Digital advertising for SaaS companies is a bit more specialized than for traditional companies, in part because a lot of potential clients do not know what cloud based software is. When you develop your SaaS advertising approach there are a few secrets that we have found are extremely helpful in streamlining your process for greater Return on Investment (ROI).
Work the 4 Stages of the Buying Cycle
Stage 1: Not Interested and No Need for You
Someone in stage 1 of the buying cycle has no need for you today or in the foreseeable future. According to them, anyway. They are simply unaware of your service or product and have no plans to engage in it any time soon.
Stage 2: I’m Familiar With That
These folks know about you or at least the field you are in, or maybe even two or three companies that offer what you have. They are not ready or especially interested but they have become quite aware of the general field.
Stage 3: I Think I Might Want That
Stage 3 of the Buying Cycle needs to be a place of emphasis for your marketing strategy. For buyers in the SaaS industry this stage is likely to last quite awhile as they sample different products to discover what products best meet their needs. You will want to remain very active with these Stage 3 buyers.
Stage 4: I Am Ready!
This person has already decided that they need, want and are ready for what you offer.
This person is very ready to buy.
The key to working the buying stages is that you want to inform and impress all of your prospective customers but you also want to keep them with you as they move through the stages. But more importantly you want to be ready to pounce when buyers hit Stage 3 & 4! There are several content marketing techniques you can use to achieve this – including:
- Instructional videos
- User guides
- Industry whitepapers
- Experiment with different content formats until you can find the right piece of collateral for each stage of the journey, to help you optimise conversions.
And any time a prospect gets to the point of purchasing your technology, get them connected with your knowledgeable and friendly one-to-one customer support team.
Optimize Your Greatest Asset
Every successful SaaS business must have a dynamic website that successfully sells their cloud products. Because it is so vital that your website gets users to click through to the next step of the buying process, it is important that you find the most effective pathways to move visitors to the next level. This means optimizing your website’s efficiency.
Your first step in this process will be to decide how you want visitors to your website to respond.
- Do you want them to sign up for a free trial?
- Do you want them to book a software demo?
- Do you want them to download some of your free content?
- Or maybe you want to devise pathways for each of these options depending on the visitor’s stage in the buying process?
What this means for digital advertising for SaaS companies is this; you should have multiple offers for free trial sign ups and then determine which offers are most effective at getting click throughs. By experimenting with different ads, tools and techniques you can find out which of them is producing the most positive results. When you hit upon a really successful pathway that raises conversion rates, keep it! And keep experimenting! This is a great way to optimize your greatest asset, your website.
Highlight the Benefits
When you think about your own software you know that it is built on great technology; that it is delivered through the ‘magical’ cloud, where it is always available, and that it’s hip. The problem is this; other than the early adapters, nobody cares about or understands those benefits. That’s why you will need to find ways of SaaS advertising for your products that make sense to the average business manager, small business owner and other target customers. Your focus will need to be on the clear benefits to the people using your software to do whatever your software is built to help them do more effectively and efficiently, as well as what are the potential cost benefits.
Most of your customers will approach technology buying with their focus on questions like:
- What’s in this for me?
- How will this software benefit my business?
- What are the unique features this offers to my employees?
- How will this save us money and/or make us money?
In order to most effectively answer these questions it will be important to avoid using buzz concepts and acronyms that don’t make sense to the average buyer. And try not to lead with references to SaaS or the cloud.
When it comes to highlighting your SaaS features, identify the most important elements of your products for your messaging from this list of generic SaaS benefits:
- You will have software access for your workforce anytime and anywhere.
- You don’t have to install or manage any software or hardware.
- Your administrative burden will be lessened or eliminated.
- You have very little or no capital investment.
- Our monthly payment option shifts your costs from CAPEX to OPEX.
When it comes to marketing statements that will help communicate your value to your potential clients, think about using simple straightforward messages that highlight the clear benefits:
Focus on ease: “Expense Management Made Easy”
Focus on solutions to problems: “Our software makes Asset Inspection simple, cost effective, and efficient!”
Focus on uniqueness: “We offer a wide range of unique features for Human Resource Management”
Focus on what the product is: “Secure, enterprise-ready, on-demand security management”
Concluding Thoughts
If this kind of marketing is not in your bag of tricks, you might think about reaching out to a full service marketing agency to help you with digital advertising for Saas companies. Besides helping optimize your website to attract leads and boost ROI, top agencies will also work with you to identify your goals, hone your brand, design an overall marketing plan that is tailored to your company, so it is simpler to develop and grow those quality inbound leads for your business.
Here at zo agency we work to build long term relationships with our clients. We call it Tribe!
We will work diligently to discover your vision, your passion, your needs, your hopes and dreams for your business and then will create an overall marketing plan that meets your needs and fits your budget. Visit us today at www.zo.agency
