Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

I’m probably reading the same research you are about upselling. The clear conclusion is that selling more stuff to existing customers is important for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies. The most successful SaaS companies are generating more than half of their new bookings from Plus, they’re achieving “net negative churn,” meaning the loss of customers is more than offset by selling more to existing customers.

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Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

JANUARY 4, 2020

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Marketing SaaS 130

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

DECEMBER 3, 2019

If they’re doing their job, SaaS marketers can tell you how many leads they’re attracting, how many convert into paying customers, where the leads are coming from, and even how much they’re paying for them. That’s all useful information that should be collected in your CRM system. You can’t run an effective SaaS marketing program without it. But all that data doesn’t really answer an important fundamental question underneath the numbers: Why do your customers buy your solution?

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Interviewing Market Research Education Customer Support 179

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

· “Yes, we need to prepare customer success stories, but this week we need to prep for 5 demos.” · “Yes, we need to coordinate an email campaign, but right now we’re focused on this RFP.” · “Yes, we need to get out that quarterly newsletter, but these 2 deals need immediate attention.” · “Yes, we need to prepare a webinar for prospective customers, but today we need to [ fill in an urgent item of your choice here.

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Marketing Acquisition Customer Success SaaS 138

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

OCTOBER 2, 2019

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Marketing Acquisition SaaS 138

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

Acquisition 138

Acquisition Marketing SaaS 138

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

AUGUST 2, 2019

I won’t lie to you. If one of my videos went viral, I’d be excited. It would definitely be cool to see the “views” tick up into the millions… or even the thousands. But here’s the thing. I wouldn’t expect that avalanche of views to translate into an avalanche of customers. And if you’re marketing a B2B software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, neither should you.

B2B 122

B2B SaaS Marketing Software 122

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

JULY 2, 2019

One of my clients told me a story that they’d just closed a large new deal with a prospect that’s been in their pipeline for a long time – as in 2 years’ long time. And that’s not some crazy outlier. They’re working other opportunities that have been in there for well over a year. This is not how it’s supposed to go In the ideal world, prospects step through a simple, straight-line process: - enter the pipeline as a lead - convert from a lead to a qualified opportunity - convert the opportunity

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Engagement Pricing Software SaaS 130

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

JUNE 5, 2019

SaaS companies need to tell their creation story. Not because they’re storytellers, but because It can help them acquire customers. Yes, I know this notion of a creation story might sound like something from ancient mythology. But there are plenty of examples of compelling creation stories from recent tech history: Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard inventing the audio oscillator in a Palo Alto garage.

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SaaS Marketing Software Management 122

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

MAY 1, 2019

Let me give this to you straight: Nobody really cares about your SaaS solution. They don’t care how it’s built. They don’t want to see a demo. And they don’t want to talk to you about it. At least not yet. No one has any interest in your solution… until they see that they have a problem and they suspect you may be able to solve it. An obvious, but too common mistake I know this sounds harsh and painfully obvious.

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Technology SaaS Engagement Development 155

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

APRIL 1, 2019

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Acquisition Churn Marketing SaaS 155

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

MARCH 1, 2019

There's a reason lots of SaaS companies offer free trials. Done well, they work. They can attract paying customers to software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions. But it doesn’t happen automatically. There’s nothing about a free trial that magically converts a free trialer into a paying customer. Getting prospects through that journey isn’t easy… meaning there are lot of ways that free trials can go wrong.

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Subscription Payment Features SaaS Data 201

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

Ok, let me remind us all of the blatantly obvious: “SaaS” stands for “software-as-service.” Yup, “service” is right there in the name. But looking at the way most SaaS solutions are marketed, too often it’s all about the “software”, and not much about the “service.” On website, in videos, during customer presentations, and in every other piece of marketing communication, it’s all about the software.

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SaaS Benchmarks Subscription Payment Features 164

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

JUNE 19, 2009

Early in my career, I taught bank credit analysts-in-training how to read financial statements. During my course, they heard from me one constant refrain: "Read the notes, read the notes, read the notes." The notes to a company's financial statements often reveal critical insights behind the numbers. The advice on how to read financial statements certainly applies to software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies, and especially to their reported customer renewal rates.

Banking 100

Banking Subscription Payment Features SaaS 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

JUNE 29, 2009

Folks talking about software-as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud computing often use the label "hybrid." I understand that "hybrid" refers to something that's part "this" and part "that." I'm just not always sure what "this" and "that" are. Sometimes "hybrid" refers to a solution that runs partly in the cloud and partly on-premise. An email system, for example, might handle some functions on a remote server accessed via the web, but other functions might be managed on the user's desktop.

