{"id":5598,"date":"2024-04-09T20:14:13","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T20:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/contentguppy.com\/blog\/?p=5598"},"modified":"2026-04-06T18:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:51:10","slug":"saas-marketing-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/contentguppy.com\/blog\/saas-marketing-strategies\/","title":{"rendered":"101 Saas Marketing Strategies to Increase ARR"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m always on the look out for saas marketing strategies.<\/p>\n

Afterall, I spend most of my day trying to help SaaS companies increase revenue.  After doing a lot of research, I\u2019ve found 101 strategies that you can use in your business.<\/p>\n

But first…<\/p>\n

What is Saas Marketing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Saas marketing is the process of acquiring and retaining users through content marketing, seo, paid advertising<\/a>, referral marketing<\/a>, and strong customer service.<\/p>\n

It is not for the faint of heart.  <\/p>\n

You see, with SaaS marketing, you\u2019re not likely to see a return on investment of your marketing efforts until several months AFTER you\u2019ve acquired a user.<\/p>\n

This is a world where sales cycles<\/a> are short and maintaining long term customers is imperative to the growth of your SaaS business<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, I\u2019ve found 101 saas marketing strategies to help you grow your business.  Without further ado, here they are.<\/p>\n

Content Marketing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

SEO focused Content marketing is responsible for a large part of the growth at Time Doctor.  It\u2019s where we focus most of our resources and is our number one customer acquisition strategy.<\/p>\n

In this section, you\u2019ll read about some of the strategies that have worked for us.<\/p>\n

Write Low Hanging Fruit Content<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The first strategy that I love implementing is what I call the \u201cLow Hanging Fruit\u201d strategy.<\/p>\n

This is bottom of the funnel content designed for people who are looking to sign up for your Saas right now.<\/p>\n

While this type of content might not get a huge amount of traffic, the traffic that does come to the site is usually quite good.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite ways to find low hanging fruit traffic that could benefit you is to write posts like \u201c10 Best Product Category\u201d.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll show you how this works \u201cin the real world\u201d.<\/p>\n

I created an article on our site for the keyword \u201cbest call center software\u201d.  Call center operators are one of our best user avatars.<\/p>\n

\"low<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

According to Ahrefs, the keyword “Best Call Center Software<\/a>” gets 200 searches per month.<\/p>\n

We only rank #10 for this keyword (A new article that we\u2019re still growing).  And this blog post consistently gets 200 visitors a month.<\/p>\n

\"low<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s 100 people per month looking for a call center software.  <\/p>\n

Find Proven Content<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re looking for some really cool article ideas.  But you want to write articles that are proven.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you can do:<\/p>\n

Use a tool like Ahref\u2019s content explorer (you can use Buzzsumo or something like that as well) to enter in your product category.<\/p>\n

\"find<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Then I apply filters to find content that gets traffic AND doesn\u2019t require tons of links to rank.<\/p>\n

I found over 300  articles about podcasting that get at least 500 visitors per month (according to Ahrefs) AND require less than 20 links to rank.<\/p>\n

\"proven<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Content Gap Analysis<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the most powerful ways to find keywords is to find out what your competitor\u2019s are ranking for that you\u2019re not.<\/p>\n

This is called a content gap analysis.<\/p>\n

Once again, using Ahrefs, we can easily compare our site to some of our competitor\u2019s sites.<\/p>\n

For instance, this is a partial list of keywords that our competitor Toggl ranks for that we don\u2019t rank for.<\/p>\n

\"content<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

There are actually hundreds of keywords that Toggl ranks for that we don\u2019t since they are a much larger competitor than us.<\/p>\n

But more on that in the next section.<\/p>\n

Leverage Larger Competitors<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re competing against  an 800 pound gorilla.<\/p>\n

Instead of worrying about them, use them to your advantage.  One of my favorite seo content hacks is to write an article called \u201c10 large competitor alternatives\u201d.<\/p>\n

