Article's Content
Article's Content
There are more than 200 AI writing assistants listed on G2, most of which you are probably unfamiliar with. Until 2020, many AI writing assistants were struggling to gain traction because the industry only had a niche following that the time. But things are very different now.
Today, two companies in particular — Grammarly and Jasper — dominate the niche category, even making moves into the generative AI space to increase their market share and keep pace with the rapidly-developing industry.
So, I took some time to find out which marketing channels these companies have invested in the most and how they use them to gain the attention and trust of millions of users.
Let’s dive in.
Grammarly Business
30,000,000+ people rely on Grammarly to communicate better every day — but that’s not all. 30,000 professional teams use the enhanced Grammarly Business offering for the same reason.
Because Grammarly has become engrained in our everyday life — a habit-forming product, as Nir Eyal puts it — the AI writing assistant grew from zero to a $13 billion valuation in under 15 years.
That’s pretty impressive for a privately held company in a niche category.
The AI writing assistant also became the 10th most valuable startup in the US after receiving $200 million in funding in 2021.
So, how did Grammarly gain the trust of more than 30 million users?
Its marketing team simply showed people why they couldn’t live without the product by publishing informative blog content.
You see, Grammarly creates content to educate prospects about common, elementary grammar errors and reveal writing concepts that make them sound credible and confident. As a result, its blog drives nearly half of its monthly organic traffic. Here’s what its search scorecard looks like:
The Grammarly blog ranks for many high-value keywords, which be separated into three topic clusters: 1) Common Typos, 2) Grammar Questions, and 3) Writing Tips.
Right now, Grammarly ranks in the first or second spot for almost all of these keyword clusters, as well as countless long-tail variations for each. And many of these pages drive over 100,000 monthly search traffic.
For example, the blog post “What is an Adverb,” which teaches readers all they need to know about these qualifiers, drives about 154,000 organic sessions every month:
The post stands out to me for three main reasons.
1. Cut out the fluff — get straight to the point
When people visit your blog, they usually have limited time and a lot of information competing for their attention. You don’t want to add to that load.
Getting straight to the point in the introduction lets you immediately address the reader’s main interest and grab their attention, encouraging them to keep reading. Grammarly’s clear and concise introduction in the Adverb piece offers immediate value upfront:
It shows readers that the Grammarly team respects their time, understands their needs, and is committed to giving them useful info. This builds trust and credibility, making site visitors more likely to engage with the blog content and even come back for more. It’s no wonder the page’s organic traffic keeps growing over time.
2. Show the product’s value in action
Grammarly uses a pro tip box and corresponding CTA to show how the product can keep users from making mistakes and help them write more confidently.
Highlighting exactly how your product solves problems encourages readers to take the next step, such as signing up for a trial, requesting a demo, or making a purchase. When you weave your product’s benefits into a piece — and highlight those benefits — you show readers how your product can help make their lives and jobs better in real-world situations. This makes the content more relatable, informative, and valuable to your readers.
3. Leverage high-volume keywords for max exposure
The “What is an Adverb” blog post also uses high-volume keywords within the main H2 headings to bring a huge number of potential users into the Grammarly marketing funnel.
For example, the keyword “adverb examples” receives around 47,000 monthly searches, and Grammarly currently funnels a large portion of this traffic to its post which ranks #2 in the SERP.
Long-tail keywords are more specific and less competitive than broad keywords but are equally important for capturing potential users. Incorporating them as H2 and H3 headings in your blog posts lets you optimize your content for search engines. Plus it increases your chances of ranking higher in the SERP when people search for those specific terms, driving targeted organic traffic to your website.
Grammarly also uses other types of content and specific tools to maintain its unicorn status and outrank Dictionary.com and other popular sites. To read about Grammarly’s full content engine, check out the full blog post here.
Now let’s look at the second industry leader.
Jasper
Jasper has gained over 105,000 customers (including the Foundation team) in just two-and-a-half years. When I researched its top marketing channels, I found that organic search is its second-biggest channel, driving more than 21% of its total traffic.
The AI writing assistant’s website attracts more than 400,000 visitors every month, with over one million backlinks from high-authority sites like Forbes, Hubspot, Bloomberg, and Search Engine Land.
When I dug deeper, I found two main elements contributing to Jasper’s growth in popularity and recent $1.5B valuation: its tools and tutorial-style content.
Since OpenAI took the world by storm with ChatGPT, companies in the market have taken various approaches to replicating its success and Jasper is one of them. A few weeks after OpenAI was released and gained its first few million users, Jasper launched its own chat feature.
The feature page itself drives 55,000 monthly organic sessions. What I love most about the page is how Jasper sets itself up for success from the get-go.
For example, the page ranks #5 for the keyword “chat ai” which has an estimated 135,000 searches every month. Even if OpenAI outranks Jasper, it’s still great to know they are highly visible and capture a significant amount of traffic from the top half of the top SERP page.
Another thing Jasper does well is it allows users to test the chat feature for free instead of requesting a demo or contacting sales directly.
The hero section is typically the first thing visitors see when they land on your site, so placing a “try for free” button there ensures you get their attention and give them immediate access to test your product before committing.
Jasper also embeds a YouTube feature demo video directly under the CTA.
Sometimes, explaining the value of a product through text or images alone may not be as effective as a video.
A product demo video demonstrates how to use the feature clearly, so you can see how it can solve their problems.
When prospects see your product in action, hear a human voice, and observe real-life use cases, it helps them feel more confident in your product and increases your chances of turning them into freemium users and, eventually, paying customers.
Embedding a YouTube video also ensures your product demo is accessible to a broad range of users across different devices and platforms. Plus, viewers can easily share the video with others, potentially expanding your product’s reach through word-of-mouth or social sharing. It’s no wonder the demo video has generated 28,000 views in six months.
There are also other elements Jasper gets right on the page, including:
- Infusing social proof to show users leading brands that rely on them (like ShipBob)
- Sharing different use cases of the feature
- Answering FAQs
Jasper’s blog also takes a tutorial-style approach to marketing its products. Unlike Grammarly, Jasper focuses on teaching its users the different use cases for the product and how to use each feature better.
For example, this piece, “15 Personal Bio Examples That Are Fun, Creative, and Get the Job Done” shows you how to use Jasper’s Personal Bio feature.
Instead of jumping straight into examples, Jasper first describes the value of a personal bio, how it’s different from a resume, and a few other important details a reader might want to know before diving in. The page drives more than 7,000 monthly organic sessions.
Tools like Jasper are game-changers in the content creation landscape. Curious to see the hype for yourself? Check it out and get ready for a major upgrade to your marketing workflow.
Create Content That Shows Your Core Features’ Value
The way to build authority and credibility with your audience is to show them how your product will help them achieve their goals. That’s what Jasper and Grammarly did to inspire the trust of thousands — or in Grammarly’s case, millions — of users all over the world.
Here are some tips to help you create this type of content:
- Understand your target audience’s pain points, needs, and motivations
- Determine the core features of your SaaS product that offer your customers the most value and give you a competitive advantage
- Highlight benefits, not just features — use concrete examples and real-life scenarios to illustrate the value of your product
- Use different content formats to showcase your core features
- Create detailed tutorials and how-to guides that demonstrate how customers can use your core features effectively
- Share customer success stories, testimonials, or interviews with satisfied customers to show the real-world impact of your product
- Offer interactive demos or free trials to allow potential customers to experience your core features firsthand.
- Ensure that your content aligns with your overall brand messaging and value proposition.
With these content tips and the insights from our distribution playbook in your hands, you’ll be ready to compete with your top competitors in no time!
