SaaS Marketing Trends You Need to be Leveraging

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We've compiled the cutting edge SaaS marketing trends that are set to make a wave this year. Check them out!

As a SaaS marketer, you know the importance of staying ahead when it comes to SaaS marketing trends. It’s one of the core elements of your job role – allowing you to stay at the top of your game, ahead of competitors and in tune with your target audience.

So, what are the latest SaaS marketing trends? Who is using them successfully? And how can you leverage them to boost ROI? We’ll cover each of these questions in our tell-all guide. Let’s get started.

What is SaaS marketing?

SaaS marketing is a type of marketing solely focused on promoting software as a service (SaaS) products. 

Like other industries, marketing helps SaaS companies introduce their product to the market, build awareness for their organisation, acquire customers and retain them.

However, SaaS marketing has its own set of specific best practices, trends, strategies and tactics that are quite specific and unique. That’s why it’s important to understand the difference.

SaaS Marketing Trends for 2022

Now that we’ve covered the essentials – it’s time to jump into the trends sweeping the SaaS marketing industry at the moment. We’ll give you a look into what they are, how they’re being used currently & how you can leverage them to elevate your own marketing strategy. 

1.Video marketing

Video marketing is a key component of any successful SaaS marketing strategy. And it’s really not surprising given how present and popular video is in today’s world.

From a commercial perspective, research from Google indicates that 50% of people use online videos to help them decide to purchase – or not. So if you’re looking to boost sales for your SaaS product, video marketing is a necessity.

But how should you approach video marketing for maximum impact? We’d recommending creating a bank of strategically-devised videos all in different formats, topics and funnel stages.

Once you have a decent collection, start leveraging them across popular digital marketing channels that offer video. This includes Youtube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok as well as emails, website and landing pages.

See where video works best for your audience, and in what form / length / topic type. Then, analyse, draw insights, report on performance and optimise accordingly.

If you’re looking for a silver bullet for SaaS marketing success – investing in high quality video content may be as close as you’ll be able to get.

And if you’re not already leveraging video marketing, you’d be a fool not to start.

BONUS TREND – Tik Tok: Many B2B companies are wary of Tik Tok as an advertising channel. However, with 1 billion users now on board the platform and 60% of them being over 24, it’s definitely a platform that the forward-thinking SaaS marketer is adding to their channel mix. If you want to be ahead of the game, you should be looking at ways to make TikTok work for you.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

If you’re a SaaS marketer, there’s no way you’re yet to realise the chokehold AI has on the future of the industry.

That being said, you’d be forgiven for not understanding the extent to which it has evolved over the past few years. Across multiple arenas. And how sophisticated it’s truly become.

Luckily you have us to give you a bit of a debrief.

One example of AI’s impact on SaaS marketing is GTP-3. What is it you may ask? GTP-3 uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate conversion-optimised ad copy and content.

You might be sceptical: computers writing copy? But there are studies that show it can actually perform better than the equivalent written by humans.

This tech has developed so far that a college student was able to use GPT-3 to write fake blog posts and ended up in the number 1 position at Hacker News.

Forget copy, there’s also now AI image generation tools that can create the imagery for your blog posts, emails and advertising campaigns. If you’re looking to be on the cutting edge of SaaS marketing trends, integrating AI imagery into your approach may be the step forward you need.

Beyond ad copy and imagery generators, there’s also a whole bunch of other more widely used AI-based tools that you’d be silly to pass up on. This includes AI-fuelled reporting and optimisation tools; that can really help you elevate your SaaS marketing campaigns.

For example, Campainless is a LinkedIn Ads optimisation tool that delivers powerful AI-generated optimisation recommendations based on your LinkedIn data. With this helpful tool, you’re able to make better, data-backed ads decisions.

After that round up it’s clear: taking advantage of AI to boost your marketing strategies is a no brainer!

3. Feature marketing and personalisation

Feature marketing is another trend SaaS companies are jumping head first into in 2022. And while focusing on your feature set is not new, the way this type of marketing is being harnessed now is.

Right now, it’s all about reconsidering what features are your UVP-worthy feature stand-outs. And then finding ways to market them in the most impactful way possible.

On this note, Personalisation in feature marketing seems to be absolutely the way to go in 2022.

This could look like creating personalised landing pages that highlight the most relevant features to the specific person scrolling. Or uses copy that communicates these features in a way that is preferred by them e.g. short videos or tables.

Feature marketing in 2022 is all about centring the needs of the individual, and meeting them.

Nail this one and you’re on the way to smashing your SaaS marketing targets!

4. Unbundling strategies

VPs agree that unbundling is part of the future of SaaS. The more laser-focused your SaaS products are, the better your chances of marketing them successfully and boosting your conversion rate. What does this mean?

Offer prospects the opportunity to select the unbundled products based on their exact needs rather than strictly “all-in-one or nothing” packages.

As a result, you can market to your prospects with the exact solution they need rather than a whole lot of unnecessary stuff that’s not relevant and may turn them them off. By unbundling you’re able to be much more targeted and personal.

