Is Content material Advertising Nonetheless Important for Rising Your B2B SaaS? 

In almost each trade, there’s one observe that’s so extensively accepted that it feels just like the default. In SaaS, we will say it’s content material advertising.

Whereas its prevalence stems from its outcomes, it’s vital to know if it’s the proper match for your online business with out leaping on the practice as a result of “everybody else is doing it.”

To reply the query that makes up the title, I spoke with consultants and went down the rabbit gap. The insights from my quest make up the majority of this text.

Let’s get proper to it!

Development in Context

Simply so we’re on the identical web page, let’s make clear what progress means on this context.

For SaaS startups, particularly within the early to mid-stages, progress means a constant enhance in certified signups, activations, and income. It’s not about self-importance metrics like pageviews or social media followers. Whereas these metrics can sign early model traction, they don’t essentially assure the actual traction that retains your online business afloat.

That mentioned, let’s begin from the bottom up.

What’s Content material Advertising in SaaS?

Software program-as-a-Service (SaaS) content material advertising is the observe of making worthwhile, related, and constant content material that draws potential prospects, educates them about their ache factors, and positions your cloud-based resolution as the perfect repair, with out being overly promotional.

Content material takes many kinds: weblog posts, YouTube movies, podcasts, product tutorials, electronic mail sequence, whitepapers, eBooks, and lots of extra. The bottom line is serving to prospects remedy actual issues whereas naturally guiding them in the direction of your product as the proper resolution.

Why Most SaaS Startups Select Content material Advertising

Earlier on, I famous that content material advertising is prevalent as a result of it delivers outcomes, which means it’ll hardly be adopted if it doesn’t transfer the needle.

Listed below are a number of the reason why it’s largely used within the trade:

Builds Model Consciousness

Content material places you in entrance of prospects once they’re actively looking for options. For instance, you may be seen when an individual inside your preferrred buyer profile (ICP) searches for details about an answer you provide. So, content material advertising is usually a technique to join your resolution to them for the primary time.

Establishes Thought Management

High quality content material positions your organization as an professional in your trade. When achieved proper, you turn out to be a trusted voice that prospects flip to for steering, supplying you with an edge over rivals.

Extra Price-Efficient

This isn’t to say content material advertising is affordable—it’s not. It’s solely comparatively extra reasonably priced than paid promoting channels. This makes it a better wager for startups that want predictable and sustainable progress methods.

Builds Belief

Content material serves as a belief lever for entrepreneurs. With 75% of shoppers saying they don’t belief promoting, content material is a technique to bridge that hole. The truth is, creating content material that gives real worth and addresses prospects’ issues makes it simpler to construct belief.

These advantages—consciousness, cost-effectiveness, authority, and belief—clarify why content material advertising has turn out to be the go-to technique for a lot of SaaS corporations.

What Are the Alternate options to Content material Advertising?

Prior to now few years, content material advertising has dominated most SaaS advertising discussions, but it surely’s removed from the one path to progress. Listed below are confirmed alternate options that could be higher suited to your online business:

Development Loops

Not like conventional advertising funnels, progress loops construct virality instantly into your product. Right here, every person serves as a suggestions loop for buying extra customers, making a self-sustaining progress cycle.

Slack is an ideal instance. When somebody indicators up, they’re naturally inspired to ask different teammates. Every new workforce member then invitations others, thus creating compounding progress with out ongoing advertising spend.

This type of advertising focuses on constructing an area for buyer help, the place prospects can work together with manufacturers and different prospects. Assume webinars, unique Slack communities, or newsletters that nurture prospects and regularly remedy viewers issues.

Notably, the important thing distinction between B2B and B2C influencer advertising is subtlety. As an alternative of apparent endorsements, these partnerships usually present up as natural mentions, case research, or thought management content material that naturally mentions the model.

A great instance of my level is Sara Stella Lattanzio’s LinkedIn put up about SEMrush. Whereas from the surface it could look like an off-the-cuff skilled perception put up, for these accustomed to influencer advertising dynamics, it’s what it’s—strategic model promotion.

Affiliate Advertising

This type of advertising basically depends on word-of-mouth. It entails leveraging networks of individuals to promote your software program to your audience for a fee.

Case Research of Dropbox: Skipped Content material (And Nonetheless Grew)

Whereas some corporations leaned in the direction of content material advertising as their core progress engine, others didn’t. Regardless of almost everybody in SaaS leaning towards content material, they defied the percentages and nonetheless managed to develop.

In 2007, Dropbox was based.

