What Is SaaS Lead Generation?
Let’s start from the top. What is a lead, and how do you recognize them? Leads are people or businesses who have shown interest in your business and could become paying customers. SaaS lead generation refers to the process of trying to convince prospects that your solution is the best for their demanding needs. You may enforce various lead generation techniques to grab people’s interest and showcase the value of your SaaS product. First, you conduct market research to identify your potential buyers and their goals, needs, and pain points. Then, you can start creating content to engage and drive them to your website and landing pages so they can browse through your solutions.
Webinars, case studies, testimonials, and blog posts are amazing at establishing thought leadership and generating new leads. Once you convert clients, retaining them is your main goal. You don’t want one-time customers, but businesses who come back to you for more. And to put the cherry on top, satisfied customers can also be your advocates and bring you more business. As a result, you grow organically and spend less for customer acquisition.
Stick around to get in-depth information about the plethora of lead generation options you have to make prospects stick to you like white on rice.
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The Different Types Of Leads
1. Sales-Qualified Leads
Your SaaS lead generation strategy would be successful instantly if the majority of your leads were sales-qualified leads (SQLs). This means that your potential buyers are those in the decision stage and are one step away from making a purchase. They are deemed “hot leads” because they understand their needs and your product’s value. Therefore, you don’t necessarily need a demand generation campaign but a trained sales rep to offer them a free trial so they can kickstart their journey. The next step in your lead acquisition strategy is to show them the different pricing models and tiers and help them decide which one is best for them.
2. Marketing-Qualified Leads
Also known as “warm leads,” marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) are at the consideration stage and have shown keen interest in your SaaS products. Maybe they’ve signed up for a free trial, participated in various webinars, or watched your explainer videos. Your SaaS lead generation strategy should be persistent at this stage and keep offering potential clients more information and unique offers, including coupons, free consultations, and freemiums. The marketing and sales teams should work closely to decide whether each prospect is ready to be upgraded to an SQL. A lead scoring system may be necessary to achieve this. Moving someone to the decision stage promptly can shorten your sales cycle significantly.
3. Information-Qualified Leads
Businesses that are information-qualified leads (IQLs) are referred to as “cold leads” since they are only at the awareness stage. Usually, they are prospects who have discovered your blog posts or eBooks and subscribed to your newsletter. They have just started their journey and are not yet aware of your products. During this stage, gated content plays a crucial role in attracting leads and extracting their personal details. IQLs should not be a priority for marketing teams, though. While you should nurture them through emails and product offerings, you must not stress about following up the same way you do with MQLs and SQLs.
13 Ways To Improve Your SaaS Lead Generation
1. Set SMART Goals
B2B SaaS lead generation requires you to set your goals regarding your audience and desired outcomes. But what are SMART goals exactly? They are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives. When your SaaS sales strategy is specified, your marketing team knows exactly how they are going to generate more leads. For instance, if you want to get 30% more leads in a specific industry, your marketing efforts should focus on advertising toward this niche with a percentage in mind. Curating ads for other demographics as well will probably result in poor lead generation and increased spending. When we say “time-bound,” we mean that you should set a timeframe where you will try to achieve your measurable goals. For example, if you want to increase leads by 30%, you can set a timeframe to achieve this during the year’s second quarter.
2. Craft Your Personas
Is it possible to collect leads when you don’t even know who you’re targeting? Targeting any business in the HR world isn’t going to cut it. You must be more specific and identify the demographics, job roles, pain points, goals, and online purchase behaviors. Therefore, your B2B marketing strategy can promote the right content to the right audiences. For example, if you are a startup offering payroll software, you may decide to approach only smaller-scale companies. You need to identify these companies’ profiles and create content that speaks to their hearts. As a result, SaaS lead gen is highly targeted and personalized, making it easier for prospects to visit your domain. Make sure to update your personas regularly according to changes and feedback you receive.
