Before jumping head first into the fascinating world of marketing software as a service and how to market saas products, I spent most of my years doing projects for many bigwig companies in a variety of different industries.
Though many believe that saas is a unique field with its own rules, my rich experience has taught me that some marketing techniques apply to all.
Yet are ignored by many…
These basic fundamental structures are the reason why some companies seem to skyrocket while others seem to wallow in the muck and mire of free to paid and ROI hell.
To help you turn your efforts into big bucks here are the 7 golden rules of how to market your saas solution:
Rule #1: Value is determined by others
So you’ve spent years developing your ground breaking solution and you’re sure it’s the best thing since sliced bread. You can’t even start to imagine how people used to do business before you came along.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No… It’s you… That’s a great state of mind and I totally encourage it.
That being said, there is a fine line between being valuable and being self-diluted.
A very fine line…
If you really want to understand how to market saas and become a top earner then your first step is to realize that your value is determined by others.
I’ve seen too many saas owners try to skip this step and do the research needed to understand how their product can give others value.
To be valuable you must understand what your customers value first.
Every market has different problems and needs and the more you understand how your product can solve these issues and showcase them, the more valuable you will become.
This is one of the most basic stepping stones of marketing and is highly important if you want to understand how to market saas and get lifetime clients easily.
A great example for this you can find in Homepage of WalkMe where much of the text is focused on answering to the customers’ criteria and values by explaining how this software will solve many of their issues such as: help desk costs, end user confusion and low conversion rates – 3 issues most websites and businesses face.
Rule #2: Talk about Your prospects… Not Yourself
A very often yet totally destructive phenomenon to any saas marketing venture is talking about yourself instead of focusing on your prospects.
Think of any marketing effort as you would a two people sit-down. Ever meet up with a person that incessantly talks about himself while disregarding you throughout the conversation? How long would it take before you start imagining horrific things happening to him in your mind’s eye?
As a rule of thumb, people mostly care about themselves and having their needs met, not about your service. If your service can cater to their business or personal needs, you will get their attention exactly the way liveperson did on their homepage
Rule #3: Benefits beat Features every single Time
On the heels of the previous rule, it makes sense that your prospects will be more interested in how your product can benefit them and not the twelve thousand features it might offer.
Features are important and can be implemented wonderfully but remember to make them apply to the beneficial factors of your product.
A nice combination between features and benefits is done by unbounce on their homepage
Rule #4: Focus on Emotions
B2B, B2C, Who cares… Humans are emotion driven and million dollar decisions are taken on that basis every single day. Check out any good influence resource and they’ll tell you exactly the same and after all selling is all about your ability to influence.
If you can’t touch base with your prospect’s emotions, you are going to hit a wall of resistance.
To understand how to market your saas solution and achieve the best results, find out what motivates your prospects emotionally and highlight it in your offers.
Check out the emotional feel of hubspot’s homepage
Rule #5: Fear is the king of all motivation:
Though rarely used, fear based marketing is by far the most powerful way to promote a product and convert prospects into clients.
If I told you to eat a banana every day because it has high levels of potassium that will keep you healthy, would you do it every single day?
Now say I tell you that studies have shown that people who work in high stress environments have a 75% increased chance of heart disease and that eating a banana a day decreases those chances by 60%.
Now would you consider munching on one daily?
Fear motivates, that’s simply a fact. If you can show your prospects that without your product they are in risk and can create the feeling of fear, then you will most probably stop fearing your financial reports.
Rule #6: Simple Always Wins
Complicated might make you feel smart, but in a skimming, information overload society your prospects will rarely have the time or power to understand what you’re saying.
This is the reason that simple will always win.
Remember that you are not getting graded by your 7th grade teacher on your writing abilities. You are marketing a saas product and want to get your message across to another human being who wants to understand the bottom line.
A great example can be found in the successful lead nurturing platform of Marketo’s Hompegae that amplifies simplicity
Rule #7: Test and Optimize Everything
There’s a wonderful saying in the world of business “What you can measure, you can manage”. Marketing is not a game of luck; it’s about optimizing and testing everything.
While shooting in the dark you might hit a target from time to time, switching the lights on and aiming first will mostly prove to be more effective.
It’s the same rules when working on how to market saas. Test, test and test some more and shed light on your results to aim better.
Have any more Tips On how to Market Saas You Think I missed? We want to hear them… Enter You comment Below and remember that sharing is caring!