Break your content into episodes and launch them gradually to build an audience around your SaaS brand and consistently engage your existing/new subscribers.
Most SaaS companies invest great resources into creating and distributing singular content items. These items are interrelated based on a specific topic and type of content (articles, video, audio, newsletter, eBooks, and more).
► Quick note: You’ve probably seen an article page that contains a section dedicated to “Similar articles.”
Creating strong singular items will contribute to higher attention spikes reflected in your website traffic and engagement metrics such as likes, views, downloads, and more.
But these attention spikes will fade quickly, as the effective lifespan of singular content items is relatively short. As Patrick Campbell, founder of Profitwell, indicates:
“The effective life of an ebook has gone down from 6.2 months three years ago to 1.8 months today. The max average touch point, per lead per week, from inbound, has gone from 3.1 to 1.4, largely driven by the expectation that you can’t send emails more than once (maybe twice) per week.”
Singular content won’t help you:
What’s the solution? Episodic content.
According to Patrick:
“You attract an audience on a given topic or outcome and then episodically entertain and educate that audience towards that topic or outcome.”
For example, you can create a show that teaches your audience a specific strategy and break it into several episodes.
A recognizable format and a consistent frequency are the elements that make episodic content different from singular items.
📓 Episodic content: According to Rand Fishkin, co-founder and CEO at SparkToro, episodic content has to fit three main criteria:
📓 Media product: Content packed into a specific broadcasting format, such as TV shows, docu-series, podcast seasons, movies, animation, and more.
📓 SaaS media product: Media products created by SaaS companies as part of the brands’ growth strategy.
→ Types of episodic content
🗃 Jungle Scout launched Million Dollar Case Study, a series that shows what it is like to sell on Amazon. As the series page indicates:
“If you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like to sell on Amazon, you’re in the right place. In Jungle Scout’s 5th season of the Million Dollar Case Study, our team of experts demonstrates how to sell on Amazon — by going through the entire process themselves.”
In 2019, ProfitWell launched Recur Network, a media brand for SaaS shows. According to the Network website:
“Recur is the only media network dedicated to the world of subscriptions bringing you thought-provoking content with insider knowledge and data to help you grow.”
To this day, Recur Network launched shows, such as:
🗃 Pricing Page Teardown. A weekly show where ProfitWell breaks down strategies and insights on how subscription companies can win with monetization from all market corners.
🗃 Boxed Out. It shows the audience what happens when people buy from DTC’s subscription brands and then cancel their subscription.
🗃 Protect the Hustle. A show about and with people in the B2B SaaS growth trenches.
🗃 Tradeoffs with Patrick Campbell and Hiten Shah. A show tailored toward product pros, addressing the most significant tradeoffs SaaS companies make.
🗃 RevOps & Hops. This show uncovers the mysteries and truth that surround the RevOps space.
In December 2021, Webflow launched Webflow TV, a space for original and highly curated stories of creativity, entrepreneurship, and designing outside the lines.
Webflow TV is offering media products, such as:
🗃 Stories. Experience the power of visual web development through these real-life stories of creativity, flexibility, and success.
🗃 Generation No-Code. No-code is closing the gap between idea and impact. Gain inspiration from four real stories of pursuit, empowerment, and the magic of creativity.
🗃 Inside Marketing Design. A podcast created to help you improve your skills and have more impact as a marketing design professional.
🗃 Portfolio Design. As a creative, your most powerful tool is your portfolio. Learn how to use that power wisely and responsibly.
🗃 Built by Hand. To rebuild his neglected website, a self-taught designer and entrepreneur must discover his voice and carve out a place among the businesses he’s helped build.
🗃 Your Career Design. So you want to be a product designer? Get empowered by hearing what it (really) takes to succeed in the product design industry.
🗃 Creator Sessions (by ConverKit). An online event series showcasing the art and stories behind today’s most beloved musicians, artists, videographers, and photographers.
🗃 Young Guns. A series that follows up and coming designers across the globe in their pursuit to become creative professionals.
🗃 Trust the Process. What does the website design process look like for a freelancer, and what are the common problems to solve?
🗃 Design from Scratch. What’s it like to work as a designer at a startup in Los Angeles? How do you begin the task of creating a huge facet of the business: the website? How do you get everyone involved and on the same page?
And more.
🗃 Onboarding Joei. During her onboarding process, the creators of this unscripted docu-series follow Joei Chan, Director of Brand & Content at 360Learning. The docu-series has two seasons. The second season follows Joei as she’s facing new challenges under lockdown.
🗃 Learning Audrey. Like Onboarding Joei, this docu-series follows Audrey as she starts from zero to become a Learning Manager.
🗃 Voice of the Product. The producers of this show put eight product-led leaders in the hot seat and asked them eight hard-hitting questions about product-led growth.
🗃 Breaking Brand. It is a podcast series that takes its audience behind the scenes with the Patter Brands founding team. It embarks on a journey to build a direct-to-consumer business and launch its first brand to market.
🗃 Beyond Black Friday. A docu-series focused on following three brands that are doing things differently and keeping momentum all year round.
🗃 Ready, Set, Grow. A show that takes the audience behind the scene of the fastest growing eCommerce brands to learn about growth strategies.
The requirements aren’t necessarily different from those needed to launch a content marketing strategy. After all, you can launch a blog series with the help of your content writers. However, if you’re planning to launch a podcast or a TV show, you’ll need:
► Quick note: You can also use the Netflix strategy and release your episodic content all at once for immediate consumption. To build anticipation, though, a specific episodic launch frequency is required.
📒 Evaluate your resources and decide what type of episodic content you’ll produce (audio, video, or written).
📒 Choose a niche topic. You can go with a broad topic (your industry, for example, such as sales, growth, events, productivity, etc.) then narrow it down by adding specificity, such as:
📒 Build episodes around your niche topic. For example, you can have a 10-step framework that helps companies reach their first $1K MRR in sales. In this case, you can create 10 episodes, explaining each step in great detail.
📒 For greater impact, create a brand around your episodic content.
► It’s not your company’s podcast. It’s a well-defined media brand focused on tackling a niche topic using a specific format.
► It’s not a YouTube series. It’s a media brand with a well-defined and recognizable structure/format.
► It’s not just a blog series. It’s a full-fledged publication.
Here’s how to build a brand around your episodic content:
📒 Episodic content requires consistency, both in terms of publishing and format. First, you have to show up and keep producing/launching your content. A schedule and public commitment will help.
Second, you need to ensure that your episodes follow the same structure. In other words, you need a system to make things easier. For example, you can build an entire podcast brand around specific questions. You can come up with a list of fixed questions and ask your guests the same exact things. This will save you time preparing for the interviews and ensure format coherence.