Customers don't care about you

Sorry to break this news to you, but customers don't really care about you.

Even when they ask about you, it's really about them:

• "What problems can you solve for me?" 
• "What experience do you have with companies like mine?" 
• "What do you know about my business, my market, my product?" 
• "How can you help me?"

You may have a broad range of expertise.  You might have solved problems for all kinds of different companies in all kinds of different industries.  You might know a lot about a lot of different markets.

It doesn't matter. 

Prospective customers really only care about themselves. What do you know about their market?  What can you do for their business.

There's no problem with that.  After all, it's their business and their money.

Present yourself as an expert

So what does that mean for software-as-a-service (SaaS) marketers?  What does it mean for your messages and how you present yourselves?

Look at it from the prospective customer's point of view.  They'll be relying on your SaaS solution to support a key part of their business - customer management, finance, ERP, HR, whatever. 

They need to trust you.  They need to feel confident that you understand their particular needs. 

You need to present yourselves as experts at solving their unique challenges.  You need to focus, to specialize. (See "Don't market to the wrong people," Practical Advice Newsletter, April 2013.)  

For example:

• "Our billing management system is focused on the meeting the special needs of veterinarians in the US"
• "We deliver an HR recruiting solution built specifically for K-12 public school administrators"
• "We've built an inventory management system based on our deep understanding of the food service industry."

You can specialize by industry, by geography, or by company size.  Those are fairly common. 

Or the focus could be on a particular kind of problem.  For example:

• "We've built a solution for companies that need to coordinate long sales cycles that include multiple decision makers throughout a large enterprise"
• "We're ideal for small companies struggling to attract software developers"
• "Our solution eliminates the paperwork from tracking warranties and processing claims."  

That is, you could stake a claim to having the perfect solution to one special need which may be common to multiple industries.

SaaS is about a relationship, not a transaction

Of course your company probably knows a lot about other industries and other markets.  And it might be easy to configure your SaaS solution to work in a variety of environments to solve a whole slew of problems. 

But your prospective customer usually doesn't care about what you can do for other companies in other industries with different challenges.  They care about themselves.

Remember, SaaS means a relationship, not a transaction.  And customers want a relationship with someone that they are convinced knows their market, their business, their problems.  Someone they can trust.


 


This work by Peter Cohen, SaaS Marketing Strategy Advisors is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Images obtained via iCLIPART.com.

SaaS Marketing Tactics: Do Whatever Works

Like most conventional wisdom, ideas about the "best" way to market software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions make sense for some companies.  But for other companies, those same ideas don't work at all.

Take free trials, for example. 

For applications and markets where the prospective customer can actually get a good sense of how the solution works over the course of a short trial, where the company has the resources to support the trial, and there's an effective process in place to move prospects from trial to purchase, a free trial can be a very effective tactic.

But that's not always the case.  If the prospect won't see much value from a trial for months, or it costs the SaaS provider lots of time and money to support it, a free trial doesn't make sense. 

Here's the point:  Don't buy into the conventional wisdom: "SaaS companies must offer free trials."  Instead, go your own way and offer alternatives.  (See "Free trials don't always make sense.")

Certain social media make sense; others don't

Conventional wisdom also points to social media as a "must do" SaaS marketing tactic.

Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn can be effective in the right circumstances.  But if your target market isn't active on those media, don't bother. 

Or at least don't bother with all of them.  If your prospects participate in relevant LinkedIn discussion groups, spend time on LinkedIn, and ignore the other media.

Blogs can be useful too.  If they convey helpful information, they can organically attract a well-qualified audience.  But don't follow the pack here and start a blog just because "everybody's got one." 

Blogs take time and resources (Believe me on this, folks.  Even monthly deadlines come up quickly!)   If you can't make the commitment, don't do it.  A blog showing the latest post from 2010 is worse than no blog at all.

Don't rule out tradeshows

Conventional wisdom takes a dim view of tradeshows. 

For one thing, they are expensive.  I always figure the final cost of participating in a large show- counting in travel, entertainment, tchotchkes, shipping & drayage, etc. - will be at least 3x the cost of booth space.  That's a lot of money for a cost-conscious SaaS company.

But don't write off tradeshows out of hand.  Conventional wisdom aside, for some markets and some SaaS solutions, they're perfect venues to get in front of the ideal prospective customer. 

We recently developed a customer acquisition plan for a client selling to fitness clubs.  In talking with their target buyers - fitness club owners and managers - we found they all attended at least one of the two large national shows every year.   Participating in those events - both on and off the show floor - makes sense for that company.

So much for "conventional wisdom."

Use what works for you

When you're evaluating SaaS marketing tactics, of course it's a good idea to listen to your peers, pick up "rules of thumb," and skim relevant blogs (thank you).  But don't accept or reject ideas out of hand.  See if they fit your particular situation. 

Better yet, try them out.  Measure the results. 