Let me show you how this works:<\/p>\n

At Time Doctor, our largest competitor, the 800 pound funded gorilla is a company called Toggl.  So we leveraged their brand and wrote an article called 7 Best Time Doctor Alternatives.<\/p>\n

\"toggl<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

And then we put our app, Time Doctor, first on the list.  <\/p>\n

\"time<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

And as you can see, this post, with \u201clow\u201d volume gets between 200-400 visitors a month. (We must have moved up in rankings sometime in late November or early December.)<\/p>\n

\"toggle<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

So imagine having 200-400 visitors a month looking for an alternative to your largest competitor coming to your site every single month.<\/p>\n

This is bottom of the funnel content attracting highly qualified buyers.<\/p>\n

Identify Customer Pain<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The best way to convert visitors into customers is to identify their pain, then solve for the problem.<\/p>\n

People tend to Google symptoms of their problem.<\/p>\n

For instance, Moosend is an email marketing platform<\/a>. They do everything from helping you grow your list to sending emails<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, one of the problems their customers have is list building.<\/p>\n

Which is why their list building<\/a> article is so perfect!<\/p>\n

\"moosend<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

It ranks pretty high for the keyword \u201clist building\u201d and gets over 200 visitors a month (according to Ahrefs.)<\/p>\n

\"moosend<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Parasite SEO<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the best ways to get traffic to a site is through what Matthew Barby calls parasite SEO.  Basically, it\u2019s leveraging the domain authority of another site in order to drive traffic to your site.<\/p>\n

For instance, this codeinwp article called 7 Best Time Tracker Software<\/a><\/p>\n

\"parasite<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Ranks high for a lot of important keywords for us with a relative high keyword difficulty.<\/p>\n

\"parasite<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The cool part is we\u2019re listed first<\/p>\n

\"parasite<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Which drives a significant amount of traffic to our site.<\/p>\n

\"parasite<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Podcasting Tour<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the best ways to get in front of other people\u2019s audiences is to go on a podcasting tour.  You can teach people what you\u2019ve learned, tell the story of your company, and become an authority in your space.<\/p>\n

Not to mention the happy benefit of getting a link back to your site.<\/p>\n

Host a Podcast<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of my favorite entrepreneurs on the web is Justin Jackson.  But I would have never heard of him if he didn\u2019t host the podcast Build Your Saas<\/a>.  <\/p>\n

I get to tune in from time to time and listen to him and his co-founder John talk about their podcasting startup Transistor.fm<\/a>.  <\/p>\n

Now, when I launch my podcast, guess who I\u2019m going to use for my hosting.<\/p>\n

Build a Business Case<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The most powerful way to write a blog post is create a business case for your saas.  Let me show you what I mean.<\/p>\n

Ahrefs, is a suite of SEO tools<\/a>.  One of the tools they have helps you find linking opportunities.<\/p>\n

Then, they published this article on a particular way to find linking opportunities called Resource Page Link Building<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"ahrefs<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

This is a long how to guide on the topic.  But the cool part is: You NEED to use Ahrefs to implement their strategy!<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a strong business case for that blog post.<\/p>\n

Publish Case Studies<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the best ways to prove that your product does what it promises is to publish case studies.  <\/p>\n

Lots of them!<\/p>\n

The more detailed, the better.<\/p>\n

For instance, we published this cased study called \u201cWhy Most Screenshot Monitoring Software Doesn\u2019t Work\u201d<\/p>\n

\"screenshot<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Where we go through step by step how Time Doctor helped a company discover that a high level employee was stealing time from the company.<\/p>\n

This is a detailed and thorough post that our customers really like.<\/p>\n

And this post converted 10 customers in the past year!<\/p>\n

\"case<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Not too shabby.<\/p>\n

Guest Posting<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As a way to get traffic to a blog, guest posting doesn\u2019t work like it used to. <\/p>\n

In the old days, I would be able to write a single guest post, get thousands of visitors, and hundreds of email subscribers, almost every single time.<\/p>\n

