The SaaS industry has one of the hardest marketing processes, and one of its significant prospecting steps is SaaS demand generation.
The SaaS market is one of the most competitive and challenging markets in the modern world. For this reason, active businesses in this field should continuously innovate in their demand generation for SaaS.
Demand generation is used to create leads and educate leads about the value of a SaaS product. The benefits of a SaaS product are critical, shortening the sales cycle and increasing conversion rates.
SaaS marketing can be difficult because what you are selling is not physical. What is SaaS, and why do you need to generate demand for it? What does it involve? what are the best demand generation examples?
Read this article to the end and find the answers to all these questions and so much more!
What Is SaaS?
SaaS stands for “Software as a Service”, where software is provided to users online through the Internet. It allows organizations to use the software without purchasing or installing it, as their access is provided via the cloud.
The best example of software as a service can be “Microsoft Office 365” instead of the popular Word and Excel software.
The best example to understand what SaaS means:
Think of SaaS as renting a furnished apartment. You don’t have to buy and maintain the furniture; just pay the monthly rent and use the apartment’s facilities. Similarly, purchasing and installing software is unnecessary with SaaS. Everything is ready, and you only pay to use it.
Understanding SaaS Demand Generation
SaaS demand generation is a marketing approach focused on creating awareness and interest in using the software. Unlike traditional marketing strategies focusing on the immediate creation of sales, demand generation takes a general approach.
As Accelerate.agency defines it, “SaaS demand generation is the process of driving interest in—and increasing demand for—your company’s products or services. Doing so can attract and engage new prospects, convert them to leads, and guide them through the sales pipeline.”
Demand gen acts as a bridge between the marketing and sales teams. The things that matter are long-term engagement, brand authority building, and guiding prospects throughout the sales funnel.
Generally, SaaS demand generation combines content marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing, webinars, and email campaigns. These activities should be done to find and nurture audiences and educate them on your product or service’s value, especially over time.
Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation
While demand generation and lead generation are essential in any business, especially SaaS, each has a different purpose. Let us take a quick comparison of demand generation vs lead generation.
Lead generation means finding people who most closely resemble your ideal customer persona, finding their contact information, and creating momentum that leads them to immediate sales conversions. It is important here that these people are already aware of their needs and know what they want, and, predictably, they are interested in what you offer them.
Demand generation is different from lead generation. Your target population does not intend to buy at all. In fact, you must create a sense of need in them and even make them aware that they have a specific need that can only be satisfied with your product or service.
If lead generation focuses on short-term sales results, demand generation depends on long-term relationships by considering prospects throughout the buyer’s journey.
The Core Components of SaaS Demand Generation
So far, you have realized that demand generation is essential for SaaS and any other business. But what components should be observed in SaaS demand generation?
This section examines three important components as mentioned below.
1. Identify the Target Audience
If you’ve worked in marketing for even a few days, you know that identifying and understanding your ideal customer profile is the first step in generating demand.
ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) defines the characteristics of customers most likely to benefit from your SaaS product. This profile can include demographics, company size, industries you are interested in, purchasing behavior, location, etc.
You can analyze your database to create and modify this profile and identify the characteristics of your best customers. Using surveys and tracking customer behavior and trends can also help in this matter. If you have defined a suitable persona, it is time to find your goals.
I always suggest using online platforms like CUFinder for extracting prospects’ data and details to build comprehensive ICPs. It may be hard to believe, but experience has shown me that a well-defined ICP can help you focus your marketing efforts on the right audience and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your demand-generation strategies.
2. Content Marketing Strategy
When generating SaaS demand, you should attract and inform the audience. This is where the types of content enter the battlefield. Blogs, videos, articles, webinars, eBooks, etc., are your best weapons for SaaS demand generation.
Your content doesn’t just promote your products and services; it portrays you as a thought leader and a great information source.
Also, case studies and webinars can show people what problems your product is supposed to solve practically, encouraging prospects to go to the next stages of the customer journey.
