Plenty of SaaS companies position their services as user-friendly. These handy apps and platforms seek to empower users to get more done without any of the niche expertise, technical hurdles and other complexities that so often serve as barriers to entry.

Anyone can build a website with WordPress.com. Anyone can be a bookkeeper with Xero. Anyone can create a presentation with Canva. At least that’s the promise made to potential users.

However, many SaaS companies unknowingly drive customers away with content that doesn’t live up to that ‘accessible to all’ proposition.

If your users aren’t sticking around, the problem might not be your product. Instead, there are three critical content mistakes that could be quietly undermining your growth.

The good news is, they’re all fixable.

Mistake #1: The acquisition obsession

A SaaS company needs a constant flow of new customers to grow. Every new user is a win. Every new subscription is revenue. The marketing strategy carefully maps the entire customer journey from first awareness right through to conversion.

But … then what?

Sure, you’ll have content intended for users after they’ve signed up; troubleshooting and support information, service-related emails, perhaps an onboarding guide. Without this content, new users wouldn’t get very far with the platform. But all this post-signup content isn’t generating new revenue, so it’s viewed as just another cost centre. Better to leave that stuff to the Product and Support teams.

Your data might tell a different story. Fewer trials converting into paid accounts. Escalating support tickets. Increasing churn. A growing trend of first-week frustrations leading to first-month cancellations.

When users can’t find (or understand) the instructions or answers they need, they’ll look elsewhere. They’ll Google it. They’ll click on Reddit threads, YouTube tutorials, even competitor blogs. And in doing so, they’ll potentially discover alternative SaaS options that seem easier, better documented, more intuitive.

Every churned customer is a hit to your bottom line. There’s not only the wasted acquisition spend and lost lifetime value, but also the risk of negative reviews.

Your pre-sale content might have got them in the door, but your post-sale content isn’t helping them to stay.

The fix

Content marketing isn’t just about acquisition; it’s about the entire lifetime value of the customer. High quality, strategic content is just as important beyond the signup: onboarding, technical support, lifecycle management, retention, cross-selling, upselling, case study opportunities, even customer evangelism.

Perhaps more than any other industry, SaaS companies should consider their post-signup content as much a part of the product as the user interface. Without this content, all those features and widgets can never truly shine.

It’s cheaper to keep an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one. Surely, it’s worth investing more budget and expertise into ensuring the experience, usefulness, tone of voice, messaging, and overall quality of your post-signup content matches what your customers have come to expect from your pre-signup content.

Mistake #2: Writing for yourselves, not your users

Your product and dev teams live and breathe the platform. Your engineers know every feature intimately. Your documentation naturally reflects this expertise.

But what might seem intuitive or easy to you won’t necessarily make sense for everyone else.

Sometimes, the reverse can be true too; only serving users with the most basic, entry-level content.

Perhaps the majority of support issues are easily fixed. ‘Have you turned it off and on again’ has become an IT support cliché precisely because it so often works. But not all user problems will be so embarrassingly simple.

Have you ever tried to troubleshoot a problem with a toaster, vacuum cleaner, computer, whatever, only to find the suggested solutions border on patronising? Yes, it’s plugged in. No, the bag isn’t full. Yes, I’ve tried rebooting in safe mode. I might not be an expert, but this isn’t my first rodeo. We’ve established this is a genuine issue, so what do I do next?

The fix

First, understand who uses your product versus who buys it. Xero’s marketing largely targets accountants because they will encourage their small business clients to sign up. Because of this, the post-signup comms and content need to be easily understood by small business owners who aren’t accountants and probably aren’t that technical either. These personas need completely different content approaches.

Second, write to the appropriate level of expertise. Use plain language. Don’t assume pre-existing knowledge. Explain acronyms. MailChimp knows that a significant proportion of its users aren’t experienced marketers with a deep understanding of things like open rates and email filters. They’re bloggers gradually building an audience of subscribers. They’re hobbyists with small mailing lists dedicated to a side project or hobby. And yes, they’re small business owners desperately trying to do their own marketing in the fleeting moments between staff rosters, stock ordering, and bookkeeping. That’s why MailChimp’s content is concise and actionable, because time is precious, while explaining everything in clear and unambiguous layperson’s terms.

Third, you also need to create layered content for when the first answer doesn’t go deep enough. Then, if the entry-level advice is too basic, savvier users can follow links to more advanced support content.

Finally, test your content with actual users, not your team, and watch for where people get stuck.

Mistake #3: Thinking your SaaS is more special than it is

Every startup, every SaaS, every tech company I’ve worked with seemed to believe their product was the Golden Child. When you’re convinced your product is somehow unique or revolutionary, it feels like you only need to tell people about it for the user signups to roll in.

It’s understandable; they’re emotionally invested. But whenever I see tech companies describe their offerings as ‘unique’, I’m reminded of Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride; ”You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

There are multiple alternative SaaS options out there for just about every business use case you can imagine. While each one might have a slightly different focus or value proposition, such as an accounting platform tailored for freelancers, this often owes more to marketing and strategic positioning than actual functionality.

In practice, this self-obsession results in underwhelming content. Copy focused on features instead of solving problems. Messaging that sounds identical to competitors. Blog posts covering the same topics as everyone else. Generic case studies selling the wider category rather than their specific solution.

When everyone chases the same audience with the same content targeting the same keywords, you end up competing purely on price. There will always be a competitor more willing and able to undercut or outspend you to win that battle.

The fix

Your product is not the hero of this story. The real hero is the customer, on a quest to achieve their goal. And this customer goal is never a new SaaS subscription; it’s to build a successful business, or achieve financial independence, or to spend more quality time with family. Your product is merely a supporting character, helping them overcome just one of potentially many obstacles on their journey towards this goal.

So, tell those customer stories. Bring your SaaS platform to life by showing how it helped users get closer to their goal. Highlight different use cases, different problems, different benefits. All of this makes it easier for each of your customer personas to imagine how your platform fits with their individual needs and circumstances.

Don’t just identify how your brand and offering are different. Identify those differences that really matter to customers. And then amplify those differences in all your messaging, your content, and your comms.

Lead with what customers care about, not what you’re proud of.

Customer first; always

These three mistakes rarely exist in isolation. More often, they overlap and compound, to the detriment of the user.

Fixing these three mistakes will take some effort and a degree of strategic thinking, but the rewards are worth it. Differentiated content attracting more of the right customers. Easy-to-follow onboarding content helping them get started quickly and achieve results sooner. Layered support content providing genuinely useful help and advice, wherever they are in their journey.

They stay. They upgrade. They recommend you to others.

While some content generates new customers and revenue, other assets generate value to the business in equally valid ways; reducing churn and support tickets, while increasing lifetime value and brand loyalty.

With the right strategy, good content is never a cost centre. Instead, it’s a long-term investment in building positive relationships with your audience, prospects, and users.

Need help crafting effective and user-friendly SaaS content? Get in touch.