These days, that doesn\u2019t happen anymore\u2026 at least not for me. <\/p>\n

Instead, guest posting has become a way for me to build high quality links<\/a> that I otherwise couldn\u2019t have gotten.<\/p>\n

We wrote this guest post on Glassdoor.com, which has a high domain authority. <\/p>\n

\"guest<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

While we didn\u2019t get any traffic from the post, we did get this DA 90+ link.<\/p>\n

\"guest<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Content Syndication<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Guest posting\u2019s distant cousin is content syndication.  This is where you take a post that is already on your site and publish it on another site.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written a very detailed post on content syndication that you can check out here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Have Migration Pages<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When it comes to saas customers, one of the biggest challenges they face when trying a new app<\/a> or tool is switching costs.<\/p>\n

They may Google \u201chow to swtich from competitor\u2019s tool to your tool\u201d.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why smart companies, like Convertkit, have migration pages like this one on how to switch from Mailchimp to Convertkit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"mailchimp<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Create Integration Pages<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One thing we\u2019ve found super helpful from both a traffic and conversion standpoint is creating integration pages.<\/p>\n

\"Asana<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

This page gets some traffic for people who are searching for \u201cAsana<\/a> Time Tracking\u201d and also converts that traffic into customers.<\/p>\n

Answer Questions on Quora<\/strong><\/h3>\n

My buddy Carlo, who runs the online marketing team at Time Doctor, absolutely loves answering questions in Quora.<\/p>\n

Basically, if there\u2019s a question on time tracking<\/a>, remote work<\/a>, freelancers, etc., you\u2019ll probably find him answering a question.<\/p>\n

For instance, this question on \u201cWhat tips do you have for remote workers?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Quora<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

He gives an extremely thoughtful answer.  And then at the bottom of the answer, he links to a relevant blog post where you can read more about the topic.<\/p>\n

\"quora<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Publish Consistently<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We\u2019ve found that when we publish at least once a week, traffic goes up.  And when we skip weeks, traffic goes down.<\/p>\n

So make sure you have a consistent publishing schedule. (I do recommend publishing at least once a week if possible.)<\/p>\n

Paid Advertising<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When you get it right, paid advertising is like magic.  You put money into the machine and 3x your money comes out.<\/p>\n

But the hard part is obviously getting it right.  Not only do you have to look at the cost per acqusition vs lifetime value, you also have to see how fast you\u2019re getting to break even.<\/p>\n

Adwords<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u2019m not going to speak a whole lot about using Adwords.  You know about them. They\u2019re getting expensive in a lot of industries.  But they can still work well.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a few resources<\/a> on adwords<\/a> for saas companies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bidding on Branded Keywords<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bidding on branded keywords is the act of bidding on your own name.  <\/p>\n

For instance, we actually run ads against the keyword \u201cTime Doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"branded<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

And while we have found this to be a profitable strategy, lately there\u2019s been some controversy around this.  Some people like Tim Suolo of Ahrefs wonders why a company would do that.<\/p>\n

\"tim<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>While others, like the folks at SEER Interactive lay out compelling reasons why you should bid on them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Facebook Ads<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Again, I\u2019m not going to get too deep in Facebook Ads.  Same as Google adwords. Test them out. See how long it takes to recoup your money.  <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my favorite resource on Facebook Ads<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Facebook Ads to Content<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One thing that\u2019s worked well for us is running Facebook ads to a piece of content instead of a blog post.<\/p>\n

For instance, one of our target demographics is marketing agencies. So we created an article called \u201c5 Digital Marketing Agencies Explain How they Maximize Profits with Outsourcing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"fb<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

And each of the agency owners gives their feedback, highlighting Time Doctor as a critical piece of the puzzle.<\/p>\n

\"content<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s informative content, but in reality, it\u2019s designed to sell Time Doctor through social proof.<\/p>\n

Site Review Ads<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Site review ads are effective because they are highly targeted to your specific industry.  <\/p>\n

