Myths about go-to-market strategy

A few years ago, G2 Crowd shared that the most common challenge faced by SaaS companies is customer acquisition, with ~70% of respondents citing it as a challenge. Software Advice added that +60% of SaaS companies feel competition is a major challenge. The fact is that nothing has changed much since - Failory.com in 2021 indicated that 56% of SaaS startups fail because of marketing and sales.

What to do for an early-stage SaaS just about to launch?

In this article (and short videos ????), I'm covering four of the most common SaaS go-to-market strategies and accompanying myths:

1. SEO
2. Content marketing
3. Pay-per-click ads
4. Community building

Is SEO suitable as a go-to-market strategy?

Short answer: NO!

SEO is not the best strategy for early-stage startups. Exceptionally few SaaS founders have succeeded with SEO as their go-to-market strategy. SEO takes time and is more of an exception than the rule for early-stage startups. It is a long-term strategy and not the fastest or cheapest option for early-stage startups.

Direct reach-out and paid advertising are faster and more effective methods for generating leads in the early stages. It's better to focus on testing your idea with your network and testing paid advertising before moving on to distribution partners.

Should you invest in content marketing as your go-to-market strategy?

Content marketing is a necessary component of a successful go-to-market strategy for most SaaS companies. SaaS companies can take two paths of content marketing: SEO-focused content creation or educational content marketing. It's awesome when you combine them, but it's a rare and challenging case.

1. SEO-focused content creation: This approach involves creating multiple pieces of content and distributing it across the internet to rank high on Google search engine. However, ranking high on search engines is difficult, and it's important to ensure that the keywords you focus on are significant and relevant to your target audience.
2. Educational content marketing: This approach focuses on educating potential and current customers about your solution and the problem it solves. This type of content marketing can attract organic attention from the market and is a more meaningful and impactful approach for most SaaS companies.

While putting all your efforts into content marketing may not be necessary, it should be a crucial component of your go-to-market strategy. Well-prepared content helps not only increase awareness but also convert more sales.

Pay-per-click as a go-to-market strategy?

Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns can seem like a good go-to-market strategy, but it's important to focus on the quality of visitors, not just the quantity.

1. Focus on lead capture: Make sure your landing page is designed to capture leads, whether that be through email addresses, phone numbers, or joining social media groups. This will allow you to follow up with potential customers and assess the quality of leads coming from PPC campaigns.
2. Assess the quality of leads: Before investing heavily in PPC campaigns, it's crucial to determine if these visitors are your target customers. Use metrics like customer lifetime value and customer acquisition cost to see if it makes sense to pay for these ads. Remember that $1.32 is the median cost?for SaaS companies?to acquire $1 of annual recurring revenue?for a new customer (Key, 2020).
3. Prioritize quality over quantity: It's better to have 10 visitors who eventually become customers rather than thousands who won't. Always focus on conversion to leads and measure the quality of these leads. This way, you'll know if you're targeting the right audience and whether it's worth paying for these ads.

Building a community before launching your SaaS: is it right for you?

Building a community before launching your SaaS product into the market can be a valuable strategy for testing and validating your idea, receiving feedback from potential customers, and improving your product. However, whether or not this approach is right for you depends on the target market for your SaaS.

It may be difficult to build a community for high-level enterprise software, as there may only be a limited number of clients. On the other hand, if your SaaS is aimed at B2C or SMB customers, building a community can be an effective way to pre-sell your software and find early adopters.

It's important to note that the community you build should be centered around the problem you're trying to solve or the value you're trying to provide rather than solely around your brand or startup. By creating an authentic community and providing a space for people to connect and engage, you can gain valuable insights and support as you work to improve and pre-sell your software or platform.

Join us on a live webinar on February 20

How to pre-sell your SaaS: get paying users even before writing a single line of code.

Successful SaaS founders get users before writing a single line of code! This is the difference between 92% of losers?? and 8% of those who really make it??

In this article (??https://bit.ly/launching-saas), I've covered 5 main benefits of pre-selling your SaaS, including testimonials and case studies, traction proof for investors, and even funding the development of your SaaS without giving away any equity.

During this 45-60 min. the live webinar, you will discover:

? 10 reasons why most SaaS pre-sales fail

? 3 pre-sell tactics and which one is the right for you

? 9 ways to find your early adopters

Why attend LIVE instead of watching the recording?...

?? During the webinar, I'll share my calendar with a few open slots for a FREE 1-on-1 call to do the Double Sprint audit of your SaaS project. Cool??

We'll also have a live Q&A session so you can pick my brain ?? on what I would do in your case ??

Register on Zoom to get access https://explorethis.link/zoom