Cloud 100

Cloud Business Model Education SaaS 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

JULY 8, 2009

During the summer, I spend most Saturday morning's tending to my yard and garden, though my tomatoes are struggling with all this rain we've had here in New England. But in the winter, I sometimes watch the succession of cooking shows that run all day on public television. I prefer the ones in which the host chef measures ingredients in "handfuls of this" and "dashes of that.

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Marketing SaaS Business Model Acquisition 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

JULY 14, 2009

Marketing people usually pay a lot of attention to consistency. They want to convey the same message, the same value proposition, across all marketing media: the web site, literature, presentations, press releases, etc. And now there are even more places to police: blogs, twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. When I've been in that role, I called myself the "message cop.

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SaaS Payments Payment Services Outsourced Development SaaS 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

AUGUST 3, 2009

As a graduate student in foreign affairs in the late 1970's, I took a required course on "The Balance of Strategic Forces." It was all about the strength of the nuclear arsenal of the United States relative to that of the Soviet Union. My favorite part of the course was when officers from each of the branches of the military lectured us on the virtues of their particular contribution to mutually assured destruction.

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Pricing SaaS Marketing Software 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

AUGUST 11, 2009

A race car driver who had just qualified for the first time for the Indianapolis 500 explained to me the most difficult part of navigating the 2.5 mile circuit: keeping the accelerator pushed to the floor. He said it's easy to do while driving down the straightaway; the tough part is when you're heading into the 90-degree turn at the end. If you lift the pedal, the car won't turn left in front of the concrete wall at turn one.

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SaaS Acquisition Subscription Payment Features 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

AUGUST 21, 2009

My family doesn't go out for pizza anymore. We bought two pizza stones and a wooden pallet, and for the last couple of years we've made it at home. Why? Anchovies. (Cue up the theme music from "True Confessions" here.) I like anchovies on my pizza. Because not many others share this preference for small, salty fish on their pizza, it's very hard for me to find someone to split it with.

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SaaS Marketing Development Data 124

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

Though I've spent more than 25 years in marketing, truth be told, I still don't understand what people really mean when they talk about "go-to-market strategy." I'm not quite certain what a "marketecture" is, and almost any marketing term that starts with "integrated" is likely to confuse me as well. I confess that I fall into the same trap, using this marketing jargon when I'm not careful.

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Development Scale SaaS Subscription 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

SEPTEMBER 9, 2009

How much should we spend on tradeshows? Should we spend more on search engine optimization, or pay-per-click? Are webinars worth the cost? As a marketing adviser, I suppose I should charge a hefty fee to address these inquiries. But I'll share the answers with you right here, right now, for absolutely nothing: I do not know. That may not be something you often hear from an expert, but it's the best short answer I can honestly offer.

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Acquisition Leadership Mobile Subscription 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

Does anyone else remember something that resembled a programmable typewriter? I was volunteering at a legal aid office during the summer of 1971, and one day they rolled in a workstation outfitted with an electric typewriter, an automatic paper feeder, and a box attached to the typewriter where the typist/operator plugged in different cartridges. As I recall, each cartridge would cause the typewriter to automatically type out a standard legal document, pausing at certain points to allow the typi

Payment Services 100

Payment Services SaaS Payments SaaS Payment Solutions 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

OCTOBER 5, 2009

"Simplify, simplify" -- Henry David Thoreau In case you thought Walden Pond, the inspiration for Thoreau's reflections on the virtues of simplicity, was in a remote spot far from civilization, you should know that it's about 4 miles off of Route 128, "America's Technology Highway," in Concord Massachusetts. On most weekends, it's busy with picnickers, hikers and, in the summer, swimmers.

SaaS 100

SaaS Outsourced Development Business Model Education 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

OCTOBER 12, 2009

It's been my experience that I learn more from failure than success. And there are some who would quip that I've certainly had ample opportunities to learn. To gain from the experience of failure, though, requires that you recognize it when you see it. To help software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution providers recognize their failures, I'll point out a few telltale signs that will let them know that something's gone wrong.

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SaaS Underperforming Technical Team Acquisition Outsourced Development 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

True story. Nearly every three weeks since the day I first signed up for a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution for web hosting, email, and domain registration services, I've been receiving renewal notifications. I think the first notice indicated "345 days remaining on your subscription." Last week, I saw that the subscription term was down to 34 days remaining, so I clicked on the button labeled "Renew.