These are highly trafficked pages where the sponsored results are placed at the top.<\/p>\n

The more money you pay, the higher your app will be listed.  The higher your app is listed, the more traffic you\u2019ll get to your site.<\/p>\n

Most of these sites allow you to bid on a per click basis, like adwords.<\/p>\n

LinkedIn Ads<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u2019m not going to go deep into LinkedIn ads<\/a>.  We\u2019ve experimented with them, but couldn\u2019t get the cost to work for us.  They\u2019re a bit more expensive on a per click basis than Facebook.  <\/p>\n

But definitely give them a shot if you haven\u2019t already.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re looking for a great resource on getting started, check out this post by Adespresso<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Twitter Ads<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve actually never tested Twitter ads.  At some point in the near future I will. But I can\u2019t actually comment too much on them as I don\u2019t have experience.<\/p>\n

But you can check out this guide to getting started with Twitter Ads<\/a> by Hubspot.<\/p>\n

Instagram Story Ads<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Instagram story<\/a> ads have become hot lately.  Everyone from internet marketers, to startups, to Microsoft are putting money into stories.<\/p>\n

\"instagram<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Retarget Existing Visitors<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Backlinko has spent thousands of dollars on Facebook ads.<\/p>\n

And the number one thing he\u2019s learned is that Retargeting is extremely effective.<\/p>\n

For instance, in one particular retargeting campaign<\/a>, he was able to get his costs to $0.67 per click.<\/p>\n

\"facebook-post-cost\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The reason this is so effective is because people who are clicking on the ad already know him and they know how great his content marketing<\/a> is.<\/p>\n

Sponsor a Podcast<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In their article called \u201cPodcast Advertising: $51,975 Spent. Here\u2019s What We Learned<\/a>\u201d, the team at Ahrefs came to a couple of conclusions.<\/p>\n

But the main conclusion they came to is that it is hard to attribute increased signups from sponsoring a podcast.<\/p>\n

However, Tim Suolo has mentioned that people have come up to him and said \u201cI heard about Ahrefs because you sponsored podcast X.\u201d<\/p>\n

Podcast sponsorship seems to be more brand impression than direct response marketing. <\/p>\n

Sponsor a Newsletter<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of my new favorite newsletters is Zest.is<\/a>.  It\u2019s a curated newsletter of the best marketing articles on the web.<\/p>\n

Marketing articles for marketers by marketers delivered right to your inbox.<\/p>\n

Anyone can submit an article to Zest.  However, if you want to get extra traffic and engagement, you can sponsor a newsletter and boost your content.<\/p>\n

\"zest<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

There are newsletters like this in all industries looking for people to sponsor them.<\/p>\n

Feature Customers in Ads<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is something that I like a lot.  Featuring actual customers in ads. <\/p>\n

Companies like Drift create compelling ads with customer testimonials AND show real people, not stock photos.<\/p>\n

Paid ads become even more effective if you promote an authentic video review that addresses the pain points of your target audience. <\/p>\n

\"ads<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

It adds a level of trust and authenticity that so many ads lack.<\/p>\n

Social Media<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I\u2019m going to refrain from saying \u201cpost on Facebook\u201d or \u201cpost on Twitter\u201d.  If you\u2019re reading this article then chances are you know all that stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, I\u2019m going to share a few cool strategies that I\u2019ve seen that seem interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Publishing Articles on LinkedIn<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Within the past few years, LinkedIn opened up a publishing platform where marketers (and everyone really), can publish articles.<\/p>\n

One of the marketers who alerted me to this is Neil Patel.  Here\u2019s what he does:<\/p>\n

He publishes the first part of his article on LinkedIn…<\/p>\n

\"linkedin<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Then once you\u2019re invested in the article, you have to click on the link that says \u201cclick to continue reading\u2026\u201d where you\u2019re taken to his website to read the rest of the article.<\/p>\n

\"linkedin<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Create a YouTube Channel<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the most impactful things that we have done in the past year is launch a YouTube channel<\/a>.  <\/p>\n

