The ABCs of SaaS Marketing for Customer Engagement
SaaS companies face a difficult task: marketing an intangible product to customers who can only access the service on-screen. While you might be jazzed up about your SaaS software after months (or years) of development and can’t wait to share all of its amazing features with the world, take a moment to re-consider your marketing plan from the perspective of your customer. Viable customer engagement is a key component to the sales growth and profit margins you’ve been dreaming about. By using an effective SaaS inbound marketing strategy that prioritizes people over product, you’ll increase your marketing ROI by attracting customers that will stick with your software for the long-term.
Practice the ABCs of SaaS marketing to increase customer engagement for your inbound strategy:
Add Attention to Analytics
How your customers use your website and their interests are your first clue to effectively market your software. If you haven’t already, set up an analytics tool on your website, like Google Analytics, that helps you to track visitor behavior and provides metrics, this is your priority. Other places to analyze your customer behavior are on your social media channels and even competitor sites and social media. Pay attention to the demographics of your visitors, how they navigate your website, social media interactions, and what competitors receive the most traffic.
Then it’s time to incorporate the data you receive into your online marketing strategy. Think backward to get inside your customers’ heads. For example, if your FAQ page is getting a lot of traffic, you could conclude that your homepage and other content pages are lacking key information for a lead to consider your product and decide to make a purchase. As a result, your marketing team might incorporate some of the FAQs into new blog posts, update the content on other pages, and even make a link to the FAQ page itself more prominent on the homepage.
Build a Blossoming Bond
In the world of SaaS, you want customers that will make more than just a short-term purchase. You’re looking for those future promoters that will not only renew their plans from year-to-year but also will spread the word about all the benefits of your software. This starts with your SaaS marketing strategy to build a bond with your customers that keeps on giving. Although you might view your current web content as just a means to explain the features of your product, construct the external identity of your company through careful attention to your content voice and style.
Decide whether you will write from the mouth of a fun, but wise uncle, who makes using your software sound like a breeze, or a more technical teacher who helpfully explains all the ins and outs of your service. Even if you’re a B2B company, people like to buy from people and your marketing strategy plays a key role in creating the sense of trust that will spread the message of your service farther than any paid ad.
Craft Customer-Centered Content
When it comes to creating blog posts and offers for your SaaS marketing strategy, it’s important to know who your customers are. With your analytics tools, you know the statistics, but now it’s time to humanize the visitors to your site by looking at the bigger picture of their purchasing decisions. Start by crafting personas that take into account the factors of a key group of customers that influence their consideration of your product. By answering the question of why your service is attractive to each persona, you’ll be on the right track to create effective content that speaks to your customers.
Within your inbound marketing strategy, personas play an important role in planning your blog content. For each blog post you write, keep a specific persona in mind and write to them as your audience. This will ensure that you’re maximizing your ROI with each post and attracting the right type of visitor to your site that will convert into a customer in no time.
Design Driven by Data
Although you might have an eye for aesthetics, the design of your website should always be driven by data. Your metrics reflect the sitemap and layout of your website and as a result should be at the center of your strategy. In addition, the design of your marketing tools, such as email blasts or landing pages, plays a large role in their CTR. If you’re seeing disappointing stats, it might be time to reevaluate design elements like your form templates or call-to-action buttons that promote customer engagement.
Exude Unequivocal Expertise
When it comes to distinguishing your SaaS brand from your competitors, it’s all about convincing your customers that you are THE expert in your industry. Confidence is always attractive, so incorporating strong statements, industry knowledge, and success stories into your content marketing will attract and impress visitors to your website. Go through each page of your site and tweak your content to increase your company authority. Then mirror this attitude in your future SaaS marketing efforts to promote customer engagement with your service.
At any stage of your SaaS marketing strategy, how your customers interact with your company is integral to move your business forward. Lay the groundwork with these ABCs to create a culture of customer engagement that will increase your profits for years to come.
Originally published at www.growthlabs.marketing.