3. Create SEO-Optimized Content
Creating content is the backbone of every SaaS marketing strategy, as eBooks, articles, infographics, podcasts, and case studies are crucial in establishing thought leadership. During the awareness stage, people expect to read captivating and relevant content that addresses their pain points, offering practical solutions. This requires deep knowledge of your audience. As a result, businesses are more likely to engage with you because they deem you credible and trust your expertise. But to achieve SaaS demand generation, your content must be superior and follow a clear SEO strategy. No matter how well-designed your website and content are, nobody is going to see it unless you start utilizing powerful keywords and phrases. Promoting gated content is a great addition to your strategy, but you also need organic growth. You need someone with expert SEO skills to do thorough research to identify the best keywords. Then, you need talented writers to produce top-quality content.
4. Host Webinars
Did you know that webinars have 5–20% higher conversion rates than other content types? Thanks to their immediacy and convenience, webinars make it easy for participants to join from their computers regardless of location. People don’t feel pressured to wear their best outfits, and they can engage with the speakers and ask their questions. Your SaaS lead generation webinar can feature one speaker, an interview between two speakers, or a panel with multiple participants. Based on your audience’s location, pick a time that seems suitable for them and promote your event as much as possible. Social media and email newsletters are great places to stimulate interest. Make sure to include a powerful CTA button encouraging people to sign up. Maybe you can also offer a coupon for everyone registering and participating.
5. Create Tutorials And Explainer Videos
A lead acquisition strategy can’t miss incorporating videos, including demos, tutorials, explainers, and guides. As a SaaS startup, it is crucial to seize the opportunity to invest in video marketing. It’s understandable if your budget doesn’t allow for extravagant productions. You can simply use static images or graphics accompanied by text. If you’re making a demo, you definitely need a camera to film the whole process live. To generate sales leads and convert them, you must showcase exactly how your solution operates. Text descriptions are great, but people respond differently and with increased engagement to video content. Remember that video marketers get 66% more qualified leads per year than any other content form.
6. Implement A/B Testing
No matter where your traffic comes from, everyone ends up on your landing pages to view your solutions. To turn them into a SaaS lead generation machine, you must create and optimize them with conversions in mind. In the beginning, you need to clearly highlight the benefits of your SaaS product and then include a catchy CTA visitors can’t help but click on. But how do you perform effective landing page optimization so you know which tactic works best? Iterative testing, and especially A/B testing, allows you to test two different options and identify the top performer. You may try two separate CTA buttons with different fonts and colors. Sometimes a tiny change can improve your conversion rates significantly. Keep testing various elements on your landing page until you get the right formula.
7. Offer Free Trials
We’ve already established that lead generation for B2B software companies is hard. One of the reasons is the high stakes of purchasing SaaS tools, as they are not cheap and require much consideration. So, how do you overcome this hurdle? Free trials and freemiums are very effective at helping businesses experience your product before investing their budget. A winning software sales strategy recognizes that clients are not ready to purchase after reading a few testimonials and watching tutorials. Give them enough time to use your solution or offer them the unlimited free version with the option to upgrade. Combined with strong onboarding guidance, your customers will understand that your product is what they need and you are the perfect partner to guide them through the integration process.
8. Promote On Social Media
There is no better way to create connections and engage audiences than maintaining active social media accounts. SaaS lead generation depends on trust and credibility. This means that interacting with users and providing them with compelling content fosters genuine bonds. Additionally, you have the opportunity to present your true and authentic self to your audience. Apart from presenting your solution through striking images and engaging videos, you can also express personal beliefs and tell your success story, discussing the struggles you faced and how you overcame them. This approach humanizes you in the eyes of your followers. Based on people’s engagement, you know which types of posts they like, so you can produce more of them. Also, you will gain insights regarding the demographics that are attracted to your content, helping you improve your marketing results.
9. Utilize Chatbots
SaaS lead generation is quickly turning its head toward chatbots, making it one of the top applications of Artificial Intelligence in marketing. So, why are chatbots so important for SaaS demand gen? They are available 24/7, meaning that regardless of your audience’s location, they can answer simple queries and provide information anytime. In fact, they can typically answer about 80% of general questions. However, they are not here to replace humans. They may be advanced, but they cannot solve complex issues or advise customers based on their unique circumstances. They simply make your sales reps’ lives easier by filtering repeat questions. Therefore, your employees can focus on warm and hot leads so they can push them through your sales funnel quickly.