YouTube is the second biggest search engine<\/a> in the world, behind Google.  This has opened up a new traffic channel for us to distribute our content to.<\/p>\n

\"running<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Facebook Lives<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Facebook lives are one of the best ways to engage with prospective customers.  It\u2019s truly a platform where you can have conversations in real time.  <\/p>\n

You can educate your customers, establish yourself as an authority, and answer questions that they may have right then and there.<\/p>\n

Humble Brag on Twitter<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One way to market your business on Twitter is show how successful your customers are using your product.  <\/p>\n

Sahil Lavingia, founder of Gumroad<\/a>, does this very well.  Gumroad is an ecommerce<\/a> platform for digital creators.<\/p>\n

\"gumroad<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>He shows how much money his customer\u2019s are making on Gumroad, which incentivizes other creators to try it out for themselves.<\/p>\n

Create a Twitter Thread<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When companies share their posts on Twitter, usually it is a single Tweet with a link.  Lately, I\u2019ve been seeing a lot of people creating Twitter threads like this one:<\/p>\n

\"brian<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Brian shares a section of the post in its entirety, then links back to his blog where you can read the rest of it.  <\/p>\n

IG Stories<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Like Facebook Lives, the interaction that video offers is really powerful in the IG Stories<\/a>.  You can simply pick up your phone and just start sharing your thoughts with your audience.<\/p>\n

Facebook Groups<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Last but not least is creating a Facebook group<\/a>.  <\/p>\n

Some companies make this private and give access only to users while other companies open it up to everyone.<\/p>\n

At the time of this post, Facebook groups, are some of the most interactive places on the platform.  Your content and messages will be more likely to be seen by members of your group than of fans of your page.<\/p>\n

Lead Generation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Once you get some traffic to your site, either through content marketing or paid acquisition, it\u2019s time to generate some leads.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the most common lead gen strategies that I\u2019ve come across when it comes to Saas Marketing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Free Trial<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the most common lead generation strategies<\/a> that Saas companies deploy is the free trial.<\/p>\n

At Time Doctor we have a \u201cno credit card needed\u201d 14 day free trial.<\/p>\n

\"timedoctor<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve tested 14 days, 30 days, and 21 days free trials.  <\/p>\n

Freemium<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This strategy involves giving away a piece of your app for free forever.  While this is a great way to gain market share, it can be hard for bootstrapped startups to deploy in the beginning.<\/p>\n

For instance, Sumo.com allows you to use their email capture tool free forever.<\/p>\n

\"sumo<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

And you\u2019ll only be charged if you want advanced features like advanced analytics, a\/b testing, removing the Sumo brand.<\/p>\n

Webinars<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Teachable, the company I use to host my online course, offers webinars on how to create an online course.<\/p>\n

\"teachable<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an effective webinar<\/a> because throughout the entire presentation, they\u2019re showing you how to make money<\/a> and build a business using their platform.<\/p>\n

White Papers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While more of a lead magnet for the enterprise level apps, white papers are the ebooks of yesterday.<\/p>\n

They are usually technical documents designed to educate potential buyers on processes, products and services.<\/p>\n

\"cision<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

And they almost always have these ginormous form fields.<\/p>\n

Ebooks<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Next we come to the ebook.  The ebook<\/a> is probably the most popular of all the lead magnets.  They are designed to educate prospective buyers on a solution to a particular problem.<\/p>\n

This ebook from Leadpages <\/a>teaches marketers how to create a website<\/a> that captures leads.<\/p>\n

\"leadpages<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Ebooks typically aren\u2019t salesy.  They are a way to get people into your funnel where you can nurture them down the line.<\/p>\n

Content Upgrade<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Content upgrades are designed as a way to optimize your blog posts.  Usually they\u2019re a supplement to the current post.<\/p>\n

They come in the form of a checklist, additional tips, or as this content upgrade from Sumo is, a simple PDF of the post.<\/p>\n

