SaaS Marketing: The Top Strategies to Grow Your Business

June 9, 2022
0 minute read

You’ve spent a lot of your time building a great SaaS that solves your ideal customer's problems achieving the first path to success. But regardless of how good your solution is, you can’t scale your business without an effective digital marketing strategy. With so much competition in every SaaS industry, you need to know how to stand out from the crowd in order to build brand awareness, get leads, and convert.

This article will walk you through everything you need to know: the process of SaaS marketing and insights on effective marketing campaigns, strategies, tracking your progress, and more.

Let’s dive in.

What is SaaS marketing?

SaaS marketing (software as a service marketing) is a type of marketing focused on strategically promoting and acquiring leads for subscription-based SaaS solutions. Since the SaaS business model differs in several ways from other business models, it follows that its marketing calls for a distinct approach compared to traditional ones.

How is it different?

Market a SaaS is different due to the following reasons:


  • Type of product
    : The “product” is a software solution with a range of different features, some of which are complex. It’s trickier to demonstrate value here compared to, say, a physical product like a pair of wireless earbuds or a safety system for securing a company’s premises. 
  • Shorter sale cycle: From the point of initial discussions with prospective customers to closing the sale, SaaS solutions have a shorter sales cycle compared to other products that require significant expenditures at the outset. You’ll also need to account for the fact that ongoing marketing to current customers is essential for minimizing churn.
  • Pricing model: The pricing model of SaaS is subscription-based and needs to account for different customer personas, which often results in a tiered model where various features are only available by paying for higher tiers.

The top SaaS Marketing strategies

Essentials before getting started

A group of people are surrounded by a screen that says

Before diving into specific marketing tactics to help you excel in your niche (we’ll get there soon, don’t worry), it’s worth running through what you need to know and do before getting started. 

  • What are your goals?: You need to set concrete and measurable goals for your marketing efforts; consider using the classic SMART framework to help you out here. 
  • What is your ideal customer persona?: Get very clear on the types of ideal customers your solution best suits, including what motivates them, what problems keep them awake at night, and how you can effectively reach out to them (i.e. where are they hanging out online?)
  • What is your budget?: Be specific about the amount of money you have available and are willing to spend in order to achieve your objectives. 
  • What are your website design needs?: Make sure you have a well-designed SaaS website with sufficient attention to detail on the logo (opt for in-trend logos), branding, site speed, clear calls-to-action, and, of course, high-quality videos or screenshots of your software.

1. Generating leads and traffic

A logo in Google colors is displayed on  a computer screen

Your website is one of your most important marketing assets for lead generation. It’s the place where you’re able to best show off SaaS solution’s features and value to potential leads, the first challenge is to establish authority in your domain, bring traffic to your site, and get solid leads from this traffic. Here’s how you can do that.

Content marketing strategy

You’ve probably heard the phrase that content is king, however, when it comes to a SaaS, variety is the new kind. To get traffic to your site, establish authority, and demonstrate your SaaS product’s use cases, it’s best to leverage a variety of content types.

Not everyone wants to sit down and read case studies or blog posts, incorporate webinars, listen to podcasts, or analyze infographics too. For content that requires a bit of extra time and needs significant investment to create, you should consider making these assets gated so that interested customers provide contact info in return for accessing it.

You shouldn’t neglect your existing customers either — build up a veritable resource library of Q&As, how-tos, and other helpful content. This kind of content will help reduce the churn rate.


SEO strategy

 display of a website for speed running shoes

While SEO somewhat goes hand-in-hand with a content marketing plan, good SEO results just from hitting the Publish button on your content are not really likely. Effective optimization of your web pages and content to appear prominently in search engines is part science and part art. The stats show that landing the number one slot on Google for a particular keyword wins you 39.6% of the traffic searching that phrase while landing in second position nets you 18.4%.

Make sure your SEO strategy covers the technical details that make it easier for search engines to crawl your site. Good on-page optimizations (title tags, headings, etc) that convey the intent of the page, and off-site link-building activities, will help signify to search engines the value of your content.


