Traditionally, ‘tis the season for holiday parties and strangers swapping spit under mistletoe (though, that isn’t the case this year). Entrepreneurs conventionally think of this as the time for extra customer service tickets, financial analysis, Q4 reports, and setting business goals for the new year. After the havoc that the pandemic has recently wreaked on the world, fresh goals are more important than ever. 

If part of your New Year’s resolution is to convert more of your free trial users into paid subscribers, you’ve come to the right place. 

Here’s what’s in store: 

• Quick B2B SaaS Industry Overview
  • What is a Good SaaS Subscriber Conversion Rate?
• 7 Tips to Get More B2B SaaS Subscribers
  • 1. Make Sure Buyer Personas are On-Point
  • 2. Double-Down on Competitor Research
  • 3. Invest in a Branding Analysis
  • 4. Test Freemium vs Free Trial Options
  • 5. Be Helpful, Authentic, and Relevant
  • 6. Keep Voice Search in Mind
  • 7.  Stop Telling & Start Showing
• Final Thoughts

Keep reading to learn more. 

Quick B2B SaaS Industry Overview

Just as some connoisseur baristas will always prefer french pressed to dripped coffee, there will always be a place for software in personal hard drives. Yet, it’s crystal clear that cloud-hosted apps are here to stay. Interest in apps has steadily increased since the early 2000s. 

The latest SaaS statistics show that B2B companies say, since the onset of the novel coronavirus, digital interactions are two to three times more important to their custormers. Nearly 90% of sales moved to a teleconferencing model, which seems to be as effective or more effective than conventional approaches. And, the demand for cloud-hosted SaaS is predicted to continue to grow. 

We’ve seen unprecedented growth in technology in several areas including telemedicine, distance learning, remote work, and ecommerce. In all of these areas, people find that they can be just as productive, if not more, than with their in-person, respective counterparts. Without the right tech, these processes would not be successful. Business consumers will likely become even more accustomed to using software in everyday operations. 

So, as long as you stay on track with your company, the future of SaaS will be so bright you’ll need shades.

What is a Good SaaS Subscriber Conversion Rate? 

The general consensus is that a low conversion rate for SaaS is below 3%. A good conversion rate might fall between 3-5%. An 8% conversion rate is considered excellent. 

So, as a rule, use these numbers to determine how much new site traffic you’ll need to generate if you want to hit your new suber goals for the year. 

Tip: If you’re already in the green zone, quit looking at the rest of the industry and start setting goals to outdo yourself instead. 

7 Tips to Get More B2B SaaS Subscribers 

From the trends and tips above, you can research and guage your operations. But, let’s take a look at some actionable tips you can implement to attract more subscribers to your B2B SaaS offer. 

1. Make Sure Your Buyer Personas are On-Point

A customer-centric business is a successful business. And, at the heart of your marketing strategy should be buyer personas. So, why are you still putting-off buyer personas? 

In his research, Stephen Zoeller found that companies that exceed their lead generation and financial goals are 2X more likely to use buyer personas than those who miss the mark. 

As your company grows and scales, you will naturally collect more data about the demographics and typical behavior of your target audience. Use this information to refresh your buyer personas annually. 

At minimum, collect the following answers from your internal reports: 

• Who are your most financially-lucrative users? 
• What do these users have in common?
• And, how are they different? 
• Do you see any recurring behavioral trends? 

Of course, there are some questions that Google Analytics can’t answer. So, take the time to interview your prospects and users. For this task, enlist your support team. It makes users more likely to communicate with you if your company’s head of customer support reaches out for a one-on-one conversation. 

Hearing from the support department rather than the marketing team will make your user feel as if the conversation is about them and not about your profits. 

2. Double-Down on Competitor Research

Once you have what you need to know about your ideal buyers, peek in at your competitors. In most cases, you can find mentions and reviews your competitors on Reddit and Trustpilot. Read community platforms to find out what your competitions’ customers really think. 

One of my favorite hacks is to read users’ three-star reviews first. 

When you look at average reviews, you learn what people who like but don’t love a platform think of it. These insights tend to spark ideas to maximize growth. 

Another research tactic I like is to subscribe to competitors’ offers. Sign up for email lists, use their software. Stay up-to-date about everything that’s going on. Where email lists are concerned, use several addresses to stay at multiple stages in the funnel so you can see the content they share with new leads, free users, and paid subscribers. 

Finally, use an SEO tool to follow along with your competitors’ keyword rankings. This will show you where their traffic is coming from and help you discover valuable opportunities to generate new traffic to your website.   

3. Invest in a Branding Analysis

Even if your platform promises to solve a ton of problems for users, an outdated brand image can make your leads feel like you give them the short end of the stick. Frankly, poor aesthetics can bring about poor conversions. 

According to Gu Yi Chen, brand image has a direct impact on shoppers’ purchase decisions and their subsequent perception of your company. So, find a branding expert and enlist their help with an analysis. Then, implement their advice. 

A few years back, when I worked on a campaign for an online logo creator, I learned that some brands update their logo and branding package as often as every 18 months. So, if you’re afraid that your prospects won’t recognize you if you adjust your image, don’t be.

4. Offer Freemium Use or a Free Trial

Have you implemented a free trial or freemium offer yet? If not, it’s time. Here’s why. 

Even if you do the internal math and find that a free trial offer doesn’t increase your paid subscription conversion rate, you can’t take the numbers at face value. This month alone, I’ve signed up for six free trials to write in-depth reviews for my writing clients. 

When reviews like this go live, the platforms written about have free, viral-ready press on various channels amongst audiences who are already interested. 

Not to mention that even when I don’t need the software for long-term use, I am likely to come across someone who does. And, If I love your SaaS, I will make a recommendation (Plus, there are thousands of writers like me who are likely to do the same). 

If you are going to implement a free-trial or freemium offer for the first time after this, I have one more piece of advice. Tom Tunguz says that usage and time-based trials have 2X higher conversion rates than others. So, consider letting users “send 100 messages for free” or “try free for 14 days” for an optimal paid subscription rate.  

5. Be Helpful, Authentic, & Relevant

With the right clickbait, you can get almost anyone to give you their email address in exchange for a free offer. But, you can’t make them stay on your subscriber list or continue to use your platform. And, if a great lead goes dark, you will never nurture them to convert. 

Alleviate this pain point by giving your users and new website traffic hyper-valuable content. If a prospect loves a free resource you’ve provided, they’re more likely to stay on your subscriber list waiting for more like it. 

You don’t want to deliver content that has already saturated the market. Instead, if you want your users to trust you, create unique and extraordinarily helpful content with them in mind. Share your internal findings when they provide value. 

Salesforce, for example, publishes a library of helpful research, reports, guides, and multimedia content for the public and its users. Most of their content is created based on internal research and data collected from real platform users. 

This strategy of well-informed, original, and helpful content creation positions the brand as a thought leader on multiple topics while generating new platform leads. 

So, don’t be the brand that has a blog just because everyone else is doing it and you thisnk content is the most cost-effective marketing channel — be Salesforce.

6. Keep Voice Search in Mind

In full disclosure, I am a Google girl. I worked with an SEO agency for a couple of years and learned a ton about how to keep search tactics up-to-date with Google’s 50+ monthly algorithm changes. But, I didn’t learn all much about how Alexa and Siri answer questions. 

However, I do know that 72% of consumers have used voice search through a digital assistant. By the end of 2020, 75% of households will contain at least one smart speaker. And, over 50% of consumers expect that their digital assistants will help them make purchase decisions (Bing). Furthermore, I’m gradually becoming dependent on Alexa. 

As you implement new tactics, don’t just think about how Google, Bing, and Yahoo will rank your content. Instead, keep voice search in mind. The results you get from Siri and Alexa queries are completely different than the results Google delivers. 

7.  Stop Telling & Start Showing 

I continue to say this until my face turns blue, but many SaaS brands still use their blogs to talk about their brands way too much. So, if you’re doing this, stop… now.

Yes, investors and researchers want to know all about you, but your users want to know how you and your platform can help them. When you create attraction-stage content, you need to appeal to new prospects and leads, not board members and potential investors. 

For example, it’s natural to want to share your latest API updates and news about new integrations. Current users will find this information helpful, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t put it in front of them — just don’t be too technical. 

And, when you publish blog posts to generate leads, you want to share solutions to your users’ greatest pain points. 

To see what I mean, here’s an example: The SaaS sales platform, Close.io, has a blog that speaks to users at all stages of the subscription funnel. They post company news periodically, but focus primarily on sales advice. 

When you create a content calendar, SEO is one factor. But, here is a great place to pull out those buyer personas and competitor research to remind yourself what your ideal audience wants. Ask yourself the following questions. 

• Who are my ideal subscribers? 
• What are their most pressing problems? 
• How can I create content that provides solutions? 