\"sumo<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Create Templates<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Templates are simple tools that people can download, use, and get value from.<\/p>\n

One of our most successful posts is all about Timesheet Templates.  We built the whole thing in Google Sheets, and it took us about 2 hours to do all of it.<\/p>\n

That post gets almost 10,000 visitors a month.  <\/p>\n

\"timesheet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Weekly Curated Newsletter<\/h3>\n

Over the years, content has become so abundant that sorting out the bad content from the content that is worth reading has become a chore.<\/p>\n

An extremely valuable lead magnet these days is to produce a weekly newsletter<\/a> featuring the best content that you and your team found during the week.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example from Moz.com<\/a> who does it semi-monthly.<\/p>\n

\"moz<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Create Free or Micro Tools<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Creating free tools is a great way to generate leads because so few companies are doing it.  This is different from freemium because you\u2019re not giving away your app. You\u2019re giving away something that compliments your app.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great way to bring in search traffic and generate leads.  For instance, Ruben Gamez and his team at Docsketch created an online signature tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ruben has told me it accounts for 1500 leads per month to his paid saas product.<\/p>\n

\"docsketch<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Create a Checklist<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If there is a long process that your customers need to complete in order to accomplish a goal, a checklist can be a valuable resource.<\/p>\n

For instance, the Hubspot Webinar Checklist lists every step that a marketer needs to complete in order to perform a successful webinar.<\/p>\n

\"hubspot<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

These are generally pretty easy to create, but can be a useful tool for your customers.<\/p>\n

Create an E-Course<\/strong><\/h3>\n

An E-course is a series of emails that are dripped to an email subscriber over the course of several days.<\/p>\n

Each email provides one actionable step or tip or strategy that helps a person move toward their goal.<\/p>\n

A great example is the Email 1K<\/a> course powered by Sumo.<\/p>\n

\"email<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Every few days over the course of a month, they send another email with a step by step strategy to help you grow your email list.<\/p>\n

(And it helps if you have Sumo installed on your site to make the most of the course.)<\/p>\n

Create a Paid Challenge<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I don\u2019t know if Clickfunnels<\/a> pioneered the paid challenge, but they definitely perfected it with their One Funnel Away challenge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"clickfunnels<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Clickfunnels<\/a> builds software that lets people build and manage an email funnel.  This paid course (cost is $100) teaches people how to build a funnel.<\/p>\n

You can use Clickfunnels or not, but the entire course is taught using Clickfunnels.<\/p>\n

Conversions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By this point, you know how to get some traffic, you have a few lead gen strategies at your disposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s time to talk about conversions.  This is all about getting people to become paying customers of your saas product.<\/span><\/p>\n

Split Test Homepage<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The most obvious and impactful split test you can do is on your homepage. In fact, we probably run a split test on our homepage at least once a quarter.  <\/p>\n

We\u2019re fortunate enough to get thousands of visitors to our homepage, so just the slightest uptick in conversion rates could have a huge impact in our business.<\/p>\n

Here you can see our current split test.<\/p>\n

A<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"timedoctor<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

B<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"timedoctor<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Split Test Pricing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The second most impactful page you can split test is your pricing page.  For us, we don\u2019t change our pricing plan<\/a> a whole lot. Our main pricing plan is $10 per user per month.  <\/p>\n

What we will do is experiment with adding a more expensive plan, or a cheaper plan, or even a free plan to see which converts best.<\/p>\n

Clean Signup Form<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I use Sumo as an example a lot because I\u2019m super impressed with their marketing.  And their signup form<\/a> is no different.<\/p>\n

\"sumo<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s super simple, super clean, and gets the job done.<\/p>\n

Apply to Work with Us<\/h3>\n

I was listening to the Startups for the Rest of Us Podcast and Rob Walling was interviewing Jordan Gal, the founder of Carthook.<\/p>\n

He was describing a strategy where he had customer \u201cApply\u201d to use Carthook.  Where most saas are self service, and marketers are trying to maximize trials, Jordan went in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

