Business owners are always looking for ways on how they can expand their venture. Unfortunately, some of them are not looking at the right place.
For example, there are SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies that find it difficult to sustain their success. So they would end being acquired a bigger tech company.
But just because there is no perfect recipe in how you can grow your SaaS business does not mean that there is no room for it. Some factors remain constant, and you can leverage them to your advantage.
1. Existing Customers
Your existing customers can play a big role in how you can make your SaaS company grow. Here are some things that you should look at:
- Your software’s most-used feature
- Their reason for leaving
- Frequently asked questions
- Their usual complaints
- Whether your software is easy to use and intuitive
Looking into these helps you to figure out how you can improve your platform, as well as establishing a meaningful customer relationship. This can help decrease your churn rate, drive more sales, and cut operational costs.
2. Income Streams
Who does not want to increase their revenue? Right, no one!
Guess what? If you want a cost-effective way to increase your SaaS company’s sales, you better check your various income streams.
This can be through customer referrals, paid online advertisements, digital marketing efforts, business partnerships, and more. And then zero-in on where you get the most signups with the least effort.
Meaning, invest a big chunk of your time and budget on these channels to maximize your efforts.
On the other hand, you should also track your sales funnels. See where your leads fall out and figure out why. That way, you gain insight into how you can retain more leads and convert them into customers.
3. SEO Efforts
Now that we are are in the digital era, there’s no denying that SaaS companies should also incorporate Search Engine Optimization in their marketing mix.
That’s because there is a big chance that your customers have consulted the Internet for a solution first before they were able to encounter your brand.
Finding ways to drive website traffic and turning them into customers organically can be counterproductive. Nonetheless, tactics like content marketing and social media marketing can help spread the word about your company out there.
According to Voy Media, a marketing agency for SaaS companies, “Nowadays, you can now create a business page on social media. They even provide important metrics that can help you make an informed marketing decision. Make sure that you utilize those analytics data to search for your target market, and give them the service or content that they need.”
You could further learn more about SEO through various platforms like Moz, or outsource these tasks with an SEO agency.
4. Evangelists and Influencers
Evangelism and influencer marketing for SaaS is the process of turning customers who strongly believe in your product into advocates. is asking someone to help you market your business.
In fact, 89% of customers aged 35 - 54 trust online recommendations as much as personal ones. Thus, it would be beneficial for your SaaS company to have product evangelism or influencer marketing program.
It does not have to be complicated, though. You can emulate Dropbox’ referral program for instance. It promises you free storage for every referral that you make.
This simple method alone has succeeded in making its customers market their product. The strategy has helped turn them into a 4 billion dollar company by earning lots of new leads and customers via referral.
5. Product Offerings
A lot of SaaS businesses find it challenging to effectively manage their product offerings. That's why many businesses are quite worried about the product stickiness and its usability. If product usability is lacking, then it could pose a problem in growing your business.
If a customer has subscribed to your service and has enjoyed it immensely, they will continue their subscription and reap its benefits. On the other hand, if you’re unable to provide them with a seamless user experience, they'll likely switch to your competitors.
So, you must constantly think of new offerings to keep your customers glued to your service.
6. Exclusivity
If you want to seal more deals, tap into customer psychology. One great example of it is exclusivity.
People love to feel exclusive and even brag about it. Take LinkedIn for example. They make their users feel exclusive by inviting professionals from all over the world to be part of the world's “biggest professional network.”
This creates a sense of exclusivity among its members because whoever signed up on the platform is considered as a “professional.”
If you're successful in making them feel exclusive, then your company could experience more growth.
Over to You
Like we mentioned earlier, there is no one-size-fits-all solution that will help your SaaS company achieve success. You need to know what your KPIs are and work on them to drive growth.
Hopefully, the factors that we've mentioned in this article will put you in the right direction, and you can effectively integrate them into your business strategy to gain more leads and (eventually) paying customers.