Think of search marketing as a secondary factor. Valuable solutions should always take the first chair. 

Final Thoughts

If you want to scale your SaaS growth strategy, use this guide to make informed decisions. AI and voice search are on the rise. You need to focus on your users if you want to reach your growth objectives. And, your online content should be well-thought-out for optimal impact. Now, if content is on your 2021 agenda, read How SEO Copywriting Services Can 13X Google Search Traffic [Case Study].

The post 7 Ways to Attract More SaaS Subscribers in 2021 [Quick Guide] appeared first on CopyNoise.

Here’s How One CopyNoise Client Saw a 13X Increase in Organic Search Traffic With SEO Writing Services

Summary of Results:

• 13X Google search traffic growth
• #1 ranking pages for 26 new search phrases
• 748% increase in organic keywords 
• 19.4X rise in monthly traffic value

SEO Copywriting Project Overview

Client Overview

To prevent their competition from spying, the client’s name and company are omitted. What can be disclosed is that this story is about a platform that helps businesses increase their access to funding via a convenient and legitimate alternative to VC and angel investors. 

The client originally discovered and streamlined a system that business owners can use to increase cash flow without losing their vision to shareholder takeover. Within the businessphere, there is an ongoing need for this solution. So, the client created and packaged their framework into a multi-tier, subscription-based offer. 

Since 2011, the client has helped thousands of business owners and founders in multiple industries increase cash flow to grow their companies. Until 2019, they relied almost solely on Facebook PPC ads to drive targeted traffic to thier website.   

“We wanted more eyeballs on our content and into our sales funnel. In April 2019, I hired three writers who I thought were the best. One was sort of flaky and one ditched out.” 

– Company Founder

Beyond PPC, the client needed to employ an effective, long-term traffic generation and conversion strategy. 

Despite regularly publishing content and distributing it to their newsletter subscribers, the brand’s website had topped-out at just under 300 organic website visits from Google searches every month. The content they were sharing was useful for their intended audience, but most readers discovered it via paid social media ads.

The central problem with PPC advertising was that the client had to continually pay in order for it to work. Like when you turn a faucet on, the company saw temporary boosts in traffic as they increased thier budget on a successful campaign. Yet, when their funds were withdrawn, the faucet shut off and traffic dried up. 

The brand founder decided that fresh, SEO-optimized copy and content could be the key to keep the faucet running consistently. 

The client enlisted CopyNoise to write new articles, user stories, and knowledgebase content to attract, convert, and retain subscribers. 

In April 2019, after careful research, the company founder hired three writers who he believed were the best B2B copywriters he could find. At first, he was satisfied with deliverables from all of them. Quickly, the first freelance became sort of flaky and the second failed to consistently produce. The third was Ashley Kimler, founder of CopyNoise, who remained the sole writer on the project. 

Over the next 18 months, CopyNoise created and delivered 28 on-site articles, two in-depth user case studies, and an instructional workbook for the client. The content and copy was written to appeal to website visitors across multiple stages of the subscription funnel. 

Some of the articles were how-to pieces. Others were helpful financial resources for business. The most popular were friendly reviews of brands with alternative solutions to the problem the client’s offer solves. 

Rather than scraping subscriber data from the client’s back end and requesting permission to share sensitive customer information information, CopyNoise got on the phone to interview businesses who were willing to share their story. From these discussions came a deeper understanding of three key factors of the customer experience:  

1. The market’s pain points
2. How the client’s offer relieves these pain points
3. *Language used to describe the experiences 

A strong relationship between writer and reader is the what differentiates good from great SEO copywriting. Copy is more relatable when the writer knows the reader. 

In April 2019, none of the client’s websites pages had top ranking in search. By October 2020, the site had 26 total #1 ranking positions for target search phrases. 

In addition to the new first position rankings, the client saw exponential growth in other positions in Google search results:

• #1-3 for 92 keywords
• #4-10 for 375 keywords
• #110-100 for 5,705 keywords 

In all there was a 748% increase in the website’s organic keywords.

The client’s monthly traffic value went through the roof!

In April 2019, the company’s Google organic search traffic value was $1,251. At this time, they decided to double-down on their content budget. By October, 2020, they had a 19.4X increase in estimated monthly traffic value (which doesn’t cover the website visitors that come from other search engines), boosting figure to $24,297. 

In less than two years, the company’s monthly Google organic traffic value increased exponentially — by nearly 20 times its value at the beginning of the project.

Final Takeaway

By enlisting CopyNoise to write new blog posts, user stories, and knowledgebase content, this brand was able to see massive gains to not only reach but surpass their goals. If you’re looking for gains like this, chat with a copywriter who knows how to cut through the noise.

The post How SEO Copywriting Services Can 13X Google Search Traffic [Case Study] appeared first on CopyNoise.

Power words and phrases have been used in sales copy since the birth of advertising. Repeatedly, tactical word use has been proven to impact consumer engagement. In fact, word use is at the center of nearly every sales message. Yet, while some writers still add massive power word lists to their swipe files every day, other contemporary copywriters and content creators cringe at the idea. 

So, what’s wrong with power words? …and, do they actually make your online headlines more clickable? Read on to find out. 

Here, we’re going to cover: 

• Why Do Some Copywriters Curse the Idea of Power Words?
  • Disruptive Trends in Modern Marketing
• Key Factors That Contribute to Headline Clickability
  • Emotional Triggers
  • Urgency
  • Relevance
  • Grammar & Clarity
  • Character Length
  • Numbers
• 50 Powerful Words to Use in Content Headlines
  • +Bonus: Alternatives to Use Instead of Boring Words
• Conclusion

Read carefully because you can tremendously improve headline clickability if you apply everything you read in this article. 

Why Do Some Copywriters Curse the Idea of Power Words for Headlines? 

My sixth-grade language arts teacher once gave me an ‘expressive words’ list printed on a sheet of hot pink paper. I carried it around in the back of my binder through my high school graduation day — dust-stained edges, handwritten notes, and all. Since then, a lot has changed.  

In the mid-2000s, I remember reading a survey that estimated somewhere close to 80% of people on the planet aspired to write a book. And, I can’t imagine the number has changed much. Most people want to be writers. Unfortunately, a tiny portion of those who have the desire ever reach the end goal. 

The point: Professional writers put a ton of work into skill development. Copywriters specifically learn to write headlines that engage, inform, and captivate. They learn the nuances of how to keep readers interested and moving through sales funnels. Writers’ unique methods are developed over time through thousands of hours of education, research, trial, and error. 

Now, imagine that someone comes along and tells an experienced sales writer that if they use a word like “magnificent” in their headlines, more readers will click through to view their articles and landing pages. At this, the writer rolls their eyes because they know it’s not that simple. 

The truth is there are multiple factors that contribute to headline clickability. A standalone “powerful words” list that claims to “make your writing stand out from the competition” is an insult to a professional who has invested blood, sweat, and tears to hone their wordcraft. 

When my young self carried a tattered list of words from classroom to classroom, my relationship with language was still young and full of wonder. Now, I know that catchy words are a little-bitty piece of a massive puzzle. 

The Latest Disruptive Trends in Modern Marketing

In addition to the recoil you get from copywriters, consider the world right now. We’re in a pandemic and, if it doesn’t already, this should have a major impact on your content marketing.

The current global crisis pressed the fast-forward button on an already gimmick-intolerant consumer market — here are some facts to illustrate. 

• An “untrusted company” is #3 on the list of top factors that steer consumers away from doing business with a brand (PWC). If people don’t trust you, they don’t want to do business with you. And, if you think you’re going to manipulate readers with your headlines, you’ll only build skepticism.  
• More than half of commercial content was predicted to be created outside marketing departments by 2020 (ResearchGate). User-generated content has always had a higher trust factor than brand-created promotional materials. All corporations might as well be run by reptilian hybrids who only want us to obey and consume. As a brand, you almost have to prove otherwise. 
• In 2020, the brands that humanized and softened themselves were the ones who kept consumers connected when people weren’t purchasing (CommerceNext). Every marketing agency leader and company owner I’ve talked to since the onset of COVID-19 has had the same opinion — this year marks a time for brands to get real. 
• Authenticity, hope, camaraderie, empathy, compassion, and factual context are the prescribed brand messaging themes in response to the Coronavirus pandemic (Inc). People are stressed. Most of us carry unusually heavy weight right now. We can’t handle any more B.S. 

These trends show that brand messaging must be genuine. No matter who your audience, inauthenticity poses the risk of making people feel as if your company doesn’t notice or care about them. 

Notwithstanding, there are proven steps you can take to boost headline clickability while educating, helping, and being real with your readers. 

