Greenhorn dispatch #4: How do I transition into B2B SaaS content writing?
It's not as hard as you think.
Over the next few weeks, I will be publishing short articles that answer the top questions I get asked repeatedly on content marketing mentorship calls. In issue #4, we’re tackling how to switch to B2B writing.
I got into B2B SaaS when I started writing for Hive in 2020. It was all by chance. Before then, I wrote on everything under the sun, from travel to skin warts to raising startup funding.
That was 2018. People were more willing to give a generalist writer a chance than they are now. But it’s still possible to transition into B2B SaaS writing, even if you feel unqualified. Here are some things you can try:
Understand the industry. I know this sounds very high-effort, but that’s why you should do it. Selling software to businesses has its peculiarities, influencing how it is marketed. You’ve multiple decision makers. The customer journey is much different from B2C. The sales cycle is typically longer (it took my client’s customer nine months to buy their software). If you’re aware of these and many more factors, you’ll be better positioned to write better content that actually delivers results. (And you’ll sound pretty smart when speaking to prospects 😎)
Study content for B2B SaaS audiences. Identify 2-3 leading companies and read through their resources (case studies, articles, whitepapers, reports, etc.) to get a sense of how they present information to their readers. Note how they introduce and position the product. Learn how they structure different content formats. See how they use CTAs to drive action. Good content is hard to come by, so I’ll recommend three articles you can learn from:
Kolide: How MFA is falling short
Hotjar: How to do market research
Customer.io: The state of messaging report (2024)
Create 2-3 samples. Pick 2-3 topics and create articles (or any other written content format relevant to your specialization). Apply what you’ve learnt from the content you’ve studied. While people might be willing to take a chance on you without seeing any articles, it’s best just to create some samples that you can share to show you know how to write this type of content. Once you write them, you can share them in a marketing/writing community to get feedback. You can also reach out to several B2B SaaS writers on LinkedIn to review for you. Publish them on your website or a site like Medium and add the samples to your portfolio. Always refer to them when pitching/applying for roles.
Contribute guest posts. In addition to your samples, create guest posts for websites. These could be publications or business blogs looking for contributors. If you’re strategic about it, guest posts will likely get you gigs/jobs. You can prioritize publications/blogs that the decision makers in marketing or in your preferred industry regularly read. For example, a marketing director would likely read SEO-focused or leadership blogs. And yes, there are SaaS brands that write on leadership. Another tip is pitching topics that matter to the publication or business. Don’t pick at random. For example, Success Olagboye, a freelance writer, ran a keyword gap analysis to find out topics that the company he wrote for had not covered.
Take on outsourced work. Sometimes busy freelancers outsource their work to writers. This is a good chance to learn how to write B2B SaaS pieces. Unfortunately, many of these people won’t let you use their work to pitch to the same clients, but you can use the sample to get work from a different company unless you sign an NDA. If you do a good enough job, you might get a commendation and get to work with the client directly.
Have you read the previous issue? No? Read it here →
Till next time 👋🏾