However, one more thing is important besides the high quality of the content you produce and order. Regularly publishing high-quality, relevant content helps build trust with your audience and positions your brand as a go-to resource in your industry.
3. SEO and Organic Search
One of the levers that can help create demand is that your website is among the top results of search engines. Many people go to Google to solve their problems. Many of your leads may need to learn that a SaaS company is solving their problem. Optimize your website for search engines and make it more visible to your audience. This can create demand. For a good SEO (Search Engine Optimization), consider the following:
- On-page SEO tactics like keyword optimization and internal links
- Off-page SEO tactics like link-building and influencer marketing
- Technical SEO tactics like duplicate content and mobile considerations
Developing a Multi-Channel Approach
Using a multi-channel marketing strategy in SaaS demand generation is not only an approach but a necessity!
In a world that is changing every moment, you cannot rely on only one marketing strategy for lead generation and demand generation like fifty years ago. Increase your access to potential leads by using a variety of marketing channels.
In this section, we will examine some of these demand-generation channels together.
Paid Advertising
One of the good options you have to generate SaaS demand is pay-per-click advertising. These channels, which may be Google Ads, display ads, social media ads, etc., can attract specific audiences to your website based on their demographics, location, behaviors, etc.
However, note that more than their entrance to your website is needed. As a SaaS business, your content must be creative and valuable enough to highlight unique selling points, such as product features or customer success stories, to attract and retain leads.
To have a good ROI, be sure to consider the following:
- Budgeting and optimization of advertising costs
- Setting clear goals for each campaign
- Regular performance analysis
Email Marketing
This is one of the best and most effective SaaS demand generation and lead generation channels. You might not believe how much a targeted email can impact your leads. That’s why we always recommend being sensitive to the content you use for your email campaigns.
The content you use in email marketing should be valuable, educate leads about your service, build trust, and ultimately move them through the stages of the SaaS sales.
To get the most out of your email marketing, we suggest that you consider the following:
- Email list segmentation
- Audience segmentation based on behavior, engagement level, or journey stage
- Regular and sequential sending of emails automatically
- Regular performance evaluation
Social Media Marketing
Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are some of the best channels for SaaS demand generation. Companies can interact directly with their audience on these platforms, do branding, educate leads, and even establish themselves as one of the top sources of information in the minds of their customers.
Remember that the content you publish on social media should be very attractive and valuable to convince leads to move to the next level of the sales funnel.
Remember the following points when using this channel:
- Focus on the platform where your audience is most active
- Produce and publish valuable content
- Engage with your audience
- Be regular
Navigating Common Challenges in SaaS Demand Generation
As every other process, there are challenges in SaaS demand generation as well! Yes, knowing them and learning how to deal with them can benefit you as a SaaS business.
Look at the infographic below and learn what challenges you may face in the process and how you should solve them.
Top Four Tools to Help You in SaaS Demand Generation
We already mentioned that the SaaS market is one of the most competitive modern markets. Data-based marketing strategies and decisions are very important in this market. Correct and accurate data is the lifeblood of any particular business and can greatly help SaaS demand generation by providing valuable insight into customer behavior, market trends, etc.
This valuable data allows businesses to make informed decisions, optimize campaigns, and better target their audiences. SaaS companies need accurate and correct data to understand their target audience’s needs, problems, and preferences and choose a suitable strategy for training them.
Data-driven demand generation involves various steps, such as using online resources and platforms to find this data. Data that helps your SaaS sales business find the best channels, content, technology, etc., for better sales.
In this section, we introduce you to 4 of the best platforms to help you take the first and most important step in generating SaaS demand: identifying the target audience.
1. CUFinder.io
CUFinder.io is one of the most powerful platforms SaaS companies can use for demand generation. The huge database of this platform has stored data from more than 430 million people and 269 million companies so that its users can easily enrich their CRM using over 27 different services.
Also, the CUFinder’s Prospect Engine is designed to identify SaaS target audiences and, of course, find their contact information with an accuracy of over 98%. No matter what industry you are looking for SaaS customers, CUFinder covers almost all industries worldwide.
