With the competition hotting up in the SaaS space, it has become harder than ever for a B2B SaaS company to stand out from the crowd.
One factor that can help them beat the competition is the quality of the content produced by the organization.
By mastering the art of SaaS technical content writing, the companies can create engaging content their readers will love.
Contrary to the general misconception about technical writing, there is much more to SaaS technical content writing than just manuals and boring documentation.
Technical content serves as a source of information for a variety of purposes from documentation and sales to marketing and even social media engagement.
“SaaS technical content writing forms the basis of an organization’s content marketing strategy–from white papers and blogs to videos and case studies.”
But how can technical writing be made razor-sharp?
In this guide, we are going to discuss how to write technical content to impress your customers and prospects alike. There are four parts:
Before you begin writing any technical content, it is important to understand your clients’ needs and requirements. This little exercise will help you provide the right level of context and information in your writing. Here are the other benefits:
“Research is the secret to producing quality content. “
For example, Statista is a great source for research-based statistics about every type of topic.
Technical writing is meant to be consumed by the readers, so avoid the temptation to show off your mastery over the language.
Here is an example of a verbose copy, along with its edited version. You can see that the edited copy is more direct and uses half as many words.
Technical content need not be dry and uninspiring. You can use a story to help the users understand how your product works and why it is important for them.
A good story could include the challenges you faced when developing your product, and how you overcame them.
Finally, be sure to highlight the unique features of your product that make it stand out from the competition.
“The right narration can not only help your customers become better consumers of your products but also your employees to become more productive.”
These stories provide real-world examples of how customers have benefited from using a product or service.
They convey the value and benefits of your SaaS offering, helping to improve perception and trust in your brand. Since customer success stories are public, they can encourage potential customers to do business with you.
This customer story is one of the milestones in Content Beta’s journey as a maker of quality SaaS content and we are proud of it.
Technical content writing for SaaS is an important part of creating a successful product. It is not only vital to provide users with the information they need to understand and use your product but also help your readers easily find it.
However, many SaaS companies struggle with their technical content due to a lack of context
The purpose of providing context is to help your readers understand why you are writing about a certain topic, what you believe the implications of that topic are, and how it relates to their lives.
You can improve reader engagement by using the right context in your content.
For example, if you are writing about a new software release and its features, providing context might include discussing how the release affects older versions of the software or explaining how previous releases have influenced the development of this iteration.
“Giving context for every piece of information will not only benefit your readers to understand it better themselves but also prepare them to critique or assess it with more authority.”
Do not go overboard with jargon and acronyms. Nor try to oversimplify because in technical content writing it is inefficient to use non-technical words.
Nothing puts off website readers more than the use of inaccurate grammar and shoddy language. No matter how good your content is, people will question your authority if you do not take the time to proofread, edit and polish your SaaS technical content.
Using active and clear language, editing, and fine-tuning your content helps:
SaaS videos depend on technical writing to gather the information required to write scripts. Plus,
If you are writing about a new feature in your product, a product demo video can help supplement the write-up.
Explaining the features with a video can give your readers a clear understanding of the product.
Example: uConnect is an all-in-one virtual career center platform that enables modern career services professionals to simplify virtual engagement by integrating career education into campus culture. Watch the video created by Content Beta for uConnect.
These videos convey small amounts of essential product information that can be easily digested and shared on different platforms.
This example video is created by Content Beta for Decile, a most reliable customer data and eCommerce analytics platform.
This video created by Content Beta for Lawcus explains how their Legal practice management software improves sign-ups, lead-to-customer conversion rates, and page stays.
This example amply demonstrates why videos can do a far better job than manuals. This is a longish video at 10+ minutes that saves the users the trouble of reading a thickish manual.
It is a misconception that all users are tech-savvy. B2B SaaS companies can use Customer onboarding videos to handhold them so that the customers feel valued.
SaaS technical content forms the basis of these videos demonstrating yet again that technical content writing needs to be given the recognition it deserves.
Here is an example video that Content Beta created for Lauchnodes.
This video created by Content Beta for ManyChat is a good example of how a FAQ video can be used to answer customers’ most frequently asked questions.
The best part is that these videos can even be sent as an email attachment to customers.
Everyone, both customers and employees, needs training to be able to use the product or explain to others how to do it.
A video course is ideal to meet training needs. Such videos are also useful to reduce customer churn and to help product teams to ship new features with ease.
A company cannot disregard the importance of brand recognition because a logo or brand name is the first thing a person sees when interacting with your brand.
This is especially important when you are writing content for an audience of technologists who are used to reading technical documentation in a standardized format.
Your logo alone will not go far without the right brand colors. That is why you should use your brand colors in documentation, on your website, and in marketing collateral.
