The more I talk about product-led content, the more I see the content landscape dressing it up as mere ‘comparison posts.’
Of course you need these ‘Our tools vs Y tools’ posts.
But why limit yourself to one format and one distribution channel (SEO) when you can tap into different formats and platforms where your ideal buyers actively hang out.
Not sure what other content formats you can leverage to educate about your SaaS tool?
Let me show you:
4 barely-tapped-into content formats to educate about your product:
Keep in mind that the aim is ✨ pure product education ✨ on channels your ICP is already using.
So if one of these doesn’t align with your target buyer’s content appetite, discard it and move to the next point:
1. Product education videos
I don’t mean product tutorials (although they’re a good video type to explore if you already haven’t).
Instead, try 👇
Video testimonials
Professional-looking case studies have their place.
But with limited resources and authentic video on the rise, simply:
Use a tool like Senja to request customers for a video testimonial
Edit that video using outsourced help from third-party apps like Fiverr
Share on social media (bonus points for your founder/employees posting it on their profiles)
Example: Jay Desai sharing it on LinkedIn.
How-we videos
Interview employees — ask them to take you through how they’re using the tool you’re marketing in their daily workflow.
Why this works? Because:
✅ It shows real humans using your product
✅ It shows how you drink the champagne you’re selling (psychologically this makes prospects think: wow the tool really does work, they aren’t selling us BS)
Example: the how-we Vimeo series.
Bonus tip: Repurpose how-we videos into social media clips and blog posts. I converted the video example shared above into this blog post, for example.
2. Webinars
Sadly, there’s no fresh data around that I can find on webinar conversion rate. But we all know they’re red hot these days.
So for product-led webinar content, play with the following ideas:
Customer use case spotlights
Invite customers to walk attendees through how they’re using your tool to do something specific/drive specific results.
Product education series
Pair with the product/customer success team to take attendees through product use cases, do feature deep dives, etc.
Example: Miro
Again, all these webinars can be easily repurposed into BOFU blog content.
And they help you hit two birds (or more accurately: two audience personas) with one stone:
On-the-fence prospects interested in learning about your tool = unlock new users
Paying customers interested in learning how others are using the tool = unlock new use cases
Bonus tip: Built participation into these virtual gatherings to maximize learning. For example, dedicate time to live Q&A, host polls, and encourage conversation in chat.
3. Customer storytelling
Case studies run the risk of sounding boring.
And the intent behind them is common knowledge: buy from us 😬
That’s too product-y, too salesy 🙅♀️
Doesn’t mean you don’t need them. Non-boring case studies have their place in your content library.
But the point is: you also need more customer storytelling.
Example: Dropbox nails this type of product education.
The idea is simple (yet somewhat challenging to nail): make your customer the hero in the story where your tool is well, just a tool that helps them unleash their brilliance 👌✨
➡️ Here’s a Dropbox-inspired template you can steal ⬅️
4. Social content (but not the type published on your brand page)
I mean sure brand pages can be cool.
But know what’s cooler?
Your founder and employees educating about the product.
Related read: How to create an employee advocacy program
Case in point: Rand Fishkin sharing these mini-product use case tutorials on his LinkedIn.
It’s these videos that taught me how SparkToro works.
More ideas for what to post:
Milestones hit
Sneak peeks into new features coming
How the person posting is using the tool
What the person posting is working on
Product announcements (ones that don’t sound like the PR team wrote them — plain language please)
Example: Semrush and Commsor teams. Doist’s founder is another one.
That’s all for today, friend 🙌
What’s a product education format want to try?
Love these ideas, customer storytelling could really help market my online courses, as people always say they love them and were surprised how in-depth they are (I've also altered my positioning of them to reflect that latter point)!
But one question... what is a BOFU?