SaaS Marketing: How to Succeed
What is SaaS Marketing?
SaaS (Software as a Service) Marketing refers to all the marketing actions that facilitate the sale of cloud software products, such as apps and information services. Why is SaaS Marketing so unique?
To start with, there is no product to touch, feel or see. Here, the job of the marketer is a bit different from the traditional one. When you don’t have something physical to promote or show off, you have to be creative and come up with different strategies. Fortunately, we can learn a lot from the biggest names in the market and their marketing strategies to adapt them to smaller products.
Main channels of Communication/Acquisition for SaaS
The core channels that marketers of SaaS products have in their hands are website, social media, email, PPC and SEO.
In many cases, events (virtual or presencial) and exhibitions can also be included in the list of available marketing channels.
How to Succeed with SaaS Marketing
Due to the different nature of SaaS products, you have to be aware of some key points before planning your marketing activities. This is important for convincing your potential customers to buy or contract your service.
Know well your value proposition
First, in order to attract your potential customers’ attention, you will need to effectively define your service’s value proposition. What is the value that you are delivering to the user? What needs are you covering? What benefits does your service offer? Once you have all these points covered and well defined, you can orient all of your marketing strategy towards this path. It’s a very important step, as it’s where you identify the main concerns or needs of prospective customers. Thus, you should plan your communication in such a way that your service is the solution to their challenges.
“Free Trial” is Key
How do clothing stores convince clients to buy clothes? They usually offer fitting rooms for clients to try things on before committing to making a purchase, and will likely make the return process easy if a client does change their mind. You can try on the article of clothing in a different environment, and if you realize that you do not love it, you can easily return it for a full refund in the end.
Well, you should think in the same way for your product. The user needs to try it first before being convinced to buy it. They will need to be 100% sure that your service is going to solve their problem, actually responds to their needs, and brings value to them. By offering a free trial, you get the chance to convince the user that they cannot live without your product because their life is going to be so much better after purchasing your service. Otherwise, it is very hard to convince a user to pay a fee for something that they have tried before. Make the decision process easier by providing a preview of what you are offering.
Be the King of Content
The first step of this process is to identify the niche of which your prospective customer belongs. Is it digital advertising? Is it startups? Productivity? Messaging channels? Slack integrations?
- Check our Microsoft Teams App!
- Check our Slack Integration!
Once you identify the topic, you can start building an empire of content around it. You can host a blog with very insightful posts, and your social media content can also be related to the topic. Users are tired of promotional content. Offer your audience resources, educational content, tips, and advice. Put in the effort to deliver high quality content because it is one of the best ways to drive awareness and create engagement with prospective customers without coming across as too promotional.
As a product manager of a SaaS product myself, I try to share my input and experience with the field. Planning a successful marketing strategy for a SaaS does not have to be more complicated than a traditional marketing strategy for physical products. In the end, we have millions of resources, offered by experts, to help us with the process. We do not have to constantly be innovating 😉
