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When it comes to B2B content marketing at Paytm, the end goal is quite simple: generate leads.

And this is exactly what Saurin Parikh’s efforts are geared towards. In this episode of Pepper Content presents, Top of the Funnel: Where content conversations begin, Natasha Puri, the Content Marketing Lead at Pepper, sat down with Saurin Parikh, the Assistant General Manager, Content Marketing, Paytm.

Can content have a clear goal and measurable ROI? This is a question that a lot of marketers and brands struggle with still. In the fintech space, however, the role of content has become increasingly clear over the years.

Content marketing in finance

Saurin’s background as a journalist and then successful stints at Cleartax and Razorpay equipped him to not only create relevant content in the finance space, but also target it to the right audience at the right time.

“There are two approaches to SEO that we follow. The first is reactive – counting on keywords that are trending in our industry and ensuring we create content around them. The second is proactive.”

The latter, he feels, is extremely important and relevant to the fintech space as it means creating content around keywords that might trend tomorrow. Essentially it is like, “answering questions before they come into the user’s mind”.

How can you create content that generate leads? Saurin’s approach is collaborative. “Each writer in my team is aligned to a product team. This ensures he becomes an industry expert and is in tune with the offerings of that product.”

He equates this to the “beat reporting” system that he was so used to working with as a journalist. This deep understanding of the product coupled with an understanding of the buyer persona and finally a talent for storytelling and data – these elements lead to content that wins.

The USP of killer content

As the post-COVID world sees an overload of content, Saurin is clear that while content is here to stay, subpar content will not be enough.

“Right now there is no marketing without content. If you want to use ads, you need copies. If you want to do video, you need a script. Content will continue to be a pillar of marketing.”

So what will stand out? Content that has USP: Useful, Shareable, and Productive.

This means, content that has specific intent, is useful to the user, serves a purpose, and becomes shareable. And from a brand’s point of view, content that is productive – either in creating brand awareness or generating leads. This is the kind of content that will break out from the clutter.

Creating content, measuring results

Proving the ROI of content is still a challenge that a lot of marketers face. At Paytm, one campaign that sees a clear impact is the one around the annual budget announcement every February.

“We try to break down the budget from our user’s point of view and also across industries. Every year, in February, we see a spike in traffic to our landing pages,” Saurin says.

Ultimately, though, he is convinced that efforts towards having a clear distribution plan are as important as the content itself.

“Going forward, the brands that will win at content marketing are the ones that will win at distribution. Content is created once but can be distributed in multiple formats,” Saurin says.