Related:

Webinar Insights | Startup Your SEO For SaaS

Your SEO checklist

Email marketing strategy

Your marketing team has gone through all the trouble of attracting traffic to your site and getting leads interested enough to provide their email address. Now it’s time to unleash the power of email marketing. To achieve the best results, segmentation is vital to provide the right messages to audiences who are at varying stages of the sales cycle. 

For current customers, perhaps speak to some of their wins from using your solution (for example, Grammarly congratulates its existing customers on the number of words written during given timeframes). It’s great for customer retention and customer success. For prospects who are inactive or in the middle of a trial, keep speaking to their pain points in your email campaigns and help them understand your solution better.


PPC strategy

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is another way to generate leads and traffic. However, be aware that it requires careful execution to see results without significantly eating into your marketing budget. Paid search results on Google are one option, but you should also look beyond Google into paid ads on other platforms your target customers might hang out on, like Reddit, Facebook, or LinkedIn. To execute a PPC plan, create lots of variations of ad copy and monitor your metrics closely to determine what resonates and gets clicks.

Social media strategy

For SaaS businesses, social media can be a good way to reach your buyer persona. The important part is to choose your marketing channels wisely. If you are a b2b SaaS company, such as Hubspot for example, you want to reach decision-makers and a professional demographic, and to do so, social media channels like LinkedIn can be very useful, whereas TikTok probably isn’t. Social media is also great at the top of the marketing funnel, to help with brand awareness.


2. Marketing Your Product

Once you get traffic and leads, there are many levers to play with in order to effectively turn these prospects into paying customers. The delicate balance to get right with SaaS is that you also need to market to people who’ve already subscribed. Your product marketing strategy should help you get more inbound marketing leads and keep them.

Offer a trial or freemium

In order to entice people to find out how your solution works, a free trial or freemium model is pretty much mandatory. This contrasts with marketing approaches for traditional goods or services in which offering things for free is the exception rather than the norm. If you don’t offer a trial or freemium option, your competitors will, meaning you’re almost guaranteed to lose potential customers if you don’t adopt this strategy.

If you offer a trial, make sure to have an onboarding process that helps the user navigate your software and its value proposition so that once the trial is over, they want to subscribe.


Be clear on pricing

Paying on a subscription basis for SaaS makes clarity incredibly important in your marketing. Customers need to know exactly what they get for the subscription fee they pay. If you use a tiered model, precisely outline what features and benefits your solution includes in each tier. You’ll also want to be minimalistic with how many pricing tiers you have, otherwise, you risk overwhelming prospects with too many choices. 

Sometimes it’s tempting to focus more on getting people interested in your solution before revealing the price, but if people don’t get transparency on what your service costs from the outset, they’ll look elsewhere. 


Use testimonials and reviews

When people look online to make purchases, reviews play a huge role in their decisions. This is as true for SaaS solutions as it is for a fancy $300 toothbrush. In fact, 84 percent of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. 

Use this trust to your advantage in your SaaS marketing plan by placing customer testimonials on your site’s landing pages. Also, don’t forget to sign up to as many third-party SaaS review platforms as possible. Examples include G2crowd, Capterra, and SaaSGenius. You can also feature some of your best partnerships, awards, or customers (with their blessing of course).


Referral marketing

Referral marketing is a powerful tactic in SaaS both for reducing customer acquisition costs and increasing loyalty among existing customers. A referral program works by rewarding existing subscribers when they refer somebody else to sign up for your solution. Rewards could include discounts or free access to premium features at higher pricing tiers.

Reduce conversion barriers

Two major barriers to conversions in SaaS are calls to action that aren’t prominent or distinguishable and sign-up forms that are overly long. Focus on both the design of your CTA buttons (ensuring it stands out on the page) in addition to the microcopy (the label telling customers what to do). 

Even the most interested customers will regard a lengthy sign-up form as an obstacle. Try to take a minimalistic approach and only ask your potential customers for the absolute necessary details when signing up. You can always ask for optional details at a later point. 

Another way to reduce barriers could be to simplify the product, for example, offering templates for marketing agencies, or making sure a common pain point for new customers is taken care of. 

Vertical SaaS value

Vertical SaaS marketing somewhat differs in that you’re trying to market to customers in a specific industry. You need to figure out ways to provide these customers with additional value. 


