Content Marketing & SEO Strategy for Lead Generation | SaaS Case Study
Lisa Hirst Carnes | July 2018
Leading business process outsourcing provider, API Outsourcing contacted us about a new venture. They saw potential marketing their products as a SaaS (Software as a Service) and they needed help.
Challenge
Marketing and selling a SaaS product was a completely new venture for API. They didn’t even have a name for it yet. API’s initial focus was to build awareness and reach.
Enter Centreviews Business Intelligence Suite, API Outsourcing’s new software as a service.
Our Approach
Since this was a completely new venture and they literally had no visitors to the website, we knew that we needed a plan to generate traffic.
Our three-fold plan enlisted SEO, content marketing, and paid campaign tactics. We believe that SEO and content marketing go together like salt and pepper. Simply put, you can’t successfully execute one without the other and since SEO and content marketing don’t present instant results, we added a little paid for a shot in the arm.
Collaboration
The team at API is small with full schedules. To maximize the team’s expertise, we set a standing check-in call so we can identify priorities, set deadlines, and organize our task list. Working together and open communication is fundamental to our relationship.
SEO Friendly Design
Keyword research and topic discovery helped guide the site’s content. Before launching the site we made sure it was properly optimized and SEO friendly. This involved creating and optimizing page titles, meta descriptions, images, headings, and page content. We also created and submitted XML Sitemaps instructing Google on crawling the site.
Content Marketing
We knew that we needed to create and promote content to improve visibility in search and organic traffic. We added a blog to the site and started creating content about specific topics important to the targeted audience.
Our focused efforts secured number #1 rankings for high quality, relevant, branded and non-branded keywords.
Currently, 75% of site traffic is organic. Organic traffic has grown 4500% since 2016 when we started our content marketing strategy and 58% since 2017. We’re seeing continued steady growth as our content marketing strategy matures.
Currently, 75% of site traffic is organic. Organic traffic has grown 4500% since 2016 when we started our content marketing strategy and 58% since 2017. We’re seeing continued steady growth as our content marketing strategy matures.
Lead Generation
We all know that traffic is not enough. Good qualified leads were critical to the success of Centreviews. Early on, we identified Capterra and AdWords as paid channels that produced leads. This combined with our content marketing efforts brought in leads that could be nurtured through the sales process.
So what does a typical month look like?
Since our campaigns rely on constant feedback and decisions based on data, every month looks a little different. It can also vary quite a bit depending on which level of monthly partnership you engage in. Here’s what a typical month might look like with Centreviews:
- 4 check-in calls to set priorities and our to-do list.
- Creation of 4 pieces of content.
- Creation of new posts/pages in WordPress. Optimizing and indexing new content.
- Paid campaign channel monitoring and management.
- Google Search Console review and updates.
- Monthly report and analysis.
Results
- 4500% growth in organic traffic over two year period.
- 260% increase in year-over-year qualified leads.
- Development and execution of a content marketing strategy that’s effective and sustainable.
