We’re always on the hunt for great examples of digital marketing for SaaS. But the truth is there isn’t a ton of content that makes us turn our heads. There are a few reasons for this.
- Tech companies rarely prioritize brand-building because they’re usually too focused on product, so their content tends to lack personality.
- Marketers are pressured to deliver results, so they don’t take risks on interesting or risky content.
- Marketers are so busy they focus on quantity over quality, filling their feeds with a lot of, well, just OK content.
These problems are actually great news for anybody doing digital marketing for SaaS. Why? Because a little extra effort can help you majorly outshine your competition’s content—if you put creativity first. In fact, to show you exactly what that looks like, we took a deep dive into 75+ top SaaS brands to find some A+ examples of SaaS marketing that will inspire you (and maybe make you jealous).
25 Great Examples of Digital Marketing for SaaS
From explainer videos to Instagram posts, we’ve curated this roundup of examples to show you what great brand content looks like in the SaaS space. While each piece is unique, they are all interesting, distinctive, and clever pieces that should inspire you to level up your game, no matter how big or small your department is.
1) Divvy’s Instagram Tips
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If you want to keep your audience engaged, you need to create content that provides value. This doesn’t always require the heavy lift of an ebook or interactive guide. Small, snackable content can provide just as much value, as this tip series from Divvy shows. We love that each tip is both useful (in words) and engaging (in visuals). It’s the best of both worlds, contained in one neat little package.
Tip: Find out how microcontent can help you maximize your content on social platforms.
2) Dropbox’s Explainer Video
Digital marketing for SaaS doesn’t only include the customers you’re trying to attract; potential employees are also an important demographic, and the better you market your employer brand, the easier it is to hire the right people. Hence, Dropbox created this inspiring explainer video to show employees what it means to work at Dropbox. The clean, colorful visuals and seamless animation bring that story to life much more effectively than a standard mission statement might.
Tip: See our employer branding toolkit for more ideas to connect with potential candidates in meaningful ways.
3) Zendesk’s Product Demo
Game-ification is a fantastic way to get—and keep—people’s interest, and interactivity is an excellent tool to do this. Zendesk continues to slay the branding game with a fun and interactive product demo that guides you through the customer service platform as you resolve a fictitious customer complaint. It combines storytelling and interactivity, showcasing the product features and ending with a neatly resolved ticket. It’s a stellar example of brand storytelling that puts the user at the center of the story.
Tip: Try these tips to come up with great interactive ideas that engage your audience.
4) Atlassian’s Quizzes
Atlassian’s platform makes it easy for teams to work together. As such, the brand creates a variety of content to help users improve their work life, personally and professionally. We especially like their roundup of interactive quizzes (e.g., What Productivity Hack Is Best For You?) as a great example of how Atlassian helps its audience work better. After answering a few short questions, each quiz provides a bevy of helpful information to put your result to work for you. This is a low lift and fun way to demonstrate empathy and expertise to their audience.
Tip: For more great content marketing inspiration, see our roundup of 100+ interactive examples.
5) Crowdstrike’s Case Studies
We love a good case study, especially when it tells a story. But Crowdstrike takes the cake with a video case study that has a crime thriller spin. What happens when the city of Las Vegas faces a major data breach? Let’s just say the story feels high-stakes and exciting, which is not the way we’d usually describe a tech case study. (Watch for yourself just to hear one heck of an opening line.)
Tip: If you want to create equally compelling video case studies, see our tips to write a script that tells a strong story.
6) DataDog’s Culture Marketing
We love a brand with a strong identity, from the brand name to the brand colors. And we especially love when brands add a dash of personality to their content, whether it’s their Instagram feed or their navigation labels. That’s why we have to give special mention to DataDog’s Pup Culture series, where they showcase employees, office news, and fun things they’re up to. The name is the perfect pun and a clever and creative way to peel back the curtain on their everyday happenings.
Tip: Infusing your content with your personality is one of the best ways to differentiate yourself. Take a look at your CTAs, ads, etc. to look for more opportunities to spice things up.
7) VideoAmp’s Website Animation
Brand storytelling is not only relegated to expert thought leadership or fun content on social. Visual storytelling is a huge component, and it can be applied in a variety of ways to enhance the user’s brand experience. That’s why we love the animation on VideoAmp’s website. From abstract data visualizations (which reinforce VideoAmp’s data-based value proposition) to their metaphorical moving icons, it’s a subtle way to add a layer of brand storytelling without using more words.
Tip: Find out more about how visual storytelling can enhance your content.
