If you’re operating in the SaaS industry, 2021 comes with both good news and bad news.
On the positive side, Gartner forecasts that the SaaS market segment will reach $122.6 billion in revenue. Moreover, the research firm predicts that Cloud System Infrastructure Services (IaaS) will grow 38.5% this year, and Desktop as a Service (DaaS) will see a mind-boggling 67.7% growth. And not just that, but the average user spend should increase by 23% this year.
But, this type of growth also comes with downsides. With more consumers looking for SaaS solutions, marketers must find ways to effectively reach audiences, all the while ensuring that their businesses are sustainably scaled.
So, if you’re looking for the best ways of marketing your SaaS business and reach your growth potential, these are the top strategies to try in 2021.
Show, Don’t Tell
Before you implement any other marketing strategy for your SaaS business, there’s one thing you’ve got to do first. You have to find the best possible way of showing your product off to your target audience.
Unfortunately, with software, that’s much more difficult than with physical products. After all, what you’re selling is, essentially, lines of code. Nonetheless, this is one of those surmountable obstacles that could set you apart from the competition.
To successfully communicate the value you offer, make sure you use a variety of visuals. For an excellent example of how to do this well, you can look up Finli. This brand chose to back up its feature sections with insightful images that show the software in action. That way, potential clients have direct insights into how the product works and whether it’s the right choice for them.
Make Sign-up a No-Brainer
The second most impactful marketing strategy you can implement to boost your SaaS company’s growth is to optimize the sign-up process in ways that’ll be 100% customer-oriented.
What does this mean? Well, in practice, it means not just making your benefits clear as day but also streamlining the entire process of becoming a customer. Allowing sign-ups with Apple, Google, or Facebook, minimizing the number of mandatory fields, adding a two-step checkout button, etc., are all small things you can do to make it substantially easier to capture new customers.
Just check out how utterly simple Notion makes it. It literally takes two clicks and a fingerprint to sign up for the Premium Plan. Who can say no to that?
Step up Your SEO Game
Another great strategy you can implement to grow your SaaS business is to make it the absolute only choice when a potential customer does a Google search. And that means investing in SEO.
To win the top positions on Google, ensure that your site is well optimized and that you’re targeting the right keywords. Also, you want to make sure that you have a great content marketing strategy based on valuable information. Finally, make sure you get the word out about your products.
Of course, investing in SEO isn’t an excuse for neglecting to invest in PPC. Sometimes, a well-placed ad is all it takes to grab the reader’s attention and disrupt the market. Just look at how cleverly Rock does it with Google Ads.
Focus on the Long-Term by Investing in Customer Loyalty
One of the essential things you need to remember about running a SaaS business is that you’re not in it for the short-term. To achieve growth and ensure continual success, you must encourage your customers to keep coming back, month after month. This takes some serious investing in loyalty, especially if you know that the average contract length in SaaS is just 1.3 years.
So what can you do to keep people coming back?
Well, for one, you should look for marketing strategies that rely on loyalty for your SaaS business. For example, developing a referral program, like the one used by Dropbox, is a great way to get the word out about your product in a way that relies entirely on social proof.
Or, if that’s not your thing, you can explore other ways of providing the type of value that’ll keep people using your product. Aura, for example, has a Facebook group where more than 13,000 members share tips and tricks on achieving the best possible results on Amazon.
…But Don’t Forget to Generate Clout
As a SaaS startup, you have to do your absolute best to start generating income as soon as possible. Otherwise, how do you expect to keep your operations running?
In addition to marketing strategies like content, SEO, and social media, you’ll also have to assign a budget for paid ads. Now, yes, that will take quite an investment in the beginning. But, if you think about the benefits, you’ll quickly realize that it won’t just help you spread awareness about your product. PPC will also give you valuable data you can use to inform your future marketing attempts.
Additionally, it’s also a good idea to start generating as much social proof as you can. Encourage your customers to leave a review, reach out to influencers whose target audience aligns with your own, and try to get your product reviewed by influential media sites like Trustpilot, Capterra, and G2.
Don’t Hurt Your Chances By Being Greedy
The last marketing strategy for growing your SaaS business is one that you probably can’t afford to skip. And that’s adopting a Freemium subscription model.
Yes, it is correct that you have to start making money as soon as possible. But, if your offer involves any type of risk, your potential customers are likely to go to your competition, where they can try out products for free.
The best way to do this is to offer free trials for your products. But, if that’s not something you’re interested in, it’s OK to experiment with other Freemium plans as well.
For example, Skype is free for everyone to download. But, the company also sells Skype Credit, making it easy for users to completely switch to the software as their main communication app.
In Closing
There you have it – six proven-to-work, easy-to-implement SaaS marketing strategies you can start using right away to grow your business.
Before you start making any drastic changes to your branding strategy, pricing plans, landing pages, or product features, don’t forget to consider your branding and audience. Because, in the end, the best way to set yourself apart from the competition is to remain uniquely you in every single way.
