Welcome 210 SaaS founders and marketers to the 40th edition of Write your SaaS Growth Newsletter:

In this edition, we discuss:

• Google Ads: 4 steps to spy on your SaaS competitor’s Google Ads

• Cold Outreach: Craft your perfect outreach DM for your SaaS

• Content Marketing: 7 myths that are not helping your SaaS content

• Sales: How to sell your SaaS without appearing salesy or manipulative

• Lead Gen: 3-step personalized videos for demo calls

Let’s GO!

Growth Tip of the Week! 🚀

Have your SaaS growth play identified:

• Bootstrap, initial cashflow via outbound - validate product

• Paid Ads for a quick win once validated - growth capital

• Invest in content strategies & branding and community - long play

Build that growth machine across channels.

Google Ads

Are you wasting hours creating Google Ads campaigns from scratch? Stop reinventing the wheel.

Jackson shares 4 easy steps to spy on your competition and improve on their strategy to get better results 10x faster:

1. Use Auction Insights: Use this to see how you stack up against competitors targeting similar keywords. This will give you an idea of who to spy on.

2. Use Current Keywords to Find Competition: Go in Incognito. Take your top keywords, search them, and see who comes up. Study their whole funnel. It's a simple but effective way to find fresh ideas for your own campaigns.

3. Steal New Keywords and Phrases From Your Competition: Use tools such like: a. SpyFu b. iSpionage c. SEMRush d. Ahrefs. Enter your competitor's URL.Find which keywords/phrases are giving your competition the most relevant traffic. Use this to find more search terms to target.

4. Compile, Analyze, and Test. Now comes the fun part. Collate the data you gathered. Brainstorm new ideas to improve on what was working for your competitors: a. Angles, b. Offers. c. Phrasing... and turn them into ads. Test and optimize.

Remember, you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time. Find what works. Improve on it. Test level of success. Reiterate.

Related: How to Spy on your Competitor Google Ads? (2023)

Cold Outreach

Outreach can be one of the best stratagies to build your initial sales pipeline. But writing the perfect outreach message can be tricky.

In fact, Dan shares that every day he get dozens of cold Twitter DMs. He reads all of them and replies to none. He’s not a bad person. They are just incredibly terrible.

• Poor formatting

• Boring offer

• No personalization

But this channel is still powerful. Here is his framework to write better DMs:

• Personalization: Hey there Dan,

• Elephant in the room: I don’t do cold DMs. But it seems that we have a good match :)

• Context: I’m building a free tool for newsletter creators to get sponsored posts.

• Offer: Would you like to get your newsletter in this database! It’s both high quality and promising for advertisers

• Call-to-Action: Do you have 5 minutes to complete a survey?

• Objection: Its 100% free :)

A poorly message can turn them off your prospects and cause them to leave without and never come back. By creating a good outreach sequence that is relevant, compelling, and easy to apply, you can increase your chances of making sales and growing your SaaS.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is hard. And most marketing "masterminds" got it all wrong.

Kuba shares 7 most absurd content marketing myths (and what to do instead):

• Create more: You don't need to create more content. You need to distribute better the content you already wrote: • repurpose blog posts into tweets/threads • turn text into video • gather it all in your newsletter. 1 message => 5 formats

• Be everywhere: Being present on every platform may seem like a good idea.But spreading yourself too thin can lead to unsustainable effort (and a lack of focus). Prioritize engagement and conversions over sheer reach.

• Focus on written content: Written content it's not the only content you should focus on. Explore what your audience consumes: • videos • quizzes • podcasts • infographics. And adjust your formats accordingly.

• Publish = Finish: Just because you’ve published your content doesn’t mean your job is done. The next step – distribution – is even more important. Plan how you'll: • share your content on social media • engage with your audience • measure your results

• Longer = Better: Long-form content it’s not always necessary. 5 lines of punchy content is worth 100x more than 500 lines of pure fluff.

• Sales come from selling w/ content: Your content should not be a constant sales pitch. Instead, provide value to your audience and build a relationship with them. The sales will come naturally when they trust you and see the value you offer.