6 Key Factors That Contribute to Headline Clickability 

You can’t just haphazardly throw together multiple power words to hypnotize headline viewers to click. There’s a craft you must learn. Mastery over the following can make your headlines more enticing for readers. 

1. Emotional Triggers 

If you know about sales psychology, you understand that emotional triggers drive action. Article and page headlines are considered effective when they drive the reader to click through and read more. For optimal clickability, stimulate the right emotions. 

There are proven, specific emotional triggers that lead to more sales. But, we’re not talking about product packaging or calls to action. Instead, we are crafting headlines that move website traffic from an external source (such as a search engine, social media platform, or curation website) to a webpage through a click, not a sale. 

When they describe headline psychology, experts typically declare five or seven or ten basic emotions to trigger. None of these people are wrong. However, there’s another approach. 

I like to study something until I understand it inside and out, then simplify it to it’s most relevant parts before I tuck it into my tool belt. In the case of headline writing, I focus on one central emotion: curiosity.  

Curiosity alone leaves readers with an impulse to learn more. But, people are busy, so it’s best to go the extra mile. Curiosity paired with a secondary emotion can give someone enough energy to actually follow through on their click impulse. Reflect for a moment on what it’s like when you feel the following. 

• Curiosity + Excitement 
• Curiosity + Contempt 
• Curiosity + Passion 

These combinations aren’t easy to ignore. So, when you write a headline, imagine whether or not readers will feel curious when they read it. If you’re sure they will, you’re on the right track. 

2. Urgency 

Next in the chain of clickability command is to create a sense of urgency. When writing headlines, you should be asking, ‘How can I make readers want to learn more right now?’ 

There are numerous ways you can do this. 

First, urgency can be nurtured through supply or time-scarcity: 

• Only Three Spaces Left… 
• This Promotional Pricing Ends Today
• Final Deadline: October 29, 2020

Next, you can pose a threat: 

• If You’re Not Ready, You Might Have to Close Your Doors
• This Guy Missed Out on $10K Because They Didn’t Have This

But, these aren’t my favorite strategies. Instead, I like to write headlines that simply hint at answers to pressing questions. 

• Are You Making This Mistake? (Wait… what? I don’t know… am I?… *click*)
• Here’s How to Get X Right (I have been curious about how to X… *click*)
• 7 Ways to Make Your Content Stand Out (I wonder if there’s something here that I haven’t already heard… *click*)

The latter approach is softer and — as long as your content delivers the goods — more trustworthy. Ultimately, brand messaging needs be handled on a case-by-case basis and there’s no shame in using any tactic you like. The essential clue here is that if you can drive urgency, it will give readers the push they need to click through. 

3. Relevance 

Now, this brings us to relevance. Your headline must be relevant to your content. Your content must be relevant to your audience. And, your headline needs to appeal to your target audience in a fitting way. 

If your readers are c-level executives at enterprise financial companies, you probably don’t want your headlines to include metaphors about dog food. Instead, maybe you want to mention fintech, banking, or another relatable figure of speech. 

However, there is an exception to this rule. If your ideal buyer personas tell you that c-level executives at enterprise financial companies tend to purchase dog food, go for it! 

The more you know about your audience and their desires, the more fuel you have for your headlines. All parts of your offer, including article and page headlines, should resolve their pain points. 

4. Grammar & Clarity

What is central message of your headline? In most cases, clarity comes down to simple grammar. When we get carried away with keyword phrases and SEO factors, sometimes our headlines just don’t make sense. 

Unfortunately, if readers don’t immediately understand what you’re saying, they quickly move on to the next thing and never look back. 

Luckily, you don’t have to be a native English speaker or even a lit guru to get grammar right. Writing helper tools can go a long way in giving your headlines more clarity. 

Here are three proofreading tools that I trust: 

1. Grammarly 
2. Hemingway 
3. Outwrite 

If you’re not 100% certain that your headlines and content are clear and grammatically correct, use one of the above tools and/or hire a proofreader to review your content before you hit publish. 

5. Character Length 

Now, headline length plays a major role in clickability. And, there are two central factors that should determine the length of your headlines: Psychology and distribution channel(s). 

According to Fast Company, at first glance, readers only look at the first three and the last three words in a headline. So, they say headlines should be six words in length. But, if you settle on this approach, you will lose sight of clarity. 

And, if you notice, the article that shared this advice used double their own recommendation:

The author knows as well as anyone that there isn’t a black and white answer to how long a headline should be. So, here’s what to keep in mind. 

• How will your headline render when a link is shared on social media? 
• How will your headline appear in search results? 
• Will readers be able to view the entire headline or will it be cut-off? 
• If it will be cut-off, have you front-loaded the most important words?  

As of today, the fourth result in a Google search for “headline length,” shows a headline that cuts off in the middle of a statement:

In this case, it doesn’t really matter that some of the words are missing because the point has been made. Plus, the missing portion leaves readers with a new question: ‘Are short headlines more what?’ which makes it even more engaging (remember: curiosity is priceless).

Note that every distribution channel has distinct character limits for page titles. 

• Search Engine Results Pages 
  • Google – Up to 70 Characters
  • Yahoo – No Limits
  • Bing –  Up to 71 Characters
• Social Media Platforms
  • Facebook – 40 Characters
  • LinkedIn – 80-120 Characters
  • Twitter – 70-100 Characters
• Email subject lines – ~50 Characters (varies by platform)

To choose an appropriate headline character length, pay attention to what people will see the first time they come across your headline and how this rendition is likely to make them feel and think. 

Hint: For a single piece of content, advanced distribution strategies often include a variety of headlines customized for each channel. 

6. Numbers 

Obviously, not all headlines include numbers because they’re sometimes irrelevant. For those that do, here’s some food for thought: 

First of all, you’re writing for online readers, not your English teacher — numbers below ten don’t necessarily need to be spelled out. Yes, as an AP style guide rule, it’s proper to write-out number below ten. In marketing, you have permission to break the rules. 

In doing so, you do two things: 

1. Free up character space that you can use for another word
2. Draw more attention to your statement 

When you free-up character space, there’s a better chance readers on all distribution channels can see your entire headline. “7” in place of “Seven” makes room for four additional characters in an already limited space (The US English Scrabble dictionary has 3,996 four-letter words that you could fit into your headline — just sayin’).

Just for anecdotal evidence of my second claim about using a numeric digit in place of a written number, have a look at the following make-believe headlines as they would appear on Facebook: 

Seven Easy Ways to Make a Noisy Dog Stop Barking

VS

7 Simple Ways to Get a Rowdy Dog to Stop Barking 

Both of would appear without being cut-off when shared as alink on Facebook, where the character limit is 40. These headlines are both valid and make the same assertion. Yet, the second one is stronger and more clickable.  

Headlines with numbers, specifically a numeric digit or “arabic” symbol are easier for the human brain to process and play a significant role in the customer journey — Arabic, verbal, and analog (on a number line) representations seem to be the strongest. 

Next, certain numbers do seem to have more power than others. A few years ago, Buzzsumo released research from 100K headlines. Here, they found some pretty interesting statistics about which numbers triggered the most headline engagement on Facebook. 

So, when you use numbers, use Arabic symbols, and know that listicles have a high chance of being shared virally. 

50 Powerful Words to Use in Content Headlines 

As long as you sprinkle these words into your headlines with a full understanding of what it takes to drive clicks, they can contribute to higher CTRs. 

+Bonus: Alternatives to Use Instead of Boring Words

Using the same words over and over will kill their emotional impact. Take a look at the following, for example. 

“Let’s go to the store,” said Sally.

Henry said, “Ok. While we’re there, I need a gallon of milk.” 

Sally said, “I need a sack of potatoes.” 

“I’ll be ready in a few minutes,” said Henry. 

“Awesome. I’ll wait for you in the car,” said Sally. 

Are you bored out of your mind yet? Now, notice the difference when we remove the word “said” from the dialog. 

“Let’s go to the market,” Sally invited.

Henry agreed, “Ok. While we’re there, I need a gallon of milk.” 

Sally replied, “I need a sack of potatoes.” 

“I’ll be ready in a few minutes.” 

“Awesome. I’ll wait for you in the car.”

Better, right? Your headlines are not likely to be written in dialogue form. I just wanted to illustrate the power of diversification. 

If you can use an alternative in place of a boring and dull word, it will instantly give any statement more impact. Remember this when you are tempted to use a word like “good” or “small.”

Conclusion

Power words can certainly have a positive impact on clickability (hence the list of my favorites above). However, to be effective, article and page headlines must be strategically crafted to pique curiosity with clarity and relevance. And, increased click-through rates are worthless if your brand message is inauthentic or inconsistent — people ultimately want to do business with the brands they trust. 

If you follow the advice here, you’ll be well on your way to higher headline CTRs. What’s your favorite headline writing tip? Let me know in the comments!

