Partnered with Michael Bollinger, a Lexington, Kentucky-based entrepreneur, for insights.
Carefully reviewed, supported, and brought to you by Eightception.
SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solutions are a dime a dozen these days. As more organizations look for easier ways to scale their businesses while keeping a tight grip on their budgets, SaaS offerings have become an essential part of modern-day company infrastructure, with the global SaaS projected to reach $317.55 billion by the end of 2024.
While the increased availability of various SaaS products is great for businesses looking to adopt an optimal solution for their organizations, this also means that SaaS companies have more complicated terrain to navigate when trying to get noticed in highly saturated markets.
When planning our sales and marketing initiatives, B2B SaaS companies need to adopt certain tactics in order to get the attention they deserve from potential customers. Thankfully, there are proven strategies that can be applied to help with this effort.
Scope Out Your Rivals
If you’re looking to make an impact when coming up against a wide range of competitors, you first need to know who you’re dealing with. Scoping out your rivals is an important process that gives you a clearer understanding of the type of market you’re in and what it takes to be a major player.
However, this process requires much more than simply Googling for similar services and seeing what pops up. You need to do a much deeper dive into the motivations behind various marketing approaches and how brands engage with their audience.
You can learn a lot from competitive brands when you subscribe to their newsletters or follow their content marketing initiatives. Look for patterns in the topics they address or the features they highlight in their offerings. These are usually designed with purpose and point to important areas of focus you should consider in your own marketing approaches.
Listen to the Market
Although competitor analysis is important, the findings you come across shouldn’t drive every decision you make. The most important thing to track is the market itself and knowing when there are apparent gaps in competitor offerings that you could fill with your own solution.
A great way to keep your SaaS offerings in line with actual market needs is to pull insights from your own customers. Implementing effective feedback mechanisms into your products or conducting surveys is an excellent way to start discovering important areas of improvement.
Whenever you receive feedback, take the time necessary to carefully analyze any insights it provides. Sometimes, customers may be looking for specific features or applications that your products haven’t addressed yet. Think about developing these before trying to expand into international markets.
By taking the time to listen carefully to your customers and identify exactly where your products should fit into the market, you’ll be able to maximize the value of your investments in development projects and marketing campaigns.
Don’t Skip the Validation Stage
Spotting potential market gaps can be a great first step in creating a unique SaaS product. But before you get carried away and start shifting your priorities and budget allotments, it’s important to think of cost-effective ways to confirm the viability of your new design ideas. This is an essential stage that can prevent the business from wasting efforts on things that won’t do much to convince a customer to buy.
Instead, having a lean startup approach is a much smarter way to manage expectations while still letting you explore potential opportunities as they pop up. To do this, most businesses rely on using MVPs (minimum viable products) before diving into a big SaaS design project.
An MVP is a stripped-down version of your product idea that helps you test how people react to a new product concept without investing too much in development. If a test audience likes the product, it might be worth exploring further. But if a new product design doesn’t get a good reception, it’s probably better to focus on improving what you already offer.
Zero in on a Specific Niche Focus
When you first begin developing a SaaS product, it’s common to try to make your offering appeal to as large of a group of consumers as possible. However, this approach can actually spread your marketing resources too thin and fail to bring in the high-quality leads you really want.
A more effective strategy is to “niche down.” This means identifying a specific target audience with particular needs and modifying your product and marketing efforts to meet those needs. While it might seem counterintuitive, focusing on a smaller market segment can actually lead to better long-term sales results.
Many niche markets are considerably less competitive and allow you to establish a stronger brand identity. Creating a good foundation in a niche market can also provide the initial product success you need to expand and target larger audiences later on.
Leverage Technology Whenever Possible
The SaaS industry is in a state of constant evolution. It’s important as a SaaS provider to continuously evaluate how newer technologies can add more value to your current list of offerings. Making strategic investments in new software features and supporting open-source integrations is a great way to stand out from the competition.
Create a Sustainable Product Strategy
You can put a lot of effort into creating a standout SaaS product that offers compelling value to buyers, but this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have repeat business. SaaS companies need to know how to maximize their recurring revenue sources, and to do this, it means you need a comprehensive strategy in place for sustaining value to customers long-term.
Customer priorities change over time, and their perception of value will often involve more than the actual product itself. The type of customer experiences you provide throughout a customer’s lifecycle is what will leave a lasting impact that leads to more repeat business and referrals.
Maintain Business Flexibility
Even with the most meticulous planning, business sales and marketing strategies often need adjustments. Many times, SaaS companies may need to shift their product focus entirely due to changing market dynamics. It’s crucial to be receptive to these shifts and proactively adapt strategies as needed. Having a rigid company structure often leads to stagnation and lower sales, which is why it’s important to innovate constantly.
Remaining flexible allows your business to consistently stand out from competitors. By staying adaptable, you can quickly identify and leverage new industry trends and ensure your products continue to meet the needs of your customers.
Start Differentiating Your SaaS Offerings
Successfully moving through a competitive SaaS arena can be challenging for many B2B organizations. However, by taking the time to truly understand your customers, listen to their ideas and explore different market opportunities, you can make sure your business is positioned to create more sustainable growth.
Author
Michael Bollinger, a Lexington, Kentucky-based entrepreneur, has left a lasting mark on the tech and software landscape. As the founder of LegFi and File990, Michael launched PayHOA.com in 2018 after Togetherwork acquired his first two ventures.
PayHOA is an affordable community management software for homeowner associations that streamlines payments, communication, and vendor management. Beyond his entrepreneurial pursuits, Michael finds fulfillment as a devoted husband and a loving father to his three children.
