Software as a service (SaaS) is more popular than ever before. Estimates predict the SaaS industry’s value would go as high as $623 billion by 2023. So, if yours is a SaaS business, you’re definitely in a booming sector. This also indicates that you are and will be facing increasing competition. So, you need to employ an effective SaaS marketing strategy.
This blog discusses the nine successful SaaS marketing strategies. But before that, let’s discuss the basics.
What is SAAS marketing?
As mentioned earlier, SaaS stands for Software as a Service. In the past, when people wanted to use any software, they had to buy it at a fixed price. Today things have changed. They avail software on a subscription basis so that they can use all the up-to-date features. When they subscribe to a SaaS product, they’ll be able to connect to and use the cloud-based application over the net.
SaaS marketing is nothing but marketing a SaaS product. Since a SaaS product differs a lot from a physical product, its marketing is also distinctive and integrates different digital marketing techniques. If you’re into a SaaS business, there are several effective marketing strategies you can employ to get the highest conversions.
9 Effective SaaS marketing strategies to heighten conversions
1.Provide enough information about your SaaS product
SaaS marketing is highly information-dependent. You need to give your prospects enough details about your product. This will help them compare it against its competitors before making a purchasing decision in your favour. So, craft a simple content that describes the product’s features, pricing packages, and advantages over other similar products.
When prospects read your content, they should become aware of their own needs. You need to build a reputation that your product is unique and far ahead of your competitors. This will help move your prospects through the buyer’s journey and then close the deal when they become ready to purchase.
Further, incorporate other content such as images and videos, newsletters, testimonials and interviews, whitepapers, webinars, presentations, live streams, e-books, e-courses, case studies, infographics, calculators, polls, quizzes, surveys, dictionaries/glossaries, resource libraries, etc. too.
2.Offer free trials of your product
People love it when something is offered for free. Besides, product trials also allow them to try a product without paying for it. Apart from this convenience, people who use your product for a short while become convenient with it and would want to use it longer by paying for it. This is why free trials are one of the sure-fire strategies to introduce and market your product.
You can opt to choose one of the following free models for your SaaS product-
- Limited version for free
- Freemium model
- Trial version in exchange for the user’s credit card details
- 30- Or 15- day free trial model
3.Optimize your website for conversions
Your website is one of your most vital marketing collaterals. When a prospect enters your website anywhere in the website he should be able to convert. For this, incorporate CTAs (Calls-to-actions) to direct him from one page to another. Here are some CTA examples-
- Start your free trial
- Download this report
- Subscribe to our newsletter
- Subscribe to our blog
- Follow us on social media
Always link your blog posts to relevant downloadable content. Position two CTAs within the blog- one at its bottom and one in the middle. This will help capture those readers who do not reach the end of the blog. Your content should not only educate the buyers, but also nurture them so as to prepare them for the purchase.
4.Create and distribute your product video
Statistics says that almost eight out of ten prospects who watched a brand’s video of a SaaS product purchased the product. However, creating your video isn’t a piece of cake. You need to put in a lot of time and effort to come up with a video that tells users how it can help them.
Once you’ve created an attractive video, you need to distribute it through different marketing channels where people will find them. Youtube is one such awesome platform where people will be on the look-out for SaaS products like yours. With more than 2 billion logged-in active monthly users, it is an ideal channel for reaching out to your prospects.
Other potential video distribution sites are-
- Your website landing pages
- Blogs
- Paid Ads
5.Build and foster a community
One of the digital marketing trends when it comes to marketing any brand including a SaaS brand is building and engaging a strong community. This means building connections of people over a common interest. So, find people who are strong advocates of your product and are highly inclined towards leading local communities.
Form a community with them and allow members within to connect. Motivate people to jump in to respond to queries posted by their fellow members and thus help them. This kind of user-generated content can increase your word-of-mouth exposure and improve your reputation. This can increase ROI by 4,530% or even higher.
6.Identify customer needs beyond your product
Keep in mind that you are marketing to humans. So, they’d have needs that go far beyond your product. These needs may pertain to their personal relationships, endeavors, professional lives, or business. So, take some time to find the needs of your customers outside of your product. Now try to match your SaaS product offerings with those needs, while adhering to your brand’s mission and vision. So, it should be something that complements the product.
A SaaS firm called Holded, which offers its client SMBs with user-friendly business management solutions, did just this. Its software assisted customers with their inventory and HR management, project management, CRM, accounting, invoicing, and more. When the company wanted to help its clients beyond its tool, it came up with a series of video documentations about the entrepreneurs of these SMBs, particularly in a rough year.
7.Offer product demos
When you provide a demo, it opens up an interactive environment. You gain opportunities to make personal connections, build trust, respond to concerns, and help determine if your product would be apt for them. You can leverage formats such as one-on-one videos, webinars, Facebook Live to offer product demos.
However, your product demo shouldn’t be a tutorial that focuses on demonstrating the product or educating or training the prospect. Rather, it should concentrate on-
- Conveying that you are both authentic and knowledgeable. For, this will help you earn the prospect’s trust.
- Revealing that you have understood the pain point of the prospect and that you have the ideal solution for it.
- Helping the prospect determine if your offering is the right fit for the prospect.
8.Incorporate social proof
Your prospects want to know what real users feel about your SaaS product. So, they look for user-generated content (UGC) on the web. Ask your happy customers for testimonials and reviews and link those across all of your marketing assets. Apart from incorporating these into your direct marketing mediums, list those on third-part directories such as Software Advice, SaaSGenius, Capterra, or G2crowd.
Adding a lot of decision-supporting stats along with testimonials and reviews about your product at this stage will be useful. For, estimates say that this single step can uplift SaaS sales by 18 percent. For, it helps gain the prospect’s trust for your product. Furthermore, UGC can also increase your online visibility, credibility, and search engine rankings.
9.Announce discounts and deals
Announcing discounts and deals can help you market your SaaS product effectively to the numerous bargain hunters out there. For, these show prospects that they can get better value with your product. Besides facilitating customer acquisition, discounts and deals in SaaS marketing also ensure that you retain your customer for a long time.
Furthermore, discounts and deals also facilitate cross-selling and upselling. Thus, these can increase your profit. However, make sure that you offer discounts and deals only on occasions. If you offer them round the year, people won’t perceive them as something special. Rather, they’ll start viewing them as the regular pricing of your SaaS product.
Here are some effective strategies related to discounts and deals-
- Provide discounts on your final product to your loyal beta users
- Provide time-sensitive discounts
- Provide referral discounts
- Offer seasonal promotions
- Provide loyalty discounts
Rounding up
Marketing your SaaS product has unique needs that differ a lot from marketing a physical product. We’ve given nine practical strategies for simplifying your SaaS marketing. We’ve discussed everything from developing the right content to positioning it at the right place to offering free trials, discounts, deals, etc. Employ them to achieve your SaaS product marketing objectives and see your efforts reflect in your bottom line!
Author Bio:
Shivani Goyal:
Shivani is a content writer at NotifyVisitors, which provides customer engagement software that allows marketers to plan, coordinate, manage, and measure their marketing campaigns performance.