Why You Should Start Using Interactive Content in Your Marketing Strategy | SaaS Expert Diego Gomes

And then, you know, kind of talking about, you know, you talked about that recent other acquisition you did about, you know, interactive content. We've heard about that term interactive content for a while, which allows, I think, users to participate or engage with the content that they create. Why would you say that's a better content marketing strategy for SaaS founders to include in their marketing plan? Should they look at using that?

Yes, I think recently I even wrote a post on why interactive content is super relevant for SaaS companies. The main reason is static content and ebooks and landing pages with the traditional forms, they are really good. And they work a lot for conversions on any size business, but over time we are seeing a decrease in the conversion rates of these formats and customers want more engaging experiences. When I say more engaging experiences, I mean I am considering buying marketing automation software. I want to be able to see what's the ROI that that solution would bring to me. what would be my gains and how much it will drive in savings. And Interactyv is perfect for that because you can collect the data, customize, and present an ROI assessment that is tailored for each individual company. And that data collected is amazing for the SaaS sales rep. Like, I know If I'm selling marketing automation and I have— I usually had to ask you how many visits, how many leads, how many salespeople you had in the past. Now all that data comes from an interactive experience, which is a lot richer for both the rep and for the customer. Other examples include, I think are great, data-driven reports. So how do you compare with other companies in your industry, for instance? This kind of content really makes the customer, he sees value on providing data to you and it's first-party declared data which is more relevant in times of GDPR. Another segment we see great results for SaaS businesses, companies that do, that have multiple products. Sometimes the customer doesn't even know about all those products and solution finders are very powerful. So you tell a little bit about yourself and here's how we can help, product A, B, C. These kinds of interactions are really high value for the customer and for the business. So I'm a big fan.

Cool, cool. We haven't used it yet, but I've heard good things about it. I have to check that out. Specifically on the content marketing side, SaaS founders are always wondering how to improve the quality of their content, And then how to generate new ideas. Do you believe that— what I see a lot of people do is they select several popular articles out there, they review them, they do some research, and then they create an original blog post that basically synthesizes their own thoughts and main ideas to then create content for their own articles. Is that the right way to do it?

I think that's one of the best ways, especially when it comes into content marketing. You wanna be a reliable authority, but you also wanna be a great curator. So compiling what is great out there, building great lists and knowledge hubs about the topic you're an expert in, and even bringing perspectives from external, trying to combine that with your original point of view. That's an approach I really recommend. Like, to build authority, you have to share your own perspectives. the best practices, the concepts, and that's a great way not only for growing our traffic and leads, but also to grow your network on the digital world. You share content from other people, they will share back. It's a great approach.

Makes sense. And I see RockContent creates a lot of great content. You guys actually follow your own message and you're creating great content and ranking for a lot of keywords. What do you think about how you create content? Are you creating super specialized niche content versus general content for say larger audience? Like for example, at Horizon, we can write about general M&A practices about growth strategy or acquisition strategy, which appeals to more people in the grand scheme of things. But then we can also write specific technical articles about technical price adjustment, due diligence analysis, but maybe less interesting. How do you look at that?

I think every great strategy is a mix of niche and broad content. You have to really find what's the best mix for you. In our case, we are our biggest customers. We publish hundreds of content pieces every single month. We have more than 6 million visits on our blogs worldwide. We take an approach that it's a combination of both. We have expert advice and very niche articles, but we also go with more introductory for attracting a top-of-the-funnel audience.

Hmm.

So if you look at how we do today, we are expanding beyond content marketing and going into digital marketing because as you master your niche, you find more opportunities into similar niches, closed niches. And I believe the best way to start is finding what is your special area, like the area where you really can bring unique perspectives. And it's okay, it's typically very nichey in the beginning. And as you conquer your niche, you start growing sideways and encompassing more. A good strategy for the broad piece and say, okay, I want a very high volume, less qualified traffic to grow my awareness. And that's where you should go with less specific and more broad topics. So it would be great for you to have a what is private equity and what is how to do an M&A transaction end to end. But when starting, I strongly suggest you nail a niche.

Got it. That's actually super helpful to realize. And then for B2B SaaS founders or marketers, they're trying to set up their marketing budget. So I know you work with a lot of founders who are doing this for their content marketing. How do you suggest them to deploy that budget as effective as possible and obviously maximizing the long-term ROI? 'Cause we understand it's a long-term play, right?

I see content marketing as a performance investment and I really treat it in such a way. The main difference is it takes a little bit more time to bring results, but the cost per visit, cost per lead, cost per opportunity are significantly low on the long term. So the way I typically look at this is I look at my— if I am using paid media, What are my key drivers and how that will look like over 1, 2, 3 years window and try to compare what are the expected results I should have in content marketing. Typically the results, the chart looks like this, like it's up and to the right in terms of results and your cost per lead goes in the opposite direction. The more content Over time it goes significantly down. If you don't do a lot of paid media, it's very important to assess what's your target unit economics, what are the keyword values, the amount of expected traffic, but it's very important that you put this longer-term window to evaluate and plan.

Got it.

Content marketing to be successful, you have to put a strategy and commit to it. I would say at least 1 year to start having really solid results.

Okay.

The metaphor we often use with our customers is when you compare content marketing to paid media, it's typically the difference between owning and renting. When you're buying traffic from Google and Facebook, you're renting visibility and you get immediate results, but the moment you stop paying, It also ceases to generate additional value.

Makes sense.

Content is like building your house on the internet.

Makes sense. And so let's say you commit, okay, I'm gonna put this much dollar amount for the next year. I've committed to it. I understand the value of it. You guys, you said you're producing hundreds of articles a month. Are you focusing, if you're not at the beginning, a few high-quality pieces of interactive media at a higher cost, or do you focus on the volume approach of just getting a lot of content out there?

Both, both. I think you have to distribute, like higher volume approaches work a lot for companies where you don't have to educate too much the customer about your solution. So if it's a sample offer and it's something that everybody understands and the pain is already there, typically top of the funnel and higher volume works better. When you have to educate your audience and it's a more niche approach, like Let's say you have a really new innovative category of software. It's AI human resources software. You're gonna have to do a lot of education and that's where you should put your big rock content as we like to say, your million-dollar case studies and we have these pieces that are essential on our funnel. In the end, it has to be a combination to drive awareness and drive conversion. Typically, high awareness means low conversion, so one has to lead to the other.

Got it.