Every business requires a marketing strategy to achieve its goals and objectives. However, much planning and tactics goes into the creation of an overall marketing plan.
There is no 100% foolproof way to create a marketing plan, as every business is unique. Additionally, different strategies work for different businesses at different stages.
B2B SaaS marketing is a form of marketing that is specifically catered to SaaS (or software-as-a-service) products. This marketing model is rapidly growing in use in the world today. It is predicted that by 2022, 78% of companies will run purely on B2B SaaS. Also, the public SaaS market is expected to hit $172 in 2022.
Although these statistics show promise, one must note that B2B SaaS marketing is quite trickier than other forms of marketing. However, it has several advantages for it to be overlooked in your brand's marketing effort. This article breaks down everything that B2B SaaS marketing entails.
Understanding B2B SaaS marketing
To properly explain what B2B SaaS marketing entails, let’s understand what B2B and SaaS mean.
What is B2B?
B2B is an acronym that stands for Business-to-business. It is a type of transaction between businesses. An example is one involving a wholesaler and a retailer, or a manufacturer and a wholesaler.
Business-to-business refers to arrangements that are conducted between companies, rather than between a company and a direct consumer. Business-to-business (B2B) is quite different from Business-to-consumer (B2C) and Business-to-government (B2G).
B2C is a business transaction between a company and its direct consumer (end-user) while B2G is the marketing of products and services to local, state, or federal agencies.
According to a report, online sales on B2B e-commerce sites, log-in portals, and marketplaces increased by 17.8% to $1.63 trillion in 2021.Data from Statista suggests that the North American B2B e-commerce market will surpass $4,600 billion by 2025.
A live example of a B2B transaction is Samsung, one of Apple's largest suppliers in the production of the iPhone. Apple also has B2B transactions with companies like Intel, Panasonic, and semiconductor producer Micron Technology.
What is SaaS?
SaaS stands for Software as a service. It is a software distribution method in which a third-party provider hosts the applications and makes them available to online users. SaaS customers are majorly businesses, not always the end-users of the applications.
Software as a service is a cloud model where the service provider takes over the job of deploying and maintaining applications. This includes cloud hosting of servers, virtualization and backup tools, operating system installation, middleware, and applications.
SaaS is one of three main classifications of cloud computing, alongside platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS). However, unlike PaaS and IaaS, SaaS products are frequently marketed to both B2B and B2C users.
According to a recent report, technology industry analysts predict further growth in the SaaS market and expect to see the market for its products near $200 billion by 2024.
What is B2B SaaS marketing?
B2B SaaS refers to companies that provide software (app, websites, extensions, add-ons) to other companies as a service. Their products are designed to assist businesses in becoming more efficient and effective with highly automated technology.
In B2B SaaS, the first business in the B2B provides a software product to the second business for use in the cloud with a website or mobile application. The use of this software takes place on the other business's website on a subscription basis with a recurring payment, usually monthly or yearly.
B2B SaaS marketing involves the use of these software products by e-commerce brands to market their products and services to their consumers. An important advantage of B2B SaaS is convenience, especially for small businesses and startups that cannot fund a large marketing team. Business users get easy access to SaaS e-commerce applications directly from a website or mobile application.
However, B2B SaaS marketing is quite difficult. It is unique from virtually every other type of marketing known. However, it is not impossible to succeed while doing it. There are some important strategies to consider when running B2B SaaS marketing. But before that, here are some things to keep in mind before implementing your strategy.
- Know your ideal customer: This is an important first step to any successful marketing strategy. This involves carrying out extensive research as to who your target audience is and what their needs are.
- Research the competition: Before jumping on any marketing strategy, look into your competition. Dig deep into what has worked for them in the past and what flopped. This information will help you to better position your brand as the best solution for the customers.
- Craft a unique selling point: For your SaaS marketing strategy to be successful, it is vital to have a clear understanding of what makes your product or service unique. This unique selling point should be what sets you apart from the competition and resonates with the target audience.
Top B2B SaaS marketing strategies
Armed with information about the target audience, competition, and your unique selling point, you can now implement the following marketing strategies to work for you.
- Use Content marketing
Content marketing has proven itself to be one of the most effective marketing strategies. That’s why SaaS content marketing has become the go-to for many marketers. Content marketing refers to the creation and promotion of content related to your brand with the aim of raising brand awareness, driving organic traffic to your website and social media, and educating your target audience.
The brands that B2B buyers work with must meet their exacting standards. These buyers seek out trustworthy brands to work with. Content marketing would help you build this trust.
B2B SaaS content marketing is competitive. It centers around producing and sharing useful, pertinent, and consistent content to attract and keep a targeted audience.
It is important to get this part right as a brand. You can hire a content marketing agency for SaaS if you lack a marketing team and don’t know how to go about it.
- Offer free trials
SaaS businesses have a unique marketing opportunity when it comes to using free trials. This can be all it takes to gain new customers with increasing recurring revenue. Depending on the product or service your brand offers, there is often little to no cost in permitting a potential customer to try out your services.
A report by Opt-in Monster showed that 62% of SaaS companies get more than 10% of their business from free trials. There is nothing like shipping or return shipping costs, so there is little to lose in this B2B Saas marketing strategy. This is an opportunity to present your product/service and your customer service and support.
If the product is right for the potential customers, it will earn you lead conversions to paid SaaS subscriptions with no additional effort. Ensure your SaaS free trial is easy to sign up for and consider offering a risk-free trial.
- Implement SaaS SEO strategy
In-depth guides, long-form articles, and blog posts that are search engines optimized for B2B SaaS are composed of your audience's frequently asked questions at each level of the marketing funnel.
Basically, SaaS SEO strategy assists you in focusing on people who:
- Are actively investigating the issues your product resolves
- Are actively looking for alternative software to address their issues
- Recognize your brand and desire to learn more about it
- Able to patronize your brand at that instant
While optimizing your website for SEO, using the right and relevant keywords is vital. It is essential to understand that SEO for SaaS businesses has the ability to drive leads into your website organically without having to depend on ads.
In your SaaS SEO marketing strategy efforts, first try to research and understand your target audience and relevant keywords. Then, review your content and meta-data to improve your website ranking. Also, do not forget backlinks to your search engine ranking.
- Leverage SaaS review sites
Any business, particularly in the world of SaaS, needs positive reviews to gain the trust and confidence of its potential clients. A study by Zendesk showed that 88% of their respondents say that customer reviews are a huge factor when it comes to their buying decisions. This implies that review sites have a huge potential to grow your user base.
These sites enable you to connect with potential clients and present the quality and value of your products or services. You can establish trust with potential consumers via SaaS review sites by providing them with genuine, unbiased feedback about your products. You can also share product descriptions, case studies, and testimonies from satisfied clients.
Metrics used to measure the success of B2B SaaS marketing
Below are some important metrics to consider when determining the success of B2B SaaS marketing
- Annual recurring revenue
- Customer lifetime value
- Customer attrition
- Ratio
- Customer acquisition cost
- Average revenues per user
- Active users
- Cost-to-service
Conclusion
Regardless of what your product or service offers to customers, utilizing the right B2B SaaS marketing strategy will ensure they get to your next best recurring customer. This article explains everything that B2B SaaS marketing entails.