The post Do “Catchy” Words Really Trigger More Headline Clicks? The Power Word Debate Solved appeared first on CopyNoise.

As we face a global pandemic, the ways in which we work, play, and care for ourselves have been disrupted. And, what we thought we knew nine months ago is all but nullified. SaaS leaders have been on a roller coaster that we never could have predicted (unless you believe the conspiracies, of course). The good news is that it looks like light at the end of the tunnel. 

These statistics indicate that developing trends in areas that make up a large share of the SaaS market are more than just emergency responses to a crisis. While some platforms may have seen a dip in subscribers at the onset of the pandemic, we’re now seeing a steady incline that may signal a SaaS revolution that is here to stay. 

Here’s what’s in store: 

• Top SaaS Statistics (Most-Liked & Shared)
• SaaS Industry Benchmark Statistics
• SaaS Market Size Statistics
• SaaS Market Share Statistics
• SaaS Growth Rate Statistics
• EdTech Statistics
• Telemedicine Statistics
• Remote Work Statistics
• Artificial Intelligence Statistics
• Final Takeaway

Sprinkle these insights into your SaaS content to spice it up! 

Most Interesting SaaS Statistics

1.  The global SaaS market was projected to reach $157 billion in 2020, $16 billion higher than in 2019. 

2. Since the onset of COVID-19, B2B companies say digital interactions are two to three times more important to customers. 

3. In 2020, nearly 90% of sales moved to a teleconferencing model, and more than half of B2B companies believe this is as efficient or more efficient than traditional approaches. 

4. The average startup’s marketing spend is equal to 92% of the revenue generated in the first year. 

5. Oracle expects that the demand for Cloud-hosted SaaS and IaaS services will continue to grow. 

SaaS Industry Benchmark Statistics

6. Typical freemium SaaS tools generate 33% more free accounts per website visitor than free trials. 

7. Freemium SaaS tools convert 25% more customers without the need for sales than free trials. 

8. Free trials reinforce a sense of urgency, which helps SaaS companies convert paid subscriptions faster than freemium tools. 

9. SaaS companies only require credit card information at the time of freemium or free trial subscription 4-12% of the time. 

10. More than 70% of SaaS companies require an email address and company name at the time of freemium or free trial subscription. 

11. High-growth SaaS companies acquire most new users through organic traffic (45.8%), followed by sales (30.1%), and paid traffic (10.5%). 

12. Low-growth SaaS companies acquire most new users through sales (41.1%), followed by organic traffic (31.4%), and paid traffic (19.3%).

13. High-growth SaaS companies retain 55.8% of users after the first month while low-growth companies retain only 37.1%. 

14. In 2019, only 26% of SaaS companies used their product to qualify leads.  

15. In 2020, 50% of SaaS companies use their product to qualify leads. 

16. Sales teams still convert from free to paid SaaS subscriptions at a higher rate (10%) than success teams (8.5%), followed by conversions after no outreach (6.5%).

17. 79% of SaaS companies that offer a free trial or freemium product reach out to users during their first month and 81% of those companies use dedicated sales teams. 

18. Hiring dedicated growth individuals or growth teams does not seem to have a significant impact on SaaS revenue.

SaaS Market Size Statistics

19. As of August 2020, nearly 127K SaaS companies are listed on SaaSHub, the leading SaaS business directory. 

20. As of August 2020, there are 15.7K SaaS companies with funding profiles on Crunchbase.  

21. With $29 billion in marketing and advertising spend and $14 billion in financing deal value globally, software is still one of the most active investment sectors. 

22. SaaS leaders like Google and SalesForce continued to make substantial SaaS investments in Q1 2020, despite the uncertain times. 

23. In Q1 2020, there were major acquisitions in the security sector, including Advent International’s $1.9Bn acquisition of Forescout Technologies, Hellman & Friedman’s $1.2Bn acquisition of Checkmarx, and Symphony Technology Group’s $2.1Bn acquisition of RSA. 

SaaS Market Share Statistics

24. As of 2020, Saas accounted for 20% of the overall enterprise software market. 

25. Niche SaaS market leaders typically own at least 50% of the market share while roughly 30% and 20% are owned by second and third place brands, respectively. For example, as of 2020, Zoom, Skype, and Cisco Webex owned 64%, 26%, and 10% of the market share for video conferencing. 

26. 80% of the top 100 SaaS applications are located in the United States. 

27. 25% of IT apps claim to be SaaS only. 

28. Cisco predicts that 75% of professional workloads could be Saas only by 2021. 

SaaS Growth Rate Statistics

29. In 2019, the SaaS market hit the $100 billion mark. 

30. 159 new SaaS startups launched funding profiles on Crunchbase during the first six months of 2020. 

31. The software sector performed better in the stock market than the S&P 500 during Q1 2020 at the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. 

32. In 2020, the 52 stocks on the BVP Nasdaq emerging cloud index grew an average of 15% while the S&P 500 dropped 11%. 

33. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of IT & Security apps averaged 100% in 2018 and 2019. 

EdTech Statistics

34. Average college and university D, E, or Withdrawal (DEW) rates for online active learning are a mere 4.6% compared to the average DEW rate of 40% for traditional lecture-based courses.

35. Prior to COVID-19, as many as 31% of college and university students were enrolled in at least some online learning courses.

36. Canvas, BrightSpace, and Blackboard respectively saw 60%, 25%, and 36% increase in LMS use in 2020.

37. The majority of teachers spend at least 2 hours per day on their computers.

38. Under normal circumstances, 92.31% of MIT instructors use Blackboard to share learning materials.

Telemedicine Statistics

39. 20% of US states require cost equality between online and in-person healthcare services.

40. 97.1% of patients and 100% of caregivers are comfortable sharing sensitive medical information via video when the technology meets HIPPA requirements.

41. Prior to COVID-19, telemedicine was used in at least 58% of US emergency departments.

42. The most common applications for emergency telemedicine prior to COVID-19 were neurology (76%), psychiatry (38%), and pediatrics (15%).

43. During the second week of pandemic confinement in the US in 2020, 44% of general medical practitioners conducted at least one virtual consultation.

Remote Work Statistics

44. Half of US workers employed pre-COVID-19 were working remotely after the pandemic struck in 2020.

45. 32.5% of remote workers in 2020 reported that they had recently switched from a traditional workplace to a home office.

46. 10.1% of US workers employed pre-COVID-19 were laid off or furloughed in response to the pandemic.

47. 16.8% of workers report doing all or most of their work remotely.

48. Nevada had the most US-reported lay-offs and furloughs in response to COVID-19.

Artificial Intelligence Statistics

49. 80% of executives at companies who use AI already report notable value.

50. By 2030, AI could be a $13 trillion per year industry.

51. 84% and 88% of C-suite executives in the world and the US respectively believe that AI will be a crucial factor in scaling their companies.

52. In the world and the US, 75% and 71% of executives respectively believe they will go out of business if they don’t employ AI.

53. 76% of executives say they know how to implement AI but aren’t sure how to scale it across their businesses.

Final Takeaway

In the face of the worst pandemic of our lifetime, there is a silver lining for tech founders and professionals. These statistics show that the global SaaS industry is on an upward trajectory, which gives tech founders one more thing to be grateful for in uncertain times. 

Use these statistics to understand the state of SaaS and make informed business decisions.  Stay safe, stay healthy, and keep your nose to the grindstone!

Statistic Sources:

The post Inside the SaaS Industry: 53 Statistics to Fuel Your Tech Business appeared first on CopyNoise.

I don’t mean to stroke your ego, but I would put money on the fact that you’re an intelligent person. Chances are you’re confident in the fact that you’re smart. Others trust your judgment because they know how knowledgable you are. That’s how you landed your geeky job or launched the nerdy startup that put you behind the wheel of a business blog in the first place.  

Since 2014, I’ve worked with marketing professionals and founders in the B2B SaaS and B2B finance industries. At least 80% of this work has involved copywriting, content creation, and blog writing for companies whose target audiences are made up of executive decision-makers. So, I have a wide view of the business blogosphere. 

Sadly, at least once a week since day one, I’ve seen the same mistake from highly intelligent professionals — surprisingly, this problem is not isolated to novice bloggers. Career marketing veterans fall into this pit all the time. 

Here’s why experienced bloggers still fall short:

• The error is easy to miss from an internal vantage point. What is glaringly off-putting to a reader often appears non-existent from your comfortable seat behind the blog curtain. 
• Way too many B2B blogs are in the same predicament. When you spy on your competitors only to observe tactics and oversights that match yours, the mistake is impossible to recognize. Then, y’all continue monitoring each other and the cycle continues. 
• The universal paradigm has not yet shifted. For centuries, marketing has been an outbound game. Unfortunately, we haven’t collectively realized the new truth: traditional tactics don’t work with modern decision-makers. 