One option that often doesn’t require industry-specific insight is to bundle a well-designed website with your vertical SaaS solution. A commonality across many different industries is that small businesses within them lack an online presence. Including a feature allowing them to create their digital presence will immediately strike leads as something incredibly valuable to their success, no matter your vertical. To learn more, read about
how vertical SaaS providers amplify customer value with websites, and if you’re looking for a specific example, read about fueling growth In hospitality SaaS by selling websites.

3. Tracking your SaaS Marketing Progress

Two graphs showing churn and conversions on a blue background

Getting in place a good mix of tactics is all well and good, but how do you track your SaaS marketing progress? Here are some key metrics to concentrate on. 


PS: remember that it can be helpful to not only compare these metrics over time but also use industry benchmarks to see where you stand. 

Traffic

Traffic is an easy metric to track, but it’s not so simple to track it in a way that’s meaningful. Instead of just loading up Google Analytics and viewing total traffic volume, go more granular. Look at returning users, unique visitors, organic traffic, and paid traffic metrics because each distinct measure provides insight into the performance of different facets of your marketing strategy. 

Conversions

If the purpose of marketing is to reach a target audience and communicate the benefits of your solution, then conversions provide an excellent measure of how successful your marketing efforts are. Conversions are simply the percentage of website visitors taking a desired action. 

Google Analytics is once again your friend for setting up conversions. Make sure you track conversions at different levels of the sales funnel and different attribution. Poor conversion rates at different stages indicate a need to tweak what you’re doing.


Churn

Minimizing the rate at which customers cancel their paid subscriptions is critical to SaaS success. Acquiring new customers is far costlier than retaining existing customers. High levels of churn indicate you’re not doing a good enough job at marketing to existing subscribers. Potential marketing tweaks motivated by high churn rates include publishing more helpful content about your solution, communicating regularly about new features or updates, and rewarding existing customers through referral programs or other methods. 

Another tactic to reduce churn is by implementing added-value functionalities into your product. For example, Appfolio, a property management SaaS company was able to reduce its churn rate by 4.8% by partnering with Duda website building platform, providing property managers with websites along with their property management software. 


CLV:CAC Ratio

The customer acquisition cost (CAC) measures how much it costs you to win one paying subscriber across your marketing and sales activities in a given period. On its own, this metric is not spectacularly valuable, but when compared with your customer lifetime value (CLV) it becomes more useful in terms of marketing insights. 

CLV (or LTV) measures how much a single customer is worth to your business. When comparing the ratio of CLV to CAC, you get a singular indicator of the viability of your current marketing strategies. If the ratio is something close to parity (1:1), there is clearly something wrong because acquiring each customer is costing about the same amount of money as the revenue they generate for you in their lifetime. 


Lead Velocity Rate

Lead velocity rate (LVR) is the month-to-month growth in the number of qualified leads you generate. Ideally, your marketing efforts should result in a growing pool of qualified leads. Tracking this metric allows for swiftly adjusting your tactics rather than depending on future revenue metrics months down the line to spot lead gen issues. 


Related:
 

Top SaaS Metrics To Consider
Top 5 Ways To Improve Your SaaS Customer Experience

Putting it all together

Bringing a SaaS to market calls for appreciating the uniqueness of the business model, attracting a sizable and sustainable number of users, marketing your solution in an effective way and then tracking progress to refine tactics. Putting all of this together will create a formidable marketing strategy that should provide a solid groundwork and thereby enable growth.