He limited the number of trials and increased the onboarding of only qualified customers.<\/p>\n

\"Apply<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Request a Demo<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I see this a lot in the enterprise space or when self service apps have an enterprise plan.  <\/p>\n

For their two smaller plans, Hootsuite allows people to take a 30 day free trial of the app.  However, once they get to the $599\/month plan, you need to request a demo.<\/p>\n

\"Request<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Survey Potential Customers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When someone signs up to your app, it\u2019d be kind of cool to know who they are, where they\u2019re coming from, and what they\u2019re level of experience is in your category.<\/p>\n

That way you can personalize the onboarding sequence to best suit their needs.  Smart companies like Convertkit are experimenting with putting website surveys<\/a> at the start of their signup process.<\/p>\n

\"customer<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Live Chat<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Your potential customers probably have questions about your service.  They want to know if your solution will fit their needs.<\/p>\n

Before they try it out and invest time in your saas, you can answer their questions with a live chat<\/a> feature.<\/p>\n

\"live<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Live Social Proof<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Social proof can definitely increase your conversions<\/a>.  There\u2019s plenty of stats<\/a> to prove it.  <\/p>\n

But one of the cooler new social proof technologies to come out in the last few years is live social proof.  <\/p>\n

When someone signs up for your app, people on your site will see it – like in this image on Fomo <\/a>– makers of this app.<\/p>\n

\"fomo<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Social Proof with Big Name Logos<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At Time Doctor, we have some bigger brands who use our app, and we\u2019re not afraid to share it with the world.<\/p>\n

Our thought is this:  \u201cIf these brands trust Time Doctor, then it\u2019ll work for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Time<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

As Neil Patel wrote on Quicksprout.com<\/a>: <\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it is companies I have worked for, mentions within press pieces or awards I\u2019ve received, I try to showcase them all. It helps increase my conversion rates. When I removed the logos from NeilPatel.com, my conversion rate went down by 9.9%.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Create a Paid Trial<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Creating a paid trial isn\u2019t going to boost conversions rates<\/a>, but it will decrease the number of tire kickers who sign up for your site.<\/p>\n

This is exactly what Ahrefs does.  They have a 7 day trial that costs $7.  <\/p>\n

\"ahrefs<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re going to pull this off, you probably need to have a strong brand presence and the reputation of being a great product.<\/p>\n

Offer a Refund<\/strong><\/h3>\n

People want assurances that your product is going to be the right fit. One way to do this is to offer a refund.<\/p>\n

Bidsketch offers a 60 day money back guarantee beyond the initial 14 day free trial.<\/p>\n

\"bidsketch<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

This is a pretty cool way to boost conversion rates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Email Drip Sequence<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Last but not least is the email drip sequence.  There\u2019s a couple things you can do here:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Educate prospects on your product or service.  Take them from where they are now to where they need to be in order to become long term customers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Send reminder emails when people fall off on your onboarding process. At Time Doctor for instance, if business owners don\u2019t invite their teammates to try the app, we send a gentle reminder to get them to complete the onboarding process.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Email marketing<\/a> is probably the most scalable way to nurture and follow up with prospects.  It\u2019s definitely something you don\u2019t want to skip.<\/p>\n

      Retain Customers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      So far, we\u2019ve talked about getting traffic to your site, generating leads with lead magnets, and converting those leads into customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

      But all of that is for naught if you can\u2019t retain your customers.  If your monthly churn is 5%, that means you\u2019ll lose almost half of your customers every single year.  That\u2019s a hard way to grow your business.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Have a Pause Feature<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      It\u2019s inevitable that people are going to have to leave your app.  Either they don\u2019t have a monthly budget for it right now, or they are suspending that activity for a few months, or maybe they are going to come under new leadership.<\/p>\n

