SaaS marketing isn't easy. It takes diversity, innovation, and visualisation. A couple of social media posts won't do the job. It's going to take MUCH more than that.
Marketing your SaaS product has to be completed using different tactics. It's not for the faint-hearted but if you're creative, passionate, and keen to attract and convert new leads, it's a must. So, how do you market your SaaS product, when it isn't a physical product? 😕
In this post, we're going to put things into perspective. We'll cover why SaaS marketing is different, what it entails, and the advertising strategies you NEED to know about.
We’ll cover:
- What is SaaS marketing?
- The different components of SaaS marketing
- Content is king... For SaaS
- Consider an SEO strategy
- Invest in paid ads
- Get social with your audience
What is SaaS marketing?
So, you may be wondering how SaaS marketing is different to any other form of marketing? Isn't it the same? After all, you have a product you want to market, and you have a keen motivation to drive and attract new leads. Although your intentions may be the same, the approach has to be different.
SaaS (software as a service) is a cloud-based on-demand piece of software. Although you can't physically hold SaaS, great software will reduce the physical stress you feel towards tedious tasks. BUT, how do you market something that doesn't have a physical presence? How do you promote something that's changing? = SaaS marketing.
SaaS marketing focuses on the software and the service. It concentrates on how a SaaS solution can meet motivations, reduce frustrations, and provide solutions. Marketing SaaS needs to directly address the customer, provide them with informative content, and help them make the appropriate decision for their business needs.
The different components of SaaS marketing
Promoting a cloud-based solution
SaaS marketers have to be more than social savvy. SaaS products are intangible and usually consist of many features. SaaS solutions are complex to market but easy to navigate as a customer. BUT, how can you market this?
A SaaS marketing strategy needs to be coherent, engaging, and informative. Not forgetting, it needs to be simple enough for your target audience to understand the SaaS solution benefits and its ability to solve their problems.
Ideal target audience
If you're promoting a SaaS solution, your ideal audience persona will likely be a B2C or B2B company. Your SaaS marketing strategy should aim to reach these audiences and the key decision-makers. Your marketing efforts should serve a purpose because if they don’t, your resources will be wasted in the fast-growing industry and get swallowed up by your competition.
Churn
Did someone mention churn? Oh yes, the dreaded churn. It's great luring a customer in and getting them hooked on your SaaS solution, but how do you keep them there? By maximising your marketing efforts. After all, if you don't consistently market your SaaS, you'll increase the churn rate and DECREASE your revenue. Not. Good.
The customer journey is usually longer than expected too. Your customers’ will likely have more complex questions about your product and may even require a product demo before converting. Some customers need to see how your service seamlessly integrates with their existing frameworks. So, don’t forget, your different audience types may require more support and information than others throughout the decision stage.
Be transparent
The last thing you should be doing is making pricing structures complex - no one likes mixed signals. If you've worked hard on gaining new leads, and your customers are in the final stages of the buyer's journey, don't turn them away with long-winded pricing.
Your pricing structure needs to be altered depending on who you're targeting. A good way to stand competitive in your industry is by adopting a tiered pricing structure for different target audiences - think about business size, requirements, and needs.
Don't forget, if you adopt a tiered pricing structure, don't overcomplicate it. The simpler it is, the easier it is for your customer to make an informed decision. Customers need to know what they're getting before they buy, otherwise, they may be disappointed. You need to keep your customers happy!
Image credit: pricing structure from Hubspot.
Content is king... For SaaS
Content is king for everyone - and this is no different for SaaS businesses either. Content marketing is a tried and tested way to attract new leads to your business, increase website traffic, build brand awareness, and position your brand as a thought leader in its respective industry.
Your content marketing needs to attract, engage, and meet the intent of your audience. Although beautifully written content is pleasing for avid creative writers, it must serve a purpose.
To craft good content, you need to know your audience, understand where they are in the sales funnel, and you need to generate content in the correct mediums for readership and engagement. There's no point creating a 5,000 word Ebook if your audience prefers a 30-second video.
The distribution of content could come in the form of:
- Blog posts
- Newsletters
- Social media posts
- Downloadable resources - checklists, PDFs, Ebooks
- Videos
- Webinars
- Podcasts
- Pillar articles
- Live social media events
… And more!
