So, the time has come for you to ramp up your SaaS marketing. But building your team isn’t easy when you want rapid growth but you’re on a budget and your team are at full capacity. So, what options do you have from there?
Well, one of the most popular choices that businesses take for their SaaS marketing is to outsource it to an agency. Some of the other choices include hiring a freelancer to give you an extra pair of hands or take on new members of staff, but it all depends on your budgetary requirements.
This blog will look at why outsourcing your SaaS marketing is one of the best routes you can take. Plus, we’ll look at what you should consider when choosing an agency to partner with for a long-term marketing project.
We’ll cover:
How to tell you’re ready to outsource
The SaaS marketing industry is severely fast-paced. What could be the flavour of the month, might be long gone out of the window the next. So, you need to make sure that you can keep up with the latest trends and stay on top of your game. Outsourcing to an agency is one of the main ways that you can ensure your SaaS marketing is always first class. Here are some of the main signs that you need to outsource.
Your marketing has no real plan
So, you want to drive your marketing efforts forward, but you have no real strategy in place. The harsh reality is that if you’re a business that operates like this, jumping from trend to trend, you’re not going to reach the potential that you desire. A structured marketing plan is needed for the best chance of success.
Without any real plan, how will your team know which direction to all pull in? If your team doesn't have a clear set of defined goals and objectives to adhere to, they’ll all be working towards their own individual goals. Which if they’re not part of an aligned overall target could be counterproductive and harmful to your business.
Your involvement is getting in the way of other business focuses
If you’re having to spend more and more time focusing on your SaaS marketing efforts, it means that you’re likely to be neglecting other areas of the businesses. This obviously isn’t ideal and could lead to other parts of your company starting to struggle. Your business needs to be working as a well-oiled machine, not full of inconsistencies.
Outsourcing your marketing will free up a lot of time for you. Therefore, you can start to focus on other departments of the business that need your attention. If areas of the business suffer from negligence, the staff in these departments will quickly become demoralised and it’ll have a huge knock-on effect on the overall morale levels.
Your marketing efforts are inconsistent
This ties in with not having a marketing strategy in place. Inconsistencies are incredibly poor practice in SaaS marketing. Your marketing efforts are what customers will base their first impressions on, so if they’re inconsistent it won’t be the most convincing approach to take. Bad first impressions are increasingly hard to overturn and with so much choice today it’s likely that customers will invest in one of your SaaS competitors.
A specialist marketing agency will align all your content across different channels. After all, if they don’t match - who knows what kind of message you’re trying to give off? Your customers certainly won’t. Full content marketing plans that tie in with SEO best practices and that are combined with other marketing outlets are a proven way of improving business results.
You can’t acquire all the right skills in one hire
So, you realise that you need to broaden the skills of your team, but as a result, you’ll need to take on more people than you can afford to. It’s a common that SaaS businesses often face, which is why outsourcing is so popular. Rather than paying multiple full-time salaries, working in partnership with an agency can be a much more affordable choice.
Not only is it a far more affordable choice, but you can also take advantage of their wide range of skills and experience. They’ll undoubtedly have an arsenal of skills that far exceed your requirements, plus they’ll have worked alongside businesses in your position before - so you can be sure that they’ll get the job done and know what it takes to succeed too.
You’re overwhelmed by how fast marketing is changing
Customer buying habits and technology is ever-evolving, which means the way that you need to reach out to your audience needs to evolve too. It’s a fast-paced industry, so you need to stay on top of things and be on the ball all the time. The fast pace can quickly overwhelm business owners and their marketing teams.
Outsourcing to a specialist marketing agency is a way that you can stay well on top of things. After all, it’s their job. Market research never stops, so the latest trends and tactics will be right there in your most recent campaigns. Keeping up with the latest trends ensures that you’ll always be one step ahead of your competition too.
What you should consider when hiring an agency
So, all the signs are there and it’s time that you outsourced your SaaS marketing to an agency. These are exciting and important times for your business, but you need to make sure that you pick the right one that suits your company the best. After all, you’re putting a lot of trust in them so they need to be the right fit.
The main things that you need to consider are:
Experience
Does the marketing agency you’re looking at working alongside have vast experience of working with SaaS companies? You need to be sure that they’re capable of attracting the right kind of audience to your product. If they’ve worked with a similar business before, ask for a case study or a customer testimonial.
You’ll be able to get a feel for the agency’s experience upon an initial conversation. SaaS marketing has particular intricacies that other marketing areas don’t. So, if they can answer your queries and provide in-depth knowledge around the area they’re likely to have experience within the industry.
Reliability
As we mentioned, this is a big decision for the growth of your business. So, you don’t want to pick a partner that’s going to let you down. The agency should have plenty of success stories on hand to help sway your decision, so make sure that you study them closely. Did they deliver the goals they set out to? Was everything a smooth and streamlined process? You don’t want to waste your time on an unreliable agency.
The culture of the agency
This may not seem like a huge factor but businesses that gel well together often produce better results. Period. Those who have better working relationships will be more honest and open - and that’s from both parties too. This means that feedback will be better from each side and they can work together to make businesses happy.
Their culture includes the way that they work, not just whether you get on with them. One business could be really rigid and strict, whereas if you match them up with a laid back agency it’s not going to work. Look for an agency whose culture you admire from the get-go. It also applies to what software they’d like to use.
For example, a lot of agencies tend to use HubSpot or WordPress for their content management systems. Both have their benefits but it needs to be the right one for your business if you’re going to move forward.
You should be able to get a feel for this straight away on your first impressions.
What skills and services can they offer?
One of the reasons why you’re looking to outsource to an agency is due to the vast range of skills that they can bring to your business. So, you need to consider whether what they actually have is enough for your business to take advantage of. If an agency isn’t offering more than what you already have, is there any point in forming a partnership? We think not.
A good agency should possess the following skills:
- Proactivity.
- Problem-solving skills.
- Quality content.
- Targeted information.
- In-depth analytical skills.
- Attention to detail.
- Out-of-the-box thinking.
- Determination to get the job done right. And on time, every time.
- Creativity
They should also offer the following services:
- Content marketing.
- Paid advertising.
- Strategic campaign planning.
- Social media marketing.
- Project management.
- Video marketing.
- Design and development.
Can you afford it?
A lot of businesses use pricing as one of the biggest decision making factors. Although it’s important, it’s not the main factor that we recommend hanging on. Don’t be fooled by a price point - just because something is expensive doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed to receive a premium service. And vice versa.
Don’t just opt for the cheapest price point either. We know that everybody loves saving money where they can, but a cheap price point can connote inexperience and a cheap service. Make sure you do your thorough research.
How Can Red-Fern help grow your SaaS business
Outsourcing your SaaS marketing to a specialist agency could be the best business decision that you ever make. At Red-Fern, we have vast experience in working with various SaaS businesses and are determined to work with your business and grow.
We understand that the marketing industry can become pretty overwhelming - and fast too! But don’t worry, that’s why we’re here to help. But don’t just take our word for it. We’ve created a free guide that indicates how we can help your SaaS business achieve the true potential that you show.
Download your copy below.