• Email is dead: If only I got a $1 each time I heard "newsletters are dead" when I started my own. 800 subscribers later – I think it's one of the best decisions I made as a creator. For me, it's the best marketing channel to get closer with your community.

Building trust in the SaaS world is the quickest way to building a successful business. And content marketing definitely brings a major trust factor to your SaaS business.

Related: How to do Content Marketing for SaaS Founders

Sales

I get asked about this a lot in my DMs. How to increase SaaS sales without being pushy or manipulative? As a SaaS founder, you want to increase your sales, but you don't want to come across as pushy or manipulative.

Here are three steps you can take to increase your sales without resorting to these tactics.

Step 1: Build trust with your customers

How to build your trust:

• Be transparent about what your product can and cannot do.

• Provide social proof, such as customer reviews or testimonials.

• Offer a free trial or demo of your product.

• Be responsive to customer inquiries and concerns.

Some common problems/fears you will face:

• Fear of being too salesy or manipulative.

• Fear of rejection.

• Lack of trust in the product or company.

What actions you can take to do a good job:

• Focus on building genuine relationships with your customers.

• Prioritize customer service and satisfaction.

• Address any concerns or objections that customers may have.

• Be honest and transparent about what your product can and cannot do.

Step 2: Use Targeted Marketing

How to use targeted marketing:

• Identify your target audience and their pain points.

• Tailor your marketing messages to address these pain points.

• Use social media and content marketing to reach your target audience.

• Use retargeting ads to reach people who have already shown interest in your product.

What problems/fears you will face:

• Fear of wasting time or money on ineffective marketing.

• Fear of not being able to reach the target audience.

• Lack of knowledge about how to use social media or content marketing effectively.

What actions you need to take:

• Do market research to identify your target audience and their pain points.

• Create marketing messages that address these pain points.

• Use social media and content marketing to reach your target audience.

• Use retargeting ads to reach people who have already shown interest in your product.

Step 3: Continuously improve your product and customer experience

How to continuously improve your product:

• Collect feedback from your customers and use it to improve your product.

• Use A/B testing to optimize your website and marketing messages.

• Continuously update and improve your product.

• Personalize the customer experience as much as possible.

What problems/fears you will face:

• Fear of negative feedback or criticism.

• Lack of knowledge about how to use A/B testing effectively.

• Lack of resources to continuously update and improve the product.

What actions you can take:

• Embrace feedback and use it to improve the product and customer experience.

• Use A/B testing to optimize your website and marketing messages.

• Continuously update and improve the product.

• Personalize the customer experience as much as possible.

Following these actions may or may not give you the desired results, but it’s sure to help you in selling your current or future SaaS products. Give it a go!

Related: 68+ Sales Tips for SaaS Founders to nail their initial sales

Lead Gen

A demo or a discovery call is not always the right strategy, especially when you are identifying your right fit. You can instead deploy a Loom strategy that can help you move your SaaS forward in the sales cycle. 

Here’s a 3-step process personalized video process that will work:

1. Pitch a video on your first cold email CTA - ASK for permission the send the video. "Mind if I share a video explaining further?"

2. Record the video - 3-5 mins max with a clear agenda and a CTA for a call (depends if your prospect wants to discuss further).

3. Send the video - Mention the video and ask to click on the email. Ensure your video has a thumbnail. Include a written CTA.

It's about recognizing the needs of your buyers. If they need to know more about how your SaaS can help and work with their existing operations, show them. Nothing better than a personalized video.

Writes and Picks 💫

• Learn what makes people tick and write higher-converting copy for your SaaS, Ecommerce or service business - in 2 minutes a day in the daily Conversion Alchemy Journal newsletter

• Get my brains on how you can market your SaaS with a 30 min session (no charges). Reply to this email to set up a time.

Thanks for reading! SaaSwrites is a humble attempt to help SaaS founders and marketers grow their SaaS.

See you next Saturday.

Ricky,

SaaSwrites