Should you become a media? (and how to do it) - N°28
Dr. Lucie Poisson
Entrepreneurial Head of International Marketing | Business Angel in B2B SaaS Startups | Supporter of European Tech | Content creator (TheMarketingOrchestrator.com)
Hi everyone,
Is owning a media the future of any SaaS company? 😵
At first glance, it sounds strange. However, more and more companies build or buy a media. And it is part of a strategy.
👉 In this "Marketing x Teams x Entrepreneurs" newsletter N°28, I explain to you why and how they do it, in addition to some examples and further thougths around the topic.
🔷 So, owning a media, future or no future?
Happy to read your comments!
{Growth strategy}
Content is on all the mouths, but it has become very challenging due to new formats, new privacy laws, and the de-platforming phenomenon, as Anthony Kennada explains. However, it is worth it for companies to continue investing in content:
“Leading with content did more than just create pipeline, it created a movement.” - Anthony Kennada.
SaaS companies, among others, know it very well and have acquired media to continue to grow. For example, Pendo with “Mind the Product”. This is because media is connected with a community and, therefore a defined audience:
“I believe that the future of commerce will be community-led, and owned media will be how we get there.” - Anthony Kennada.
Article by AudiencePlus, a software, content, and community that helps every business become a… media company.
{Strategy}
Today, we assist with a complimentary configuration that Kyle Poyar from OpenView describes perfectly. On the one side, companies have a hard time reaching their audience. On the other end, specific media gather a huge community but have difficulties monetizing it. Or with a different perspective but still underlining perfectly the possible synergies:
“Modern media companies have a software company embedded inside.
Next-gen software companies will have a media company embedded inside.” - Dharmesh Shah, HubSpot Co-Founder and CTO.
The result is many SaaS comapnies acquiring a media:
In the end, it is pretty natural that Product-Led-Growth companies with a strong focus on the user are interested in relying on qualitative and running media within their growth strategy. Kyle closes his publication by providing six meaningful insights for acquiring a media and community asset. The fourth one will surprise you!
{SaaS}
If you analyse the market, you will discover numerous examples of SaaS companies that have developed their media lately. Ron Miller details the phenomenon in his article published on TechCrunch in March 2022:
“Over the past couple of years, we’ve started seeing content marketing take a leap forward as SaaS companies like Salesforce, Hubspot and Shopify began behaving more like media companies, with content at the centre of everything they do.” - Ron Miller.
The article is fully available for exclusive members.
{Community}
Why does community matter even more today? Find some clues in this video of Dharmesh Shah during the “Inbound 2022” event. No time? Jump directly to the 10th minute.
{Content}
Recommended by LinkedIn
Content is at the baseline of media. But what is the basis of content? Authority and empathy, according to Masooma in her Letter #46 from September 2022. Discover her actionable tips to move from the strategy to an action plan.
{Blogging}
You will know everything - but really everything! - about the state of blogging in 2022 by reading the 9th annual blogging survey of Andy Crestodina from Orbit Media Studios: how much time it takes to write a post, how many words, how frequently they post, …
The effectiveness of content marketing has remained steady since 2016. Not surprisingly, finding the time and attracting visitors as the two main challenges for bloggers. This is because blogging is getting harder and harder:
“One takeaway is that blogging is harder than it used to be. The survey results show that it takes more time and effort to cut through the noise and find results. But isn’t that true of ALL marketing?” - Mark Schaefer.
From the answers to the survey, the analysts consolidated the six blogging strategies that are working in 2022. Here you have (but find more insights on the publication):
I especially enjoyed the comparison between B2C and B2B content creators at the end because it shows the remaining specificities of B2B Marketing. One of them:
“B2B bloggers are 2.25x more likely to report that getting support from their organization is a challenge.” - Andy Crestodina.
For me, it clearly confirms that is still definitively an untapped potential in B2B marketing around content and community.
{NFT}
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) may bring fresh blood to transform the exclusive membership programs as we know them. Randy Ginsburg explains how it works, and what the advantages are and provides critical examples on NFT Now in June 2022. He also brings the development of NFT memberships into perspective:
“For NFT membership-based programs to continue to accelerate in popularity, companies must invest money and effort in improving the onboarding experience. And for brands who are currently considering NFT-based memberships, it’s crucial to reduce the learning curve for non-crypto-users as much as possible – ideally, to the point where users don’t even realize they are interacting with Web3 technologies.” - Randy Ginsburg.
In partnership with OneOf, the green NFT platform for entertainment.
{AdTech}
In this article by Hannah Bowler for The Drum, you will find all you need to know about Netflix ads: costs, countries, spot duration, and targeting capabilities. I wonder if I wouldn’t have preferred that a company buys it… Uhm…
{Entrepreneurship}
For the “They got acquired” website, Dana Miranda tells us the success story of Chris Coyier, who grew a blog for developers to 7M monthly pageviews, CSS-Tricks, then sold it to an advertiser and cloud computing company, DigitalOcean, for $4 million in March 2022. She underlines:
“This acquisition is part of a trend of software businesses purchasing media companies so they can own a new audience that might be interested in their product.” - Dana Miranda.
More acquisition stories on the website.
PS: all the pieces of content were published in the last two weeks unless otherwise stated.
If you reach these lines, it means you read my newsletter: thank you!
I hope you enjoyed it.
Happy to read your comments!
Lucie.
Entrepreneurial Head of International Marketing | Business Angel in B2B SaaS Startups | Supporter of European Tech | Content creator (TheMarketingOrchestrator.com)
2yEmilie Gieler: maybe some inspiration for you here! Who knows ;)
Global Content & Communications Manager at InterNetX | Remote 👨💻 | Digital marketing & localization | Internet & IT 🌐 | It's all about domains ✍️
2y"Should you become a media?" - Maybe not all companies should build/become one but they should think like a media! I think there are two big reasons that bring SaaS companies to invest in media: 1. Marketing: To get their name and brand out there, to drive traffic to their site and create a buzz around their product. 2. Customer retention: To keep existing customers happy and engaged so they keep using the product. Content has become a very important part of the marketing and brand-building process: It helps to get your message across and to reach out to new customers. It can be used for different purposes, including advertising campaigns, brand awareness, and sales leads but also establish yourself as an authority in your industry. I used to run small niche media for a digital brand product. It opened doors for us that we normally would not have had access to as a company. So, if the company has even a small budget, owning media and creating a community around it can only be beneficial.
Founder of Third Wall and Kanso | Building a content marketing agency for B2B companies
2yAppreciate you including me! Great newsletter.
Author of YOU DON’T NEED A BUDGET, available to order now 😃
2yThanks for including my story from They Got Acquired! (cc Alexis Grant)
Chief Product Officer, Founder & Investor 🌱
2yIs owning media the future of any SaaS company OR is starting a media the past (or 1st step) of each future company? Through the glass of social media, influence can be a motor of many solo-entrepreneurs before they get successful and develop great companies/brands eventually.