8) Spline’s Explainer
Spline is a 3D design tool, so it’s no surprise that their explainer video demonstrates the tool with a story that seamlessly transitions from 2D to 3D. Although we know it’s coming, the actual transition is smoother than peanut butter, creating an exciting turning point in the story that gets you excited about the product.
Tip: Brand videos can be incredibly effective, but they require more moving parts to produce successfully. See our guide to brand video to make sure you’re working as effectively as possible.
9) Mozilla’s Community Stories
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Empathy is one of the most powerful ways to connect with an audience, and Mozilla understands that not every user has a positive experience with tech. In this beautiful 3D animation, Mozilla animates a personal story to spread awareness, give users a voice, and strengthen their community.
Tip: Look for more opportunities to demonstrate empathy in your marketing, and see how other brands have done it successfully.
10) Shopify’s Culture Marketing
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Not all brand marketing has to be high production. A simple filmed-on-your-phone video can still be entertaining. We particularly love this version of low-budget brand marketing, in which a Shopify employee quizzes other employees about the brand. It’s a fun and silly way to learn fun facts about the company and meet the real people behind Shopify.
Tip: For more ideas to show off your brand’s culture, see these tips to come up with culture content for social.
11) Homerun’s Hiring Guide
Plenty of brands create thought leadership, ebooks, guides, etc. But while the content may be stellar, the presentation is often dull and dry. That’s why we like how Homerun presents online guides. Fun colors and illustrations make this interactive guide feel less like a heavy piece of thought leadership and more like a fun school textbook—a great way to enhance the reader’s brand experience.
Tip: If you want your content to capture people’s attention, see our tips to create a visual identity that stands out.
12) Spotify’s Anchor Promo
Video is a visual medium that allows for so much creativity, yet so many explainers follow the same basic format. For this spot, we love the mixed media, as well as the use of bold colors. This approach adds life and vibrancy to the story without overpowering it.
Tip: Explainer videos are their own art, so find out more about the keys to a good explainer.
13) Mailchimp’s Guess Less Video Series
We love a campaign with a simple story, and that is exactly what this Mailchimp campaign delivers. This series features a variety of quirky vignettes that combine intrigue and absurdity yet reinforce that Mailchimp takes the guesswork out of email marketing. Whether or not you find them funny, they are absolutely unique and distinctive—a standout in SaaS.
Tip: Digital marketing for SaaS doesn’t have to be boring—no matter what you’re selling. Get inspired by more examples of seemingly boring brands that produce interesting and entertaining content.
14) Salesforce’s Trailblazer Series
Peeling back the curtain and showing off the people behind your brand is a great way to foster human connection. Salesforce does this well with the Trailblazer series, which features interviews with employees about how they came to work at Salesforce, as well as the exciting things they’re working on. We especially like that the prompts allow employees to be as honest and vulnerable as they want to be.
Tip: Find out how to build an employer brand strategy that will help you attract—and keep—the best talent with this type of smart culture marketing.
15) Airbnb’s Our Word Video
It’s no secret that we have a thing for 3D, but how can you want anything more once you see a spot like this? The scenery, the transitions, and the movement is so detailed you could rewatch three times and notice something new each time. (And, yeah, that’s what we did.)
Tip: Video offers endless opportunities to be creative. See our roundup of great SaaS videos for more inspiration.
16) Hubspot’s Academy
When it comes to helping their audience improve their marketing knowledge and skills, Hubspot is a beast. We honestly can’t pinpoint one piece of content alone because they have so many. We’re especially big fans of their guides and templates—massively helpful resources about a variety of topics (both broad and niche) that help people do their jobs better.
Tip: If you want another handy roundup of free guides and templates for all things marketing, see our Resources center.
17) Asana’s Micro Case Studies
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Showing how your brand benefits customers is always a great way to reinforce your value prop, and it doesn’t always have to be through an in-depth case study. These two-slide case studies on Instagram effectively show how real-life brands have put Asana to work—with real results.
Tip: Look for opportunities to weave case studies into your content strategy in a variety of ways. For example, we have traditional case studies on our site, as well as deep dives on our blog—including case studies about our own brand.)
18) Monday.com’s Sales Tales Video
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Culture marketing is super important to connect with both potential employees and current customers. (All sorts of people want to know what it’s like behind the scenes of your company.) But culture marketing can also feel corny and generic. We love how Monday.com showcases employees via their Sales Tales series on Instagram, in which team members dispel common myths about their department and talk about what it’s really like. It’s a fun format that is interesting, engaging, and easy to produce.
Tip: To brainstorm creative ways to show off your team’s expertise, see our tips to turn your coworkers into content creators.
