B2B SaaS Marketing: The Definitive Guide (2021)

Did you know over two-thirds of free trial users purchase SaaS products once contacted? If your current marketing strategy doesn’t include follow-up processes, you’re missing out on qualified market leads.

Discover how to boost your B2B SaaS marketing with this in-depth guide. You’ll find new ways to innovate your strategy for more than just meeting expectations.

How Does a SaaS Marketing Strategy Work?

If you sell software as a service, you’re essentially marketing thin air. Until consumers trial your product, your sales and marketing teams must communicate the value of an untested good. Convincing consumers to trial a product proves challenging, even for the most experienced teams.

Any B2B SaaS marketing campaign has its differences. Marketing SaaS comes with different incentives and sales processes, and goals. Client relationships are deeper as well, requiring different support solutions from salespeople.

Shorter Sales Cycle

Traditionally, B2B companies have a much longer sales cycle. Nurturing client relationships takes time, and rushing this process rarely lands sales. With software as a service, long-term sales processes undermine the value of the product.

Selling SaaS is all about quick, transactional sales with long-term clients. The software sells itself, making it easier to charm clients over a shorter period of time. The biggest challenge lies in pivoting SaaS sales models with software’s continuous updates.

Increasing revenue, value, and profit happens with an expedited cycle. The biggest focus for your SaaS marketing strategy is reassurance. Keep clients feeling secure with as much information and support as possible.

Information-Based

The more your clients know, the more secure they’ll feel about purchasing your products. Your marketing strategy needs to communicate security. Elevate your messaging with consistent support and follow-up from sales team members.

For marketing SaaS products, your primary goal is to share as much information as possible. The more informed customers feel, the more they’ll trust your product. Information makes them feel secure and confident in their purchase choices.

Customer Relationships

Providing information isn’t the unique aspect of B2B SaaS marketing. It’s also critical to nurture client relationships even more attentively during shortened sales cycles. Existing customers are the lifeblood for SaaS companies like yours.

If you’re not retaining customers, you’re losing revenue and stunting organizational growth. With a shortened sales path, it’s simpler to provide higher quality service. It also means finding unique ways to innovate support solutions for your clients.

Service Over Product

The emphasis on customer retention and satisfaction comes with selling software as a service. If your company was focused on pushing profit, client relationships would be lower priority goals. And your marketing strategy’s focus would shift to persuasion instead of information.

SaaS marketing prioritizes high touches like personalization and elevated support. The more your customers feel cared for, the longer they’ll stay with your service. Retention results from nurturing your existing relationships through heightened service.

Free SaaS Products

Another important aspect of marketing SaaS involves free trials and demos. Because you’re marketing a service, your biggest obstacle is demonstrating your service. As the data shows, you’ll close more sales once you follow up with free trial prospects.

Providing these free products incentivizes consumers to try your software. Without a free trial, it becomes much harder to build confidence and trust in your service offerings.

Marketing Software as a Service: A Brief Guide

Now you can distinguish what makes B2B SaaS marketing different; you need a few ideas to elevate your strategy. Below are some tips for boosting your current strategy.

1. Prioritize Competitive Analysis

It’s critical to identify how the competition may outshine your service. Offering better service means attending to customers in specialized ways. Determine the gaps in your competitor’s marketing strategy.

Once you identify what they lack, highlight how your SaaS platform meets their needs. Find ways to contrast your company’s offerings, no matter the perceived similarity. Define the differences to give prospects confidence in your service.

2. Site Optimization

Boost conversions with an optimized homepage, landing pages, and more. Your site design should be chock full of lead magnets. Wherever visitors turn, you can include a variety of calls to action, such as:

• Linked header to pricing pages, demos, trial, and login
• Page banner for free demo signup
• Popups or splash pages offering freebies (ebooks, one-pagers, etc.)

The more you optimize your site, the more prospects you’ll have to work with. Although quality is preferred over quantity, a wider audience isn’t a bad thing.

3. Industry Authority

Building recognition for your services is critical to cultivating trust. Get your brand, business, and offerings out there. Build your credibility with interviews, speaking engagements, and published articles.

Share your expertise and the benefits of your service with rich content. Increase your perceived value with credible, informative marketing campaigns. Demonstrate the validity of your service with transparent reviews and processes.

4. Mailing List

Growing your mailing list is a natural way to build long-term clients. Educate your prospective and current customers about your service with informative newsletters. Feature specialized content for each of your ideal client types and buyer personas.

You can offer other incentives, too. Consider ebooks, white pages, and other resources to enhance your client’s experience with your SaaS products.

Use B2B SAAS Marketing and Transform Your Business Into a Demand Machine

With your newfound understanding of B2B SaaS marketing, you’re ready to elevate your strategy. Positioning your software as demand-worthy requires professional support. At Demand Machine, we’re here to support your implementation, consultation, marketing, and development needs.

We’ll help you craft the perfect marketing strategy for communicating your software. Make your products stand out with our support. Let’s talk today and elevate your strategy from acceptable to in-demand.