Social Media started as a way for people to connect with friends and family. But now, these online platforms are used to connect with consumers and influence buying behaviours.
To add further, both business-to-customer and business-to-business companies use social media to establish brand awareness, rake in ROI and grow loyal consumers. No wonder it is one of the most important marketing methods that a SaaS business can tap. The cloud industry is expected to rise by a whopping 17 percent by 2020. This opens up a huge window of opportunity for SaaS startups trying to make a name for themselves.
Right now, however, SaaS marketers are faced with heavy challenges: fierce competition, the difficulty of standing out in a competitive niche and targeting consumers who are overwhelmed with ads.
This is where social media marketing comes in to help you connect with your customers on a deeper level. That is because as a SaaS company, your target audience most likely has social media accounts.
So what should be your top priorities when it comes to implementing social media marketing tactics? Here is a list of things you can do:
1. Create content for the top of your funnel
How do you understand top-of-the-funnel content? As the name implies, a funnel is really wide at the top but it gets narrow at the bottom. Marketers often mention the top, middle, and bottom of the marketing and sales funnel. This refers to the concept of drawing in a large number of people to your website which will dwindle down the marketing funnel, leaving only those who are interested in your offer.
If you are a newly launched SaaS company, you must implement campaigns to draw in the most number of audience. SaaS marketers must reach a wide pool of prospective buyers by employing various marketing tactics including. Top-of-the-funnel content does not discuss your products and services. Instead, it should tackle your prospective customer’s interests and needs.
For example, if you have a background removal application, which article should you post to get the attention of readers at the top of the funnel?
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The first option, letter A, is product-centric and will only attract readers which are interested in your service in the first place. This may not gather as many readers as you would expect since not a lot of people are interested in your product yet.
The second option, letter B, caters to a general populace – those who want to grow their e-commerce sites and are looking for tips to do so. Since this article appeals to a larger number of people, it is a great topic as top-of-the-funnel content.
2. Organize your content through calendars.
You’ll need social media scheduling if you want to be more organized. Calendars help you to plan your material for publication, manage work efficiently, and plan articles ahead of time. If you follow a calendar, you can also plan more effective advertising efforts for your SaaS firm by looking into the performance of prior articles. You can start by making top-of-the-funnel content ideas every two weeks.
3. Build a social update idea bank.
If you want to stay relevant to your target audience, you have to release regular posts on your social media accounts. The challenge, however, is coming up with fresh ideas every time. What you can do to never run out of ideas to post is to create a social update library.
A social update library is an idea bank for your social media posts. When you’re creating material for your website, blog, or social media sites, make a list of 10-15 social media posts that are related to an issue or popular news. When you’ve compiled a list of the latest post ideas, enter them into a spreadsheet so you will not have a problem keeping track of them.
And if you are building a social update library, it only makes sense that you will also create a calendar for these posts. If your business is already growing, you can schedule content on your social media accounts directly and automate everything.
4. Make it easy for visitors to sign up for free trials.
Make signing up for a demo as simple as possible. Don’t have customers go through multiple pages just to experience your SaaS product. The specifics of your demo, for example, should be simple. You should also make it obvious where people can get your demo by using landing pages with clear CTAs. The easier your sign-up process is, the more people you are going to attract. The more complicated it is, the more you will repel prospective customers.
5. Brag with humility on your platforms.
Ever heard of humble bragging? It is the process of sharing your accomplishments without sounding like it’s getting on top of your head. It is showing the world that your product is gaining popularity while thanking users and crediting them pushing you to be better.
Your social media accounts are an excellent area to highlight good company evaluations, provide case studies and customer achievements or testimonials, and give shoutouts when appropriate. After all, these accounts are your platform. Make your voice heard and put your brand forward confidently. When you represent your business properly, people are going to visit your website and follow your social media accounts to learn from you. Even your competitors will keep tabs!
6. Do not hesitate to run social media advertisements
Even small companies can usually afford social media advertisements, especially on Facebook and Instagram. You may use very detailed targeting in your social media ad campaigns to ensure that your brand message is delivered to the correct people without wasting money on those who don’t need or want your product.
You can create a short video about the benefits of your SaaS product to target users and set up a one-click sign-up button to make things easier.
When done correctly, social media advertisements may help your SaaS company reach its marketing objectives quickly. When you capture the interest of social media users, they would be eager to learn relevant and exciting solutions such as what you are offering. The right social media ads can turn a follower into a paying customer, so do not hesitate to run those advertisements.
7. Throw in some questions that your users can’t help but answer.
Another way to increase engagement in your social media posts is to ask questions that your followers would want to answer.
You can start by asking them about their favourites or getting their opinion or advice about something. Involving your audience in your social postings is a wonderful approach to engage them. But keep in mind that if you participate and ask questions, you must be prepared to reply.
Leading SaaS companies are usually active in replying to or liking comments and feedback on their social media pages.
8. Connect with influencers in your niche.
Never underestimate the power of niche influencers. People tend to follow online opinion leaders. Netizens trust influencers so much that 70% will follow an influencer’s advice like how they would follow their real-life peers.
Influencer marketing is the process of reaching out to niche-specific opinion leaders to help reach potential customers. Right now, SaaS companies can easily find industry influencers since the most popular ones tend to stand out.
Teaming up with influencers will be more effective if you offer incentives for target customers. These incentives cover discounts, premium content access, gift cards, or free subscription plans. These promotional offers will help your chosen influencers pitch your SaaS product on their respective platforms.
Takeaway…
To reiterate, SaaS companies must consider the following as top priorities when it comes to creating a social media marketing strategy:
- Creating content for the audience at the top of the funnel
- Organizing content through calendars
- Building a social update idea bank
- Paving way for easy customer onboarding or sign-up
- Humblebragging in your social media platforms
- Running social media ads
- Engaging followers through asking questions they won’t help but answer
- Connecting with industry influencers
These tactics are the most important ones when you are devising your strategies for social media marketing. Create your own social media campaign using these tips today.