If they work, do more.  If not, don't.

When marketing gets creepy

A company I'll call "NotAGreatIdea.com" is spying on me.

They know I've wandered onto their website and watched a video demo of their product.  I didn't provide my name or email address.  But somehow they think they have permission to contact harass

me.  

Perhaps "harass" isn't exactly the right word to describe the email that arrived a few minutes after my visit to their site.  It addresses me by name and mentions that they know that I've checked out their video.

Maybe "creepy" is a better word.

Nothin' for nothin'

Companies can contact me when I've asked for something from their website, like a white paper.  I actually expect that.  It's a fundamental principal of inbound marketing.  You give me something of value, and in return I give you an opportunity to connect with me.

Done well, this mutually valuable exchange can be a vital part of an effective customer acquisition strategy.  It can help companies earn credibility and move prospects along a path toward purchasing a solution.  And it can be designed and executed to fit within software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies' business model.  (See "SaaS companies can't afford to sell," November 2012) 

But when I've not explicitly provided my name and contact information, as in the case of my anonymous visit to "NotAGreatIdea.com," the company has not earned the right to contact me.

A productive relationship doesn't start with stalking

In fact, their intrusive email completely soured me on the idea of learning more about the company.  I have not the slightest interest now in taking them up on the invitation "to arrange a short meeting to answer any questions you have and to show you how NotAGreatIdea.com's easy to use patented technology can help take your marketing to the next level." (Name changed to spare public embarrassment.)

If by "take your marketing to the next level" you mean that my company too can use your technology to identify visitors - who thought they were anonymous - and try to establish a trusting and productive relationship with them... no thanks.  That sounds worse than spam; it's stalking.

Look, I'm not naive about what marketing technology can do.   I know you can use clever solutions like these to track all my comings & goings on a website, count my downloads, and even discover my name and email address.

But just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should do it.




This work by Peter Cohen, SaaS Marketing Strategy Advisors is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Images obtained via iCLIPART.com.

Why I'm cancelling my subscription: a failure to communicate

I just cancelled my subscription to the New York Times on my Nook.  Not because I won't be reading the New York Times any longer... but I won't be reading it on my Nook.

Why not?  Because the service provider, Barnes & Noble, routinely breaks a fundamental SaaS rule: 

Communicate with your subscribers.

What we have is a failure to communicate. 

Barnes & Noble is unable or unwilling to let me know when there's a problem with their delivery.

Several times over the last few months, my electronic newspaper didn't arrive as scheduled. 

Last Saturday morning, the New York Times icon on my Nook was showing some kind of inexplicable message:  "Connecting." Nothing about a delivery problem.

On the Barnes & Noble website, nothing about the problem.

On the customer support telephone line "hold" message (which I listened to for 15 minutes), nothing.

In my email inbox, nothing.

When I finally reached a customer service rep, she told me that their servers had been down since the evening before.  They won't be able to deliver my newspaper or anything else until the problem is fixed.

It's a daily newspaper.  It's not worth much the following day. 

Lots of SaaS applications - CRM, ERP, HR, etc. -  are time-sensitive.  You expect them to be available when you need them.  Late information is useless information.

Look, I understand that applications, servers and networks go down.  Sometimes it's for scheduled maintenance and sometimes unexpectedly.  It probably happens less frequently for SaaS solutions than it does for internal networks, but it happens nonetheless.
 
But that's not what I'm ranting about.  I'm ranting about the lack of communication.

Poor communication will hurt you

When something does go wrong, you've got to let your subscribers know. 

That's part of your obligation as a legitimate SaaS provider.

• Post a notice to your website.  
• Send an email to your subscribers.  
• Include the information in your "hold" message.  
• Run up a distress flag.  
• Say something!

Just don't keep us in the dark.  It can cost you subscribers.  In fact, I know one.





This work by Peter Cohen, SaaS Marketing Strategy Advisors is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Images obtained via iCLIPART.com.

"Old" tactics can still work for SaaS marketing

Lots of things about software-as-a-service (SaaS) are new:  the business model, the delivery model, the development model.

But that doesn't always mean that the marketing tactics need to be new too.  You're not obligated to use only the latest tools and techniques.  Sometimes the "old" tactics will work just fine.
 
Not everyone lives on Facebook

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media are certainly more glamorous than print media.  Marketers even brag about how many "followers" and "friends" they've attracted.

But print media can be very effective.  If that's where your prospective customers are, you should be there, too.

Coverage in "Modern Bee Keeper" magazine may not sound cutting edge, but if you want to get your solution in front of bee keepers, it just might do the job.

Tradeshows are very much alive

I've heard people say "tradeshows are dead."  They figure that nobody has time or budget to spend time at an event, and everything can be found on the web anyway.

Not so fast.  Big shows like the Consumer Electronics Show and the Detroit Auto Show are thriving, and small regional shows are "must attend" events for certain audiences.  School bus fleet managers in North Carolina regularly attend events hosted by the "North Carolina Pupil Transportation Association."  If that's who you sell to, that's where you can find them.

