Every business-to-business software as a service (B2B SaaS) company starts with the same goal: to acquire as many new customers as possible. To do that, they need a strong marketing strategy.
Some SaaS companies accomplish that objective by joining certain platforms to easily reach potential prospects and find qualified sales opportunities. Some go for paid advertising for a faster way to get their brands out on the market. Unfortunately, not every marketing effort they make is successful.
Here are six marketing blunders that B2B SaaS companies should avoid when building their brands for long-term sustainable growth:
1. Failing To Target The Right Audience
Targeting a specific audience is one way to build effective marketing goals in a B2B SaaS company. However, it’s also one of the most common marketing mistakes that such firms make. Failing to target the right audience usually results from targeting consumers instead of businesses or going after the wrong companies or organizations.
Another mistake is the ‘spray and pray’ marketing approach, which involves sending out and creating numerous emails, blog posts, and social media posts, hoping to get your desired results. For many companies, this method doesn’t work. It can even have the opposite effect by tarnishing your business’ image and reputation.
Instead, it’d be better to target your audience with laser precision and create relevant content that they’ll actually want to engage with. Do your research before spending your hard-earned money on any sort of advertising effort.
2. Having Inconsistent Branding
Just like businesses in other industries, a SaaS company needs to maintain a consistent brand across all platforms in order for its marketing efforts to succeed. If you’re unable to do this, then not only will it confuse your audience, but you may also lose credibility in the long run.
Therefore, if your brand’s voice is all about being a relaxed, down-to-earth company, your content should reflect that. Your brand voice should also be evident in your logos, the design of your campaign materials, and every other aspect of your marketing strategy. It can also include your social media interactions, website design, and email marketing.
If you’re not sure how to create a consistent voice for your brand, then check out this post about brand guidelines. It outlines some branding essentials so you can make sure that every interaction with your customers is consistent.
3. Not Providing Value With Content Marketing
People don’t go to websites on a whim; they do it because they want to be informed, educated, or entertained by valuable content. If you’re not providing this, then something may be wrong with your approach.
To avoid that, keep your audience top of mind and create informational and helpful content. You may also highlight some problems your audience is currently facing and provide tips on how to overcome them. You may even offer tutorials if needed.
All those can come from a well-thought-out content marketing plan that’d ensure you’re always reaching your target audience with fresh, new content. A content marketing plan is an essential part of your marketing strategy. It’s a guide that’ll keep you on track and help you achieve your content marketing goals. It’s usually composed of the who, what, where, when, and why of your content marketing.
4. Overspending On Paid Ads
Advertising can be a great way to reach more people and get your message out there, but it can also be costly. Before you start spending money on ads:
- Make sure you have a solid marketing strategy in place and know your goals.
- See to it that you target the right audience with your ads and you’re not spending more money than you can afford.
- Recognize the difference between working with influencers and paying for advertising. Some B2B SaaS companies have been burned by both, believing they’re the same.
Once you have a strategy in place, track your results and optimize your campaigns regularly.
5. Not Responding To Customer Questions Or Concerns
People live in a social world that’s becoming increasingly connected through the web. This means they can and will ask you questions about your services through your social media accounts and websites. Thus, if you don’t have a plan on how to manage those, you’ll eventually lose customers.
Social media can be great for building relationships with your audience and answering their questions quickly. It gives people the chance to have an open dialogue with you on certain topics, which they may find difficult to do on other platforms.
6. Forgetting To Measure The Results
Lastly, one of the most significant marketing fails a B2B SaaS company can make is not measuring the results of their efforts. This includes measuring the return of investment (ROI) of every marketing campaign, including content marketing ones.
By assessing the outcome of your efforts, you’ll be able to determine whether or not you’re getting more visitors that are being converted into customers. Without this information, it’s difficult to know if your strategies are working and benefiting your business.
Conclusion
It can be difficult at times to figure out which methods or materials you should use to attract and retain clients, especially since there are countless businesses out there that may offer the same services as yours. But by avoiding these six most prominent marketing fails, you’ll soon be on your way to having a successful B2B SaaS company despite the presence of competition.