Dropbox entered the scene as a cloud-storage platform at a time when folks couldn’t grasp the thought of saving recordsdata ‘within the air’—exterior of FTP or native file servers they knew.

You possibly can think about what the advertising brainstorming session should’ve appeared like inside Dropbox’s workforce again then. How do you promote one thing folks have by no means skilled?

However we all know how the story goes: fairly than educating the market via in depth content material, they leaned into referral and product-led progress. This strategy as soon as drove 3900% person progress in 15 months.

Right this moment, they’ve turn out to be the poster little one for that technique.

Nevertheless, Dropbox launched a weblog on December 18, 2007, but they by no means made content material their main progress engine.

A overview of their early content material reveals posts targeted primarily on product updates fairly than conventional content material advertising. Up to now, their referral program stays their core technique and continues to drive progress.

Their referral program continues to be very lively. thus far.

Nonetheless, whereas this may occasionally appear promising, Dropbox is a singular case. Their product-market match, simplicity, and B2B/B2C hybrid mannequin offered them with levers that many startups lack. So, whereas they grew with out a lot content material, that playbook received’t work for each SaaS product.

So…is Content material Advertising a Should?

Properly, the quick reply isn’t any. The lengthy reply is trickier, as with most issues in advertising: it relies upon.

So, what does it rely on, precisely?

Let’s discover out.

When Ought to a SaaS Startup Use Content material Advertising?

Earlier than you begin mapping out your advertising technique or executing something, try to be certain it aligns with a number of issues, that are:

• Your purchaser persona
• Your mannequin
• Your targets
• Your assets
• Your product
• Your rivals

Let’s have a look at how every of them issues in your advertising choices, we could?

Who’re your patrons?

So simple as my little query sounds, most companies nonetheless miss the mark. When you’re taking the time to unravel an issue, it is best to at the very least promote it the place your preferrred prospects are most receptive.

The science behind that is understanding how potential patrons uncover and make buying choices. Understanding it will show you how to nail your advertising methods, and influencing them turns into simpler.

The way you do that is by asking questions like:

You possibly can conduct surveys and interviews along with your current prospects to achieve a deeper understanding of what works finest for them. Use analytics instruments to watch their conduct. You by no means know the way a lot this analysis will reveal in comparison with wild guesses and instinct.

All of it comes all the way down to understanding your viewers, which supplies you readability earlier than investing in content material advertising.

I really like how Jasmine Charbonier, a content material advertising strategist, places it: “Understanding your patrons isn’t nearly creating personas—it’s about survival.” The load of her assertion hits onerous when she cites examples of how corporations burn {dollars} in advertising spend as a result of they spend money on a type of advertising with out setting the muse, understanding their viewers’s wants.

It’s so simple as it sounds. Know your viewers, and also you’re ten occasions nearer to creating an knowledgeable resolution.

How do you earn cash?

The mannequin your online business makes use of to make income is essential. Your advertising choices range for every mannequin.

That’s as a result of every mannequin targets several types of patrons and follows a special gross sales cycle.

• Are you a freemium SaaS product?
• Is your product subscription-based?
• Are you extra of an enterprise “ebook a demo” sort?

Answering this enterprise mannequin query will show you how to decide which advertising technique is the very best match.

Take Zapier for instance; you should utilize their product with out having to fill out the dreaded bank card kind.

Most corporations based mostly on freemium or free trial fashions would possibly have to solid a wider web (inside their ICPs, in fact) to advertise free entry and hook customers. Hypothetically talking, they work on the belief that customers will improve to unlock premium performance.

For these companies, paid promoting, influencer advertising, and affiliate packages could be the best way to go. Technically, customers have restricted monetary dedication, so it is sensible. Since they’re extra targeted on scale, their advertising purpose is to draw as many certified customers as potential.

However, corporations with greater ACVs usually want much less content material. Closing offers turns into extra about constructing relationships than casting vast nets.

For enterprise SaaS, the main target shifts to constructing private relationships—assume “ebook a demo” pages, gross sales calls, account-based advertising, or content material advertising. Earlier than prospects can decide to a serious monetary funding, they should belief the corporate and its resolution.

ServiceNow is an instance.

Since we’re specializing in startups, these with an enterprise mannequin would possibly discover it simpler to start with direct outreaches, strategic relationship constructing, and gross sales efforts if the purpose is to transform fast gross sales.

Put merely, it varies throughout SaaS fashions. Whereas an organization like Zapier would possibly profit from aggressive promoting to drive elevated consciousness, that broad-reach strategy might not be preferrred for an enterprise-focused platform like ServiceNow.

What assets do you’ve?