19) Unbabel’s STFU Campaign
Unbabel is building a Language Operations platform that helps every team across a company easily interact with customers in any language. To grab attention, they launched the STFU campaign to encourage people to “Start Translating Fearlessly with Unbabel.” With this bold phrase, they were able to communicate the key benefits of Unbabel while engaging the audience in an entertaining and non-traditional way, including a hero video, eBook, Unbabel It interactive game, and more. We love well-executed edginess, and they executed it perfectly.
Tip: Find out how to run successful campaigns that entice audiences across platforms.
20) Mozilla’s Why Mozilla Explainer
We see plenty of motion graphics in SaaS digital marketing, but they tend to follow the same generic template. This Mozilla piece combines storytelling and cinematic animation to maximize the emotional experience in a creative way. From the scenery, to the music, to the VO, it makes you pause and pay attention—as the best videos do.
Tip: For more inspiration, see our roundup of 50 explainer videos that tell a great story.
21) Keap’s Social Quiz
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Strong visuals will always stand out in a feed, and Keep’s Lego-inspired character cards definitely grab attention. Used to promote their Which Entrepreneurial Superhero Are You? quiz, the characters are a great way to pique interest, show off the brand’s personality, and entice people to take the quiz.
Tip: It’s increasingly harder to stand out in a crowd, so clever creative treatments are an eye-catching way to “stop the scroll.” See more tips for ways to tell stories your competition can’t.
22) Databricks’ Data Brew Podcast
More and more brands are embracing the power of the podcast, and Databricks is no exception. The podcast explores various topics in the data and AI community, including expert interviews with those working in data engineering and data science. It’s a great premise to share ideas and create stronger bonds in the industry.
Tip: Podcasts are here to stay, so if you’re looking to start one of your own, know what mistakes to avoid.
23) Hotjar’s History of Heatmaps Graphics
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As you might have noticed, we love helpful info on the go. Hotjar’s simple educational carousel about the history of heatmaps is the perfect way to educate their audience without asking them to read a full article. (Even better, content like this can be used to promote a larger piece of content.) Whether it’s a simple infographic or condensed carousel, think of ways you can offer more value to your audience with less effort.
Tip: Find out how to maximize your workflow with a divisible content strategy that lets you generate multiple pieces of content from a single piece.
24) Intuit’s Interactive Marketing Quiz
You don’t always need to dazzle your audience with a fancy piece of content marketing. A simple practical tool can be a fantastic way to market your brand, too. That’s exactly why Intuit’s Interactive Marketing Quiz works so well. Made specifically for accountants, the 2-Minute Marketing Plan Machine is an interactive quiz that assesses the state of an accountant’s current marketing efforts and generates a marketing plan customized for their needs. Tools like this are a smart way to provide value and become a go-to resource for an audience.
Tip: Tools, tips, and templates are also a great way to cut your work in half. See our roundup of 100+ content marketing resources to make your life easier.
25) Duolingo’s TikTok
There’s always a learning curve when brands embrace a new social platform, but nobody on TikTok has done it better than Duolingo. (Their almost 5 million followers are proof.) Duo the owl mascot hops on every trend, often adding a hilarious and edgy spin. (Does Duo sell feet pics on the Internet? Yeah.) If you want to get a master course in comedic marketing, Duolingo is it.
Tip: There is plenty of pressure to keep up, but you don’t need to try to master every social channel. See our guide to figure out what social channels to prioritize.
How to Create More Interesting SaaS Digital Marketing
We hope these brands have inspired you to flex some creative muscles and push the boundaries of what you can do in your SaaS marketing. If you want to build a successful content strategy, take a few tips from the brands we’ve featured today and make sure you have three core things nailed down.
- Cultivate a strong brand identity. Knowing who you are (and aren’t!) is the key to creating unique, interesting, brand-specific content. If you haven’t properly gone through an exercise to document your brand traits, start with our brand strategy toolkit, which will guide you through your heart, messaging, and visual identity. This ensures every piece of content you create reflects your brand in look, voice, and personality.
- Practice good storytelling. See our guide to understand the core principles of good brand storytelling, and use these prompts to come up with fresh story ideas.
- Choose the right format for the channel. As we’ve showcased here, there are more ways to connect with people than ever before. From ebooks and infographics to videos and blogs, you need to choose the right medium for the story you’re telling. See our guide to content formats to find out what type of content you should be creating.
And if you need any help finding the right experts to help you come up with the right stories, see our tips to find the right partner for your agency, find out how to work together productively, and feel free to start your search with us. Take a look at our content strategy FAQs, or reach out directly. We’d love to help you create content that ends up in our next inspiration roundup.
I really appreciate your work. the whole point very easy to understand.
Happy to help!