10. Add CTAs In Your Emails
CTAs are not only important for building a lead generation website but also for email marketing. Adding email signatures increases conversions significantly as you promote your brand and your SaaS product. Don’t forget to include a CTA in your signature, as it makes your SaaS lead generation strategy even more efficient. To get more customers, your CTA must be simple and clear. Messages like “Click here,” “Learn more,” and “Read more” are very straightforward. At the same time, ensure your CTA button is bright and eye-grabbing, as you want people to click on it without thinking twice.
11. Publish Case Studies
Case studies are an invaluable tool in highlighting your company’s success and your clients’ stories, thus generating further leads. While most prospects read reviews, they are not enough to convince them that your product is good for them. Your SaaS marketers will probably advise you that creating case study articles and videos is important for building trust among your audience. Pick a few clients with triumphant results. Ask them to participate in your case study and disclose exactly what their challenges were before purchasing your software and how their results improved. Be specific and include figures and percentages. Include these case studies in your social media, email newsletters, and lead magnets to increase your reach and boost people’s interest.
12. Enforce A Referral Program
If you want to create an organic SaaS lead generation machine and get people to buy your product, referral marketing is necessary. By offering incentives like coupons, discounts, and free trials to your customers, you encourage them to promote your business to their circle. Remember that most consumers trust their peers’ recommendations when searching for a SaaS solution. So, why don’t you let your clients be your ambassadors for free? Sure, you offer them something in return, but you don’t have to pay them for their time. Nevertheless, for customers to be your advocates, you must have already established exceptional customer service and capable software.
13. Incorporate Paid Advertising
There is no easier method to generate company leads than creating ads on your preferred platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Google, and LinkedIn. With paid ads, you can concentrate your lead gen efforts on specific demographics, interests, and purchase behaviors. In-stream ads allow you to target your buyer personas, while Facebook and LinkedIn pixels track your website visits so you can remarket to those who clicked on your ads with banner ads and popups. Another benefit of this practice is that the algorithm shows your ads to people with similar characteristics, like those who already took an interest in you. Lastly, promotional campaigns show you important metrics, including conversion rates, click-through rates, and cost per acquisition.
How Can You Make B2B SaaS Sales Less Complicated?
It is true that 61% of digital marketers consider SaaS lead generation and boosting traffic their biggest challenges, so they spend 53% of their budgets on increasing their leads and accelerating business growth. The benefits of AI in marketing are evident since marketers save 2.5 hours daily thanks to these advanced tools. Apart from enforcing the techniques we mentioned above, you can also run NPS surveys to understand how satisfied your clients are. This is not only to gain repeat customers but also to build advocates for your brand, as most B2B businesses are more likely to purchase something that was suggested to them by a trusted figure.
Talking about trustworthy figures, PPC directories are also a pivotal part of the equation. While advertising online can be successful for most brands, B2B SaaS businesses may find it more difficult to target their niche audiences. Listing your company in a highly targeted PPC directory increases your visibility among your desired prospects. An even better solution is to create PPC ad campaigns so your company appears higher than your competitors. This tactic helps you generate more leads for your business, as most decision-makers are more likely to click on the few first options than keep scrolling until the end of all pages.
Key Takeaway
SaaS lead generation doesn’t always start with hot leads who are ready to add your product to their cart. You may start with cold leads, turn them into warm leads, and then move them to the last stage of the sales cycle. To achieve this feat, your SaaS B2B marketing strategy should focus on identifying your goals and buyer personas. You must know who you’re targeting and what your objectives are. What’s next, then? At the forefront of your efforts lies content marketing. You need to curate articles, eBooks, podcasts, infographics, case studies, and videos to establish credibility and expertise in your niche. Webinar marketing also helps you engage with your audience and showcase the value of your offer.
In addition, SEO is essential for any high-performing marketing team to boost your reach and increase organic traffic. Use social media to promote your content and invest in paid ads to expand your reach. If you notice that website visits have increased but sales are still low, perhaps you should offer people a free trial to experience your solution. When they finally purchase your SaaS product, you can ask them to join your referral program and be your active advocates.
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