Software as a Service, or SaaS, marketing can be competitive. Which shouldn’t come as kind of surprise to you. You’re not the type to let a little stiff competition stand between you and the success of your SaaS? Good. The 21 tips that follow will help you jump ahead of your competition for good once you implement them.

Many traditional software companies have turned to SaaS to provide a seamless user experience. The fact it also helps them reduce their overhead helps too.

Without physical copies of software media, SaaS marketers lack the advantage of ‘put the item in their hand’ sales tactics used in the past.

To combat this, they use creative methods to show consumers their product’s value.

The 21 methods below will help you do that in your own business. Successful SaaS marketers have been using them since the start. So put them to work for your business too.

1.) Fantastic First Impressions

Every customer you get at some point formed a first impression of your company or service. How many potential customers have you lost because the first impression could’ve been better?

This is where you need to create a stunning landing page that shocks and awes your prospects. Use bold colors and leave white space between technical text when you do create a new page.

2.) Create an Easy Sign-Up Process

A major deal breaker for many customers is a difficult or convoluted sign up process. The customer is giving you their time and information, at least make it easy for them to do so. Try having just email address, contact number, and name fields on the initial sign up.

3.) Run a Promotion

Many clients are browsing SaaS long before they buy a product. They might not feel obligated to act on any offers that aren’t time sensitive. Try creating an end date for reduced price software access.

4.) Know Your Competition

Find out who your biggest competitors are. It’s best to do some research as if you are a potential client. What ads do you see when you do an Internet search for your product? Use website listing rankers to see which competitors are creating successful campaigns.

5.) Engage Potential Clients

Try creating a simulation or demo that the client can use on your site before they buy. This allows them to see that your SaaS solution is easy to use and has a good user-interface. Remind the client that some functionality will be missing.

This makes them have to decide between buying your product, and having to try another product from scratch and buy it.

6.) Outsource Leads

Not sure how to generate leads for your Saas? There are many companies that will provide leads for you. Hiring one of them will help you focus on taking care of your customers and running your business.

There may be better uses of your time than in-house lead generation. This is one of the time-saving SaaS marketing strategies that isn’t utilized enough.

7.) Know Your Potential Market

Do research to get a better feel about your market. To do this you can use the Department of Labor, competitor business data, and Google searches.

8.) Prove You’re the Obvious Choice

Your website and marketing materials should show why you’re the provider to do business with.

This is especially true if your customers are already familiar with your competition.

Graphs and charts are perfect tools to use for this.

9.) Make Paying You Easy

Accepting many currencies and payment options can give you an easy one up in business.

Many SaaS clients are tech businesses who need special payment methods. This includes online paperless billing, American Express, PayPal, and other online currency exchanges.

Here at Agile Payments, we offer payment gateway solutions that help make it easier collecting funds from your customers. Give us a call at 888.729.4968 to learn what we can do for you specifically.

10.) Offer Referral Incentives

An easy way to get new clients is to have current clients find them for you. Offer 20% off their next bill, or a free month of service for the referral of new clients. Do this by generating unique referral codes for entry at sign-up. This is one of the effective SaaS marketing strategies you can put to work for you.

11.) Focus on Conversion

It’s easier to convert a potential client who has shown interest than to generate a new lead. Small changes to your website’s copy and imagery can impact your conversion rates. Make sure to test every aspect of your site to see what converts best.

12.) Go Viral

SaaS viral marketing is a cutting edge method used by clever marketing teams. Create content that stands out. By this I mean, content that you would want to share with others if you came across it. If a video or ad that you’ve created goes viral your reach will grow big time. Expanded reach equates to expanded profits any way you look at it.

13.) Customer Service Matters

What is your response time to customer emails? Is anyone picking up the phone during peak hours? SaaS clients are high tech and want to be able to access someone without waiting. Make sure your customer service team is responsive and courteous.

14.) Customize Your Offers

Many customers need help choosing what product is best for them. Remember on top of all the options on your marketing material there should also be a ‘Contact Us for a Personal Solution’ offer. This will net you the clients who are confused by your SaaS package options.

15.) Make Your Call-to-Action Easy to Understand

Your Call to Action (CTA) is the most important part of your introductory material. Without a clear CTA the customer will not know how to proceed in trying or purchasing your services. Try making the CTA button or information the highlight of your website’s landing page.

16.) Make Your Pricing Clear

As a SaaS provider you should have a clear pricing structure. The last thing a customer wants to feel is deceived. Since many SaaS offers are billed monthly, think ahead by posting clear pricing so that you don’t get complaint calls coming in during your customer’s second billing month.

17.) Have a Retention Strategy

Some customers will inevitably call to cancel their billing subscription with you. Have a solid plan in place to keep these customers. A good method here is to offer a 30% discount if the customer renews their contract. Wouldn’t you rather keep them at 70% than lose a client? Make sure this is sustainable for your company, you’re trying to make money not lose it.

18.) Create a Comfortable Sales Environment

When offering your SaaS solution, don’t be too pushy. If a client feel cornered, either by marketing language or websites that have exit-based pop-ups, they may resent your company and are not likely to do business with you.

Remind them they the choice is theirs and that your SaaS packages are easy to cancel later on.

Make sure any of the stock photos used in your materials include people smiling and looking friendly, this can help liven the appearance of your SaaS company.

19.) Branding is King

Every SaaS provider should have strong branding. Make sure your logo will be recognized by your customers. Also, stick with one theme throughout all your material.

20.) Consider Having Some Fun On Your Pages

Not every aspect of your SaaS business has to be aimed at presenting technical specs to customers.

Give the visiting eye a break by having charismatic cartoon logos, witty quotes and upbeat language on your website.

This can also serve to relay a sense that your SaaS is easy to use, and that you have a company culture beyond the software.

21.) Work with Trusted Companies and People

Build your reputation by including trusted names into your literature. If you can budget for it, hire a spokesperson who either has or can build a reputation of trustworthiness. Without a budget you can still get reviews from third-parties that users know such as newspapers or rating agencies.

This will also help in your SaaS viral marketing campaigns, as customers are more likely to share content from likable, knowable figures.

In Summary

As software users become more comfortable with SaaS, the SaaS marketing industry is growing at a rapid rate. Many of these techniques are getting strength-tested under high demand of SaaS sales, and they are holding up perfectly, as they are derived from age-old business tactics and re-invented using modern marketing analysis data.

SaaS marketing is a competitive industry, but by placing these methods in action you will increase profits.