Best Marketing Strategy for SaaS Startup Companies
The SaaS (Software as a Service) industry is creating its space in the Technology Market. As per Statista, the global market size of the SaaS industry is estimated to be at 145 billion USD by the end of 2022.
Every company strategizes to pick its own space and position in the hub. Many players enter this space with their tools like Customer Relationship Manager (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Cloud Technology, Human Resource Management tools, etc.
The sad truth is, only 1 out of 100 players could sustain for more than 3 years. As the cost involved is very huge in developing a product and the second reason is due to Marketing Failure. So in this article, you would be bringing how a SaaS company can build a marketing strategy.
Building a Product that can improve Business Needs:
Yes, before planning a marketing strategy, you should invest your energy only in building new products which can change the dynamics of business. Or else, building a product at a cheaper price and players should be only 3-4 over the globe.
Tools like CRM (Customer Relationship Management) have really improved the time and energy for enterprise business models. Many unicorn SaaS companies like Zoho, Freshworks, BrowserStack, Postman, Zenoti, etc have created a noise level in Indian Technology Market.
Particularly in India, many SaaS players and many existing technology companies invest huge amounts to build SaaS products. Unfortunately, everyone falls into the same trap of creating similar products and fighting with cost.
There are many unmet needs which can change the business to grow rapidly in a smooth process. As a startup, you should always focus on producing more tools which are user friendly and accessible.
The marketing strategies also remain the same on targeting specific audiences by outbound procedures. You should always remember, in the current digital era no one is interested in any marketing campaigns forcing (targeting) them.
Let’s have a clear discussion on the best marketing strategies which many unicorns focus and invest in million dollars
Productive Marketing Strategy that works for SaaS Startups:
It is always necessary to understand what your competitors do to promote themselves. Irrespective of turnover, top 10 industry leaders are your competitors. If you fail to focus on them, you will be shot out.
Let me share you statistics which can clear your barriers,
- SaaS Companies usually spend 10-12% of Total Revenue in SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- About 10% of Total Revenue is Spent on Google Ads (Search Engine Marketing)
- 5%+ Total Revenue is spent on other Digital Marketing Services like LinkedIn Marketing, YouTube Marketing, Email Marketing, and Professional Tools, etc.
The above processes are Digital Marketing Channels. As a startup you are advised not to invest on On-house Digital Marketers. The best way to build an organization is by partnering with a Digital Marketing Company in India.
Yes, more than the traditional way of cold calling, cold emails, which creates a lot of your mails to spam folders. Travel in the pitch where your industry leader does. Let us segregate the total marketing stages into 3 parts,
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Conversion
Awareness
(Brand Awareness) |
Consideration
(Lead Generation) |
Conversion
(Sales) |
● Search Engine Optimization
● Social Media Marketing ● Content Marketing ● Search Engine Marketing ● Affiliate Marketing
|
● Display Ads
● Search Engine Marketing ● Mobile Marketing ● Email Marketing ● Content Marketing |
● EMail Marketing
● Display Ads ● Retargeting Ads ● Social Media Marketing |
1. Search Engine Optimization:
SEO is the process of making your leads organically, means getting business without any promotion or investments on Marketing. It is done by optimizing the Search Engine with your content that can be visible for your target audience.
It has three types of processes like On Page, Off Page, and Technical SEO. In addition, to this aligning with advanced works like Keyword research, Content Optimization, Conversion Rate Optimization, Link Building Strategies, Crawl Accessibility, etc. The practice has to align with Search Engine Algorithms. These algorithms change every now and then. Your SEO team has to be updated on the algorithm.
SEO is a slow and steady process which is the top priority marketing channel every SaaS company invests in. On an average, these companies spend almost 1 Million USD for SEO expenses. This includes the employee’s salaries and tools.
It is difficult for a SaaS Startup company to invest on an in-house SEO team which is highly expensive. So, initially you can outsource to an SEO Service Company which is already built up with an SEO expert team. Here you get the initial breakthrough of getting traffic and leads at 10 to 20 times lesser price.
2. Search Engine Marketing (Google Ads/PPC):
SEM is also known as Pay Per Click (PPC) and generally a practice of Google Ads. This one of the paid promotion way to get,
- Website Traffic
- Conversion
- Lead Generation
- Video Views
- Brand Awareness
- Display Ads
- Application downloads, etc.
This marketing strategy is used to get quick results. There are many keywords which are hard to rank in a shorter time, but it would have more search volume. These keywords can be targeted with PPC service and get initial spark in leads and convert into sales.
The only disadvantage in SEM is, “until you burn the fund, you get leads”. As a startup it is difficult to spend a huge amount like a Unicorn. So, the best recommendation will be practicing SEO for any SaaS Startup Company.
3. Social Media Marketing:
When it comes to SaaS companies, the best social media is LinkedIn. Yes, optimize your Company Page with appropriate keywords which users would be searching for.
At the same time, you can also use the same platform to generate Leads organically. The only strategy is to attract your audience group to keep in your connection and add value to them with your content.
LinkedIn is one of the best Content Delivery channels. So, the more you make your audience engage with your content, the higher is the chance to reach many people.
Yes, LinkedIn Marketing too has paid promotion channels. The better way of promotion is by Inmail Ads.
4. Content Marketing:
One of the best and most needed marketing channels of the hour is Content Marketing. Content is always the king when it comes to marketing. There are many channels where we can market our content via Blog, Podcasts, YouTube, Answering Forums, etc.
Many companies are under research and investing huge revenues into Content marketing. As this could be ruling the marketing industries in future. Every user/audience is looking for a solution.
Yes, when you can fix the broken piece with your right message of content, the job is done.
Always focus on wearing the shoes of the users. So, you can get more users into your buckets compared to your competitors.
5. EMail Marketing:
One of the most important tools which has more benefits in converting raw leads and contacts to Customers and Advocate. Most people think Email marketing is an Old method and they lose the real Diamond in search of Gold.
Almost 90% of professionals still check their emails 8-10 times a day. Also, professionals choose Email as the platform to initiate conversation.
You should learn the art of creating an Email which can be increasing Call to Action (CTA). This can increase Click Through Rate (CTR) that makes our user connect with your business.
Master the concept of Automation, this will be the upgraded version of Email Marketing. This helps in a structured follow up with your clients/users.
Conclusion:
- The best way to invest in marketing strategy for a SaaS Startups company is via Digital Marketing.
- It helps in promoting your business without huge investments. The best way is to partner with any Digital Marketing Agency and scale them.
- Organic way of promoting your business will be the best solution for any Startup Company, yet it takes time. Please provide the time which it requires.
- Work more on creating the contents which can provide value to your audience and then make them as your customers.
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