The launch of any business is an important one and it’s something that all companies want to get right in order to boost their chances of success. A lot of SaaS will fail within the first three years of their existence, so you’re up against it already.
With that in mind, having the knowledge of
what works and what doesn’t is important when it comes to marketing. Without
marketing, you get significantly less exposure at a time where you need it the
most. Here are ten top tips for marketing the launch of an SaaS brand.
1. The detail is in the planning
Just trying to wing it or play it by ear is not going to get you anywhere. So when you’re thinking about marketing for the first time, have a plan in place. This is something that needs to be set in stone, months before your launch.
By getting it sorted in advance, you’re going to be able to iron out all the kinks and potential mistakes you would make when it comes to marketing. So before you do anything else, conduct some market analysis, looking at both your competitors but also at your ideal customers.
Think about what your competition has done
with their marketing campaigns and speak to your target audience, whether it be
surveys, in-person focus groups, etc. There are many questions that will need
answering and data collection needed to provide insight for your marketing
strategy.
2. Think about what the client needs
What does your client need? This is something that you would have discovered when creating your product or service and it’s time to utilize the information again for your marketing. When creating marketing content, you want to showcase what your selling is what the client is looking for when browsing online.
So when those paid and targeted ads show up on their screen, they’ll be immediately intrigued in what it is you’re selling because you’ve used the right mixture of selling points needed.
These problems that your users will face will
likely change and evolve as time goes on, so regardless of how much marketing
you do, research is always needed. Make sure that your marketing messages match
the current struggles and issues that your user has at that time.
3. Think about the type of marketing materials needed
The right marketing material is needed to help target your audience effectively. So what might work for one of your competitors, might not necessarily work the same for your marketing. Collateral like Ebooks for example or free digital products can help your users get a taste of what they can get when investing into your products or services.
There’s also blog content, webinars, demos, press releases and trade shows to name just a few, that you can also take advantage of. The more content and marketing materials you can get out there, the better. After all, you want to get your SaaS brand out there for the world to see.
Think about your website too and what you provide in regards to information on there too. A good landing page and CTA’s are helpful in encouraging more traffic and potential leads to convert to sales.
If you’re struggling to create all of the
marketing collateral needed, then it’s always something that you can outsource
to design and content agencies. Hiring a good candidate would be a better option. Pick through a line of applications, maybe taking a look at a CMO job description would be ideal for you. A perfect person for this job has the top qualities as written in the post. As this is your launch, you want to invest
heavily in your marketing to make the most of the opportunities it can provide
to you.
4. Don’t forget about your mailing list
A mailing list is important because it’s a great way of gaining a customer’s attention through a platform that’s well-monitored. Did you know that 68.9%, from a survey done by 250OK and 42labs, view marketing mails on the smartphone 2-3 days per week?
That statistic alone shows just how
impressionable marketing materials can be when sent via email. So regardless of
how little you have on your mailing list, take advantage of what it can offer
you. You also want to think about the types of emails you’ll send. It might be
a story-type approach or you could embed an infographic for readers to peruse.
It’s worth segmenting your mailing list into
groups, whether that’s new subscribers to existing customers that perhaps could
repurchase future products. There’s a lot that you can do with your mailing
list and platforms like Mailchimp could help you email marketing
management and automation.
5. Recruit the services of a marketing agency
Marketing agencies are a great way of helping alleviate some of the pressures that can come with launching any business. There are a lot of things to manage and juggle in order to launch successfully and on time, so outsourcing is useful to do where necessary.
When using a marketing agency, it’s worth
looking at ones who specifically focus on SaaS brands and the industry in
question. That way, the marketing they offer will be more refined and tailored
to your niche. From SaaS link building to providing SEO content,
this can provide better value in relation to how much you spend on marketing
but will also target the right leads.
6. Offer a free trial
Customers love freebies and so when it comes to marketing, you might want to offer a free trial of your product or service as part of the launch. As it’s your brand’s launch, it’s worth limiting how many free trials you offer or the amount you offer in terms of the trial. It might be that you offer a 5-7 day trial.
That way, you give your prospective leads
enough time to test out the product/service but not enough that they can take
advantage of the free trial they’re getting. It provides enough time to get
them familiar with your product but to also test the results and ROI that they
would get by paying for the full version.
7. Start gathering reviews and testimonials
Reviews and testimonials are a must when it comes to the marketing of your SaaS brand. What usually helps push some of your leads down the sales funnel is having existing customers promoting just how good the product is.
Be detailed when asking customers for feedback because the more they can offer in how they use the product and how it benefits them, the easier it may be to win over new customers. Also don’t forget to encourage any customers to share their love of your product or service via their own networks and social media platforms where possible.
The more promotion you can get beyond your own
marketing campaigns, the better!
8. Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is a great way to push your marketing further and on a global scale, which a lot of SaaS brands can benefit from. As a software, it’s one of the most versatile and flexible products to sell beyond just your own territory.
With paid advertising, you want to have the
data before you start creating the adverts. This will help you choose the right
demographics but also will help you decide on how much to spend on each ad.
With SaaS, you want to sell these products in the right manner, so you might
want to focus on video content, over a static image with a bit of text that
describes it.
Make sure to target the right social media
platforms and websites in order to maximize the advert’s success. What you find
has worked for other SaaS brands might not have the same level of success that
you have. It’s all about where your audience will browse and use most often.
9. Start building a community
Marketing is obviously very customer-focused and mostly about advertising your products. However, part of marketing can also be done by communicating actively with your customers and creating a community from that. By building a community, you start generating a more loyal following and that starts to create a hype for your product in itself. So whatever mentions, likes and comments your marketing efforts get, get involved with responding and engaging.
Don’t just ignore your customers when they’ve
gone out their way to say something on your platform or on a particular
advertisement.
10. Provide exceptional customer service
Your marketing is only going to do so much if your customer service is sub par. With that said, you want to do everything you can to go above and beyond with how you treat each and every customer. All complaints that you get should be escalated and prioritized, so that any whiff of an issue is handled before it gets out to other customers.
This is all important when it comes to your launch because you’re aiming for 100% positivity towards your SaaS brand. It’s particularly important as all eyes will be on your brand and not everyone will be willing you to succeed.
Marketing the launch of an SaaS brand takes time, so be sure to make every day in the lead up to the big one, count.
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