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A computer screen with a graph on it and a purple background.
By Santi Clarke April 24, 2025
Learn how platform ecosystems drive revenue and why they are essential for the growth of SaaS businesses.
By Santi Clarke April 24, 2025
One of the greatest challenges for SaaS platforms is keeping users engaged long-term. The term “stickiness” refers to a product's ability to retain users and make them want to return. In the context of SaaS platforms, creating a sticky product means that users consistently find value, experience seamless interactions, and continue using the product over time. The following are 7 practical strategies you can take to improve the stickiness of your SaaS solution. 1. Offer websites that help customers build their digital presence One of the most effective ways to make your SaaS platform sticky is by offering websites to your users. Many businesses today need an online presence, and by providing a platform where your customers can easily build and manage their websites, you increase their reliance on your product. When you offer users a website-building solution, you’re helping them create something foundational to their business. Websites, in this case, aren’t just a tool—they become a part of their identity and brand. This deepens their engagement with your platform, as they need your product to maintain and update their site, ultimately making them less likely to churn. Plus, websites naturally encourage frequent updates, content creation, and customer interactions, which means your users will return to your platform regularly. When you can give your users the tools to create something so essential to their business, you make them more dependent on your platform. This creates a higher barrier to exit, as migrating a fully built website to another service is no small task. In fact, websites are some of the stickiest products you can sell, so adding them to your product portfolio can be one of the best decisions you can to keep your customers using your technology for the long haul. 2. Deliver continuous value through product innovation The key to keeping users coming back to your SaaS platform is ensuring that they consistently see value in it. This means not only meeting their immediate needs but also evolving to address their growing demands. Constant product innovation is essential for keeping your users satisfied and invested in your platform. One way to achieve this is through regular updates that add new features or improvements based on user feedback. A SaaS platform that evolves with its users will keep them engaged longer, making it harder for competitors to steal their attention. Encourage user feedback and prioritize updates that create tangible improvements. This creates an ongoing relationship with your users, which boosts stickiness. 3. Offer a multi-product solution Another powerful way to increase your platform’s stickiness is by offering a suite of products or features that integrate well together. When your users adopt multiple products, they are more likely to stay because they become embedded in your ecosystem. The benefits of this strategy are clear. Research shows that once users adopt more than one product, especially when they integrate >4 tools into their workflow, their likelihood of churn decreases significantly. This happens because the more a user integrates into your suite of products, the harder it is for them to switch to a competitor. These users have invested time in learning your ecosystem and rely on it for their day-to-day operations, making it much harder for them to make the switch. 4. Create a personal connection with your users Human connection is one of the most powerful drivers of user retention. People don’t want to feel like they’re using a cold, faceless platform. By offering exceptional customer support, personalized communication, and community engagement, you build a relationship with your users that goes beyond the product itself. Make sure your support team is responsive, knowledgeable, and empathetic. You can also consider offering tailored onboarding experiences to ensure users understand how to make the most of your platform. When users feel like their success matters to you, they are more likely to remain loyal. 5. Leverage data to personalize the user experience Using data to drive personalization is another strategy that can significantly increase the stickiness of your platform. By tracking user behavior and usage patterns, you can tailor the experience to each individual user’s needs. This could mean recommending features they haven’t yet explored or sending them reminders about tools they may not be fully utilizing. Personalization gives users the feeling that the platform was designed specifically for them, making it harder to walk away from. By demonstrating that you understand their unique needs, you can build a stronger connection and ultimately increase retention rates. 6. Focus on seamless integrations and API capabilities To further increase stickiness, consider expanding your product’s ability to integrate with other tools your users already rely on. Whether it’s email marketing software, CRM systems, or social media management tools, seamless integrations add tremendous value by making it easier for users to incorporate your platform into their existing workflows. The more your product can work in tandem with other popular tools, the more indispensable it becomes. In fact, users who depend on integrations are less likely to churn since their entire ecosystem is tied to your platform’s functionality. 7. Encourage user advocacy and community building User advocacy is another powerful tool in building a sticky product. When users feel a sense of community or even ownership over the platform, they become your most passionate promoters. Encourage your users to share their success stories, join community forums, or contribute to product development through beta testing or feedback loops. A thriving user community not only increases user engagement but also creates a sense of loyalty. When users are part of something larger than themselves, they are more likely to remain committed to your platform, reducing churn and increasing lifetime value. Create deep, lasting customer relationships Making your SaaS platform sticky is all about creating a deep, lasting connection with your users. This requires building a platform that continuously delivers value, creating a seamless and personalized experience, and integrating features that keep users coming back. By focusing on product innovation, offering a multi-product ecosystem, and fostering strong user relationships, you’ll be well on your way to reducing churn and boosting user retention. Stickiness isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s essential for long-term success. Focus on creating a platform that users can’t imagine living without, and you’ll see them stick around for the long haul.
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