Brand colors and in your technical writing can help grab the readers’ attention and even improve brand recall value.
Color psychology plays an important role in technical documentation because it gives your brand a distinct personality. Here is a resource in case you want to dig deep.
Along with the colors use a font that is easy on the eye and improves readability.
Experts recommend using a mix of Serif and non-Serif fonts.
Visual aids can be helpful in conveying information to your audience. But do consider how the visuals will fit into the overall design of your writing. Graphics and images are often used in technical content to:
A good example would be how Content Beata illustrates its Presentation Design services:
In this case, using words to explain the feature would be inefficient. Good technical writing is about making it simple for readers to understand the benefits or explain an idea.
All that the readers have to do in this case is place the mouse pointer on the white star on the dividing line and drag the dividing line to the left to see how the presentation looked ‘BEFORE’ and to the right to see how it would look ‘AFTER’ the presentation has been worked on.
The view after moving the star to either side of the image:
“The whole idea of using the visuals should be to complement the text. Overuse can be distracting. Another point to note is that stock images add little or no value to the overall quality of your writing.”
It is important to understand that when creating content for a SaaS company, you need to be mindful of the different ways in which your audience will consume the information.
Start by creating a clear and concise outline that outlines the key points of your article by breaking down your article into smaller sections.
A linear approach like segmenting your article into 3 parts works well in most cases:
Break your content up into manageable chunks.
Sections help readers know what to expect as they read through your article, while subheadings provide additional information about specific topics.
This way, readers can quickly find the information they are looking for without having to wade through gigantic blocks of text.
Additionally, using section and subheading titles will help you keep track of the information you wanted to cover in each section.
Example:
Suppose your main topic is how to set up and use a SaaS platform.
You might title your article “Setting Up a SaaS Platform: A Step-by-Step Guide”
Break down each section with headings like:
“Setting Up Your Account,”
“Configuring Your Settings,” etc.
This way, readers can more easily follow along without feeling overwhelmed by the number of topics covered.
Additionally, subheadings can help direct readers to specific sections of your article.
For example, if you want to focus on one particular type of SaaS platform (such as a social media platform), you could title the subheading “Using a Social Media Platform in SaaS.”
This way, readers will know exactly where they need to turn for more information on that specific topic.
In addition to heading titles and subheadings, making use of lists also helps organize content.
For example, if you are writing about different types of SaaS platforms available (such as marketing automation platforms and lead management platforms), create a list at the beginning of your article with headings like “Five Types of Saas Platforms” or “The Top Five Marketing Automation Features.
With structured writing, you will be able to:
Many readers instinctively turn to FAQs to save themselves the trouble of reading the full documentation.
FAQs are great for providing answers to the most commonly asked questions. A good FAQ would anticipate the most likely questions a reader might have and provide the answers.
Whether it is posted on your website, used in a presentation, or given to your customers, a FAQ is a great way to present your company’s knowledge and expertise.
Here is an example of a FAQ section on the content Beta website:
The FAQ page helps website visitors find the answers to their questions quickly and without having to navigate different web pages to find the answer they are looking for.
“FAQs help visitors to quickly get the essential information on the website. This is helpful to reduce bounce rates and aimless browsing on the website.”
One way to do this is by using keyword research. When drafting your content, make sure that each word has a specific and relevant meaning within the context of your topic.
By doing this, you will be able to target your readers specifically and ensure that they get the information they need without having to sift through a pile of dry text.
Hemingway is a free app that you can use to optimize your content for readability.
Before we wrap up, let us recap the importance of technical content writing for a B2B SaaS company.
Sound technical writing forms the backbone of SaaS companies because they help popularize SaaS products by explaining how features work.
They are the glue that binds product development, sales, marketing and customer service of an organization because all of them depend on technical information to run their operations.
It is a detailed description of a product, service, system, or process, and is an important tool to ensure that a product is delivered correctly. Technical writers use documents to communicate technical ideas to clients, engineers, and stakeholders.
Technical content writers write software documentation, user manuals, and online help. They need to produce clear and concise documentation that is easily understood by readers. In addition, they need to decipher technical content for sales, marketing, and customer support teams.
SaaS (Software as a Service), being one of the fastest growing parts of the enterprise software market, requires that B2B SaaS companies keep pace with rapid growth. Quality technical content is what will help them ramp up their operations including marketing.
Khyati is a seasoned writer and a hands-on marketing professional. She specializes in inbound and growth marketing, content marketing, lead generation, public relations, brand amplification, B2B communications and partnerships, and social media marketing.
Khyati is a seasoned writer and a hands-on marketing professional. She specializes in inbound and growth marketing, content marketing, lead generation, public relations, brand amplification, B2B communications and partnerships, and social media marketing.
