How Content Marketing Helps Software Companies Become Thought Leaders
For software marketers—whether your company’s solution is delivered via the cloud (SaaS/XaaS) or on-premises— establishing a strong market presence is crucial for success. Just having a great product may not be enough, not with numerous competitors vying for attention in a crowded marketplace. Tech companies need to differentiate themselves, build trust, and showcase their domain expertise to establish themselves as a trusted partner to their customers. One way to do this is to establish yourself as a thought leader in your space.
Thought leaders are people or companies who are perceived as having deep knowledge, insight, and expertise in a specific area. They are Experts with a capital E, the folks who are often tapped to provide advice, lead discussions at industry conferences, or comment on any number of issues in the field.
Being seen as a thought leader is undeniably desirable—but how can you get there? One particularly effective way is through your content marketing program.
How your content contributes to thought leadership
You can use content marketing to establish thought leadership in a number of ways:
- Showcase domain expertise: Content marketing is one of the most effective ways for software companies to demonstrate a deep understanding of not only the issues that drive your industry, but the specific pain points your target customers regularly experience. By naming the problem and offering strategies to solve it, you establish your brand as one of the go-to experts on it, which may be needed to…
- Build trust and credibility: High-quality content that addresses customer pain points, offers solutions, and provides valuable insights can significantly enhance trust. When customers see a software provider that is genuinely invested in helping them through informative, value-added content, they are more likely to view you as a trustworthy leader in the field, one they like enough to…
- Spread shareable content: Content that resonates with an audience often gets shared or linked, amplifying your SaaS company’s reach and influence. By creating compelling, informative, and shareable content, your influence extends beyond your immediate audience. This organic sharing helps in spreading your message, attracting new followers, and reinforcing your thought leadership status enough to…
- Improve SEO and organic reach: Thought leadership is closely tied to visibility, and key to visibility for software vendors these days is search rankings. By using relevant keywords, addressing trending topics, and providing in-depth information, your content marketing helps drive higher rankings in search engine results. This increased visibility not only drives more website traffic but also reinforces your firm’s thought leadership in your industry.
What types of content help a thought leadership campaign?
Creating high-quality, relevant content is going to be the cornerstone of successfully establishing your software firm as a thought leader in your field. Your content should provide valuable insights, anticipate and answer questions, and solve problems for your audience. Here are some categories of desirable content to consider in your thought leadership strategy:
- Market research papers or reports: Whether you conduct your own or license/commission it from an industry analyst, market research can generate a lot of interest—and credibility—particularly if it shines a light on solutions to known customer pain points, solves a business challenge, or saves time and money.
- White papers: White papers are an effective way to explore trends in your industry and highlight solutions that are aligned with your product offerings. When written with the needs of your audience front-of-mind—and not only to sell your product—they provide an opportunity to educate an audience as well as
- Use case videos: Videos focused on your solution’s usefulness in solving specific business challenges are effective ways to establish thought leadership, especially for late-funnel prospects. Featuring other industry experts such as partners, analysts, or your own customers in your video to support your message lends added credibility.
- Guest article contributions: Contributing guest articles to reputable industry publications or collaborating with other thought leaders like partners or analysts can further enhance your reputation. These contributions help in reaching a broader audience and gaining recognition from peers and industry influencers. Being featured in well-known publications, as a guest blogger on a partner’s site, or as an interview subject on an industry podcast can boost credibility and solidify your company’s standing as a thought leader.
Align thought leadership with go-to-market strategy
The material you develop to establish thought leadership—as with all good content marketing—must align with your overall go-to-market strategy.
Does your thought leadership content target or “speak to” the needs of the buyer personas that represent your core product users? You must ensure your content addresses their pain points, speaks to them at their level of expertise, takes their experience with current solutions into consideration, and offers insights on how they can improve it. This information should be kept in mind so that you don’t deliver content that panders to them or talks over their heads—neither of these would make you a reliable thought leader.
Another consideration to keep in mind is to develop content that aligns with the various phases in your specific buyer’s journey or position in the purchase funnel. This can often prove to be a challenge for many marketers, in particular in the mid- or late stages of the sales process, where a focus on proof points—such as showing measurable ROI or providing relevant reference accounts—will be particularly important.
Not an overnight process
Building thought leadership through content marketing is not an overnight process. First, the content you develop will take time and resources to create, so you must be prepared with a development strategy. Things to consider at this point: who are your internal subject matter experts, how can you tap them for their knowledge without it becoming a burden, and who can you partner with to create and design the deliverables? Second, once the content has been created, you must consider a marketing plan and the best tactical mix to ensure it reaches your target audience across owned and paid marketing channels. And finally you must be prepared to measure the effectiveness of the campaign not just in terms of lead generation but in audience sentiment and perception of your brand and its contribution to knowledge within your industry.
Conclusion
In a competitive market, thought leadership is a key differentiator for software and SaaS companies. Content marketing, with its multifaceted approach, provides the perfect avenue to establish and reinforce their thought leadership. By consistently delivering valuable, insightful, and engaging content, SaaS companies can build trust, drive engagement, improve visibility, and ultimately, position themselves as leaders in their industry. Investing in content marketing is not just about driving sales; it’s about shaping perceptions, influencing decisions, and leading the market conversation.
Want to create engaging content that resonates with your audience and paints you as a trusted partner? Find out how AAC can help. Contact us today!