The vast amount of data available on this platform helps increase the effectiveness of demand generation campaigns and leads to higher conversion rates.
2. ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo is one of the oldest lead-generation platforms. It makes it easier for SaaS businesses to identify and communicate with target audiences by providing various data about companies and individuals. With its features, this platform is a great help in finding suitable leads for SaaS businesses.
3. Apollo.io
Apollo.io is one of the powerful tools that can greatly help SaaS companies to generate demand. Using Apollo.io’s data and analytics features, businesses can identify the most promising leads and tailor their messaging to engage audiences better. By using the services of this platform, you can more easily personalize your SaaS demand generation efforts and increase the effectiveness of your campaigns.
4. Cognism
Cognism is another platform for better communication and customized content to create personalized content. One of the advantages of this platform is the high accuracy of its data, which allows you to use them more safely to generate demand. The platform’s AI-powered tools also offer predictive insights, helping companies anticipate market changes and adjust their strategies accordingly.
The Impact of AI, Machine Learning, and Automation on SaaS Demand Generation
The emergence of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation has changed all aspects of our lives, including SaaS demand generation. Companies can now use these technologies to optimize their demand-generation strategies and engage prospects more easily and effectively.
Artificial intelligence and related tools enable SaaS businesses to analyze their marketing performance to choose better strategies. Analyzing large amounts of data can help you get a clearer view of the leads for which you will generate demand. In fact, in the first step, using artificial intelligence tools like CUFinder can save time, budget, and energy by accurately identifying your audience.
On the other hand, by using machine learning algorithms, you can track leads’ behavior patterns, customer interactions, purchasing patterns, etc., and increase the rate of personalization in the SaaS demand generation sector. SaaS companies can use this data to create the correct experiences for each customer and deliver the right content at the right time. Personalization creates stronger connections with potential customers, leading to higher engagement rates and improved customer satisfaction.
Another technology that makes SaaS demand generation much easier for you is automation tools. These tools can help you manage and analyze large amounts of data effectively. They can also speed up marketing processes and make marketing campaigns more effective and targeted by eliminating various steps.
In general, integrating these technologies in the SaaS demand generation process is the best thing that has happened to such businesses during my working experience. Now, SaaS Lead Generation is much easier, and Demand Generation in Marketing is much faster.
Conclusion
SaaS demand generation may be a relatively rare concept; however, when you enter this field, you will realize its importance in the success of these types of businesses.
The simplest demand generation example, for you to understand its importance, is based on an article from the First-Page Sage website, “Leads that convert at a higher rate (~39% for B2B SaaS) are a sign that you’ve made a good investment in a demand generation channel.”
We recommend you read this article twice and use the strategies discussed for good demand production. There are also other demand generation methods, like SaaS sales cold calling scripts, that you might like to read about.
FAQs
1. How are B2B and B2C demand generation different?
Consumers in B2C businesses typically welcome experiencing new products and services through browsing or watching television. They also often make spontaneous purchases that align with their personal goals. B2B, on the other hand, requires generational customers, meaning companies evaluate products based on their long-term plans and productivity goals.
2. Why is the SaaS market growing?
Speed is forcing companies to move towards the SaaS model. Companies that have turned to the cloud are already experiencing rapid scalability. 20% of companies entering the cloud space reported a moderate improvement in time to market, thus outperforming their competitors using early solutions.
3. What is demand generation?
A data-driven approach to creating measurable demand for a company’s products or services. It aims to nurture key prospects throughout their lifetime using sales and marketing efforts at different points across multiple channels. This can mean creating demand for products or services, reaching new markets, attracting existing customers, or promoting new features. For example, a company offers a new phone to existing customers with an upgraded camera and new features to build long-term relationships and commitment.
4. What does it take to Succeed in B2B marketing in the SaaS space?
You should carefully consider things like setting clear goals and objectives, making a detailed budget and resource plan, identifying target audiences, mastering search engine optimization, and evaluating various strategies introduced in SaaS demand generation.