an iterative process, meaning it takes time and effort to create content that resonates with your target audience. While we all have our own goals for content marketing, it's important not to lose sight of the overarching goals for your company: increased sales and increased brand awareness.?

It's essential to have key performance indicators in place before launching a content campaign so you can measure success. What are some KPIs? A few examples include lead generation, customer acquisition, website traffic, and conversion rates. It's also essential that these KPIs are set up correctly from the start or they will be rendered useless down the road if they don't align with what your business needs most at this point in its journey.

In The End...

As any marketer will tell you, the best way to get someone to buy your product is to show them how it can solve their problems.

If there’s one thing that nearly every successful content marketing plan has in common, it’s this: a heavy focus on the product as a central element of the content strategy. Content about products sells products—it can’t be denied. But what does this mean for your content marketing plan?

I'm a big fan of this approach. It forces you to really think about what your customers want, and how you can deliver that product or feature that will excite them. With content marketing, it's easy for a brand to forget that while they may not be selling products, they are still selling an experience.