Over the past few years, SaaS (Software as a Service) products have undeniably come to the forefront, with recent research confirming that these applications are now steering the future of the software industry. Yet, even with the instantaneous, streamlined services that SaaS provides, it remains more vital than ever to your product’s long-term viability to ensure that you have a sound marketing strategy in place to help grow your business. Here are 5 tips on how to make the most of your marketing budget.
1. Invest in your customer service
As consumers, we all know that brand loyalty is contingent upon a satisfying customer experience. After all, studies continue to emphasize that customer service has a direct impact on revenue. So few areas are as worthy of investment as developing customer success initiatives to protect new and existing customers. Most SaaS companies already have a wealth of SaaS marketing metrics at their fingertips that can easily be interpreted to pinpoint what elements of your customer service are working and which are better off left behind, preventing you from wasting time and resources on the wrong elements of your business.
Quite simply, a solid marketing plan is worthless without customer retention.
2. Foster growth through cross-sells and up-sells
Just as building your customer service efforts should play an integral role in your marketing plan, it’s important to remember that your best chance to boost revenue comes from your greatest asset: the customers themselves. As such, strategically positioned cross-sells and upsells may be key to expanding upon your client base. Although cross-selling can often entice customers to engage in related products, research shows that up-sells can be as much as 20 times more effective. Regardless, both methods are based on capitalizing on a proven provider-customer relationship, removing the far trickier task of winning the business of entirely new customers.
3. Maximize inbound marketing efforts
Content continues to be king when it comes to online promotion, with content marketing widely considered the most effective digital marketing tool. Using inbound marketing to lead potential customers straight to your product through blogs, social media, SEO and other content allows you to bring in leads who have already demonstrated an interest in your product and its application. Moreover, SaaS and inbound marketing are closely tied, since they both rely so heavily on a connection with customers’ immediate needs. With inbound marketing in place, these prospects can arrive to your product already ready to resolve these needs, making sales conversion that much easier.
4. Know your target market
While inbound marketing can help attract primed and ready customers to your product, this doesn’t discount the necessity to reach out to your target market directly. However, the trouble is that many times not enough forethought has gone into identifying which prospects are most likely to have a need for your product. As a result, resources can be wrongfully used to go after consumers with less interest in what your business has to offer. Take care in structuring your marketing effort so that you can be sure to maximize your chances at winning new business. A good place to start may be to develop a detailed profile for which groups may make up your ideal customer base.
5. Take advantage of retargeting for pay-per-click
The secret to tailoring your SaaS marketing campaign truly lies in identifying customers that are on the very brink of making a purchase decision and then stepping in with a quality product at just the right moment. Thanks to retargeting, you are able to reach out to potential customers who may have briefly expressed an interest in your product but who, for whatever reason, decided not to purchase in that moment. Retargeting ads give you the edge over your competition in that you can stay top-of-mind with interested consumers. In recent years, Google, Facebook and Twitter have all become hotbeds of retargeting activity, slowly winning over consumers. You can’t afford to miss out.
Want invaluable insight into how you should approach your SaaS products marketing budget? Check out our new eBook, “Understanding and Calculating Your SaaS Marketing Budget.”
