Why I Built a Content Marketing Agency — And Named it SaaSpirin

In SaaS development, we have a saying: Is the service a painkiller or a vitamin?

In other words, does it resolve an immediate need, or does it offer more of a long-term investment with payoffs that are harder to track?

I founded SaaSpirin with the goal of providing a vital painkiller for SaaS business marketing—starting with high-quality, hassle-free SaaS blog content.

SaaSpirin was an idea that took me somewhat by surprise (more on that below), but it was hard to deny that it was the obvious next step in my mission to help SaaS companies thrive.

Here’s the story of why I built SaaSpirin.

My background in software

I’ll be the first to admit that content marketing was never a central part of my plans. In fact, with my background in SaaS engineering, the first decade of my career was dedicated to providing young SaaS businesses with developmental support.

To really understand SaaSpirin’s beginnings, we’ll need to backtrack a little to my first company, Belighted. Without it, there would be no SaaSpirin.

I created Belighted, a software development agency, back in 2008 after studying software engineering at UCLouvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Belighted supports young SaaS businesses throughout the complete developmental process. We use a four-stage process to turn a software idea into a fully functioning reality, from the initial stages of designing the software to the final stages of getting things up and running.

Over time, I began to notice a pattern. Once the software was live, SaaS founders struggled with the next crucial step: marketing their business.

A gap in the market

Slowly, I began to realize that there was a major gap in the market when it came to SaaS marketing. While Belighted could provide software development, we weren’t a marketing company. Time and time again, I had to turn away SaaS founders who needed help spreading the word about their newly developed software. I realized that there was a big demand for a company that could provide ongoing marketing support for these businesses.

In addition to noticing the market need, I was excited by the prospect of exploring new avenues. And so, the inkling of an idea began to form.

Focusing on blog-based content marketing

I knew that I would need to refine my ideas. A “SaaS marketing company” was evidently not a very specific mission statement.

I came upon the idea of content marketing through my personal experience as a customer. At Belighted, we frequently worked with freelance writers and content agencies. Our outsourced blog content had a myriad of benefits for Belighted.

I became fascinated with the concept of inbound marketing.

We began to attract customers without being pushy. We also became a more credible business. Belighted became a company that offered our clients more than just a service—we could also provide our expertise via our blog. We were building trust and credibility as a business by talking to a larger audience about the things we knew.

“Surely, every SaaS company would benefit from their own blog, just as we had,” I thought.

Of course, many SaaS businesses know that blogging is a crucial aspect of inbound marketing. After all, 85% of the largest SaaS companies have active blogs. But few companies—especially those that are relatively new—have the expertise or time to keep their blog active and competitive.

Plus, most SaaS startups don’t have the budget for an internal marketing department. Blog content for SaaS requires not only marketing knowledge, but also a writer’s touch—a combination that few young SaaS companies can afford to hire themselves.

I thought to myself, “Why not create a blog content creation company for SaaS?”

The idea for SaaSpirin was beginning to take shape. The company would provide high-quality, affordable blog content that would not only boost SEO and organic traffic, but would also boost SaaS businesses’ reliability and credibility, too.

A SaaS-specific business model

I built the productized service model for SaaSpirin using over a decade of experience working directly with SaaS businesses.

I understood the need for a flexible, low-touch, subscription-based business model. The monthly commitment to producing content helps our clients build momentum. It also makes for predictable costs and repeatable processes, which are crucial for smaller SaaS companies.

As we’ve grown, I noticed that some clients preferred to be more involved than others. So now we offer more flexibility depending on how you prefer to work. In addition to our fully asynchronous blogging packages, we also do interview-based thought leadership content, for example.

We are constantly trying out new content formats with our customers, so we can offer a full breadth of content formats. And add-ons let you outsource tedious work to us, like posting content to your CMS. We use Trello to track content ideas, feedback, and calendars, so you can use a familiar tool to give as much - or as little - input as you wish.

Discover our content packages

If you’re a SaaS business owner, we can provide you with the blog content your company needs to stand out. Take a look at our subscriptions to find out more about our competitively priced packages. Or, get in touch with our team to find out how SaaSpirin can provide high-converting blog content that your customers will love.