GeneralTrends

5 Interesting SaaS Marketing Strategies

The world of marketing is a complex one, as trends tend to change very rapidly. Moreover, your business’s right marketing strategies depend a lot on the industry that your business is in – not all industries require the same type of marketing. 

Today we are talking about SaaS marketing, one of the most mainstream nowadays. But what is SaaS, how should we approach it, and what are the best practices for accumulating new leads and customers?

What is SaaS?

Before we start with the tips and strategies, let’s take a second to explain SaaS just a little bit better. SaaS, an abbreviation for Software as a Service, is a software delivery method that allows data to be accessed from any device connected to the internet or from any web browser. In this model, which is entirely web-based, the software vendors host and maintain the servers, databases, and even the codes that make an application.

The interesting thing about SaaS right now is that it is so common that more than 60% of people who are in need of a software want web-based products rather than on-premise software options. This happens for three main reasons:

• SaaS deployments do not require any extensive hardware, which is a benefit to the buyers. Namely, they have the option to outsource any IT responsibilities rather than maintaining the software in-house.
• SaaS systems are with a subscription model. This means that buyers choose how often they will pay for a software (monthly or annually), while on-premise software is usually paid upfront and through a perpetual license. 
• On-premise software buyers usually have to add 20% to the cost in order to cover the maintenance and support fees for a year. On the other hand, subscriptions for a SaaS system will include the software maintenance and support.

How to best market your SaaS?

As already mentioned, it is very important to know what type of marketing is best for your business. As far as SaaS is concerned, there are different things that we should pay attention to, as these types of services are not advertised in the same way as, for instance, on-premise software options. Apart from the traditional tactics such as working on your SEO and increasing Google Ads spendings, these are some exciting ways to market your SaaS:

1. Offer a free trial of your product

One of the most powerful ways to gain interest and attract new users at the same time is by offering everyone a free trial period of your product. It doesn’t matter what SaaS website you land on, in 90% of cases, you will see a Demand a Free Trial button, which is not there without reason. Signing up for a free trial period is the first step in the conversion funnel and one of the best ways to turn cold leads into customers. Another thing you should check is if your competitors offer a free trial period. If not, all the more reason to opt for this step. If they do offer, however, make sure to offer a free trial that’s a couple of days longer – this doesn’t cost you at all, yet it will mean a lot to your potential customers.

2. Invest a lot in good content

The position of a content creator has never been as crucial as it is now. Having the right person do your job means that you will spend less on regular marketing campaigns, yet you will get great content that often doesn’t cost a lot. The content creator you choose will also have the job of thinking outside of the box and placing your software throughout many channels. This does not only include content for email marketing and social media marketing, but using all the tools for newsletters, videos, podcasts, etc. The first thing the marketing department has to do is check the diagnostics and the statistics. What is the average age of your buyers? This will tell you a lot about what kind of content you want to produce. Younger generations, for example, prefer video content, while older generations are still into email marketing. Some like to listen to different podcasts or video tutorials – the choices are endless, and you can use all the tools you have to create interesting content that will a) bring audiences to your website, and b) sell your software faster.

3. Incorporate customer testimonial videos

Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies out there, even according to Forbes, but the trick is to find the right way to incorporate it into your own SaaS marketing strategy. This might be easier said than done, but there is one thing that you should definitely go with. Having customers leave positive feedback is one of the ways to do that. This can be organized in different ways – your customers might be encouraged to leave a positive review on your website, or they could leave positive reviews on 3rd party websites, which will surely help your business. However, since we are all slowly shifting to video content, this might be a good time to do something new and incorporate customer testimonial videos in which people who have tried your software speak about the positive aspects of it. The most important thing to worry about is for the testimonials to look authentic and real.

4. Write press releases

Once you have a new feature or a new update, write a press release and pay to have it published on some of the PR websites. It should be noted that it might be quite difficult to post your PR article on a big PR website, but the trick is to start small. There are many small blogs and websites where a PR piece of news can be posted, and you never know what website is going to pick it up from there and post it on a bigger website. That is why it is very important to promote your PR article everywhere.

5. Run your own webinars

We have all registered to attend at least one webinar during the pandemic, which means that plenty of people actually started paying attention to this type of content. Webinars are often free, which is an amazing way to work on your skills and find something new from the industry you find interesting. That is why, in order to attract more traffic to your website or social media, and to make your software more visible, it would be a great idea to run your own webinars. Choosing the webinar topic should come as a difficult task – simply try to find something that can easily be associated with your software, as it is the software you want to sell after all. Encourage people to apply and discuss your topic – it will not only be a beneficial internet event, it can also be quite fun and you will raise awareness about your company and your software.