There are very few businesses that cannot be run from home these days. As such, SaaS is a market that is worth sinking your teeth into. This is because SaaS is a rapidly growing market, and it makes sense that any industry that is growing at that speed will need marketing experts to go with it.
Starting a SaaS marketing agency is exciting, data-packed, and puts you on the front line of a rapidly evolving business model. So, if you are ready to start your own SaaS marketing agency, keep these points in mind so that you can succeed.
Why SaaS Is Exciting
When working with SaaS businesses you’ll be working with a business that has a subscription or licensing business model, which means recurring revenue. If you can quickly show value to your SaaS clients with your marketing services, it will be possible for you to negotiate a percentage of that revenue for your SaaS marketing agency using value-based pricing. Additionally, SaaS products can be purchased at any time, making automation of your funnels an easy solution to implement. Within these marketing funnels, SaaS companies often offer trial periods with feedback that you can take action on so that you can adjust your marketing efforts here accordingly.
Focusing on User Experience
It would be best if you always aim to work with specific SaaS clients, as opposed to flying blind and taking on whomever comes your way. This means that you can give them valuable information and actionable tips because you are invested in improving their business. One area that makes a considerable difference to conversions is the onboarding process and user experience.
To best focus on this, you need to make sure that customers see the value in your SaaS clients the way that you do. You also need to make it so that customers can see this value at all stages of the sales funnel. To do so, you will need to make sure that your marketing efforts emphasize how easily the software can be implemented into a company’s workflow, and that there is also a ‘come back’ mechanism set up in the marketing funnel to encourage trial users who didn’t convert to try it again.
Gaining Referrals
If your SaaS client is on a tight budget, then you’re going to have to get creative. If the software works as advertised, and your customers are happy, then optimize toward that. Ask for reviews of the software at an appropriate stage of the marketing funnel. You can use these on the website and in all of the marketing materials. B2B buyers will look for reviews from verified buyers before they sign up for a trial. As such, referrals should be built into your SaaS marketing strategy. Run A/B tests on offers, discounts and rewards for referrals to streamline your approach.
Attraction, Conversion, Keeping
In order to make conversions, you need to focus on the first step and how to initially attract customers. One of the best ways to do this is through SEO optimized content. This is all about your customer, solving problems, discussing topics that relate to the specific SaaS company you are working with, and providing value. You may want to consider using LinkedIn as well for marketing efforts. As it is a very busy business-focused platform, it is perfect for targeting the right people. On LinkedIn you can search via job title, function, industry, location, and even seniority. This will make it easy to directly target your target audience.
In addition to this, you should use both paid search and social media more broadly to attract new customers. With paid search, you’ll need to be smart and bid on keywords that are related to the problems that your SaaS client solves, rather than the keywords related to your product. You’ll need to play this smart in order not to blow your budget. For social media, you’ll want to focus more on building community, and not just use the channels to be promotional. Engage with bloggers, influencers, and other content creators — they often need a SaaS company and are willing to trial new products out.
Like all types of marketing, SaaS marketing is highly specific and requires a deft and experienced hand to manage. If you are looking to run a business from home, and have a strong interest in SaaS and marketing, then these two might be the perfect fit given the explosive growth in the SaaS industry and the increasing ubiquity of business technology.