7 Outrageous Ideas for Your SaaS Marketing Efforts
If you’re looking to disrupt your industry with your SaaS product, there are plenty of ways to do just that. Below are seven outrageous ideas for making the most of your SaaS marketing efforts – and perhaps even taking your company or brand viral while you’re at it.
#1 – Make Sure Your Free Version or Trial Actually Delivers
People are leery of downloading free trials or free versions of software because most “free” versions of anything are terrible and pointless. As outrageous as it might seem, your free version or trial does not have to follow the status quo. Give people something actually useful. Their time is also money and wasting it won’t make a good impression on anyone.
#2 – Pre-Marketing through Influencers
Rather than creating social media accounts or relying on paid ads to brag about a “Coming Soon” software as a service, think about contacting some influencers who your target demographic probably follows. This is the best way to get your product out in front of people before it ever even launches. Just make sure the launch goes smoothly – all eyes will be on you.
#3 – Shock People with Humor
Today’s world loves sarcasm, jump scares, and plot twists, so why not utilize some of these things in your SaaS marketing efforts? For example, you could create a video that starts off serious enough, then morphs into something outright silly before mentioning your product. It’s all about being memorable and broadening your reach, and a good video does all that and more. If you can make people laugh, you’ll win them over. Make them laugh. It’s worth it.
#4 – Make Your Newsletters Worth Reading
You probably get thousands of newsletters every month, and you probably read a whopping two of them. If you want to stand out from the crowd, follow this outrageous suggestion and make your newsletters actually worthwhile. If every newsletter offers something useful, word will spread, you’ll get some shares, and brand awareness will spread without having to invest any extra money.
#5 – Record Tutorials for YouTube
People are afraid of learning to use a brand-new software platform, especially if they’re coming from something that is completely different. Focus on this fact and make the learning process as simple and as painless as possible by recording a really well-done (and easily searchable!) tutorial series for YouTube. Not only does it make your brand more accessible, but it makes the help more successful – and it’s better than digging through hundreds of “Support” pages or fielding thousands of calls every day, too.
#6 – Disrupt Something
With so many markets and industries completely saturated, the name of the game is disruption. Even if the software you offer doesn’t really bring anything brand new to the table, the way you market it certainly can. Be disruptive, but in a fun and never aggravating way. Maybe your software is actually quite boring, but the company is disruptive with the way it does business. Think of something like Toms, which is a shoe brand like any other. However, because the brand donates shoes and socks to the less fortunate, it has disrupted the industry enough to make a name for itself. You can do this, too.
#7 – Make the Whole Brand Relatable
The food truck industry is a great example of how relatability can make a huge difference. Imagine four food trucks within a city mile, each serving specialty grilled cheese that is delicious and fairly priced. Which one will people visit most? The answer is simple. They’ll buy from the one they relate to. Build a brand with a personality that your target audience can relate to. For example, if you are selling SaaS to help artists with their bookkeeping, build an artsy brand with logos and slogans that make sense to artists.
There are hundreds of outrageous ways to build your brand and increase SaaS sales to become successful, but it’s up to each individual company to determine which kind of outrageous is best for them. Try using humor, building a relatable brand, or disrupting something that has never been disrupted before.