The SaaS market is huge – it’s expected to reach $185.8 billion by 2024. With new cloud tools being launched all the time, SaaS providers need to focus as much on customer retention as customer acquisition.
Often a high volume, lower value sell, means SaaS companies can’t afford in-person sales and with almost all research done online, they need to make sure they’re seen in the right places at the right times (i.e. when prospects are researching which solution is best for them).
With a wide choice of solutions on offer, many of which have similar names, or abstract names that are hard to remember, prospects are confused. One of the first things your SaaS PR agency should do is establish your unique selling points and key messages – how do you add value to your customer, and how do you communicate this value? These messages should be used to position you as the expert in your sector via positive media coverage – after all, prospects want to work with the thought leaders, not the followers.
When your customers are ready to buy, they’ll be looking for case studies and independent customer reviews. They’ll also likely search for your brand online to see what the media and analysts have said about you in business profiles, product reviews or independent reports into your sector. Besides prospects, you also need to consider what your online profile looks like to potential investors: do you have a vision for the business? What’s the growth potential in your industry? Are you winning awards? All of this will affect their willingness to get on board during the next funding round.
Aligning PR with your sales funnel is a sensible move. It can be used at every stage: top-of-funnel awareness and credibility raising to help you secure funding, attract buyers and help your sales team close more deals; middle-of-funnel review and reputation management combined with PR-led SEO to help you make the prospect’s shortlist; bottom-of -funnel deal-closing PR including case studies and testimonials to convince prospects; and finally advocacy-focussed PR (particularly useful in license renewal season) to convince existing customers that you’re still setting the thought leadership agenda – critical to a recurring revenue business model.
Most software markets are incredibly saturated and it’s essential you have the right trust signals in place to convince prospects you’re the vendor for them. Build and maintain their trust with award wins, positive media coverage, customer reviews, expert blogs, whitepapers and explainer videos. Besides that, it’s important prospects see you in the right places online as well – that could be in the search engine results when they’re researching solutions to their latest business challenge, or in an article on the future of their industry they’re reading in an industry magazine on their commute.
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