‘So, what is this so-called deadly B2B blogging sin?’ you ask. 

B2B business bloggers and editors unknowingly turn readers off with unnecessary brand promotion. Too often, these bloggers focus on their product/service offers while they fail to meet the needs of their readers. They’re lost in a storm without a compass. By steering the ship in a new direction, they might finally see land on the horizon by morning. 

‘But, Ashley, if I don’t plug my offer into my content, how will I move blog readers through my sales funnel?’ 

If you give me a few minutes of your time, I’ll answer in detail. Here’s what’s covered:

• The Evolution of B2B Marketing Messages
• 2 Common B2B Blog Posts That Miss the Mark
  • 1. The “Discreetly” All About Your Offer Post
  • 2. Too Much Tell, Too Little Show
• How to Turn Things Around if You’re Guilty
  • Stop Avoiding Buyer Personas
  • Recognize a Framework to Predict Audience Intent
  • Re-Assess the 80/20 Rule
• Final Takeaway

The Evolution of B2B Marketing Messages

A century ago, marketing writers had it easy. The right typography and an appealing design were probably the ad agencies’ greatest concerns. When assigned a new task, a copywriter simply used words to highlight an offer and shot them over to a designer. 

For example, look at this typewriter advertisement that circulated in 1912. 

There’s a lot said about the offer here, but my favorite part is the claim, “Highest Quality in the World.” In the 21st century, you might have a lawsuit on your hands if you used this line in your content. But, shat’s beautiful about it is that this messaging worked because, a century ago, the world was a simpler place. 

And, whether or not an executive was in the market for a typewriter, this ad would have been effective. When a businessperson noticed the poster hanging on the wall at the general merchant store, it would have been enticing. 

The product was “guaranteed” to last and it would only cost $5 per month instead of $100 upfront. Nevermind the fact that it would have taken nearly two years to pay it off at this rate — the ad was believable. Plus, it worked because, at that time, the offer had little to no competition. And, to have the “world’s highest-quality typewriter” in your office was a powerful status symbol.

Fast forward nearly eleven decades and you’ll find that commerce has pretty much turned itself inside-out. In the big scheme, blogging is a fairly new, yet large branch on the marketing tree. A blog post should be the complete opposite of the typewriter ad above (No, turning it upside-down won’t fix it). 

Today’s purchase decision-makers carry around smartphones everywhere they go and can access information from almost anywhere. Right now, if a shopper reads an ad that states, “this is the best product on the market,” even if it is true, they’re not going to believe it without a fight. 

Present-day buyers need to develop relationships with the brands they work with, especially in business. And, here’s where your blog comes in. You have an unprecedented opportunity to build irrevokable trust with the professionals you do business with. But, you may need to step up your game. 

2 Common B2B Blog Posts That Miss the Mark 

To understand the problem, let’s examine the most common B2B blog posts I see that miss the mark — they may not be particularly easy to spot if you’re not sure what you’re looking for. So, here’s the spam you might be sharing with your audience, how to spot it, why it sucks, and what to do instead. 

1. The “Discreetly” All About Your Offer Post 

Do you ever come across a blog headline on a company’s website that promises to provide advice on how to solve a pressing problem and find that the content fails to deliver? I do. And, when I look closely, the reason it fails is usually that it is either too SEO heavy or it doesn’t mention anything that might take away from the company’s main product offer. Sometimes, that offer is sprinkled throughout the content so many times that I can’t focus on the article itself.  

If you think you’re getting away with this because you’re more careful than the other guy or your readers don’t know any better, you’re wrong.  

How to spot it: 

• Do you make sure to include X keyword X amount of times per X total words in hopes that your content will rank with search engines? 
• Do you have strict rules about content length? 
• Do you link out to your main offer several times within your blog posts? 
• Do you publish more news about your company than helpful advice? 

Why it sucks: 

Business people are especially savvy and they know what you’re doing, even when you think they don’t. Likewise, search engines are getting smarter by the day — they have begun to recognize manipulation practices and will eventually penalize you if they haven’t already. A 3,000-word blog post that would be more compelling without all the fluff isn’t doing you any favors. 

What to do instead: 

Find out what your target audience struggles with and use your blog as a platform to help them. Be genuine and try to share the best solutions available on the internet. Consider SEO, but break the rules when it makes your content more enjoyable to read. Incorporate calls to action if you want to, but never flood your articles with them. 

2. Too Much Tell, Too Little Show

In some cases, your blog will highlight an offer. This can’t always be avoided. Most marketers agree that “bottom of the funnel” blog content — written for existing customers or subscribers — should include information about your products, updates, and promotions. 

As a rule, you can’t declare, “We will never talk about our brand in our content.” But, when there’s too much tell and not enough show, it becomes a problem. Here’s what I mean. 

How to spot it: 

• Do you use statements that explain technical details without disclosing their value to the reader? 
• Do you make bold declarations about your offers where you could instead highlight how they provide value?

Why it sucks: 

Your customers and subscribers are looking for ideas about how to get the most from the product or tool that they’ve purchased from you. Most of the time, they don’t care about trivial details. With too much telling, you miss valuable up-sell opportunities because people get bored. 

What to do instead: 

Use your blog to give your customers valuable solutions to their most pressing problems. Start thinking about how your update relates to the reader. If the news you have to share saves businesses money or proves that they’ve chosen the right company to work with, tell them that. Make your message more about the reader and less about your brand or technical updates. 

How to Turn Things Around if You’re Guilty

Admitting you have a problem is the first step. Once you acknowledge that you’ve committed this blasphemy, you can change your ways, ask forgiveness, and absolve your content of its wrongdoings. All will be forgiven…  

Okay, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. If only it were that easy. The truth is that there is no almighty blogging deity to answer to, no commandments that have been broken, and nothing to absolve. But, you can turn things around.  

Here are a few tips that, if integrated into your approach, will enhance the content you create and help you avoid turning readers away with excessive brand promotion. 

Stop Avoiding Buyer Personas

For one reason or another, many marketers avoid buyer personas. Some companies have created them, but they don’t share with the content team. Others don’t use personas at all because they deem them unnecessary or they just don’t know how to create them. This is unfortunate because detailed personas are a simple tool that can substantially enhance each stage of the blogging process, from strategy to writing to image design. 

Using buyer personas in your operations will naturally make your blog content more relatable. According to Hubspot, one company that implemented a targeted content approach based on personas saw 124% more sales leads, 55% more search traffic, 97% more online sales leads, and 210% more North American website traffic. 

So, if your company has developed buyer personas but the blogging team hasn’t seen them yet, it’s time to share. Make it a point to be sure everyone who has a stake in content creation for your company has a chance to review them and has access to them at any time. Go put this on your to-do list right now and then come back. 

On the other hand, if you haven’t developed personas, here are a few resources you can use to get started: 

• How to Create a Buyer Persona for B2B Marketing
• B2B Buyer Personas: Marketing to Somebody, Not Just Anybody!
• Here are 10 Buyer Persona Examples to Help You Create Your Own

Recognize a Framework to Predict Audience Intent   

While this might seem elementary, the buyer’s journey lays the foundation for a powerful blogging strategy. Whether you’re a founder, manager, strategist, content creator, or an editor, it’s crucial to understand the process a potential customer or subscriber goes through before converting on an offer. 

The traditional model that represents the buyer’s journey is AIDA. This is an acronym for Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action. It depicts the active research process an individual or organization goes through before they make a purchase. Over the years, the accepted model of the buyer’s journey has been simplified into three stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision. 

Either way you look at it, your blog audience is spread out over various stages of their individual journeys with your brand. And, the above structures don’t include existing customers. Because a blog can appeal to new traffic, leads, and customers, you should have an individualized framework that represents real people as they move through your sales funnel.

This doesn’t have to be formal. In fact, it can be as simple or complex as you like. For example, here’s the framework I use when writing: 

The above structure works well for me. Depending on your sales funnel, you might want something simpler or more complex. Bottom line, you need your content to appeal to the reader at the right time. If you follow a framework that represents readers at different stages, you can keep your content in alignment with the needs of the intended target audience for each piece. 

Re-Assess the 80/20 Rule

When I first learned this rule as it applies to B2B blogging, it transformed my work for the better. Before that, I wasn’t particularly organized with the way I promoted within my writing. The 80/20 rule asserts that your blog content should be at least 80% educational or entertaining and only 20% promotional. If this is the first time you’ve heard of this, start here. 

However, if you already apply this rule, stop to reflect for a moment. Ask yourself the following:

• Could I do even better? 
• What about 90/10? 
• …95/5? 

The less advertorial your blog content, the more engaging it is for readers. I strive for a 95/5 approach with all of my work. On both micro (per post) and macro (the entire blog) levels, 5% or less of what I write refers to the brands I write for or their offers (unless, of course, the client requests otherwise). 