Direct mail can still work

Direct mail seems so dated in the age of email, websites, and social media.

But don't dismiss it out of hand.  After all, I counted more than 20 promotional solicitations in my USPS mail box last week, and I know that the people who manage direct mail campaigns carefully track results.  This tactic, which has probably been around since the Pony Express, must be working for somebody.

Spend to win customers, even if it's old school

SaaS companies need to be especially careful about where they spend their marketing money.  Sales and marketing costs will likely be one of their largest expenses, and spending on things that doesn't actually attract customers... that's a recipe for going out of business.  (See "SaaS customer acquisition;  Feed it or starve it")

But while you're thinking about how to spend wisely, don't rule out certain marketing tactics just because they're not new or your hip marketing brethren shun them.

Frankly, it doesn't really matter what other marketers are doing; what matters is what your prospective customers are doing.




This work by Peter Cohen, SaaS Marketing Strategy Advisors is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Images obtained via iCLIPART.com.

Spend first, think later: Bad idea

When it comes to putting together a marketing plan, there are lots of reasons to spend first and think later. 

The "spending" I'm talking about is spending on marketing programs like PR, events or collateral. 

And the "thinking" is about developing a compelling value proposition and messages. 

One reason why marketers spend first and think later… it's more fun.

Spending money on a clever promotional video, a tradeshow party, or a new ad campaign...  that can be fun.

But thinking about a value proposition… that's not fun.  That's hard work. 

Eat your broccoli first

Spending before thinking is more fun... but it's backwards

You need the value proposition in place before you can do any of the fun stuff. 

It's like you need to eat your broccoli before you eat dessert.

You need to know who you're selling to, what problem they're trying to solve, and why they would buy a solution from you instead of somebody else.


And you need to express that value proposition clearly, concisely, and consistently. 

You need to do the hard work to answer these fundamental questions before you start spending on marketing programs.  (Or you can hire someone like me to help.)

Because until you have a well-articulated value proposition in place, it's difficult to get much value from the other stuff.

You can spend lots of money on programs to deliver your messages:  PR, search engine marketing, videos, a website, tradeshows, etc.

But it won't buy you much unless you have a compelling message to deliver.

For software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies in particular, that's money wasted… money that you can't afford to waste.  (See "SaaS customer acquisition:  Feed it or starve it?"

Eat your broccoli first, then you can have the pineapple pie!







This work by Peter Cohen, SaaS Marketing Strategy Advisors is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Images obtained via iCLIPART.com.

Making free trials work: 3 tips

Lots of software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies offer free trials.  But in even the best cases, only about a modest portion of the free trialers actually convert into paying customers.

In fact, many times the free trialers don't even try the free stuff.

People download the trial, but then they get distracted.

Or they don't have the time to use it.

Or they don't have the data they need to get started.

Or they decide it's a hassle.

Or they lose interest.

Or whatever.

Totango calls these folks "accidental trialers:"  prospective customers who sign up for a free trial and then do nothing.

After a few weeks, the trial expires - a complete flop for both the prospective customer and the SaaS provider:

The prospect gains little experience with the product and misses the opportunity to see how it might be helpful.

The provider has little opportunity to convert the free trialer into a paying customer.   They've invested in finding and cultivating a prospect, but they can't close the deal.

How can SaaS providers avoid this?  How can they get prospects to actually try the free trial?

Tip 1:  Don't make the trialer work too hard

Just because your solution is free doesn't mean your prospective customer's time is free.  If you ask them to do lots of work - track down data, configure forms, set-up work flows - they're likely to bail out.

Instead provide completed templates, default settings and benchmark data already filled in.  The trialer, of course, can make changes, but they're not starting from a blank page.

Tip 2:  Don't overwhelm the trialer

You're proud of your solution - every bell and whistle of it.  And your paying customers may grow to love every bell and whistle too - eventually.  But your free trialers probably aren't yet ready to see every single feature and function, and they may be overwhelmed by a walk-through of the entire product.

At this stage, it's better to focus the prospect on accomplishing a few simple, common tasks.  Show them how easy the solution is to use and how quickly they can achieve worthwhile results.  Get them as soon as possible to an "Aha!" moment.

Tip 3:  Offer help

Even with the simplest, most intuitive solutions, the prospect might need some guidance.  These folks aren't dense; they're just busy.

Give them a guided tour through the trial, a step-by-step guidebook, a recorded tutorial, or one-on-one coaching.

Yes, helping free trialers can be expensive.  But remember, you've already spent time and money to get prospects this far in the purchase process.

Spending more to push them one final step - and convert them from trialers to buyers - might be a worthwhile investment.





This work by Peter Cohen, SaaS Marketing Strategy Advisors is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Images obtained via iCLIPART.com.