IaaS, PaaS or SaaS Copywriting? Creating Killer Content with Less

With IaaS, PaaS or SaaS copywriting, creating content can seem like a constant battle between over-delivering dense tech jargon and crafting elegant, readable content. Keeping users on the page is half the battle. However, taking dense and confusing topics and creating fun, entertaining content is not alchemy.

Today, we’ll explore how you can craft amazing copy without adding hours to your current workflow. Read on to discover some top tips and strategies for producing content in SaaS, PaaS, other tech topics or really any other industry.

What’s the Difference Between IaaS, PaaS and SaaS Copywriting Anyway?

Part of engaging with the tech space is becoming familiar with the terminology. While it can seem excessive at times, understanding the difference between PaaS, SaaS and IaaS can help you flex your writing skills efficiently.

Because these products are different, expressing that in your copy is essential to grab a prospective customer’s attention. So what’s the difference anyway?

Put quite simply: IaaS, PaaS and SaaS are all service models for cloud computing. The acronyms are as follows:

• SaaS — Software as a service. With SaaS, users won’t need to install or run software applications on-premise. It’s all on the cloud!
• PaaS — Platform as a service. Often used by developers, PaaS offers a platform to create software without starting from scratch.
• IaaS — Infrastructure as a service. IaaS provides cloud-based alternatives to widespread on-premise infrastructure.

Imagine, instead of cloud software, we’re dealing with pizza. Pizza as a Service, if you will. Of course, you could make it at home from scratch, but you’ve got other convenient options.

First, we’ve got our IaaS option. This would be like a take-and-bake situation. The restaurant provides the pizza itself, but none of the infrastructure you need to prepare the pie or eat. That’s what you provide.

For even more convenience, you could go for delivery. In this scenario, all you need is the limited hardware to eat the pizza, like a dining room table and maybe some plates. This would be our PaaS option. Lastly, we’ve got SaaS, which, for our pizza example, would be going to the restaurant itself, where all your pizza needs are met, and all you need to do is pay.

Know Your Product, Know Your Audience

You can imagine that without knowing the ins and outs of these cloud models, you could easily make mistakes in your content. For SaaS copywriting, you wouldn't need to explain what prerequisites a user will need to access the product as that’s what the SaaS company will manage.

Conversely, you wouldn't want to elaborate on the amazing convenience of your software without explaining what a user will need to interact with the product in the first place.

Each category also has its own audience too.

SaaS can appeal to a broader demographic. It’s not just tech-savvy developers. Some notable SaaS products include BigCommerce, Dropbox and MailChimp. PaaS and IaaS tend to lean on those more experienced with computer science topics. Knowing your product means interweaving your copy with the needs of your audience and the capabilities of the service or software.

Cleaning Up Your Writing

If you’re doing any sort of tech writing, including PaaS, IaaS and SaaS copywriting, you’re doing tons of research. You can quickly get wrapped up in all the background technology and forget the purpose of your content. Sure, you want to educate your audience, but you don’t want to bore, confuse or alienate them.

Even if your company deals with some intense technology, the goal of your content and copy should be to reach your audience without wasting their time. When you can, keep it short, simple and avoid the kind of language you need to Google to understand.

The Benefits of Simple, Effective Writing

It can feel counterintuitive to simplify your writing in a dense tech space. Moreover, it's a bad habit to mistake long, drawn-out, complicated sentences with effective writing. If your goal is to say, “Hey! I know what I’m talking about,” then this might seem like the winning strategy. But that's not all we’re trying to accomplish.

While establishing domain authority is consequential, we’re not writing academic research papers here. If you’re beating your reader down with hard-to-read blocks of texts, you’re not effective with your writing. 

SaaS copywriting and the like are more about expressing and showing the value of your product in relation to a user’s problem. If you can do this in a conversational tone that’s lean and clean, you’re going to help that user solve their problem faster.

Tips for Cleaner Copy

Below you’ll find some quick tips you can implement in your tech copywriting. These aren’t just for tech verticals, either. Using these tips will help you create more compelling content regardless of if you’re writing for a pet grooming business or an enterprise-level software firm:

• Replace adverbs with strong verbs — You can often replace an adverb with a much stronger verb that relays the same information.

