Marketing is a stressful job, especially when you’re trying to create a strong SaaS marketing strategy. You have to worry about how your brand is perceived externally—and, with the constant pressure of stakeholders, you often need to worry about how your marketing team is perceived internally. Although marketing is one of the most important things you can invest in during a recession, stakeholders are often more critical of marketing in these times, so demonstrating your value and getting real results from your SaaS marketing strategy is more important than ever.
Luckily, as Databricks‘ Bryan Saftler reminded us on episode 1 of our new Best Story Wins podcast, there are three key ways that any marketer can improve their performance (and get valuable insights in the process).
How to Revamp Your SaaS Marketing Strategy
From culture marketing to collaboration, these tips will help you strengthen your strategy, connect with the right audience, and prove your value as a brand—and a marketer.
1) Participate in a new channel.
Marketing is all about getting your message in front of the right people, and to do that, you need to go where your audience is. There are more channels than ever before, and new ones are popping up all the time. You don’t have to incorporate every single channel into your SaaS marketing strategy, but experimenting with a new channel—or the ways you use existing channels—can give you unexpected results.
If you’re short on resources or time, look for ways to reuse existing content to experiment with a new channel. For example, you might turn a popular e-book into a webinar presentation, or live stream a Q&A with an in-house expert on YouTube. (Live-streaming is particularly great as it allows you to connect with your audience in real-time, creating a sense of urgency and authenticity that other channels can’t match.)
Tip: Don’t try to master every single channel. Instead, see our tips to choose channels that most align with your audience, and lighten the workload by asking your followers to create user-generated content for a different channel. It also helps to conduct a competitor audit to find out which channels your competitors are using. And remember that any new experiments should be measured and reported on. Use our guide to determine which metrics to track on your social channels.
2) Share behind the scenes of your company.
SaaS is a very competitive field, and one of the biggest ways to differentiate your brand is to showcase who you are and what you care about. One of the best ways to build a connection with your audience is to show them what goes on behind the scenes of your company. People are curious by nature, and they love to see how things work. By sharing behind-the-scenes content, you can give your audience a glimpse into your company’s culture, values, and processes—and humanize your brand in the process.
For example, you could create a video series that shows how your products are made, from concept to final production. Or you could share photos and stories from company events or volunteer activities. You could even create a blog or social media series that showcases the daily life of your employees.
By sharing behind-the-scenes content, you can build trust and credibility with your audience. They’ll see that you’re transparent and authentic, which will make them more likely to do business with you.
Tip: There are all sorts of ways to spotlight your culture. See our tips to master culture marketing, show off your culture on social media, and even turn your team into content creators themselves.
3) Find a new partner to collaborate with in the industry.
Collaboration is a powerful way to improve the success of your SaaS marketing strategy. By partnering with another company, publication, or thought-leader in your industry, you can tap into their expertise, resources, and audience to create something that’s greater than the sum of its parts.
When looking for a partner, think about companies that share your values and complement your strengths. You could partner with a company that provides a product or service that’s related to yours, or an influencer with a similar target audience. You might exchange guest posts, host a Q&A, co-host an event or webinar, or create a joint content series. By collaborating, you’ll not only create value for your existing audience but expand your audience too.
Tip: One of the best ways to increase your reach, tap into a new audience, and build credibility is to partner with an industry publication to co-create a piece of bespoke content on a relevant topic. Find out how to pitch publication-tailored content to the right people.
How to Create Ongoing Value
Of course, as a marketer, providing ongoing value is the key to success. If you want to continue to create value for your audience, differentiate yourself from your competitors, and build a strong reputation in your industry, here are a few more hacks to do it.
- Ask sales for pain points. The more you understand your customer (and the communication challenges your sales team faces), the better you can tailor your messaging to bridge that gap. Find out more about how marketing and sales can collaborate, use our free buyer journey template to ensure you’re delivering the right message at the right time, and try these tips to turn pain points into marketing.
- Master your email marketing. One of the best ways to increase conversions and nurture your audience is to build a relationship via email. See our tips to improve your email marketing and provide the most value possible every time you press send.
- Stay educated. The more you keep up on best practices and industry trends, the easier it is to adapt your content strategy. For weekly tips to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter. To hear marketing industry leaders share the tactics they use to win the hearts and minds of their customers, subscribe to our Best Story Wins podcast. And if you need tools and templates to get more things done, take a look at our resources library.
Of course, if you need support to improve the value you provide, see our tips for choosing the right agency, find out what it’s like to work with Column Five, or reach out directly. We know marketing isn’t easy, but we’d be happy to help make it easier—for you and your brand.
Want more great marketing tips? Watch Bryan’s full episode of Best Story Wins on YouTube.
Marketing can be an intense job, particularly when it comes to creating a powerful SaaS marketing strategy. In these difficult economic times, stakeholders are more critical of marketing than ever before, so it’s essential to demonstrate value and achieve actual results from your SaaS marketing plan. Fortunately, there are three key ways to enhance marketing performance and gain valuable insights in the process. The first involves experimenting with a new channel, such as live streaming on YouTube or repurposing an e-book into a webinar presentation. Secondly, by sharing behind-the-scenes content, you can create transparency, humanize your brand, and foster a stronger connection with your audience. Finally, collaboration with another company, influencer, or publication within the industry is a powerful way to create a joint content series, increase your reach, and build credibility. By delivering ongoing value through adapting your messaging, mastering email marketing, and staying informed on best practices and industry trends, you can differentiate yourself from competitors and establish a strong reputation in your field.