      Instead of forcing people to leave your site altogether and clear out their data, you can have a pause feature, that for a nominal fee, will store their data until they\u2019re ready to come back and use the app again. By incorporating hardware-based data security<\/a> measures into your app, you can provide users with the confidence that their stored data during the pause period remains protected against potential breaches.<\/p>\n

      Provide Excellent Customer Service<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      The fastest way to get someone to churn is to provide poor customer service.  In fact, 33% of Americans say they\u2019ll switch to a competitor after just one poor customer service experience. (source<\/a>)<\/p>\n

      With so much competition in the saas space, and with switching costs dropping, it\u2019s never been easier for a customer to leave your platform and join a competitor.<\/p>\n

      One of the best ways to differentiate yourself is to provide strong customer service<\/a>. To do so, you can use a custom client portal<\/a> to facilitate self-service options, enabling clients to access information, track progress, and manage their accounts with ease, enhancing their overall experience and satisfaction.<\/p>\n

      Know Your NPS Score<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      Your NPS (or net promoter score) tells you how satisfied your users are with your service.  The higher your NPS score, the more satisfied they are.<\/p>\n

      A word of caution though with regards to NPS scores that we have discovered.  Several of your most dissatisfied customers won\u2019t actually tell you they\u2019re unhappy, they\u2019ll simply quit your service. <\/p>\n

      Surprise and Delight Your Customers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      Loyalty programs are a long time staple many business models<\/a>.  Buy 9 hair cuts, get the 10th one free.<\/p>\n

      You can do the same thing for your customers when they reach a milestone.  You can give them a month free when they\u2019ve reached their one year anniversary with you.<\/p>\n

      You can give them more storage, or a free upgrade when they\u2019ve crossed a certain threshold.  This will help with both lead generation and customer loyalty.<\/p>\n

      Create a Customer Success Team<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      Not to be confused with a customer support<\/a> team, a customer success team is there to help onboard new customers, show them the features of the product, and help them maximize its full potential.<\/p>\n

      This is one of the best things we\u2019ve implemented at Time Doctor over the past few years.  It\u2019s helped us reduce churn and keep our largest, most profitable customers happy.<\/p>\n

      They also provide feature ideas so we know what to build moving forward.<\/p>\n

      Create a User Group<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      A user group is exactly as it sounds.  It\u2019s a group of people who are using your app who can converse, connect, and help each other out.<\/p>\n

      For instance, the Avada User Group is simply a Facebook group where people building WordPress websites<\/a> using the Avada theme can share ideas and ask each other questions.<\/p>\n

      \"avada<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

      This doesn\u2019t have to be overly complicated.  A simple Facebook group or slack channel can do the trick.<\/p>\n

      In App Support<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      As a user of software products, one of the greatest things for me is the in app customer support like you see in ConvertKit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      \"in<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

      Whenever I have an issue, someone responds to me in a reasonable amount of time.  This saves me a ton of headache and it\u2019s one of the biggest reasons why I have never looked for something cheaper.<\/p>\n

      Offer Annual Plans<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      Saas pricing strategy experts Profitwell recently did a study on Saas churn and found that <\/p>\n

      \u201ca higher % of annual contracts strongly correlates with lower % churn. This means that rather than just defaulting to a monthly subscription, companies should consider offering an annual contract instead.\u201d  (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n

      One reason they found this to be true is because annual contracts attract higher value customers.  These are customers willing to commit to your product.<\/p>\n

      Keep Adding Value<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      At some point, your customer\u2019s needs are going to change and technology is going to change.  You may need to add integrations to new platforms, or add new features that you previously haven\u2019t thought of.<\/p>\n

      In order to keep your customers happy, you\u2019re going to have to keep adding value to your app.  Sometimes this will come in the way of incremental improvements. Other times it will come in the way of a paradigm shift.<\/p>\n

      The more value you add to your customers, the longer they\u2019ll stay with you.<\/p>\n

      Referral Marketing Ideas<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      At first, I was going to put this in the lead gen category.  But after looking around, I found quite a few ideas for referral marketing.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Check out some of these stats:<\/span><\/p>\n