Introduction
Philip Kotler, also known as ‘Father of Modern Marketing’, defines marketing strategy as, ’The science and art of exploring, creating and delivering value to satisfy needs of a market at a profit.’ A good marketing scheme helps to acquire more customers and sell more products. The marketing strategy of ‘Software as a Service’ also known as ‘SaaS Marketing’, refers to methods implied to sell SaaS products. The developers here should establish their brand, identify prospective customers and their needs, and appropriately position their products in the market.
An Economic Times report indicates that 2000+ SaaS startups are in India, relieving the market of some players. To stand out and acquire customers, the marketing strategy should be unique, and approach multiple touchpoints.
This page discusses some best SaaS marketing strategies.
Best SaaS Marketing Strategies
1. Create a SMART marketing plan
The marketing strategy should begin with a SMART marketing plan, releasing clear objectives and a firm mission. For this, implement the ‘7Ps’to have an enhanced result. These are Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical evidence. You can also inculcate SWOT, that is, the Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats tool, and perceptual maps to understand where you stand in the market and accordingly develop unique differentiators.
For every element, explain why, how, who, when, and the cost. Justify the use of expensive paid ads. Track the progress and verify for desired result shortfalls. Intervene wherever needed. However, it is always advisable to initiate a pilot program to scan all the errors and have a good-to-go performance.
2. Identify customers and competitors
Use market research to evaluate potential customers, their segments and sectors, and create their persona. Identify customer’s journey, and apply behavioral targeting methods. Ascertain their business processes and needs, and pitch your products. Craft a SaaS value proposition, and have yourself stand out from the crowd. This will help in gaining attention. Identify customer KPIs and pitch the value proposition accordingly. Study competitors’ strategies, use Google Analytics and find gaps between demands and offerings. Your product must fill this void.
3. SEO pages and website
Use off-page and on-page search engine optimization, with SemRush, to find popular search keywords. Use them in all pages, PDFs and product descriptions to increase the visibility of your content. Website design should be simple, and as per usability practices. Links to Information should be prominently displayed, and navigation should be easy. Use soft colors, it will save the eyes from any strains. Apply A/B testing methodology to trace any issues, and get them rectified before they evolve into major concerns. Evaluate the Net Promoter Score, also known as NPS, to calculate customer loyalty from their feedback.
4. Marketing
Use product demonstrations, blogs, videos, webinars, podcasts, email marketing, referrals, influencers and social media marketing for SaaS marketing. Select the most effective channels. Use consistent and convergent messages in Ads. Focus on niche markets of sectors that are suitable for your products. Use marketing metrics such as CPC, CPA, ROI, ROAS, and CTR. These metrics help you to ascertain if your ads yield the desired results and returns. Contact decision-makers and obtain referrals and testimonials. Analyze successful competitors’ strategies and use them.
5. Partnerships
Join hands with other marketing firms and entities to support your products. Ascertain their objectives, reputation, and market reach. Clarify expectations, results, budgets, revenue sharing, engagement process and customer acquisition cost. Mark a path to terminate the partnership when needed. Partners for SaaS marketing should not support the products of competitors. The efforts get diluted since they invest their effort in rival’s products. Legal frameworks and agreements are important to avoid issues and problems.
6. Visitor Conversion
Site visitors must be converted to regular customers. For this, testimonials and customer reviews will be of great help. Create a form that the audience needs to fill out, wherein you are indirectly gathering the information. Call them to understand their needs and send links to marketing materials. Online conversations in SaaS forums and discussion posts, and word-of-mouth should mention your products. Consult with the reputed SaaS Development Company as well as reach out to Famous influencers to foster your SaaS product. Active voices that support your product can make a good impact on sales.
7. Free trials
Give free trials and permission to download to registered users. Restrict downloads to only corporate users and not generic users with IDs of Yahoo, etc. They can use the products to ascertain if it is fit for purpose and their advantages, and also know their complexities. Track users who have downloaded trials, obtain their feedback and make a sales pitch. Promote the trails in discussion forums and blogs to increase ‘mentions’ of your products. Ask them to share their experience and post them on your website. If their experience is negative, find the specific issues and inform your developers.
8. User experience
Obtain feedback from customers, and from people who have taken free trials. Understand their experience and difficulties. Testing the product with the client opens the door for a lot of improvement. Here, you get to know the actual expectations of the client and how the product is working in real time. Maximum users will not be developers but sales, store management, accounting, or production staff. Their opinion is very critical. Use their feedback to improve features and navigation, and other such pain points. Evaluate their needs, find gaps, and add enhanced characteristics to meet their requirements.
9. Pricing
Study the pricing of competitor products and the different slabs or tiers of pricing. Your products can follow this pricing. Use the information to create different slabs of pricing. A very high price can detract customers from considering your product. Offer deals, discounts, freemiums and commissions to partners through referral programs who successfully help to sell your products. Price and returns from investment should be justified. If customers spend a certain figure on purchasing your product, they expect a decent amount of tangible and intangible gains. Make sure to have all the costs visible in bold so there are no surprises left for later on. If support, upgrades, and updates are chargeable, then clear this aspect in the very initials.
10. Branding
When all the above steps are accomplished, branding becomes feasible. The brand identity, and equity are developed with a tagline, logo, tone, and voice. The performance of your product and reputation helps in forming a reliable reputation and brand. After the brand presence is developed, sustaining the performance is the next goal. Customers should praise the product for its effectiveness. Participate in expos, and conferences and advertise in trade magazines. Use social media to announce your products. A positive brand image is enhanced when your followers and fans increase on multiple platforms.
Conclusion
The blog presented the 10 best SaaS marketing strategies to grow faster. Marketing strategy should be based on a marketing plan and market research. When these aspects are specific then you can identify your niche customers and focus on acquiring them.
Several tools were discussed such as SEP content, ads, blogs, customer referrals, and others. These tools help you to contact firms that can be turned into customers. However, the amount you spend on these tools should match the returns. Other ideas that were discussed include partnerships, customer testimonials, pricing, and the value proposition. Once the plan is implemented, you should evaluate and monitor the results for any unpredicted problems and constant improvements. Interventions can be done when needed.