The African tech startup space has seen tremendous growth over the recent year. From getting impressive funding, expansions, mergers, and innovations, we have seen it all. However, we have also seen the rise and fall of some of the most promising startups. But, I feel that we have always needed more sustainable strategies that promote quick wins and scalable growth. I will not be talking about that in detail today, as I already wrote a lengthy article on it. Instead, let’s talk about how can content marketing improve user onboarding for African startups.
There is little evidence pointing to why there is a sporadic startup shutdown across the tech landscape. It would be unfair to blame the founders, just as it would for the investors. There are various reasons startups may fail in Africa, but there is almost always a lack of a product market fit.
Industry Overview
When examining content marketing in Africa for tech startups, you will realize there is a notorious lack of product positioning. Here’s what it looks like:
- AI written content, perhaps from a two-line prompt (Nothing against the GPT bros).
- Content focused on the product features instead of the customer’s pain points
- Sharing a link on social media or newsletter and moving on.
This creates a lack of flow within your content channels and eventually a pipeline of meaningless content.
At the end of the day, you might feel convinced that content marketing just doesn’t work in Africa.
But, I am arguing otherwise today, and with a good reason.
I recently wrote an article that explores content marketing in Africa for tech startups. I would advise you to take a look at it if yours is a similar strategy to what I’ve listed above.
Now, let’s get to the main issue.
This article will discuss effective content marketing strategies that African Startups can use to improve user onboarding. But first…
Does your startup need content marketing?
Every business needs content marketing services at some point, some more than others. The first step to effective content marketing is identifying your user’s pain points, and coming up with specific goals.
In this case, we are talking about how content marketing can improve user onboarding and it is for African startup founders, investors, and product managers.
However, creating high-value content takes money and time, the two things early-stage startups may not access. Simultaneously, ignoring content marketing is a grave mistake for most African startups.
In my user onboarding guide, I mention that user onboarding starts at acquisition – the first interaction your prospect interacts with your brand. It could be through an Ad, referral, or Google search (recognize how all these tasks require copywriting and marketing knowledge).
So, yes, your startup needs content marketing, and this time, you must prioritize consistent value throughout your user journey. In addition, content marketing is a tool for:
- Long-term brand visibility
- Product awareness
- Shapes the product’s perceived value
- And lastly, it enhances the user experience
In my most recent article, I have outlined the benefits of content marketing for African startups. And so I will not be going into details about that today. Instead, let’s quickly jump to 4 strategies you can use in content marketing to improve user onboarding for African startups.
4 Ways African Startups Can Use Content Marketing to Improve User Onboarding
Content marketing includes that Facebook or LinkedIn post you regularly publish, a blog article, a landing page, an e-book, a Product demo, you name it. This means that from your customer’s first touch point, they will interact with content.
Now, on the other side, user onboarding begins at the moment your customer comes across your brand. Something must make them stop to see what it is – perhaps through an ad, or your website copy.
Once they stop, your content should tell them why they should care about your product as quickly as possible. It should provide immediate value to your customers.
Next, your customer wants to know how your product solves their pain points and this is your chance to show them your value. Now you have their attention, they want to experience and learn more about your product before they can fully integrate it into their lives.
All these stages involve one thing: content.
Below, I will outline how African Startups can use content marketing to improve and personalize their user journey.
- Product positioning
- Educating and nurturing customers
- Resolving value gaps in your onboarding process
- Self-help Customer service
Product positioning through content marketing
Product positioning isn’t just about listing features; it’s about showing why your product is the best solution for your audience’s specific problems.
And one of the most powerful ways to shape that perception? Content marketing.
When you’re positioning your product, content marketing gives you a platform to tell your unique story. This doesn’t need to be a complex strategy. It could be as simple as:
-
- A social media post explaining how your solution works
- A website copy that clearly outlines what makes you stand out
- An ad that speaks directly to your target audience’s needs
- A case study showing real-world success
The point is to address your customer’s pain points. When potential users come across your content their onboarding experience has already started.
That’s where content marketing shines.
It gives you a chance to guide their journey, showcasing exactly how your product solves their problem from the first interaction.
Content marketing gives you a competitive edge to break through markets by focusing on the problems your customers are dealing with and how you can help.
This can significantly improve onboarding and it is your opportunity to make a lasting impression, and more importantly, to demonstrate the value you deliver.
