SaaS software isn’t new, but only in recent times with computing and bandwidth capacity permitting such has it become a powerhouse of software delivery and deployment. Everyone is jumping onboard the SaaS bandwagon, and for good reason, as to not embrace the future is to be left behind forever.
The problem of course is seeing what makes a good SaaS software vendor, and what makes for a less than successful model. Choosing among them, and picking examples of doing this right may be mystifying to some. Companies wishing to enter this field may wish for examples to learn from, and potential consumers will want to know by what standards to hold their choices of providers in the times to come.
The truth is, there aren’t any de facto guidelines for this yet, but there are some examples of SaaS vendors that in fact rock the house, and today we’re going to look at three such examples in some detail. We’ll see what they are doing right, and why this is how vendors in the future should work their marketing and design plans to the best benefit of all.
There is some functionality overlap in these three examples, but that is to be expected, as being the best vendors out there, they’re widely-encompassing. Without further pomp and circumstance, let’s have a look at these iconoclastic vendors.
#1 – HubSpot
HubSpot is an all in one marketing service for the new digital marketplace, and do they ever know how this new frontier works. Integrating Blogging, SEO posting, social media and email into one single-step deployment, they’ve worked out a one stop system for total saturation and outreach online. Understanding how marketing literature works, they’ve refined their system to mathematically formulate calls to action, keyword placement in SEO and the proper publishing rates so that no oversaturation nor potential for keyword targeting is ever missed.
With detailed analytics and compatibility with all mobile platforms and desktop systems currently used, HubSpot understands that inclusiveness is the way to go with SaaS design in the marketing industry.
#2 – KissMetrics
Like HubSpot, KissMetrics understands the value of inclusiveness and singularity of action, but with a distinctly different philosophy far more centered around people and social dynamics than logistics and pageviews. This makes neither philosophy wrong, but possibly good alternate choices depending on how you want your outreach to be handled in the new marketplace. Focusing on people and relatability, and using social games and Google Analytics, this is a more casual approach to the marketing scenario.
They also have a fondness for using infographics as a way to reach people and present information, making them less of an SEO platform and more of a social experience. KissMetrics bucks trends in marketing with a new philosophy. This does of course have some risk involved given its novelty, but they’re certainly worth a look if you want to try something different with your outreach!
#3 – SEOMoz
For the company wishing to go hardcore with SEO, there’s SEOMoz, and they certainly know their search engine optimization like nobody else. Featuring spinning tools, keyword research tools and any number of publishing and outreach features, this is the SEO-centric outreach system for anyone wishing to go oldschool with their marketing in a tried and true strategy.
They offer a free trial, so anyone who wants the optimal direct SEO managing with none of the extra fluff of new philosophies or parallelism in alternative writing fields, SEOMoz is certainly worth a look, and is a prime example of how SEO via SaaS should work.
Among these three, we’ve seen the keys to successful SaaS software vending exemplified specifically by their identities. We’ve seen inclusiveness and singularity of task operation through HubSpot, we’ve seen social focus through KissMetric, and we’ve seen dedicated specialization through SEOMoz. All three of these philosophies are sound, it merely depends on which of them exemplifies your service, or the needs of your company as a consumer base.