Developing a marketing strategy has become more important in recent years as the number of SaaS product (Software as a Service) users has steadily increased and more and more SaaS companies have launched. Your SaaS business has more competition than ever.
If you want to stand out, expand your user base, and increase your profits, you need to develop a fool-proof marketing strategy, and the best way to do that is by hiring an experienced SaaS marketing consultant.
Read on to learn more about SaaS marketing and taking your business global.
What Is a SaaS Business?
Software as a Service is considered part of cloud computing; SaaS companies license and deliver centrally hosted software on a subscription basis.
Instead of buying the software outright and installing it onto their computers, users pay a subscription fee in order to access the software, usually via a web browser or app.
Many business applications are now using a SaaS model such as project managing software, office software, messaging software, productivity software, customer relationship management software (CRM), enterprise resource planning software (ERP), and accounting and invoicing software.
Examples of SaaS companies include Salesforce, Slack, and Dropbox.
Marketing Strategies for Your SaaS Business
Selling access to software on a subscription basis requires different marketing strategies than selling a one-off software product.
Encouraging customers to part with a significant sum of money to purchase a product outright is one thing, but convincing people that a service is so valuable they should regularly pay to use it comes with its own challenges.
This is why many SaaS companies choose to hire a SaaS marketing consultant or work with experienced SaaS marketing agencies.
Some popular marketing techniques SaaS companies employ include:
Free Product Trials
These days free trials are standard for most SaaS companies and customers expect to be able to try a service before they commit.
However, in order to retain customers beyond the trial period, you must ensure they have a positive experience when trying the software.
Offering onboarding support in the form of webinars or interactive user guides will help users make the most of your product’s features.
Co-marketing
Some SaaS businesses that offer complementary services collaborate in order to reach a new audience.
Collaborations can take many forms such as producing a piece of shared digital content or offering a discount for subscribing to both services at once.
Content Marketing
Creating and sharing online material such as blogs, social media posts, videos, or podcasts has become an increasingly popular way for SaaS businesses to market their services.
One of the benefits of this type of marketing is that it continues to drive leads, unlike other forms of advertising that only reach potential clients while you continue to pay for it.
Market surveys can help you refine your online material, and you might consider survey translations to reach foreign markets.
Your content marketing becomes valuable when you use SEO (search engine optimization) techniques to make it discoverable on search engines such as Google and Bing.
SEO techniques include keywords, internal and external linking, and meta titles and descriptions.
More SaaS Marketing Techniques
Other popular SaaS marketing techniques include:
- Referral marketing
- Google Ads
- Email marketing
- Pay-per-click ads
- Social media campaigns
Whichever techniques your SaaS marketing team adopts, it’s crucial that you monitor your conversion rates.
Once you know which strategies lead to the highest conversion rates, the can fine-tune your marketing strategy.
Going Global
One of the best ways to increase the number of people using your service is to make it available to customers in different countries.
But where do you start with this endeavor?
Translate and Localize Your Software
By only producing your software in one language, you are greatly limiting your client base and consequently, your profits.
Users are unlikely to feel comfortable using software that’s not in their native language, even if they speak English as a second language.
If they don’t feel comfortable with the product, they won’t part with their cash.
By contracting a professional translation service, you can make your software available to millions more users.
It’s highly recommendable to work with translators and localizers who are experienced at adapting software for international markets.
These professionals will adapt your product in such a way that non-English speaking user won’t just understand the product but will also feel as comfortable using it as English-speakers do.
Include Translation in Your SaaS Marketing Strategy
There is no point in investing in multilingual software if you’re not going to market it to international audiences.
Work with your SaaS marketing consultant and your SaaS translation service to develop a global marketing strategy.
For instance, any content marketing you produce, such as blogs or videos, should be translated into the relevant languages and optimized for the relevant search engines.
Working with a translation agency that specializes in SEO translation will guarantee your content is discoverable on the search engines used by the corresponding country.
SEO translators don’t directly translate English keywords, they know which words natives would use.
They are also aware of how the relevant search engine’s algorithm works.
The Takeaway
Growing your SaaS company requires the use of marketing strategies that are tailored for this business model.
Working with a SaaS marketing consultant and adopting techniques such as free trial periods, content marketing, and co-marketing will vastly improve your chances of increasing your client base.
However, if you plan to take your software global, you will need the services of a reliable SaaS translation service.
SaaS is a significant niche for BeTranslated; at our translation agency, we help SaaS marking departments reach global audiences on a daily basis by professionally translating their web content, blog posts, white papers, and marketing collateral into a wide range of languages including French, Russian, Italian, Dutch, and German.
For more information about our SaaS translation services or a free, no-obligation quote, contact us today.