Educating and nurturing customers
Content marketing is also about educating and nurturing users to get the most out of your product. Even after a user signs up, new users need guidance to fully experience the value your product offers.
This is where your content can make a difference.
You need to intimately understand your audience to create content that resonates with them. However, you have to think deeper than demographics in terms of their:
- Digital Access
- Digital literacy
- Whether they truly need your solution
This will guide you on the kind of content to create and where to publish it to reach them effectively.
For African startups, content like case studies, whitepapers, and comparative articles can be valuable in the awareness stage.
These help your audience see exactly how your product solves their specific problems while differentiating you from the competition.
As users progress down the funnel, more focused content such as blog posts, product guides, demos, and illustrated videos can walk them through the next steps to experience maximum value from your product.
Additionally, consistently publishing content boosts your SEO which drives more inbound marketing success.
Resolving value gaps in your onboarding process
Content marketing is a powerful tool for highlighting your product’s value and also for closing the value gaps that can emerge during user onboarding.
A value gap occurs when users fail to experience the same value you promised.
Often, it’s not because your product-market fit is off, but rather due to educational barriers that prevent customers from fully understanding how your product solves their problems.
If your users don’t grasp how to use your product, they’re likely to churn soon after signing up.
This is where content marketing comes in to bridge that gap.
When you provide content that guides your users to discover the product value quickly, you reduce the likelihood of drop-offs. For example, at
We tackled this challenge by adding video tutorials that showed customers what to do next after signing up which resulted in slashing our churn rate by 50%.
Creating educational content that informs, inspires, and engages with the user will help you close value gaps in your onboarding process. This can be video tutorials, in-app user guides, and blog posts that help users understand the product’s core benefits as soon as they start using it.
Take Twiva, a social commerce platform in Kenya, for instance. They use a buyer qualification page that allows users to register either as sellers or content creators.
This simple step creates an onboarding process that ensures users are directed to the right resources from the start. This reduces confusion making sure they experience relevant value immediately.
As a product manager, identifying where these gaps occur and recommending the right content to fill them is your job.
Besides, creating content to address these gaps also improves retention, and ultimately delivers on the value your product promises.
Self-help Customer service
Creating a self-help hub is a powerful way for African startups to improve onboarding and reduce reliance on direct customer support. Content marketing helps you create a knowledge base that allows users to solve their problems independently while also guiding them through the onboarding process.
Once a value gap is identified, creating content to seal it requires collaboration between the content team, sales, and customer success teams to ensure the content directly addresses users’ pain points.
These teams have first-hand insight into the struggles customers face, and their feedback is crucial in shaping targeted content.
You can also use tools like Google Search Console to understand what terms people are using to find your solution.
When African tech startups align content with the language and concerns of their users, it can more effectively showcase how your product solves their pain points.
Creating a self-help customer service pipeline
When creating content for self-help customer service, start by analyzing the most common pain points your users experience during onboarding. This calls you to collaborate with your customer success and sales teams to gather feedback on frequent user issues and queries.
This will help you identify the key topics to cover in your self-help hub.
Secondly, consider creating detailed content that addresses these pain points in a way that’s easy to understand. This can include blog posts, FAQs, video tutorials, step-by-step guides, and troubleshooting articles.
The content must be simple, clear, and tailored to users with different levels of digital literacy. Remember, your goal is to help users unlock your product’s value as quickly as possible.
When creating your self-help hub, organize content for easy access as it will only work if users can easily find the information they need. You should also organize your content into categories based on the different stages of the user journey. This can be:
- Getting started
- Troubleshooting
- Advanced features
Using a search function on the self-help hub page will also help users quickly locate the right resources.
In addition, when you optimize your self-help content use SEO best practices to ensure that when users search for solutions or guides related to your product, they find your self-help articles.
This increases inbound traffic and reduces dependency on customer support.
Conclusion
When done right, African startups can use content marketing to improve user onboarding. Great content marketing not only boosts user retention but also drives growth, brand visibility, and customer satisfaction. African startups can improve user onboarding by providing educational content that helps users realize value faster and eliminate the value gaps in the user onboarding journey.
As a content marketing expert, I offer guided services tailored to African B2B businesses, helping you create strategic, high-impact content that resonates with your target audience and improves user onboarding.
Reach out to me today, and let’s create content that drives real results for your tech startup!