I ask once more, what assets do you’ve?

Whatever the technique you go for, the reality is that advertising isn’t low cost. Your assets, right here, may be in three classes: capital, capability, and time. Capital is your advertising price range. Capability is your workforce’s experience and bandwidth. Time represents your runway.

Let’s have a look at every.

Capital

As a rule, SaaS startups function with restricted funds. On this case, prioritising lower-cost channels like content material advertising, search engine optimisation, or progress loops turns into important. Nevertheless, “decrease price” doesn’t imply “no price”—these methods nonetheless require substantial funding.

VC-backed SaaS startups usually worth fast progress over gradual advertising methods. Right here, it is sensible to spend money on paid acquisition, aggressive hiring, and even working a number of advertising experiments concurrently.

Capability

I received’t dwell too lengthy right here—your price range largely determines your workforce’s capabilities. However at each progress stage, it’s important to ask:

“Do we now have the proper folks for the place we’re headed?”

If the reply isn’t any, you’ve three choices: upskill current workforce members, outsource specialised features, or rent new expertise.

Time

In enterprise, time equals runway.

Your accessible timeframe can affect which advertising methods you may realistically pursue:

• When you’ve got an extended runway, you may spend money on slower-growth methods like search engine optimisation and electronic mail nurturing, amongst others.
• A shorter runway usually means the strain is excessive. In that case, faster-impact channels like paid promoting, outbound gross sales, influencer partnerships, or different techniques that generate fast traction are good choices.

Answering these questions is a superb step in the proper route.

What are your targets?

Having outlined progress in context at the beginning of this text, I need to be aware that the time period is commonly relative. For instance, some founders could prioritise constructing consciousness or thought management versus changing fast gross sales.

In such instances—and contemplating all the opposite elements mentioned on this article—content material advertising is a great alternative.

Conversely, in case your main goal aligns with our preliminary definition, content material advertising might not be a should.

Finally, your present enterprise targets ought to information your advertising choices simply as a lot as another issue.

Product Nature

Figuring out whether or not content material advertising needs to be your place to begin additionally is dependent upon your product’s complexity.

For easy merchandise, friction is comparatively low. Consider instruments with seamless onboarding, intuitive person experiences (UX), and minimal setup. These are usually self-serve and require little to no person schooling.

Merchandise like Slack, Dropbox, and Calendly illustrate this nicely. For SaaS merchandise constructed like them, content material could be a second thought in your progress story.

On the flip facet, you probably have a extra advanced or technical product with a steep studying curve, treating content material as an afterthought can harm your progress.

On this situation, content material advertising is your pal. Every part from instructional content material, like in-depth guides, webinars, and product tutorials.

Opponents

It’d do nicely to make clear first that this isn’t about copying your rivals and calling it a day—no.

You’re merely gathering info to assist your personal advertising choices. Based on Oluwasegun Oyebode, CMO at Beagital, you’re discovering solutions to those questions:

• Which channels do they use essentially the most, and which of them aren’t solely lively on? This info might assist you determine the place your organization must be to get a share of the market.
• Which channel appears to be providing them essentially the most ROI?

To drive residence this level, let’s have a look at Ahrefs and SEMrush.

Each corporations provide search engine optimisation instruments for digital entrepreneurs and companies. They’re direct rivals with comparable merchandise and goal audiences.

Granted, these two manufacturers are trade giants of their respective options, however I’m onto one thing right here.

We see that each manufacturers leverage content material advertising extensively—sustaining strong blogs, YouTube channels, and academic academies to nurture and convert customers.

They provide free instruments as lead magnets and host branded occasions: Ahrefs’ Evolve and SEMrush’s Highlight. Their social media presence is one other battleground the place each manufacturers are closely lively.

Regardless of these similarities, their paths break up in some key areas.

As an example, SEMrush runs an associates program (as of the time of scripting this—Might 2025), whereas Ahrefs discontinued theirs roughly two years in the past. Right here’s an article by Tim Soulo, the CMO at Ahrefs, explaining why.

To avoid wasting you the difficulty, one of many issues he talked about was that 90% of their affiliate leads got here from simply 3% of associates. This prompted them to discontinue this system and work instantly with top-performing companions.

In the meantime, SEMrush’s associates program has confirmed profitable—with a 400% enhance in new partnership signups in 2025 alone.

Whereas it’s nonetheless onerous to pinpoint the precise efficiency information of their general buyer acquisition, the truth that SEMrush has saved this system working since 2009 and continues to advertise and spend money on the channel alerts that it drives substantial outcomes. Companies don’t maintain doubling down on a channel for over 15 years simply because it’s good—it clearly works for them.

