Today, we’re going to show you 10 SaaS marketing strategies every SaaS business should implement.
So you can acquire more customers and more importantly, grow monthly recurring revenue.
In fact, these are the exact techniques that have helped one of our SaaS clients grow by over 67% in twelve months.
This is a non-technical SaaS marketing guide with tactics, tips and best practices.
So, if you’re not super technical but still want to supercharge your SaaS marketing strategy, you’re in safe hands.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
How (and why) to generate customers and revenue from your SaaS marketing Strategy
As our world becomes all the more hyper-connected, people are crying out for software as a service (SaaS) solutions for a variety of functions, both personal and professional.
While it’s an excellent time for budding SaaS companies looking to make their mark with unique strategies, the entry level is high.
To stand out in such a competitive field and connect with your audience, adopting highly-targeted and strategic marketing approaches is essential.
As innovative as your product may be, to push yourself ahead of the pack and secure a long and prosperous commercial future, knowing how to promote your SaaS brand with marketing strategies is essential.
If you’re an ambitious software as a service provider looking to grow your audience and stand out in your niche, you’ve come to the right place
We’re going to explore 10 effective SaaS marketing strategies and tactics to acquire more customers and grow your revenue.
By the way!
If you don’t have the time to implement the SaaS marketing strategies and tips below, you can always reach out and get the help of an SEO Expert. 😉
1. Pay-per-click (PPC)
If executed the right way, paid advertising can offer a return rate (ROI) of 200%.
We may be a little biassed but we believe that organic search engine traffic (arguably) provides the greatest opportunities for growing your audience, boosting your bottom line and while providing maximum return on investment (ROI).
However, if you’re a SaaS provider looking to accelerate your success, pay-per-click (PPC) marketing is also a wise investment.
While SEO is essential to long term SaaS marketing success, PPC offers quick results that also provide invaluable engagement & conversion data for future search-boosting campaigns.
By taking the time to understand Google Adwords and bidding for the right keywords (using the Platform’s Keyword Planner Tool), you’ll be able to set up PPC campaigns that boost your web traffic and sales.
In addition to choosing relevant keywords or terms for your PPC campaigns, creating compelling Ad Copy is also vital to paid marketing success.
Here are some PPC ad copywriting tips that will help:
- Consider what your target audience wants and make sure copy solves a specific tech-centric problem.
- Address your audience directly by using the terms ‘you’ and ‘yours.’
- Place your keyword into the headline and main description naturally.
- Focus on one specific USP and use it to give your ad copy direction.
- Make sure your copy is targeted at a very specific set of users.
- Sign off with an effective call-to-action (CTA) to prompt click-throughs.
- Look at the right metrics: to measure your SaaS paid search ROI effectively, you should analyse your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) KPI frequently, as well as your Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR).
2. Thought-leading content marketing
Content is still king. That said, one of the most effective ways of growing your audience and boosting your bottom line as a SaaS provider is becoming an authority in your niche.
By producing eBooks, whitepapers, blog articles or guest posts (for relevant industry publications), you will boost your brand awareness while building trust.
Trust and transparency are essential to building long lasting consumer or business relationships in the digital age.
Produce content that offers direct value to your audience while showcasing your knowledge & expertise.
Doing so will not only offer a wealth of practical problem-solving insights (placing your product at the heart of the solution) but you’ll also boost your organic traffic and awareness stage long tail keyword rankings.
To help you produce thought-leading content marketing strategy that attracts new consumers to your SaaS brand, here are some golden rules to follow:
- Focus on originality and innovation over promotions and marketing.
- Use case studies, real-life examples, and data-driven stats or insights within blog posts.
- Speak in simple, inclusive terms and ensure your content is approachable.
- Make sure your headlines are effective by using action words.
- Give your readers plenty of opportunity to engage with the subject matter by leaving comments and options to share the content with their peers via email or social media.
If you need help in creating actionable, targeted SEO-boosting content for your SaaS audience, we can help.
Check out our content marketing services to see what we can do for you and your SaaS marketing plans.
3. Video tutorials and webinars
As a SaaS company, your main focus is helping to make your audiences’ lives easier by offering an innovative solution to a specific problem.
It’s likely that you’ve invested ample time and effort into making your app or software platform as user-friendly as possible. So, it makes sense to help prospects get onboard with your solution with tutorials or webinar content.
By creating user-friendly video guides to your product, you’ll be able to engage with potential users while highlighting the USPs or value of your software service in a way that is natural and offers practical value.
More than this, as a SaaS company, your video or webinar content can address the wider challenges your users face, giving your content a level of scope beyond a tutorial alone.
By helping your prospects understand how your solution solves specific issues related to them, it’s likely to offer increased value, helping you to encourage more conversions and grow your audience in the process.
Webinars are effective as you’ll get the chance to speak to new or prospective users and build a rapport with them. But, video-based tutorials or FAQ-style knowledge bases will also help you stand out from the crowd, build trust, and grow your SaaS audience.
Make it a priority to search for ways and opportunities to incorporate videos and webinars into your SaaS marketing strategy.
4. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Circling back to search engines for a moment—focusing on your on-page search engine optimisation (SEO) will help to improve your website’s user experience (UX) significantly.
By making your website more user-friendly and optimising your web pages for better search engine rankings, you’ll encourage more web traffic which, in turn, will increase your revenue.
Creating highly-relevant content that offers your audience real value, optimising crucial technical aspects of your website, and developing a solid link-building strategy will help drive your content marketing growth, increasing your organic traffic & revenue in the process.
By the way, If you need help boosting your SEO efforts, we have the tools and the talent to make it happen while saving you time and money.
Explore our range of SEO services for small businesses for more information.
5. Streamlined signup journey
Talking about UX, streamlining your subscriber sign up journey will increase the chances of people commiting to your SaaS service. And the more people that sign up, the more revenue you will earn over time.
To streamline your sign up journey, you should:
- Showcase all of your packages or price plans in an easy to scan visual format.
- Add ‘sign up’ buttons to key landing pages to make it easy for users to click-through and commit.
- Make sure the steps to sign up are minimal. If possible, clicking a ‘sign up’ button, offering a name, email address, and payment option, and a welcome page is likely to prove most effective.
- Invest in A/B testing for your sign up and pricing plan pages to uncover which elements (layout, copy, visuals, CTA buttons, colour schemes, etc.) work best. Doing so could increase your conversion rates significantly.
6. Free product trials
For SaaS businesses selling virtual or intangible products, the ‘try before you buy’ model is incredibly effective.
Free product trials are incredibly effective for encouraging user growth, giving potential users the opportunity to interact with your service and getting to know your brand.
If potential users are able to trial your platform or service and you’ve put excellent tutorial or knowledge base content in place, you stand an excellent chance of converting them into paying subscribers.
According to studies from Close—your free product trials shouldn’t be too long. As a general rule of thumb, you should keep your SaaS sales cycle relatively short.
14-day free trials are considered the customer acquisition sweet spot for both B2B and B2C-based SaaS providers.
7. Co-marketing
If you’re looking to broaden your SaaS brand reach and accelerate your growth, co-marketing is an excellent option.
By collaborating on a campaign or a piece of content with a relevant brand in your niche or industry, you’ll benefit from cross-promotion.
Effective cross-promotional or co-marketing strategies for SaaS companies include:
- Guest articles or blog posts
- Collaborative webinars
- Joint product or service partnerships
- Co-branded content such as infographics or whitepapers
Co-marketing is an effective tool because your campaign or content is likely to travel further and connect with a wider target audience—people that are likely to find your platform or service valuable. As such, you will drive more users to your website, generating more revenue as a result.
AirBnB and Flipboard’s co-marketing collaboration encouraged millions of page visits as well as brand engagement and is sure to inspire your efforts.
8. Retargeting
Studies suggest that most consumers are 70% more likely to convert through retargeting.
Retargeting campaigns involve reaching out to consumers that have previously interacted with your brand online and enticing them back with promotions, products or messaging at a time where they are most likely to engage.
While many people may not bite and sign up to your SaaS service at first or even second interaction, by retargeting them through social media or Google remarketing ads, you stand an excellent chance of encouraging a conversion later down the line.
Remarketing is a long term strategy that will not only increase subscriptions but will also increase customer loyalty through consistent brand engagement.
A tactic that will offer an excellent return on investment (ROI) if you’re willing to commit.
9. SaaS review sites and social proof
In today’s world, people trust the opinions of their peers above all else.
Encourage reviews and testimonials about your SaaS product or service, and you’ll build an enormous sense of trust—acquiring more customers and generating more revenue as a result.
By adding positive testimonials to your website and working with third-party review platforms like Feefo or Trustpilot, you will benefit from the kind of social proof that will encourage more people to invest in what you have to offer.
In addition to Feefo and Trustpilot, here are some more SaaS-specific review platforms you should focus on:
10. Industry influencers
Influencer marketing is a powerful tool for brands across industries—the SaaS sector is no exception.
There are social media influencers in almost every niche imaginable—and by building relationships with influential figures in your niche, you will increase your customer acquisition rates exponentially.
Good influencer content will expose your services or innovations to a wide audience that is incredibly likely to find your offerings valuable.
As such, you’ll grow your audience and give your bottom line a positive push in the right direction.
Visual enhancement tool Canva, for instance, launched a campaign with graphic design influencer, Guy Kawasaki, positioning him as ambassador.
As a platform user himself, Guy was able to promote the benefits of Canva to his devout audience in an authentic, engaging way which, in turn, increased the SaaS company’s audience.
Here’s the story:
89% of business leaders state that the ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other promotional channels. It’s time to start reaching out to SaaS influencers and leveraging a highly-engaged audience in your niche.
The SaaS market may be competitive but by investing in the strategies above and remaining consistent with your efforts across the board, you will cut through the noise and grow your traffic and revenue long into the future.
Do you have any questions or maybe even a SaaS marketing growth tip or two to share? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Or need the help of an expert SaaS SEO Agency? Then get in touch with us today.
By the way! Once you grow your business, if you are curious about what your SaaS business might now be worth, you can get free SaaS valuations.a