B2B SaaS Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide for 2024

B2B SaaS is stands for Business-to-Business Software as a Service, is a software that assists the users with their B2B needs. At its core, B2B SaaS refers to software solutions designed specifically for businesses, delivered over the cloud. These digital tools empower organizations to streamline processes, enhance collaboration, and drive growth—all while catering to their unique B2B requirements.

In this beginner guide, we will explore how to do B2B SaaS marketing in 2024. Let’s get into it!

Take Ownership and Accountability of Product Development

Quoting Ahrefs, one of the way to do B2B SaaS marketing is to take ownership and accountability of product development. Here, marketers play a crucial role in bridging the gap between the company and its customers as they’re constantly balancing between business objectives and what the user wants.

To be able to do this, the marketers need to spend a lot of time with the product. In Ahrefs case, their marketers spending one to two months in customer support to understand the product comprehensively. Most marketers will take part in their product-led content strategy as well, which makes them essentially product marketers. And that leads us to the next step below. 

Craft Product-Led and SEO-Driven Content

Still quoting Ahrefs, combine the power of product-led content with SEO strategy. Prioritize topics where our product can genuinely solve problems for users. To do it we can create compelling content that ranks well in search engines. When the product-led content combined with the SEO content, we can provide convincing message organically.

Ahrefs’ blog, featuring insights on keyword research using Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer, exemplifies this approach. There are tens of thousands of monthly searches for how to do keyword research, and Ahrefs blog post featuring Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer ranks in the top five for many of them. Thanks to this, the article about keyword research generates thousands of visits each month. This strategy also allows anyone who use this strategy to leverage search demand on YouTube as well. 

Hence, a customer centric product-led content are able to do three things simultaneously:
  • Awareness Creation: Searchers are introduced to the brand through the product-led content. The searchers might realize that they have a problem related with the content. They might converted into potential client and want to understand more about their problem and how the brand can solve it.
  • Gain New Clients: After understanding the content, the potential client is looking and comparing potential solutions to their problem and our solutions might be among the ones they'll consider.
  • Retain Existing Clients: Existing clients that read the content can understand more about the brand and our product. This will ensure our clients to keep using our products to its full potential. Remember, B2B SaaS marketing isn’t just about selling—it’s about empowering users and building lasting relationships with existing client as well. 

Paid Marketing

Quoting divbyzero, there are lots of paid marketing method we can applies in our B2B SaaS marketing strategy. Let's delve to each different method of paid marketing for B2B SaaS marketing:

Google Ads

Reason to Use / Pros
Getting started in 2024 is quite straightforward. Reaching your target audience at the right time remains super simple; simply direct your ads to the search keywords users would use when seeking to purchase a product in B2B SaaS industry, and you're all set. With a good advertisement and landing page, you can expect to achieve a fairly good conversion rate in no time.

Reason to Consider / Cons
  • They remain costly and competitive, particularly in 2024: With limited space for Ads in Google search results, only the top-performer or paying ads will secure placement on the top of page 1. SaaS marketing in 2024 continues to be fiercely competitive, which resulting in higher costs per click. If your business model incorporates a free trial, and you anticipate a 10% conversion rate for users signing up, followed by a further 10% transition to paid subscriptions, the calculation is straightforward. To acquire a paying customer, you would require 100 clicks. At a cost of $3 per click, this translates to $300 spent per customer acquisition.
  • Scaling remains challenging, even in 2024: The pool of keywords with clear purchase intent remains limited. Typically, these keywords exhibit low search volumes, making it difficult to exhaust your budget. To increase spending, you would need to target more top-of-the-funnel keywords with higher search volumes. However, doing so would likely result in a significant reduction in your conversion rate.

LinkedIn Ads

Reason to Use / Pros
  • Targeting Capabilities: LinkedIn Ads offer exceptional targeting capabilities, allowing you to reach specific customer profiles or buyer personas with precision.
  • Value for High-LTV Customers: For businesses serving high-LTV (Lifetime Value) customers, LinkedIn can be an ideal channel for PPC campaigns, maximizing returns on investment.
  • Lead Generation Potential: LinkedIn advertising can be particularly effective for lead generation efforts, especially when promoting resources like eBooks, case studies, and webinars, provided landing pages are optimized effectively.
Reason to Consider / Cons
  • Expensive Advertising: LinkedIn advertising tends to be costly, making it less suitable for B2B SaaS companies with aggressive pricing strategies.
  • Experimentation Required: Success with LinkedIn Ads often requires experimentation, with outcomes varying widely depending on the nature of the promotion.
  • Mixed Results for Direct Signups: Ads directing users to signup pages may yield mixed results, with conversion rates often not reaching desired levels and cost per acquisition potentially soaring. However, outcomes can vary significantly across industries, warranting experimentation.