For example, Hubspot offers the ability to use their marketing automation platform separate from their sales suite.

While you could use these two SaaS products together (and it would be encouraged), unbundling gives you a greater chance of appealing to the specific needs of your prospect, and getting them to a sale.

SaaS businesses who want to make a splash in 2022 and beyond really need to consider embracing this pivotal SaaS marketing trend.

5. Native Advertising

Native advertising is a trend that many SaaS marketing teams are looking to get more involved with in 2022.

You may be asking what is native advertising?” Good question. It’s basically the use of paid ads which align with the look and the feel of the platform in which they appear.

This means instead of disrupting the user experience like traditional ads, which often pop up, stand out or redirect users unwillingly, native ads merely add to the current environment.

One of the most common examples of a native ads are social media posts that appear on your prospects’ newsfeed like organic posts but are actually paid.

So they can reach a bigger audience of non-followers without seeming like real ads. Many SaaS businesses are currently leveraging this approach.

Beyond this – there are quite a few companies whose whole business model is centred around providing this type of advertising to businesses.

This includes Outbrain, Taboola, and Yahoo. All of these businesses operate like a traditional ad platform but appear differently to end users.

Many SaaS companies use these channels as part of their overarching strategy because they offer a way to engage with and promote to potential customers in a way that appears to be more authentic, natural.

This is particularly appealing for SaaS businesses where the expectation is to be more savvy with marketing tactics.

Standing out by standing back with native advertising is a tactic you should definitely be considering in 2022.

6. It’s all about brand

Prior to this point, marketers really just stuck to a product let marketing strategy for their SaaS company.

However as the SaaS industry has grown, it’s become very clear that relying solely on SaaS product marketing is no longer enough.

The focus of marketing efforts has had to evolve to meet new demands. Particularly with the goal being no longer just to acquire paying customers but also build customer retention and achieve customer success.

This is where brand positioning comes into focus. Building a brand voice and identity that will withstand new competitors in the market, is attached to clear marketing messages and is anchored in real people has become absolutely necessary.

SaaS business owners should be putting a significant portion of their marketing investment into building a strong brand that stands on its own feet without the product. And into brand awareness activities to boost their visibility and presence in the market.

The key to finding an edge in the SaaS market, attracting new customers and satisfying existing customers and creating a lasting business model is a comprehensive brand experience.

7. Multichannel marketing

Another timely but also here-to-stay trend to watch in 2022 is multi channel marketing. Multichannel marketing in SaaS refers to the practice of using multiple channels simulataneously.

It’s probably no surprise that any successful SaaS marketing strategy in 2022 will be made up of a combination of different channels. This includes everything from Google Search to LinkedIn and anything in between.

One of the key advantages of multichannel marketing is that you can use different channels and the benefits of those channels to satisfy different audiences, stages of the funnel, pieces of content and objectives.

The exact makeup or number of channels is not hugely important. What’s crucial is that all of them are tied together in a way that serves to complement and enhance one another.

Having a cohesive multichannel approach is the best way for SaaS marketers to ensure maximum impact from their b2b SaaS marketing and enhance customer experience.

Why trends are not enough

While making sure you have a keen, focused eye on the latest trends popping up in the SaaS industry should be a regular part of your daily routine – it’s not enough to keep your business afloat.

You need to make sure that any trends you hop on are anchored by a core, holistic SaaS marketing strategy.

After all, without a clear objective, mission, metrics, KPIs or alignment with other channels and approaches, you’re lost. Any trends you choose to leverage are unlikely to reach their maximum impact. And who wants that?

If you’re sitting here thinking, I’m still yet to build a full-blown strategy for my SaaS company – don’t worry! Our helpful articles Creating a Killer SaaS Content Marketing Strategy and 7+ Stellar SaaS Content Marketing Examples cover everything you need to get started.

Want more? We have a whole team of SaaS marketers who can ensure you have the best, most effective SaaS marketing strategy to enter FY23 with.

You’ll never miss a beat with this powerful team of experts by your side. Simply get in touch today to learn more.

Boost ROI for your SaaS business today

You’re now armed with the most prevalent and impactful SaaS marketing trends of 2022. With this handy blog post by your side, and an effective strategy, you’ll never miss an opportunity to boost your ROI and improve your customer acquisition and retention efforts.

After all, it’s a shortcut to ensuring your marketing efforts are as impactful as they possibly can be.

If you do end up exercising any of the above for your own business and find success (or not), we’d love to hear from you.

Just fill out the form here and let us know. Your feedback is always encouraged. And please share this article with any friends you feel will benefit from it too!

Get a growth partner who understands the challenges your SaaS company faces

Need a bit more help with your SaaS marketing? Our SaaS digital marketing agency, Digital Rhinos can help you build a scalable growth engine for your SaaS business. With us you can bring in more opportunities, increase profit, and smash your targets.

All you need to do is book your very own 15 minute discovery call today.

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