People come to your blog because they want answers to questions. They want to learn and they want to be entertained. They’re not typically shopping. Instead, they are researching and killing time. Frankly, if you’re too in their faces with your offer, you won’t sell a damn thing through this channel. 

Final Takeaway

The number one mistake I see with B2B blogs is an over-abundance of brand promotion. Typically, people don’t even know they’re spamming their readers. If you’ve made it here, you now know how to spot the #1 deadly B2B blogging sin, even when it’s discreet. Fortunately, if you implement the advice above, you can easily turn things around. 

Keep your strategy more about attraction and less about promotion for better results. Stay safe, stay healthy, and keep grinding!

The post Have You Committed the #1 Deadly B2B Blogging Sin? appeared first on CopyNoise.

As a modern entrepreneur or management consultant, you know the pain of sifting through heaping piles of garbage content to get your questions answered. Simple questions have an abundance of answers. The complex problems you face (like growth hacking for a B2B SaaS company) seem to leave you following advice from non-experts who probably know less than you about the topics.

What you want is to expand from the roots you’ve established and grow your business. But, when you can’t find the right advice, you’re left with stagnant business processes. In the end, you’re not getting the desired results without expensive consultations.

And, that’s why I’ve compiled this directory. I’ve read each guide in the list (with a heavy focus on the copywriting sections) and can vouch for the value of the information and expertise of the authors. Here is the best free content you will find online about SaaS business growth hacking.

1. The Definitive Guide to Growth Hacking by Neil Patel and Bronson Taylor

I recently read a forum comment that referred to Neil Patel as a charlatan. It made me giggle. While I can understand why someone would say this, the guy landed a marketing gig with Google, which should speak for itself. While Neil might be overly-promotional in some eyes, he knows his stuff. And Bronson Taylor is all over the topic of growth hacking.

So, if you can take the time to read 103 pages of expert advice for free, check out The Definitive Guide to Growth Hacking. It was written in 2013, but still holds merit and some of the gems of wisdom you’ll discover are priceless.

2. Startup Growth: Resources Cheat Sheet by Sujan Patel

Sujan Patel (no relation to Neil) actually made this list twice. He’s one of the founding fathers of growth hacking and the Co-Founder of Mailshake and VoilaNorbert (Plus, he compiled an excellent guide that can get you started on the right foot down the path to growth). Speaking of feet, did you know Sujan has had broken 17 bones?

Startup Growth: Resources Cheat Sheet is a 20-page guide with a startup glossary and some really helpful growth resources to check out. The content is pretty cool because you can take what you like, leave the rest, and come back to it at any time during your startup years in SaaS to learn at various stages.

3. The Top 20 Growth Hacks in the History of Traffic and Copy by Vin Clancy and Charlie Price

Vin Clancy isn’t your average marketing guru. Still, he has a proven track record of generating outrageous website traffic, writing converting copy, and teaching people how to scale their businesses. Charlie Price is an entrepreneur, social media analyst, and marketing coordinator. Together, they’re basically a superhero duo.

And, they’re giving away their work for free. The Top 20 Growth Hacks in the History of Traffic and Copy by Vin Clancy and Charlie Price is worth its weight in gold. Yeah, it’s digital, but you’ll see what I mean when you read it.

4. 7 Smart Ideas to Grow Your SaaS Business by Xander Marketing

For whatever reason, Xander Marketing didn’t want to note the actual author(s) in their guide. What I can tell you is that the company works with B2B SaaS companies exclusively. They offer various services from SEO to email marketing to website design and have an insider perspective on growth for SaaS.

Xander’s 11-page guide, 7 Smart Marketing Ideas to Grow Your SaaS Business, highlights retention strategies and breaks complex concepts into easily digestible portions. It’s definitely worth a look for growth-stage SaaS companies.

5. 140 Actionable Growth Hacks by Helvis Smoteks

Helvis Smoteks is the head of SEO at Linkody and Founder and CEO of Market Me Good. Like most of the authors featured on this list, he has unique insights from the perspective of a marketer for SaaS (and other) companies. Plus, he’s basically a backlink building master, so you can gain some perspective on the topic by reading nearly anything he publishes.

140 Actionable Growth Hacks by Helvis Smoteks is 118 pages long and you can read a little less than a page of advice for implementation on each hack noted. Some will be ideas you’ve already heard of, but many are new. Plus, you’re likely to see classic ideas from a fresh angle.

6. 100 Days of Growth by Sujan Patel and Rob Wormley

And, here’s the second time you’ll hear the name, Sujan Patel. He teamed up with Rob Wormley on this one. Rob is currently the Senior Manager of Corporate Communications and Brand at Foodsby, which is a lunch delivery service for professionals. Previously, Rob spent some time as the Head of Growth at Rambl.

100 Days of Growth: 100 Actionable Tips to Grow Your Startup Faster by Sujan Patel and Rob Wormley is a must-read for SaaS founders in their early years. It covers a completely different set of advice than the 140 ideas from before, so you’ll learn a fresh set of tips.

7. Scaling Your SaaS: Strategic Marketing Tactics for SaaS Companies by Katy Katz

Katy Katz is the current Director of Account Strategy at Marketing Refresh. She is also a speaker, podcaster, and storyteller. She spent time as the Content Director at Inturact (when this guide was written) and as a Marketing Strategist for SmartBug Media. She’s been working in the digital marketing realm since 2013.

She brings her expertise to the table at no cost in Scaling Your SaaS: Strategic Marketing Tactics for SaaS Companies by Katy Katz. The 27-page guide covers topics like customer mapping, content marketing strategy and distribution, offline marketing traction and some other ways to get new traffic and SaaS subscribers.

Closing Thoughts

As part of your SaaS growth strategy, you need to build a dream team that can align with your vision. Pick and choose the best parts from the guides above and bookmark this page so you can come back to it later. And, if you want an expert to help you optimize your B2B SaaS website or marketing materials, reach out to me with your copywriting and content needs.

The post 7 (Free) SaaS Growth Hacking Guides You Should Read Today appeared first on CopyNoise.

As a decision-maker at your company, I know you’ve invested a ton of resources to stay neck-in-neck with competitors. You spend a lot of time and energy growing your brand. Unfortunately, all of your efforts are in vain if your website copy is a killjoy. 

Writing for SaaS is an art. And, if you get it wrong, you funnel your prospects into a bucket with a hole in it. With what shall you fix it? This article should help you:

• Find out if your SaaS copywriting might be turning away prospects and leads. 
• Learn how to solve copy problems to create content that converts. 

However, it won’t help you with topics like why listicles get attention, how to write a CTA, or the right way to use keywords in your page content (But, I may cover some of this in the future). 

From the perspective of a B2B tech copywriter, find out if you’re making any of these mistakes and learn how to fill the hole for SaaS platform success.  

First, stop writing so much about your platform. 

Conversion copywriters know that you can’t constantly write about your offer and expect anyone to care. 

‘Wait…. Isn’t this counter-productive?’ 

At first glance, not mentioning the product you’re selling seems like a bad idea. So, let’s take a closer look at what it means to stop writing about your platform and why this is important. 

Below is an example of promotion-heavy Saas sales copy (that I don’t recommend). After that, you’ll see an example of a more engaging style. Once you see it, you can decide for yourself which is best. 

Here is a real headline from a data intelligence platform: “Machine Data Intelligence for the most demanding use cases.” 

I now know that the platform can provide data insights. And, if my “case” is demanding, the software may be strong enough to handle it. Hmm… Honestly, I’m sort of scratching my head. 

The above example leaves me with questions. 

• First, what type of data intelligence can I get and for what? 
• Then, is my “case” complex enough to warrant such a seemingly-robust solution? 

Let’s look at another headline from a competing data intelligence platform: “The quickest, easiest, and most secure way to drive your business with data.” 

Whoa. The sentence pulls me into a gust of wind that swiftly lifts my business a step up the success ladder. When I step out of my imagination, I want to keep reading and learn more about the offer. I just hope the brand can back up claims like, “quickest” and “most secure.” 

The latter headline is actionable and personal. It speaks to me about my business, while the first example is an attempted brag on the platform — it just doesn’t work as well. Still, each of these leaves something to be desired. 

Instead overly-promotional SaaS copywriting, use an outcome-centered approach. 

Your copy won’t have maximum impact if you only talk about your platform. Instead, highlight the outcomes your software can deliver.

The 80/20 rule is often applied to diets, dating, business, and training; this rule states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your work. In copywriting, I like to apply the logic a bit differently. Only a fraction of copy should directly promote. 

Rather than talk about your SaaS product 100%, 80%, or even 50% of the time, minimize the promotional copy to 20% or lesss. Use the remainder to engage the reader by educating, entertaining, or describing something useful.  