SaaS Payments 100

SaaS Payments Payment Methods Payment Services Payment Solutions 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

Last week, I listened to a panel of IT professionals share their experience with software-as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud solutions. In part, they confirmed what I've heard from other IT executives: "We expect performance, we expect security, we expect fail-over." (See Rule 4 in the " Ten Essentials of SaaS Solution Marketing. ") I was surprised, though, to hear from these IT professionals about another concern: usability.

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Sales Recruiting AWS Compensation User Experience 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

DECEMBER 7, 2009

As a general rule, I try to steer clear of the corporate legal office. I usually have much more fun with the web designers, the PR folks, or even the sales reps than I do with the corporate counsel. That said, there are a few legal issues - particularly related to contracts - where I recommend marketers should pay a visit to that office with the impressive diplomas on the wall and the library of tomes on "Contracts" and "Intellectual Property.

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Outsourced Development SaaS Payments Payment Solutions Payment Services 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

DECEMBER 30, 2009

Now in late December, the field of my neighbor's farm is bare, except for a single row of hardy, but frozen-solid Brussels sprouts stems. In a few weeks, though, my neighbor and his crew will be working inside the greenhouse with a specially-devised planting machine. They pour a large burlap bag full of seeds into the hopper and the machine carefully inserts a single seed into an individual tray compartment.

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Acquisition Advertising Engineering Sales 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

JANUARY 6, 2010

"Some Assembly Required." Three terrifying words for the "screwdriver-challenged." To those moms and dads who may have just lived through the experience, I'm sorry for reviving ugly memories. What's scary about bikes, dollhouses and the Wii is scary for software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, too. The folks subscribing to SaaS solutions do so, in part, to avoid hassles.

Subscription 100

Subscription Payment Features SaaS Software 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

JANUARY 13, 2010

A few months ago, when discussing which marketing activities work and which don't, I confessed " I do not know." Let me clarify. Actually I do have a few ideas. I'm not sure if they'll work for every software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, but they're at least worth thinking about. Importantly, they're relatively inexpensive to try. I was prompted to think about these low-cost ideas by a very thoughtful post from David Skok of Matrix Partners, entitled " Startup Killer: The Cost of Customer Acquis

Acquisition 100

Acquisition Subscription Payment Features Enterprise 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

JANUARY 28, 2010

Most months I take only a cursory glance at each of my recurring bills: phone, internet, cable, electricity. If the charge looks to be about the same as I paid the previous month, I pay it. But for the first bill of the year, I make it a practice to look more carefully. Under this annual scrutiny, I saw that my January land-line phone bill included a $6.99 charge for "inside wire maintenance.

Marketing 100

Marketing Sales Enablement Subscription Payment Features 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

Just because Steve Jobs and Apple can go stealth, doesn't mean it works for most technology companies. Apple is the rare exception of a company that can roll-out a new product like the iPad in front of a global audience drooling with anticipation after keeping the device under wraps for months, although even Apple had difficulty containing leaks. Time was, this was standard operating procedure in the technology market.

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Technical Review Software Review Innovation Technology 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

FEBRUARY 28, 2010

In my last post, I went out on a limb, claiming that in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business, customer support is actually a marketing function. Retaining happy customers and reducing defections through first-rate customer support is vital to SaaS success. So now that I've climbed out on this limb, let me go even further: In SaaS companies, engineers are marketeers, too.

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Engineering Marketing Subscription Payment Features 113

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

MARCH 3, 2010

In subscribing to software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, customers aren't really buying a product ; they're buying a promise. They are not purchasing a finite set of capabilities to be delivered once the contract is signed, as they would with an on-premise license. Instead, the customer is expecting the SaaS vendor to deliver a service over the life of the subscription.

Subscription 100

Subscription Payment Features Education Cloud 100

Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

MARCH 18, 2010

I attended the IDC Directions 2010 conference a few weeks ago. I listen for two kinds of things at these conclaves: big, industry trends and small, but useful, practices. On the "big trends," in a presentation entitled, " The Maturing Cloud: What It Will Take to Win ," Frank Gens explained that the most significant growth opportunities in the IT market will be in cloud computing and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions.

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Practical Advice on SaaS marketing

MARCH 26, 2010

When it was operating at full capacity, the Ford River Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan had more than 16 million square feet of factory floor space, operated its own docks, ran an internal railroad of more than 100 miles, maintained its own furnaces to make steel and glass, and generated its own electricity. From 1927 through the 1960's, the sprawling complex and the 100,000 people who worked in it operated as a complete, vertically-integrated manufacturing facility: raw materials floated in

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