90% of startups fail.
There can be many factors, but there is only one underlying cause.
They ran out of money.
One way to make sure your startup doesn’t fail is by employing correct marketing tactics that land you loyal customers without burning through your budget.
In this article, you’ll learn ten marketing tactics well-suited for early-stage SaaS startups.
Early-stage startups have a small team and a limited budget. You might not have enough to bet on all the horses. Even if you do, your efforts will be spread too thin to make a difference as your message drowns in the noise.
To maximize your marketing efforts, pick the channels that are best for your business.
“We made our product free, now we can’t even count our customers”, said no successful SaaS startup ever.
Although the idea of free sounds alluring and might even get you a few customers, becoming ‘product-first’ isn’t exactly a marketing strategy in itself. Here are a few reasons why free isn’t usually a marketing strategy.
Yes, a free version of your product or a free trial will do wonders as it will help your target audience understand the value you offer. However, removing the price tag entirely will not give you much marketing advantage.
A good product sells itself.
Having a product that is remarkably better than your competitors will put you at the top. Your customers will become your raving fans and will do the marketing for you.
Thought leadership gives a lot of exposure to your brand and establishes credibility within your niche.
Every interaction that you have with your customers should push them to complete the purchase. Therefore, you should treat and interpret every message your customer reads as an opportunity.
Email marketing, when done correctly, brings a lot to the table. Take a look.
Here is why you should do everything to keep your existing customers: Upselling to your existing customers is easier than finding new ones.
Retaining your customers increases their lifetime value (LTV). And your loyal customers are the best marketers you will ever have, spreading the good word about your products.
SEO is a long-term strategy with lots of gains. The best thing about SEO is that you can target newer audiences easily. Focussing on SEO will have lots of benefits in the long term for early-stage SaaS startups.
SEO will give you consistent organic traffic through the search for the keywords you target.
The more you invest in SEO the better the results get. You will gain more authority with time and rank higher.
Take a look at the following infographic to understand the marketing advantages of SEO.
Content is king. It gives a lot of value to your audience to educate them and help them solve their problems for free. Quality content will earn you a lot of leads and you can become a friendly helper in your prospects’ minds.
Keep an eye on the trends related to your vertical. See what your competitors are writing and focussing on. Spend some time on public forums where your customers discuss your product. You can get ideas for the next batch of your content.
Your competitor is an expert at marketing their product. Their methodology, from content marketing to emails is suited to give them the highest returns. Replicating your competitor’s marketing tactics won’t be best for your SaaS startup.
In many cases, it might backfire on you. Here are the common drawbacks you will encounter by copying your competitor’s marketing tactics.
With that being said, you can definitely learn content marketing lessons from your competitors’ campaigns.
Creating engaging content will always market your products better. Webinars and interviews with industry leaders are quality content that will give your early-stage startup a boost.
Webinars are a great way to generate leads. You will also get a chance to interact with your attendees and learn more about the industry. Not to mention, the process of promoting the webinar will teach you a lot about your target audience.
Interviews with industry leaders guarantee content that is actionable and correct. These pieces are not written or created by reading other blogs but by interacting with professionals with years of experience.
Both kinds of content will add to your brand value by providing value to your prospects, leads, and existing customers for literally free.
During the early stages of your SaaS startup, every resource is important. Every second and penny that you spend must contribute to taking your company forward.
However, it is easy to make mistakes if you are just starting out, operating with a small team, and don’t have much marketing experience.
The best solution for you would be to hire a marketing agency for your SaaS startup that will help you make the best possible moves.
Make sure to hire a specialized agency like Growfusely, which only works with SaaS companies, thus making them capable with enough experience to understand your pain points and tailor solutions accordingly.
We hope these marketing tactics help you reach your target audience and boost your startup’s growth.
Just one more thing.
We have helped many early-stage SaaS startups with their marketing.
Interested? Let’s talk!
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