How SaaS Marketing is Different from Every Other Type of Marketing

These days, the way in which your potential market is buying products and services has changed. They are no longer easily influenced by flashy advertisements, but they actually spend over 57% of their time doing online research before they even get in touch with you. This is what’s happening in the SaaS industry.

Vying for this market, your competitors are likely to be literally giving their product away for free. Also your would-be buyers are experts in their field, and impulse purchases don’t exist.

But with the complexity of SaaS products comes an unlimited number of marketing possibilities. Here’s how SaaS Marketing is changing the game and how it’s different from other types of marketing strategies.

It projects not just the product but the company itself

Customers of SaaS products are most likely well versed about the kind of product they want, so more than anything, what they will check on is the credibility of the provider who can best give them that product they’re looking for. In a fast-paced and rapidly-changing SaaS industry, there’s a strong chance that even if your product is completely new and innovative, your competition will quickly catch up to you, if you don’t put credibility on top of your marketing strategies. Customers consider whether your company will protect their sensitive data, provide reliable access to the software, and deliver additional support and services throughout the life of their purchase.

Focus on the ‘freemium’ model

It’s all too common for SaaS marketing strategies to include 30-day free trials and limited-time free versions. This strategy works great in the SaaS world because it elps startups in customer acquisition. It also makes onboarding super easy as the customer is already familiar with the product.

Short sales cycles

Although SaaS is a B2B business, its sales cycle is remarkably short. It lasts just a few days or a few hours. SaaS sales happen at a lightning-fast pace. For instance, customers turn to minute-long demo videos to know more about a product. They also read compact FAQs and reviews. If they are satisfied, they go ahead and make the purchase. No more follow-ups needed. Again, they know what they want, and they just need a short background of what you offer to be convinced if they want your service or not. The whole sales cycle takes less than 30 minutes.

Keeping existing customers

Because acquiring new customers is costly, marketing to existing clientele is critical to the success of a SaaS company. It seems like painstaking work but engaging with disengaged customers, sending follow-up emails, and encouraging referrals from loyal brand ambassadors can help your clients feel appreciated and satisfied with their customer experience. The clients are important decision makers in their respective companies and they like being pursued–so providing outstanding customer service helps to keep them from going anywhere else.

Highlight on information and education

What better way to show customers that your product is effective than product education? Yes, it’s true that most of your market are already well-versed about the industry, but it helps them feel assured that you know what you’re talking about. Blogs, social media posts, video content, and even your simple tweets loaded with information are beneficial as they increase brand awareness. They also drive traffic to your site and increase your SEO results. But most importantly, it educates your prospects about your product which in time, can turn them into loyal customers. When a customer sees that you’re providing quality, cutting-edge insights and solutions to their problems, it’s incredibly persuasive — why would they sign up with a competing service when you’re obviously the authority in your niche?

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