Before we get started, there’s something you should know: B2B SaaS marketing is super competitive. Most people fail.
Why, you might ask? Because they went into it thinking they could market their SaaS product just like any other product — and that was their fatal mistake.
B2B SaaS marketing isn’t like any other type of marketing, and to be successful, you really need to solidify that reality in your brain. Although it might use some of the same general marketing principles, the actual strategy is very different from traditional marketing.
With more and more SaaS startups materializing every year, you need to have a crystal-clear idea of who your ideal customer is in order to craft a compelling marketing campaign. In this guide, we’re going to cover the 6 most tried-and-true strategies for marketing your B2B SaaS product that actually work in 2022.
Account-Based Marketing
According to a study by Alterra Group, 97% of marketers achieved a higher ROI by incorporating ABM (account-based marketing) than with any other marketing initiative. Account-based marketing has the power to drive a higher ROI than other lead generation strategies thanks to its focus on high-value accounts that are the most likely to convert.
With ABM, the goal is to craft a marketing campaign that speaks directly to your most desirable and high-value prospects. This helps you weed out unqualified leads, helping to increase efficiency and shorten the gap between the initial engagement and closing sale. ABM needs a specific approach to be successful, so it’s worth taking the time to dig into your goals and objectives.
Here are some things to consider as you craft your ABM strategy:
Define your high-value account
This is the most important first step when it comes to account-based marketing, because every business will have a different idea of what constitutes a high-value account. Use all the business data and analytical findings at your disposal to identify your ideal high-value client. You’ll want to evaluate things like revenue potential, market influence, and account scalability.
Align your marketing and sales teams
To be successful with ABM, both your sales and marketing teams will need to be on the same page. This ensures that your high-value clients experience a seamless transition through each step of the conversion process. Things like resource allocation and campaign coordination should be discussed and clarified in order to maximize impact.
Outbound Lead Generation
You may have heard that outbound marketing is dead. But for those in the know, outbound marketing can be just as effective, if not more effective, than inbound marketing. A well-planned outbound lead generation campaign can bring in more customers and drive revenue growth faster, but it’s all dependent on your approach.
To use outbound marketing successfully in 2022, it’s important to adapt your strategy to modern audiences while taking advantage of the latest marketing tools.
Here are a couple outbound lead generation techniques to try:
Make it personal
Because outbound marketing tends to involve a lot of cold outreach, it’s critical to personalize your approach. No one wants to get a robotic sales call that makes them feel like just another number on your list. The best way to build trust with your prospects is to establish a bond with them from the beginning. This can be as simple as highlighting a common interest you share with the prospect in your outreach email, or personalizing your calling scripts on sales calls. The reality is that almost anything can be personalized in outbound lead generation, you just have to get creative. Personalizing your outbound marketing is essential to getting your customer’s attention: 72% of people say they only engage with personalized content, according to Smarter HQ.
Use multiple channels
There’s nothing wrong with having a primary channel for your outbound lead campaigns, but using a multichannel approach will give you the best ROI. Not only will this help spread brand awareness, but a multichannel approach can also create a richer customer experience.
For example, if you’ve been relying on only cold calling for your outbound campaigns, try branching out with social media outreach or direct mail. LinkedIn has become a huge resource for B2B marketing, so it’s worth experimenting with that as well. Personalized email marketing, press releases, trade shows, and newsletters are just a sampling of the many other channels available to you.
Inbound Lead Generation
Ideally, your B2B SaaS marketing strategy should involve both inbound and outbound lead generation. This will help maximize your marketing efforts and broaden your overall reach. With inbound lead generation, your focus should be on producing carefully targeted content that provides value to your ideal customer.
This allows potential customers to engage with you on their own terms and personal timeline. In contrast, outbound marketing is where you make the first move to engage with a prospect.
Here are some effective ways to create a successful inbound lead generation campaign that catches the attention of your ideal prospect:
Start a company blog
If you don’t yet have a blog on your company website, you’re missing out on a massive opportunity to drive traffic and increase sales. A blog is an excellent way to have your brand appear in search engines and position your company as a thought leader in your field. Every blog post should be written from the perspective of speaking to your ideal customer in a way that answers their pain points and provides helpful information.
Video marketing
After Google, YouTube is the world’s second-most visited website, according to HubSpot. And with one-third of users watching how-to videos and tutorials every week, video marketing presents a huge opportunity to engage your ideal audience. You can create videos that show users how to use your product, share interviews with current clients, or conduct live stream previews of new product developments.
