SAAS MARKETING
Saas Marketing For Startups – A Beginner’s Guide
Technology is a distinct field where rapid changes are the norm. Something that is in trend today can be replaced by something more advanced tomorrow. There was a time when the only way to use the software was to pay for the license. Today, Saas has changed the way people access software. Software as a Service, shortly known as Saas, is a concept where the user gets access to subscription-based software-products on the cloud. Marketing the products that belong to Saas is called Saas marketing.
Saas Marketing – an overview
Thanks to cloud storage and cloud services' rising popularity, companies are mainly adopting pay-per-use models for software, platform, and infrastructure. Therefore, several Saas startups have boomed in the past few years.
Marketing is a core essential for any business to flourish. The same holds for each Saas startup. Saas marketing consists of the accepted practices to market cloud-based software products to targeted crowds. Here are some of the components of marketing a Saas product.
• A mix of conventional and modern marketing methods
Highly-reputed brands use conventional methods such as television commercials and newspaper ads to popularize their products. However, depending on such methods alone cannot be fruitful. Most companies also use websites, blogs, social media promotions, and other digital marketing tools.
• The free-trial
All the tools that fall under Saas operate through cloud services. Therefore, the seller here does not have a tangible product to market. Thus, demos and free-trials of the software are the way to gain the customer’s trust in Saas marketing. Developers conduct live-demos and offer a limited-period free-trial to interested clients.
• Content is king
Irrespective of the type of marketing strategy, the content remains the king. Therefore, Saas marketers must focus on engaging with their targeted audience through multiple channels – text, images, audio, and videos.
• The CTAs
Every Saas startup must focus on providing high-quality CTAs on their websites. If not, there would be no use in directing organic traffic to the website. Experts recommend adding multiple CTAs in various parts of long blog posts/articles so that the startup doesn’t miss out on the visitors who do not get to the end.
There are some unique features of Saas products that make Saas marketing a bit different from all other kinds of marketing. Read on to know how it is different.
How Saas marketing is different
Saas marketing is not only different – it is also slightly more challenging than marketing other products. It is mainly because, unlike physical products, the customer cannot touch and inspect the product's features. To market, something that has no physical presence takes a few unique strategies.
Why is the free-trial important?
One of the widely accepted strategies is the free-trial model. Think about this – would any seller be interested in giving away their products for free, even for a limited period? It isn't very confident. But in Saas marketing, it is almost an unwritten rule to allow the user to check the product's features and go ahead with purchase only if the user is satisfied.
The variations of free-trial
Saas startups can provide free-trials of their products in many ways. They include a free trial with credit card details, a free trial without credit card details, a free trial with an option to convert to a subscription after a limited period, a freemium model where the user can access basic features for free and has to pay for advanced features. It is up to the company to analyze what kind of free-trial their potential customer would be interested in and decide accordingly.
The pace of sales
Another striking feature that makes Saas marketing different is the length of the sales cycle. The sales cycle for a Saas product is concise. Generally, a sales cycle would consist of 10-12 months. But for software, that is an extended period. Several updates and changes can be made every few months. Therefore, both buyers and sellers need to be aware that the buying process for Saas products is usually quicker than that for most of the other products in the market.
Customer retention is key
Saas startups earn most of their revenue from existing customers. Therefore, their marketing strategies must focus on maintaining trust to retain current customers. Several startups have started to collect customer data to analyze and understand their preferences. It can help the company provide what the majority of the customer base prefers. This will, in turn, help retain the customers.
Companies such as FreshBooks have gone the extra mile and even send cakes to loyal customers! The take-home message here is that the startup must do anything to increase the number of loyal customers.
Provide as much information as possible
When the product that a startup is selling is not physically present, the potential customers have no option but to rely on the marketeers' information. Saas marketers should not shy away from giving complete details on their software tools. While it is indeed true that the sales cycle for a Saas product is short, it takes enough effort for the marketeer to get there. Without essential information, one can quickly lose the chances of converting a potential customer.
Overall, Saas marketing differs in that the startups are willing to give away their entire product for free for a limited period. The customer relies more on the information, demos, and free trial.
Challenges for every Saas startup
Every Saas startup must go through some common obstacles before they reach the elite ‘well-established’ status. The purpose of elaborating on these challenges is to help startup owners know what to anticipate as they proceed with their Saas product.
• Absence of a well-defined market
Most of the Saas tools do not have a well-defined market. The startup generally decides whom to target, but the actual users may be well beyond those bounds. Some startups have created their markets by making their users of a problem that did not previously exist or was not considered an issue.
• Equal importance for support services
Startups are often enthusiastic about making their users aware of the best features of their Saas tools. In this excitement, they often forget that without giving the same importance to support services – onboarding, billing, customer assistance, etc.…, the idea is bound to fail.
• Achieving rapid growth
The thing about digital marketing is, the same product cannot enjoy the limelight for a long time. A Saas startup will have a short 1–2-week period where their tool enjoys social media popularity. Post that period, and the rage will slowly begin to fade. Most companies are not equipped to handle this
Top tips for Saas startups to make it big
Many Saas startups are still grappling with adopting novel marketing methods that suit Saas business models. Here are a few tips that can help Saas startups go a long way.
• A website with a reasonable conversion rate
A website for a Saas tool is much more than an e-commerce site. Therefore, marketers should not only focus on the design and interface of the website. They should also check if the website is converting visitors. If not, timely analysis of website data should be performed to determine the changes to be made.
• Nurture the prospective buyer
No Saas client will buy a plan for a Saas tool the way they decide to buy a new gadget or a shoe. People, especially those from non-technical backgrounds, are still trying to get the hang of working with cloud data and storage. Therefore, a startup should have enough engaging content, so the prospect comes back for more.
• Keep the client community alive
As most of the revenue comes from the existing customers, Saas marketing does not end with the client buying a subscription plan. Startups can build a community of loyal customers to keep them updated with their tool's latest enhancements.
Benefits of the Saas business model
As much as it looks challenging, the Saas business model has its benefits too! How are Saas startups at an advantage?
• Recurring revenue
Saas products provide a recurring stream of revenue. It is because the vendor can charge regularly. As the number of users increases, the startup not only has a steady revenue. It becomes easy to estimate the revenue as well.
• The ability to introduce changes
Unlike most of the finished products that reach the market, Saas products can always be changed in upgrades and enhancements. Thus, even if a product does not do well initially, the developers have a shot at correcting it for the better.
Software-as-a-Service offers both – challenges and never-seen-before prospects for entrepreneurs. Those who get into the startup business after knowing about the benefits of Saas and the potential challenges they could face can easily make an impact on the prospective customer. Startups can also make use of platforms that list the Saas tools to connect developers and buyers.