You need to knock it out of the park with every piece of B2B SaaS marketing content you create. The best way to get the results you want is to kick off each project with a content creation brief that covers all of the standard elements, but also includes a few things you may not have considered before.
Video transcript
Hi SaaS marketers! Emily Amos here from Uplift Content.
A content creation brief—also known as a writer’s brief—can save you tons of time on your projects. This tool allows you to clearly outline what you expect your writer to include in the content. With some quick prep work, a content brief helps your writer hit the nail on the head the first time, makes the review process smoother, and helps you produce excellent content that keeps your audience engaged.
The basic structure for a content creation brief
At its core, a B2B SaaS content creation brief should include information for your writer on your client, their products, and their audience. The brief should help your writer understand what the content needs to accomplish and what messages it needs to communicate. Include details on your client’s brand voice and style guide. Also, don’t forget to note the word count, deadline and any sources you have for the content.
Beyond the basics: 3 elements that will make your content shine
Take your content from basic to brilliant by adding these 3 things to your content creation brief:
1. The emotional outcome:
As a B2B SaaS marketer, you already know the aim of your content, but do you know how you want people to feel after they read one of your case studies? How about relief or excitement that they’ve found a partner who can solve their problem? This is the emotional outcome. Get clear on this in your content creation brief and you’ll forge a strong connection with your audience.
2. The big picture:
Craft your content brief with your company’s greater purpose in mind, or if you’re writing about a specific customer, think about their ‘why’. The well known example from author Simon Sinek explains how Apple markets its products—not as user-friendly computers or smartphones, but as part of a bigger picture that centers around challenging the status quo. For many SaaS companies, their ‘why’ could involve disrupting old patterns and breaking down barriers so people can work more efficiently and with greater impact. Make sure your content creation brief reflects your company’s ‘why’.
3. The competitive analysis:
Include a few links to your competitors’ content in your writer’s brief to give a sense of what other companies in your industry are doing well—and not so well—in their case studies, white papers, and ebooks. This is one of the best ways to ensure your content stays sharp.
Help your writer ramp up on your company as a whole
Now, while the content creation brief gives your SaaS writer everything they need to write one particular piece of content, like a case study or an ebook, what it doesn’t do is provide the background information the writer needs in order to ramp up on your company as a whole.
For your writer to be truly successful, they need to know everything they can about your company, your products, your target market, and your key marketing messages—before they start writing that one particular piece of content.
Download our customizable onboarding tool for SaaS writers
That’s where our writer onboarding tool comes in. This customizable tool gives your SaaS writer everything they need to know—so they can hit the ground running. Download it and see for yourself.
Until next time, SaaS marketers!