Customer Retention
There’s no doubt about it; selling to customers who already trust you is much easier than trying to sell to people who are unfamiliar with your product or service. Customer retention is the lifeblood of any business, whether big or small. Proper customer retention is all about finding ways to keep your existing users engaged and coming back for more.
It’s also an overlooked marketing strategy, but can have huge payoffs if done correctly. Why? Because loyal, happy customers are free advertising. A satisfied client increases brand loyalty, which ultimately expands your brand’s reach. That’s why turning your customers into repeat buyers is one of the best ways to market your B2B SaaS business.
Here are some excellent customer retention strategies to try:
Use case studies
With online reviews carrying so much influence these days, featuring customer testimonials as part of your sales process is key. One of the best ways to do this is through case studies. Case studies are more in-depth than a typical short review, and highlight the ways your company solved a specific problem for a client. When using case studies, make sure to focus on the results you accomplished for customers. You’ll also want to emphasize your communication style and partnership with customers so potential leads can have an idea of what to expect.
Get feedback
If you don’t know why customers are switching to a competitor, then how can you fix the problem? Asking for feedback often and then acting on it can boost customer satisfaction, increase revenue, and encourage brand loyalty. You can easily do this through automation tools like online surveys or targeted focus groups. But make sure you address any negative feedback swiftly and promptly; most customers can tell when you’re just paying them lip service.
Lead Nurturing
In a nutshell, lead nurturing is where you continually reinforce relationships with customers through every stage of the sales funnel. Successful lead nurturing is what makes your other strategies, like inbound marketing, more effective. It involves listening closely to the needs of your users and providing them with solutions that ultimately increase trust and inspire them to make a purchase.
If you’re not addressing your customers’ problems during one phase of the marketing funnel, they’ll likely drop off, which means you just lost all the prior work of getting them to that point.
Here are some key ways you can usher your customers through the buyer’s journey and make sure they’re receiving appropriate content for their needs:
Lead scoring
By using marketing automation software, organizations can easily keep track of potential leads through a lead scoring system. Lead scoring involves ranking prospective leads based on past behavior, such as website browsing activity, campaign responses, and social media interactions. All of this information can help the sales and marketing teams identify which leads are worth pursuing further, and which ones need more nurturing.
Timely follow up
By far, the best way to convert a lead into a paying customer is by following up with them immediately after a conversion event. Your odds of converting them through the sales funnel is much higher during this phase, so reaching out to them in a timely manner is essential. Unlike cold calling, you already know that the prospect is interested, making it much easier to close the sale.
Paid Lead Generation
Unlike inbound marketing which can take time to build an audience and generate traffic, paid lead generation is the quickest way to position your brand in front of potential customers. Paid lead generation is best used alongside other strategies like organic inbound and active outbound marketing for the most effective long term lead generation.
With paid media marketing, you’re essentially paying to get your product in front of prospects by using tailored campaign parameters such as consumer behavior, geographic location, age, and occupation. Things like PPC (pay-per-click) ads, facebook ads, and Google ad campaigns are just a few of the many options to try.
Here are a couple tips and best practices for using the most common types of paid lead generation: PPC and paid social media ads.
PPC ads
With pay-per-click marketing, you pay a small fee every time a potential prospect clicks on your ad. Many PPC campaigns will require you to bid on certain keywords, so it’s important to make sure you’re actually using the same keywords your ideal prospects are using. There’s nothing worse than realizing you spent a bunch of money on an unsuccessful PPC campaign because you were bidding on the wrong keywords!
Paid social media ads
Before starting any kind of paid social media ad campaign, it’s crucial to have a deep understanding of audience differences. The type of people who hang out on Instagram are going to be very different from LinkedIn users, for example. Think about the social media platforms your ideal audience uses the most. This will probably require some in-depth research on your part, but it’s worth it to make sure your paid campaign is targeting the right people.
How To Market B2B SaaS Wrap Up:
When faced with the task of marketing their B2B SaaS product, many people don’t know where to start. Trying to use a more generic and traditional marketing approach will only result in failure, and the competition to catch your ideal customer’s attention is steep.
That’s why we created this guide – to give you the best strategies that will help set you apart and drive new business growth. By incorporating these 6 proven techniques into your B2B SaaS marketing campaign, you’ll dramatically increase your online visibility while staying relevant in a highly competitive landscape.