• Example: “He sang very loudly” into “He belted”

• Avoid passive voice — This is challenging for tech topics, but passive voice tends to lengthen sentences with unnecessary words.

• Example: “You will be given an access code from our company” into “We provide you an access code.”

• Existential there — Using the non-referential there is lazy writing. It buries the meat of the sentence, so try to avoid it when you can.

• Example: “There are different versions available” into “You’ll find many different versions available.”

• Avoid nouns string — Another classic pitfall in SaaS, PaaS and IaaS copywriting, noun string can confuse readers. Break them up when possible.

• Example: “Enterprise-wide mobile device security policies” into “Enterprise-wide policies for securing mobile devices”

Those are a small handful of actionable writing tips you can use today to clean up your content. If you’re looking for more information on how to improve your copy, we’ve got you covered in our other blog post detailing storytelling in marketing and writing with emotion.

Strategies and Formulas You Can Use

Staring at a blank page can make any writer anxious. So, what strategies can you implement to tackle topics quickly and effectively? While you still want to move through the research and outlining process, certain types of content are king in the SaaS space. Here are the main content types you may come across:

• Product-led — This type of content helps you show how your product addresses a common user pain point.
• Data-driven — Not only is using original data and research a sure-fire way to create helpful resources, but it’s also great for SEO backlinking.
• Pain point — Examining a problem that your user wants answers to can help you make an impression before they make a buying decision.
• Opinion-based — If you’re finding your target keyword competition is all writing about the same thing, shifting to opinionated content can help you stand out in a sea of sameness.
• SME — Subject matter experts help you create actionable content with expert insights. Learning the ins and outs of performing a killer SME interview is an invaluable skill.
• Long-form — Write to cover the topic, not for word count. Some bloggers who write 3,000+ words report having stronger performing content, but the SEO consensus is word count might not matter as much as we’d like to think.

Each different type of content requires a slightly different approach. Having each category in your toolbox means you can navigate particular topics effortlessly while personalizing your content to match company expectations and user search intent. 

Formulas to Have in Your Back Pocket

While the companies you’re working for are often on the cutting edge of their respective technologies, copywriting tactics find deep roots in advertising history. As such, we can call on some classic strategies to create unique content that converts.

Take AIDA, or attention, interest, desire and action. This common copywriting approach finds its roots in turn of the century salesmanship. Basically, following this model helps you grab your reader’s attention, generate and maintain interest, create a desire for your product and guide the reader toward taking action.

If you’re looking for more formulas and strategies, here are a few you can leverage in your PaaS, IaaS and SaaS copywriting:

• FAB — Features, advantages and benefits. What can your product do, and why is it helpful? Hammer down why it's relevant to the reader and what it means to them.
• PAS — Problem, agitate and solution. First, layout the problem, putting your reader in the muck of it all. Then, agitate that pain point until you finally offer the solution.
• APP — Agree, promise and preview. A great way to start a piece of content or copy, APP gives the reader a solid connection to the writer and sets expectations outright.
• Slippery slope — It all starts with an attention-grabbing headline. Then, the slippery slope approach compels your audience to keep reading and not stop until the end. Every line should focus on keeping your audience on the page.

Of course, these are just a few simple formulas and strategies you can use to improve your SaaS copy and content. You’re sure to find new tactics, experiment with the ones you know and develop original strategies to grab your audience.

These tips aren’t the end all be all of creating killer content. You’ll still want to practice on-page SEO best practices for keywords and linking, but using the strategies above, you’re giving your writing a better chance of keeping a reader on the page, interested and ready to convert.

Upgrading Your IaaS, PaaS or SaaS Copywriting with Hire a Writer

Quality content and copy come from experience and a firm understanding of your domain. If you’re struggling to maximize the effectiveness of your PaaS, IaaS or SaaS copywriting, pairing up with a team of professional writers can give you a distinct advantage over your competitors.

Here at Hire a Writer, we offer killer SEO optimized content and copy for fledgling startups, enterprise giants and everything in-between. Consider our talented roster of expert copywriters before you saddle your team with creating sub-par blog posts. 

We’ll work with you to refine your strategy and create the kind of copy that keeps readers coming back time and time again. Contact us today to learn more about our services.