For web pages, you can apply the rule with a focus on outcomes and platform features sprinkled into the text. For articles, let most of your word count be completely helpful to the reader and add a short section with a call to action that moves readers through your subscriber funnel.

And, instead of dry and promotional descriptions like, “A Whatever Management Platform for Businesses,” use outcome-centered language like, “Drive Higher Conversions With Data Insights Fueled by Your Customers.” 

Next, quit speaking to everyone and start getting through to someone. 

By now, you’ve started thinking about how you can rewrite some of your copy to focus more on outcomes. Before you get ahead of yourself, there’s something else you need to think about: targeting. 

Many writers preach about personalization such as using the word “you” in your copy. They’re not wrong, but this type of personalized language falls more under the ‘focus on benefits and outcomes’ umbrella. In addition to this, you need to target a specific user. 

Look at a couple of headlines from a SaaS platform home page. 

First, here’s the main headline: “Put imagination to work.” 

Now, here’s the subheading below: “Solve important problems.” 

Technically, this copywriting is personal (+1) and outcome-centered (+1). Plus, both headlines are actionable (+1). So, to the untrained eye, it might seem okay. 

But, what are they even talking about (-1)? What type of platform am I looking at (-1)? How should I put imagination to work (-1)? What important problems will I solve (-1)?  What’s going on here (-1)? Bounce (-3)!

(TOTAL SCORE: -5) 

Frankly, the above headline and subheading are far too vague — they speak to everyone about anything. 

Instead of writing general copy that anyone can relate to, target your approach. 

Your copywriting won’t have high conversion potential if you don’t hyper-target your text. Before copy is written, you need to answer these three questions: 

1. Who is my target website visitor? 
2. What are their greatest problems? 
3. How does my platform (and/or the topic at hand) provide solutions? 

You can write a value proposition and delve deeply into buyer personas. These tasks can be helpful. But, in a nutshell, you want to answer the above questions. 

When you know who you’re speaking to and precisely how your SaaS platform or content topic can help them in a valuable way, you can write impactful copy.

When you write web page copy, ensure that there is clarity in exactly which solution will be provided and to which problem for a specific audience.

Rather than filling your page with fluff, no matter how actionable it may be, get specific. “Grow and Scale Your Property Management Company by Freeing Up Time,” will engage while, “Impress Your Tenants,” will leave people scratching their heads. 

Finally, understand that the best SaaS copywriting tips don’t come from writers or SEOs. 

Naturally, when you seek out website copywriting advice, you turn to a seasoned tech copywriter or an SEO… Don’t you? 

I know what you’re thinking: ‘Ashley, you’re a writer with SEO experience. I’ve already made it this far. Did you wait this long to tell me that I can’t trust you?’

No. That’s not the case. You can trust me. I’ve probably written 1,000 case studies, articles, landing pages, and emails collectively. There is merit to what I’ve said here. But, the ultimate copywriting knowledge base is your platform subscribers.  

‘What the heck do my subscribers know about copywriting?’

I’m glad you asked. The answer is, ‘nothing.’ 99% of your website visitors and users probably don’t know about the practical application of a single copywriting tactic. But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t turn to your users for guidance.

In any aspect of a business, a customer-centric strategy is a key to success. Copywriting is no different. There are two ways that your leads and subscribers can contribute to your copy. 

1. Through interviews and surveys, subscribers can provide you with surprising quotes, impressive data, and fresh insights to use in your copy. 
2. Via digital behavior analytics, you can discover real data about the pages, sections, and CTAs that convert.  

Yes, skilled writers often share their expertise and copywriting templates, which can be extremely helpful. And, SEOs have their own crucial place in attraction-stage content. But, only when you understand what makes your actual subscribers convert, can you truly optimize your web copy.

So, how can you acquire copywriting cues from your subscribers?

A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed a customer service rep for a company that uses my client’s SaaS platform. We were talking about a specific customer service tactic used at her company. My goals were to better understand the tactic they use and to collect data and numbers that highlighted how my client’s platform helped their team achieve success. 

In the middle of the conversation, she started talking about a specific platform integration that she couldn’t live without. The words she used when she told her before and after story (“time-suck,” “streamlined,” “nuggets of wisdom”) opened a new door to informed copywriting.

In addition to the case study and article I was assigned, the conversation gave me insights to improve landing pages, create better future articles and interviews, and to share with the marketing team. 

Furthermore, this result isn’t uncommon. In fact, it’s the norm for user interviews. When you interview your users after they’ve had a chance to see how your SaaS platform has helped them, you become familiarized with the view of your product from the other side of the tracks. 

If you don’t yet have users, you can still optimize your copy by analyzing your website visitor behavior. If a page has a high bounce rate, it probably needs improvements. If it’s not a technical nor a design problem that causes users to leave your page before giving it a chance, the problem rests with your copywriting. 

Furthermore, you can take cues about what to write from the pages that have the highest conversion rates. If website visitors are doing what you want them to on a particular page, you must be doing something right. 

Interview your users and watch your analytics to find gems of wisdom for your website copy. 

Conclusion

So, do you think your current website copy might be a turn-off for your prospects and leads? 

If so, go do this immediately: In a new tab, head over to your website. Look at the main headline on the homepage and ask yourself the following questions: 

• Is it outcome-centered? 
• Is it targeted? 
• Is it backed by feedback/data from users? 

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, there’s a high chance your SaaS product copy could use some work. So, use what you’ve learned here to turn that around. And, if you need help filling the hole in your B2B SaaS copywriting bucket, reach out to me.

The post Does Your SaaS Copywriting Miss the Mark? appeared first on CopyNoise.

Along with the rest of the Secret Council of SaaS Illuminati, Crazy Egg and CoSchedule work together to set the industry standards. While their respective audiences and tactics often converge, their key shared goal is global domination. Or, at least that’s how it seems. 

Both of these platforms are considered successful with more than 10K users (though Crazy Egg has significantly more). Nearly everyone in the digital marketing world has heard of them. And, they leverage novel strategies to promote their products.

You want to rule the world too, don’t you? Let’s look at what CoSchedule and Crazy Egg have in common, how their tactics differ, and what wisdom you can take from each aspect of their strategies to apply to your SaaS business.

First, What is Crazy Egg?

Crazy Egg is a B2B SaaS platform founded by Neil Patel — one of modern marketing’s greatest influencers. The software provides heatmaps, scroll maps, and A/B testing tools for website conversion optimization.

How Many Users Does Crazy Egg Have?

As of today (early 2020), Crazy Egg has over 300,000 business users. High-profile tech brands like Dell, Mint by Intuit, Optimizely, and Yahoo are among them.

How Much Does Crazy Egg Cost?

Crazy Egg pricing ranges from $24 per month to $249 per month, paid annually. Custom pricing is available for enterprise accounts with unlimited usage.

Crazy Egg offers a 30-Day free trial. In the case of cancellation during a free trial period, the platform pops-up a 14-day extension offer for a total of 44 days of free use. A credit card is required to access the platform, so be sure to cancel before your trial ends if you don’t want to be charged for the annual subscription cost.

And, What is CoSchedule?

CoSchedule is a B2B SaaS platform co-founded by Garrett Moon and Justin Walsh that delivers a marketing suite for content creators. The most popular feature is their editorial calendar for blog posts. In 2016, according to Emerging Prairie, the North Dakota-based business reached the $2 million annual recurring revenue mark.

How Many Users Does CoSchedule Have?

According to the brand’s website, CoSchedule now has more than 10,000 business users in 100 countries. Microsoft, Whole Foods, and Johnson & Johnson are a few of their enterprise business users.

How Much Does CoSchedule Cost?

CoSchedule’s editorial calendar costs $20 to $50 per month. The full marketing suite costs between $150 to $1,050 per month and individual features can be used at discounted prices.

CoSchedule offers a 14-day, no-risk free trial. No credit card is required for the trial.

Next, Which Shared Content Tactics Do Crazy Egg and CoSchedule Use?

In addition to free software trials, Crazy Egg and CoSchedule have several other shared promotional tactics. Learn more about a couple of them so you can hopefully spark ideas to power your B2B SaaS business strategy.

1. Both Crazy Egg and CoSchedule Implement Outside-the-Box Lead Generation Assets

The reason that these two platforms were chosen for this piece is that their lead generation strategies have impressed me from the jump. So, let’s take a look at the unique lead assets these brands leverage.  

How Neil Patel Uses Ubersuggest to Attract Leads for his Products & Services

In a nutshell, the story of Ubersuggest goes a little something like this: Neil Patel came across a piece of paid software and thought he could make it better. So, in 2017, he reached out to the owner and cut a deal to buy the platform. He purchased the API, made a few tweaks to how the platform works, transferred it to his website, neilpatel.com, then gave it away for free.