The broader level is that when rivals constantly execute particular advertising techniques efficiently, it usually alerts market validation for these approaches. As Oyebode places it, “It places you within the place to compete correctly with out getting left behind.”

Nevertheless, as our case examine exhibits, wholesale copycatting received’t reduce it. The purpose is strategic adaptation—understanding what works for you and aligning with different elements mentioned on this article. This turns into particularly vital for startups with disruptive options, the place sticking too intently to established playbooks can restrict your differentiation.

Placing It All Collectively By way of the Lens of HubSpot

Tying the whole lot collectively may appear overly simplistic, however stroll with me right here.

One SaaS model exemplifies content material advertising achieved proper—HubSpot.

Since their founders, Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, wrote a ebook titled “Inbound Advertising”, HubSpot has dominated the content material advertising world. Their progress engine is primarily constructed on a content-first technique.

However how did they arrive to attain this? They’re an ideal instance of aligning with this six-factor framework.

HubSpot’s core viewers is SMBs seeking to scale their CRM, gross sales, and advertising efforts. Ideally, these patrons don’t depend on RFPs or gross sales reps. As an alternative, they actively self-educate to unravel their enterprise issues.

When it comes to enterprise mannequin match, HubSpot thrives on retention. Their survival doesn’t hinge on one-off purchases, however on long-term buyer relationships. Content material is among the some ways to go about that.

Firstly, HubSpot didn’t chase prompt revenue. As an alternative, they staked their declare on first changing into a trusted trade authority. And, contemplating they have been championing a brand new technique to market, they needed to deal with doing simply that.

How do I do know all this? Properly, under is a 2012 article from HubSpot that completely captures their mindset and mission on the time. And sure, I perceive that manufacturers usually inform tales to stretch past the “we wish your cash” narrative.

Nevertheless, there’s solely a lot a model can pretend. HubSpot has constantly stayed dedicated to reaching its mission. This, too, explains why they’ve caught to content material (inbound advertising)—and right this moment, it’s working for them.

On assets, I’m tempted to say HubSpot had all of it. Not like most startups, they loved enterprise capital backing. So, to be truthful, you won’t need to place your self on par with them, however this doesn’t imply you want outrageous funding to make content material advertising work. Your good is sweet sufficient.

The distinction is the main target. Whereas HubSpot might spend money on complete academies and trade studies, resource-constrained startups want to select one instructional format and execute it exceptionally nicely.

Though their device is much less advanced, they nonetheless wanted content material to cut back or take away any type of friction customers could face.

Lastly, I like that they captured my earlier level: in case you’re bringing one thing disruptive, counting on a competitor’s playbook solely limits you. Whereas HubSpot launched years after their direct competitor—Salesforce—they didn’t mimic Salesforce’s methods. They caught with what they believed would work for them, and it did. That was content material advertising.

How is it Working for Them?

When it comes to income, HubSpot is doing impressively nicely. Their whole income in 2024 was valued at $2.63 billion. Their income report for Q1 2025 was over $700 million, which is 14% greater than Q1’24.

Past monetary metrics, their model mentions, thought management place and neighborhood engagement present how nicely content material advertising can yield outcomes. You possibly can’t scroll via advertising Twitter or LinkedIn with out seeing HubSpot content material, citations, or discussions.

On the finish of the day, HubSpot isn’t only a case examine of profitable content material advertising. They’re a case examine in strategic alignment between content material, product, purchaser behaviour, and the whole lot in between.

Fast Determination Matrix

You should use this scoring system to judge if content material advertising is true in your startup:

Scoring information

·         15-18 factors: Content material advertising is important in your progress

·         10-14 factors: Content material advertising needs to be a part of your combine, however not essentially main

·         6-9 factors: Contemplate alternate options first, content material as a secondary technique

Alternatively, be happy to make use of the picture model for reference.

Last Ideas

All issues thought of, we will agree that advertising is hardly a one-size-fits-all recreation.

As a lot as I’d like to say that one in all these elements needs to be your high precedence, I can’t. The majority of the work is discovering the candy spot the place all of those align, then doubling down and develop. It’s your name.

It’s additionally price noting that in case you discover your candy spot in content material advertising, you have to be keen to be devoted. As Ryan Regulation and Jimmy Daly at Animalz put it, “Content material isn’t a advertising tactic you may simply activate and off.” Half-hearted content material advertising is commonly worse than no content material advertising in any respect.

Godspeed!

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This text was initially printed by Oluwagbemiga Makinde on HackerNoon.