Youtube Ads

Reason to Use / Pros
  • Large Audience with (relatively) Low Competition: YouTube boasts a massive user base of 1.86 billion users in 2021, (imagine how big is the number in 2024!) yet its advertising revenues are comparatively smaller than platforms like Facebook and Google. This translates to a vast audience with relatively low competition from other advertisers. But this comes with its challenge which will be explained later in the reason to consider/cons below.
  • Powerful Targeting System: YouTube offers a robust targeting system, allowing advertisers to effectively reach their desired audience. This includes targeting users who are watching videos from competitors or seeking tutorials related to the advertiser's product.
Reason to Consider / Cons
  • Production Challenges: The primary hurdle for utilizing YouTube Ads is the requirement to create high-quality video advertisements that effectively convert. Producing engaging video content can be resource-intensive and may pose a barrier for some advertisers.
  • Lack of Direct Experience: Some advertisers may lack direct experience with YouTube as an advertising channel, which could result in uncertainty or hesitation regarding its effectiveness and best practices.

Review Websites

Reason to Use / Pros
  • High-Value Leads: Utilizing G2, Capterra, and any similar services can provide access to high-intent traffic, potentially generating valuable leads for your B2B SaaS business.
  • In-Depth Statistics: Subscribing to paid plans may offer access to comprehensive statistics and analytics, aiding in informed decision-making and strategy refinement.
  • Social Proof: Displaying badges from reputable review platforms can enhance your social proof and credibility, potentially boosting customer trust and confidence.
  • Review Management: Platforms like G2 and Capterra, etc. offer tools to manage reviews, including incentivized campaigns, facilitating proactive reputation management.

Reason to Consider / Cons
  • Traffic Arbitrage Concerns: Many of these platforms rely on traffic arbitrage tactics and may prioritize revenue generation over providing genuine value. You need to choose the platform that suites with your goals and needs.
  • Upfront Investment: Subscribing to premium plans or investing in incentivized campaigns can incur significant upfront costs. It's not suitable if you are just starting out the business.
  • Execution Challenges: Achieving a positive ROI requires a well-thought-out strategy and dedicated resources for customer engagement, review management, and lead follow-up. Simply investing money without a clear plan may yield limited results which might not aligned with your goals.

Integrate Sales Enablement with the Marketing Initiatives

After discussing about lots of marketing initiatives for your B2B SaaS marketing, it is imperative to seamlessly align these initiatives with robust sales enablement practices. By harmonizing these two critical facets, you can create a synergistic approach that maximizes growth, enhances customer engagement, and drives sustainable success. 

Quoting Ahrefs, sales enablement is all about providing resources and tools to empower your sales team. These resources help them engage effectively with potential clients, close deals, and address common questions. The resources to help the sales team are (but not limited to) landing pages, pitch decks, articles, battle cards, personalized brochures, and any other personalized resources/materials that could be useful to the potential clients. Why is it necessary to provide these such resources?

It's because sales team often face tough questions from the prospects. These can be related to competitors, use cases, or product functionality. As a marketer, your role is to preemptively answer these questions.

Here are some simple steps to help your sales team face those tough questions:
  • Strengths and Weaknesses Assessment: Identify what makes your solution stand out. These strengths will guide sales reps during conversations. Acknowledge any limitations or areas for improvement. Sales reps can address these proactively.
  • Learn from Sales Reps Insights: Ask your sales reps about resources/materials that have been helpful in the past. Their insights are invaluable.
  • Regular Resources Updates: Commit to revisiting your resources periodically. Ensure they stay relevant and up-to-date.
  • Communication Channel for Updates: Set up a communication channel where sales reps can receive product updates. Consider using a Slack or Microsoft Teams channel. People often have questions and comments about new releases there.

Wrapping Up

In B2B SaaS Marketing dynamic landscape, it’s not about the quantity of tricks employed. No matter the size of your team, you should prioritize value drivers and allocate resources for strategic experimentation. The key lies in identifying what works and scaling it effectively. 


References

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