Consider an SEO strategy
In addition to creating good content, you also need to ensure you're following SEO best practices. SEO (search engine optimisation) can be confusing, but it doesn't need to be. Having an SEO strategy in place, alongside your marketing plan, will help you aim high and deliver results.
Content marketing and SEO go hand in hand. If you don't consider SEO, you'll be missing out on vital opportunities across the internet. Most people avoid optimising content because it seems complex, but it's essential if you want to remain competitive in your industry.
An SEO strategy consists of many components. In the long run, it can increase website traffic, enable you to reach a wider audience, and increase your visibility online = more leads and increased revenue.
Some ways to increase your visibility online could include backlinking (after undergoing a backlink analysis), guest posting, keyword analysis for blog writing, on-site SEO, including HTML source code analysis, and more.
But for now, without boring you, we'll say that SEO is important. Investing in an agency that can produce high-quality SEO results will do wonders for your business online and offline - hint, hint 👀.
Invest in paid ads
You've probably already stumbled across some paid adverts from your competitors. Good for them, but this isn't good for your business. You need to be adopting this approach. Paid marketing is an effective way to position content in front of your ideal target audience at the right time.
Paid ads aren’t an alternative to SEO and content marketing, they’re another component of a SaaS marketing strategy. Although you may not want to invest your money in paid ads to begin with, it should be considered alongside your other marketing tactics for foolproof results in the future.
Paid ads complement a marketing strategy perfectly. Whether you choose to use paid search, social media ads, or display advertising, all these tactics can provide some quick wins for increased traffic to your website.
Paid ads need to be engaging, relevant to your target audience and convey your SaaS benefits. If they don't, you'll be wasting resources and budget. Whether you choose to target branded search terms on Google, or boost your existing social media posts with some budget, ensure you're monitoring the success and make tweaks where needed.
A lot of it is trial and error, so don't be afraid to experiment and create multiple variations of ads to see what works best. Alternatively, a good way to optimise your budget and use it wisely is by partnering with a digital marketing agency with industry experience and social knowledge.
Get social with your audience
Outside of paid social media, blog writing and SEO, there's a whole social media world to be a part of. In this instance, we're referring to organic social media - Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok and more.
Posting organically on social media does take patience, planning, and consistency. You can't post a few images and expect miracles, although we wish it was that easy!
Instead, your social media marketing needs to follow a similar process to your content strategy. It needs to inform, educate and meet the intent of your customers. It should be engaging and provide value. Social media is a great way to build on your brand awareness, connect with your target audience and attract more leads to your business.
Each social media platform offers advantages and disadvantages. Once you've identified your target audience, you'll be able to decide which social platforms are suitable for your marketing strategy. As a rule of thumb, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn are good places to begin your social media presence as a SaaS business because they offer multiple benefits. However, it all depends on where your audience is lurking - and the results might surprise you.
Whilst posting on social media consistently will build your online presence, don't ignore the in-app features too. Whether that's Instagram Reels and Guides or Live Facebook videos and groups, there's lots to experiment with!
Influencer marketing
Although social media is saturated with many content creators, don't overlook the possibilities it can provide. Working with influencers is a fantastic way to reach another loyal audience and generate new leads to your services.
There are many influencers who may benefit from your SaaS product! Whether you choose to pay them for collaboration or gift them your SaaS solution is entirely up to you, as well as their parameters for working with brands. This might be another avenue you choose to explore further down the line.
Image credit: Adobe works with influencers to spread inspirational thoughts.
SaaS marketing is different, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. With experts on-hand to help and a team of professionals to help you achieve your technology and marketing goals, you’ll be positioned in a firm place for success.
At Red-Fern, we listen, think, create and innovate. Our culture is to create transparent partnerships with a focus on achieving business, technology and marketing goals together. We keep it simple, allowing you to be a leading business in the SaaS sector.
If you want to start putting some of these strategies into action, look no further!
Put these SaaS marketing strategies into action with Red-Fern
If you haven’t considered any of these strategies until now, you need to act fast. There’s no point waiting around for your leads to find you because there’s a good chance they won’t if you’re not adopting these SaaS marketing strategies.
If you need help building your online presence whilst also achieving your technology and marketing goals, we’ll be able to help you! Get in touch with us TODAY and we’ll be delighted to help you with your digital transformation journey.