Sometimes in life it’s best to learn from other people’s mistakes and not repeat them in your own. One of the great minds of all time Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” With the SaaS industry, there are too many obstacles in your way to ignore the sound and useful advice that comes your way to bring success. Below is the first of a series of top survival SaaS tips I have organized from reputable sources like Joel York exclusively for you here at SaasAddict.
TIP 1: LEVERAGE YOUR COMMUNITY AND ENGAGE IT
Every SaaS company would love to have an army of social media marketers tweeting and blogging without sleep like 24 hour news cable channels. But the reality is that most SaaS companies are limited in their budget and resources. So the trick is to be intelligent, creative, and pinpoint in your angle of attack in promoting your company’s product. The ability to create followers who can act like what Joel York describes as “free labor, honest labor, loyal labor, and viral labor” can produce excellent marketing results for your SaaS company–reducing your cost per acquisition costs.
TIP 2: CREATIVELY DRAW UP YOUR COMPANY’S STORY
Do consumers buy products or do they buy stories? An important question Seth Godin asks in his book All Marketers are Liars. For example, Apple’s done an amazing job of creating a story for their products like “1,000 songs in your pocket” that marketed the first generation iPOD. It is important to try to evoke emotion and confidence with people buying your SaaS product. You need to figure out a story or tagline that clearly explains your product to the common person. It’s a challenge but an important one—one that should be at the cornerstore of your online marketing strategy. The marketing options available online to engage people interactively are now unlimited. Use them and thrive!
TIP 3: THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANICALLY CREATED GROWTH
The structure of the SaaS business model is quite different from other more traditional business models. Most SaaS companies start as a push market model but later become a market pull model. A common theme for many SaaS companies in the beginning phases of its development is creating a market or awareness for their product’s need. Once that is established, then the pull of the market guides many of the SaaS company’s product development based upon the specific needs of the industry. The pressure to decrease average customer acquisition costs (CAC) are immense. Joel York asks his readers, “How can I get more prospects to find my product, evaluate my product and buy my product over the Web even if no one shows up for work in the morning?” The bottom line? Focus on the marketing techniques that will create organic growth—no outbound and sales calls! This is the right step to success for your SaaS company.