Now, Ubersuggest is a completely free SEO suite. Features include domain overview, top SEO pages, keyword suggestions, content ideas, and backlink data. The best part for Neil is that it connects users to his marketing agency website.

But, what does this have to do with Crazy Egg? Neil doesn’t directly promote his paid platform through the free platform. Instead, he links to Crazy Egg’s website over 300 times from his agency blog. So, Ubersuggest’s users are eventually led through the lead funnel to the Crazy Egg website. More immediately, they might hire Neil’s team to run their marketing campaigns.

Where most investors would have purchased a full-suite tool like this to leverage backlinks or profit from monthly SaaS subscriptions, Neil instead took a forward-thinking risk. He leveraged the platform as a lead generation asset. Traffic is strategically funneled from the free tool, Ubersuggest, to the paid SaaS platform, Crazy Egg.

Used in a Similar Way, CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer, Email Subject Line Tester, and Social Message Optimizer are Powerful Lead-Gen Tools

In addition to their paid platform and features, CoSchedule offers three free tools.

1. Headline Analyzer – Helps article writers compose catchier headlines.
2. Email Subject Line Tester – Helps email writers craft open-worthy subject lines.
3. Social Message Optimizer – Helps social media marketers optimize posts for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

These tools provide extreme value for content creators who write marketing articles, emails, and social media posts (CoSchedules’ target audience). As with Ubersuggest, it’s remarkable that they are free for anyone to use.

So, what CoSchedule does with each tool is to allow the first content analysis with no strings attached. Immediately, the user realizes that the tool can help them optimize conversions. Then, when they try to analyze a second headline, email subject line, or social media message, they see that the tool is now gated.

At this point, if they want to continue to use the tool, they must enter their email address and subscribe to CoSchedule’s newsletter. From there, users receive a nurture sequence in hopes that they will try the editorial calendar or marketing suite.

The traffic flow from CoSchedule’s lead generation assets are pretty similar to most competitors’ funnels: Lead generation asset > email nurture sequence > free trial. Yet, the assets themselves — the free and highly valuable content creation tools — are what make this lead flow stand out.

Key Takeaway #1

Every B2B SaaS brand has an eBook, whitepapers, and case studies, but what efforts do you invest to make your lead generation assets shine brighter than your competitors? How can you take your efforts a step further? Think creatively and present a brilliant and extremely helpful lead generation asset to attract more paid SaaS subscribers.

2. CoSchedule & Crazy Egg Offer Extensive Product Training

Even with the simplest tools on the market, at least some amount of SaaS subscriber churn is caused by a lack of software understanding. For no additional cost, to optimize retention, CoSchedule and Crazy Egg present comprehensive platform training to their business users. Here’s what this looks like in each case.

CoSchedule Guides Users at Every Stage of the Product Use Journey

Well-organized and easy-to-navigate, CoSchedule’s product training help center includes everything under the Sun that a user needs to fully understand the platform. And, they guide users along their journey to product knowledge in a friendly way.

‘Above the fold,’ on the part of the page that visitors first see upon arrival, users have a couple of easy choices:

1. Type what they’re looking for into the search box for easy discovery.
2. Choose what user stage they are in and select content based on that.

 A beginner, for example, might be more interested in getting started or team collaboration. And, a long-time user might want to elevate their social media promotion tactics. The help center organizes some of the guidance videos in a way that appeals to these user stages.

And, if a user doesn’t find what they’re interested in and continues to scroll, they come to a video library. The library contains several video series.

• CoSchedule Quick Course
• ReQueue Quick Course
• CoSchedule for Agencies
• How-To
• Getting the Most Out of Analytics

Each series includes at least three videos and is enough to teach anyone how to use the platform. Yet, it doesn’t stop there. Near the bottom of the page, platform education is broken down into topics. If you’re interested in learning more about a specific issue like project management, assets, or billing and accounting, this is the place to discover resources.

You’ll find knowledgebase articles that solve nearly any CoSchedule-specific problem you could possibly run into.  

Crazy Egg’s Guides & Walkthroughs Educate Users About Platform Features

Upon arrival to the Guides and Walkthroughs page, Crazy Egg introduces their platform above the fold. The content seems to assume that page visitors are prospects, not users. The reader is invited to see their heatmap or learn more about software features through an opening video.

Then, as they scroll, users discover four more sections:

• Website Teardowns
• Webinar Recordings
• Crazy Egg Training
• Quick Hits CRO Tips

Each section is packed with videos that educate users from start to finish. They do an excellent job explaining platform features, teaching how to decipher analyses, and suggesting action steps to improve website conversion optimization.

In addition, Crazy Egg has separate help and FAQ pages filled with important information about their product. The brand’s website is basically an encyclopedia about the heatmaps and scroll maps.

Key Takeaway #2

Do you offer product training on your B2B SaaS website? If so, how comprehensive is it? One of the secrets to subscriber retention is to make sure that, without question, anyone in your target market can learn how to use your software. Naturally, product education is an effective way to make this happen.

So, What Do CoSchedule and Crazy Egg Do Differently?

While both brands are doing well, they aren’t doing everything the same. Nobody wants to be a copycat. But, if you want to borrow some SaaS copywriting ideas to make improvements to your strategy, you may find some below.

1. Crazy Egg Uses Minimal Website Copy While CoSchedule Uses an Average Amount of Words on their Landing Pages

Let’s take a peek at the word count alone for three core landing pages on the CoSchedule and Crazy Egg websites.

• CoSchedule.com:

• Home Page = 260 Words
• About Page = 536 Words
• Contact Page = 84 Words

• CrazyEgg.com:

• Home Page = 41 Words
• About Page = 212 Words
• Contact Page = 13 Words

On these three core pages, Crazy Egg’s website uses about ⅓ of the text that CoSchedule uses. So, how do you think the marketing team decided to make this choice?

The answer is A/B testing. Neil Patel is known for conversion optimization. The Crazy Egg platform in itself is a testament to his drive to continually optimize his websites and those of his clients. So, the minimalist approach to word-use on this site is no accident. One might conclude that the fewer words on a landing page, the better.

But, Garret Moon and Justin Walsh are no strangers to CRO. So, why did they choose to use more than three times the words on CoSchedule’s landing pages than Crazy Egg? The answer to this question is the same as the last: A/B testing.

Key Takeaway #3

Conduct A/B testing. Period. You can only find out what works best for your audience when you monitor and analyze their behavior. Even the amount of words on your page should be tested.

2. CoSchedule Writes in Mixed Language While Crazy Egg Uses a Goal-Directed Tone on Every Key Landing Page

As a copywriter, language style is one B2B SaaS website aspect I invariably notice. And, what I see here is that Crazy Egg and CoSchedule use fundamentally different language styles on their websites. And, I’m not talking about brand voice.

What I’m referring to here is the actionability of the language. I call Crazy Egg’s style “goal-directed.” To me, this means that every statement is a call to action. And, I find this to be an effective style.

3. CoSchedule’s Team Sees the Value of a Brand Podcast and Crazy Egg Doesn’t Have One Anymore

You don’t see every B2B SaaS company broadcasting their brand message on iTunes yet. But, here again, CoSchedule is ahead of the curve. Here’s a summary of the company’s podcast.

CoSchedule’s Actionable Marketing Podcast features interviews with leaders of some of the most well-known contemporary marketing companies. For example, Brian Dean from Backlinko explains how to drive 10X more website traffic with an SEO trick.

Followers can subscribe on iTunes, which potentially serves as an external traffic source. Smart? I think so.

On the other hand, Crazy Egg doesn’t have a podcast. So, it makes you wonder if audio is even worth it. Well, what do you think?

Summary of Key Takeaway Actions

1. Create lead generation assets that truly go the extra mile to help your target audience solve everyday problems.
2. Publish to educate SaaS users from newbie to platform master.
3. A/B test to find the right amount of words to use on landing pages.
4. Hone your landing page and article copy with a ‘language matters’ attitude.
5. Consider the value in alternative edutaining content like podcasts and videos.

Final Thoughts

So, are you Crazy Egg or CoSchedule? The truth is, you’re neither — you have your individual brand with its distinctive set of intricacies. Dance to your own beat, pave a new path and create a unique B2B SaaS strategy that blows your competition out of the water. I can’t promise that someone in a black cloak and horned mask will appear and induct you into the Secret Council of SaaS Illuminati. However, you will continue to scale year after year as long as you follow this advice.

Do you need help with your B2B SaaS content strategy or copywriting? Leverage expert articles, landing pages, and emails. Check out CopyNoise’s copywriting services today.

The post Is Your B2B SaaS Strategy More Like Crazy Egg’s or CoSchedule’s? appeared first on CopyNoise.