Three foundational components of SaaS marketing

SaaS marketers for some years now have always focused on two main things—acquiring more contacts and retaining more customers. While these two form the spine of B2B and B2C environments, some foundational components drive the core of your marketing efforts. Let’s take a quick dive at what these popularly-termed 3Cs are: 

Content

First things first! With inbound marketing taking a larger share of the marketing space, the most important aspect a SaaS marketer needs to get right is the content. In one of the early studies that Content Marketing Institute (CMI) initiated back in 2017, 85% of the B2B marketers claimed ‘content creation’ as the main factor that increased their brand’s success over the previous year. Fast forward, in their 2019 report, CMI states that 87% of B2B marketers use email campaigns as an effective method to nurture their audience, with 77% sending educative content, 45% believing in storytelling, and 62% creating clear calls-to-action (CTAs) for engagement. This shows that ‘content’ is not just a one-type entity but it encompasses a whole lot of ways marketers want to nurture their customers. 

From setting up blogs to crafting an actionable CTA, content paves the platform for SaaS marketing. Imagine this—how would it be if a visitor looks at a blank web page upon researching your brand or a subscriber not receiving any message after subscribing to your updates? Worst even—your product user is stuck inside, wanting to know ways to use your product, and oh, there are no downloadables, videos, webinars, or help guides that could assist them. What you saw here are just the different types of content that could accelerate a brand’s success in engaging with customers. From a single-line messaging element on the home page to step-by-step onboarding email and informative articles—the first thing to build for your brand is content. 

Consistency

While creating content alone isn’t enough, what matters more is how well you’re doing it. Here’s where the next main component comes into play—consistency. Let’s say you’ve subscribed to a brand that promised you to send offers every week. The first week is all great, so is the second and third. And, slowly, what takes to be a weekly email fades away, and you end up receiving updates once in a while. Do you feel cheated? If yes, then learn this lesson—never do this to your audience as a SaaS marketer. 

62% of millennials believe online content helps build their loyalty. So, revisit your first goal—it’s not just creating and promoting different forms of content, but staying consistent with it, that helps you build brand loyalty. Looking for ways? Here are some tips:

– Show that you care by sending well-timed welcome emails to your subscribers. Think before you promise (example, saying it’s a weekly update), and once you do, keep at it.

– Plan your social media promotions. Maintain a calendar that lays the upcoming set of posts and messages. 

– Marketing is not a one day’s job. Try to revisit some of your old projects and keep adding more value. Think a link has expired in your old blog? Get that revamped right away! 

– Be present. This means you’re not just agile but aware. SaaS market is all about evolving trends and behavior, so constantly look out for something creative and relevant-in-time (say a holiday campaign for your target audience?) to work on—again, keep at it, consistently! 

Customers

Ask yourself this question—who are you consistently aiming to target? It’s the customers! Engaging your customers takes different routes depending on how familiar they are with your brand and their receptivity to what you offer. That makes each customer take a unique place in the customer life-cycle map, and as a SaaS marketer, you’re committed to giving each of them the distinct experience they desire. 

Before you work on your brand’s messaging or a sales document, make sure you understand the end audience who would benefit from you and what engagement stage they’re in. Putting customers at the start of your marketing road-map helps because you can always find your way back whenever the route is lost. From digital adoption and personal assistance to setting up trade show booths and devising GTM strategy—it’s only your customers who shape your marketing. 

Getting this content-consistency-customers combo is definitely not easy, but once you do this, your SaaS marketing is sure to kick off. Do you have some more SaaS marketing ideas to contribute? Drop them in the comments below!