Marketing For SaaS Business From A To Z:
2021 Guide

Before we discuss the specifics of marketing tactics, let's talk a little bit more about SaaS and how it compares to the more traditional software model of licensing and on-site installation.

In the past, most software was offered on a subscription or software licensing basis — that is, you would purchase software and get a license to download and install it, either on computers or servers physically located in your office. From a marketing perspective, this approach has drawbacks because it requires customers to:

We have seen a significant swing toward "software as a service" (SaaS). This model allows businesses to use software through a cloud-based platform, meaning the software is accessible at any time from any internet-connected device. Most SaaS companies offer subscription-based services by user, product, or site. It offers several advantages for marketing:

This guide will help you jump-start your marketing efforts to reach more customers with your SaaS business.

Websites are the centerpiece of any marketing plan. They are often the first interaction your customers will have with your business — a digital "storefront" for your customers to browse your offerings and get more information. Website designs for SaaS marketing go beyond visual appeal: they need to be simple, easy to navigate, and provide reporting and information on the back end to enhance your marketing efforts.

Any website design should begin with two simple questions: who is my customer, and what do they need to know? From there, you can build effective webpages that include the right information to draw in your customers, answer their questions, and showcase the services and features your software provides. The best websites are simple, modern and easy to navigate. They include a balance of graphic elements, copy and white space. Common pages to include on your website:

Like the storefronts of brick-and-mortar establishments, a homepage is your chance to show visitors what's inside and entice them to learn more. It should be visually appealing with a clear value proposition and call to action (CTA) that your audience can easily find on the page. Use large fonts, headers, bright contrast, and visuals like charts and photographs to illustrate what you have to offer.

Most prospective clients will only spend about 15 seconds browsing your homepage. It's important to use design elements and CTAs that draw them in and encourage them to click through to other pages on your site where they can learn more by watching videos, reading testimonials or case studies, and comparing product features.

Landing pages are another tool for SaaS marketing. These pages are different from your main website because they are specifically designed for lead generation. Landing pages should be simple and highlight a single feature or problem that your SaaS software can solve. The audience should be directed to the next step with a clear CTA. You can create multiple landing pages that have different focal points based on your marketing campaigns but keep each one simple and to the point, eliminating navigation or links to other pages.

Most of your website copy will remain the same (with some minor tweaks), so a blog is your chance to create a new copy for content marketing and SEO. Blogs should provide high-quality, keyword-driven content that is educational and informative for your audience.

Content marketing is a critical tool for SaaS companies to generate leads and turn them into sales. Most SaaS platforms are for B2B (business-to-business) audiences, so the content you create will be different than it would be for a B2C (business-to-consumer) audience.

Content marketing is a broad term that covers a wide variety of tactics and includes a range of content types — in other words, it's more than just writing blogs. To be successful in your B2B content marketing:

Next, create an overall strategy and content calendar that includes:

For SaaS companies targeting a B2B audience, the tools, platforms and content you use will be different from B2C social media strategies. Social media engagement is at an all-time high, with more than 3.5 billion users worldwide. Millennials are some of the most active social media users, and also some of the most powerful consumers. Many of these people are now advancing in careers to become important decision-makers, and social media is a vital avenue for reaching them.

While widely used, Facebook and Instagram cater mostly to B2C consumers and may not be as effective for a B2B audience. The key to your SaaS social media strategy is to deploy content on platforms where your B2B audience is engaging and searching for information. Some of the most popular include:

Despite being one of the oldest digital content distribution mediums, email remains a powerful tool for SaaS marketing. According to CMI/Marketing Prof's Benchmarking Report, 93% of B2B marketers report using it. Effective email campaigns — like the rest of your content — must be optimized and adjusted over time as your strategy and your consumers' needs and preferences evolve.

The first part of any email marketing strategy involves building your customer list. Your database should include customers and prospects interested in your products and services. You can build this list using:

Once you have subscribers on your email list, craft compelling and engaging content for them. Build a content plan based on user journeys that keeps all content simple and focused. Resist the temptation to send out too many emails, which can become annoying and usually leads your audience to hit the "unsubscribe" button.

Email drip campaigns help you target new users and older users separately with relevant content based on their interests and past actions. Sending everyone the exact same message can become redundant for your existing subscribers while missing key information for new subscribers. Use a CRM to create drip campaigns that bring new subscribers up to speed and present relevant information to existing subscribers based on their past engagement.

Influencer marketing has dramatically increased in recent years and leverages large social media followings to promote products. Companies with B2B audiences can benefit from engaging influencers in SaaS marketing. Micro-influencers are regular people on social media whose followings are smaller than celebrities (usually under 10,000) who can speak with authority in niche markets. The benefits they provide for B2B SaaS marketing include:

Incorporate influencers in your marketing efforts by:

If you don't already have a connection with a micro-influencer, you can reach out to them directly on social media platforms or go through an agency to find influencers who share your values and reach the right audience.

If you've spent time on the internet, you've seen retargeting ads showing products or services you previously viewed. Retargeting is an affordable way to reach an audience again and again. These ads are only served to people who browsed your website. Since B2B decision-makers will view an average of 10 ads or pieces of content before making a decision according to LinkedIn, getting your message in front of them more times increases the chance of a conversion.

Key vendors for B2B retargeting campaigns include:

The easiest way to set up retargeting for your SaaS marketing is through a trusted SEO agency or digital marketing partner. They can help you build quality ads and serve them to the right audiences.

Analytics can determine which parts of your marketing campaigns are working, and will hopefully provide additional insight into why successful campaigns are doing well.

Early on, you can use metrics like total clicks from paid search ads or leads from a landing page to indicate initial interest. As you progress through the sales funnel, product guide downloads and webinar participation help you see how many people are seeking more information about your services. Finally, sales conversion metrics help you see what is working with your bottom-of-the-funnel content.

It's important to track this information at each stage of the funnel so you can properly attribute conversions to the correct sources. Your audience will engage with your brand multiple times, so if you're only assigning the "conversion" to the final touchpoint, you're missing several other important pieces of your analytics puzzle.

Several free analytics monitoring tools are available.

This is the most popular analytics tool because it's completely free. Google Analytics offers a variety of features to track website traffic, how visitors got to your site and what they do when they arrive. You can also track keywords and search terms that brought people to your site.

This multi-functional SEO platform helps you plan better campaigns by researching keywords, organic search trends, backlinks, paid search results and display ad traffic. It offers a limited number of free searches per day and a subscription-based full access option.

Each social media platform also offers a suite of free tools you can use to gather information on your audience and their behavior, including which posts and content provide the highest engagement.

Successful SaaS companies invest a significant amount of time and effort into marketing. To recap, here are key steps to an effective SaaS marketing campaign:

By following these steps, you'll be well on your way to building a strong marketing campaign that drives growth.