- SaaS Writes
- Posts
- #51 - Write your SaaS Growth 📈
#51 - Write your SaaS Growth 📈
Weasel Words, Welcome Email, Acquiring First Customers, Sales Tips to Close SaaS deals, 7 Pricing Strategies
Welcome 282 Tech Founders and Marketers to the 51st edition of Write your SaaS Growth Newsletter:
In this edition, we discuss:
Content Marketing: Are you using Weasel Words?
Email Marketing: Building your SaaS Welcome Email
Growth Marketing: How to Acquire your first Customers
Sales: 14 Sales Tips to close more deals
Pricing: 7 Pricing Strategies to Deploy this week!
Let’s GO!
Growth Tip of the Week! 🚀
Muhib says If you want more SaaS conversions & MRR: You need to reduce all resistance when someone signs up for a free trial.
Everything needs to be easy and guided so they get value quickly. This will do more for your conversion rate than "more" marketing.
Content Marketing 📈
Writing is vital for your SaaS marketing because it enables you to:
communicate effectively
persuade customers
differentiate your brand
create valuable content
optimize for search engines
build relationships with your target audience.
Strong writing skills are essential for marketers to convey their messages in a compelling and impactful way.
Ryan says you can become a better writer almost immediately by understanding this one simple concept: “Weasel words.”
Weasel words are words (or phrases) that seem to convey clear meaning but upon closer inspection offer no real substance, like:
“business outcomes”
“experts believe”
“analyzing data”
“make a decision.”
We use weasel words to hide gaps in our knowledge. They are (often subconscious) crutches that sound so coherent and fitting that we don’t recognize them for the hollow, empty phrases they really are.
But in almost all cases, writing can be made vastly more persuasive and helpful by deleting these words and replacing them with a simple list of the actual concrete processes they are acting as placeholders for.
For example:
“analyzing data” becomes: ~ “Looking for outliers in monthly traffic performance.”
“Creating cohorts to track performance across authors and topics.”
“Comparing recent monthly performance to historical benchmarks from last year.”
Weasel words proliferate because finding these concrete processes is hard and time-consuming, requiring the writer to conduct more research or introspect more deeply.
But it is precisely these concrete, tangible actions that provide the most value to a reader trying to understand a concept or learn a process.
Are you using any weasel words when you write? Does this make your writing “very good”?
❤️🔥 Community Shoutout ❤️🔥
Our friend and member Ian is giving so much value for our SaaS community! Discover new ways to grow your B2B SaaS company in the SaaS Weekly newsletter. Curated resources, simply summarized, delivered every Friday. Subscribe today!
Would you like any of your product or marketing story to be featured in our upcoming newsletters with the community? Send me a DM on Twitter!
Email Marketing 📈
Welcome emails for SaaS companies are essential for onboarding, user engagement, relationship building, customer education, support, upselling/cross-selling, and user retention.
Jeff says your Welcome Email is your first date. But most blow theirs off… and it costs them business. I’ve spent 100+ hours studying and teaching welcome emails. Here’s how to transform yours into the perfect “first date”:
Business Insider says a first impression can be made or broken in 7 seconds. Yet, most creators don’t spend time on their digital first impression. The Welcome Email just becomes a formality. But this is a mistake.
The reasons people sign up for your list:
your content is interesting
they need what you do
likely not ready to buy
They’re dipping a toe in the water. Not diving headfirst. Kinda like a first date!
Your welcome email SHOULD:
Set expectations
Start a conversation
Position you as trusted leader
It should NOT:
Sell
Ramble on
Talk about yourself
Now let’s get to the Welcome Email Structure:
INTRO: 2-3 sentences to briefly introduce yourself. Deliver your lead magnet right away (if necessary)
ASPIRATIONAL STATEMENT(S): They’re here to achieve something so assure they’ve come to the right place. This shows you understand why they’re here
SET EXPECTATIONS: Be transparent and create anticipation. Tell exactly what to expect next
DRIVE A REPLY: Make reply super easy which is also good for deliverability. You will gather useful information
All in all, a welcome email should be about 150 words. - engaging - short and sweet - focused on the other person.
People connect best with other people — not brands or companies. We crave connection and relationship. Not just transactions. Treat your entire welcome sequence like real relationships with real people — it’ll be way more successful.
🆘 Community Chat of the Week: 🆘
Do you have a Welcome Email for your SaaS? What’s your one KPI from your welcome email and how is it working for you?
Growth Marketing 📈
Customer acquisition is essential for SaaS companies to generate revenue, gain market share, leverage network effects, maximize customer lifetime value, gather feedback for product improvement, and drive overall business growth and valuation. If you’re looking to build a sustainable and successful SaaS business, acquisition HAS to be your #1 priority!
Mat shares how to get your first 10 users: You have to talk to people. Yup! You build a SaaS business on the web and then you need to talk to people. So if you wish to build a business without chatting, you got this wrong!
Step 1: Find where your target audience is aggregating
Let's keep our bucket example. We have no kitchen. We need to find a river! A river is a place where water is abundant. This is where you'll find many of your customers.
But to find rivers you need to understand their properties. Same for your customers!
What do they like?
What do they search for?
What communities do they join?
Who do they follow?
What events do they attend?
Dress a clear picture of your perfect customers
Step 2: Chatting, Chatting, Chatting
I said the process was simple! Not that it wouldn't take time! And no shortcut there! If you think there is one I'm sorry. I spent months with my target users before building my business. That's why my first one failed.
Go where your target users are and chat as much as possible! Reply to every post, Engage with everyone, Ask a lot of questions, Be genuinely interested in their business. Now you understand why you should LOVE the niche.
By chatting you'll figure out many things:
What problems they have
What they need
What other tools they use
What their goals are
Who they trust and why
Step 3: Finding problems worth solving
The best solution is not to start with an idea and find customers. But to start with a problem! If you find a real problem people have, it becomes easier to build something specific to that problem (and to get people to use your tool)
You find problems the same way. Chat with people but focus on finding problems. A good way is to always go deep in each topic by asking "Why?" Ex: - Damn today was complicated. - Why? - We had many troubles with one of our employee - Why? - .... - We couldn't do X with Y
Step 4: Validate the problem!
Now you find some problems they have. You have to ensure it's worth solving. Act as a consultant.
How painful are their problems?
What did they try for that?
Is the problem recurrent?
Do they know other people with that problem?
That way you'll see whether the problem is worth solving with a SaaS product. It's simple, if many people have the problem, they lose money and/or time because of that, they are not completely satisfied with existing solutions, and they have money - then you have your thing!
Step 5: Building
Don't disappear for a year after that to build your product. Build it with them! Good news is if you're building something worth it, they'll love to help you build it. Because they really need it!
This is a process you do with your target users, not alone. That's why I told you you need to talk to people! And that's also why marketers succeed more than developers. Cause developers don't want to talk to people (most of the time).
Step 6: Selling
You have a few tips:
Offer a discount for early users
Add a live chat (you need to get as much feedback as possible
Engage conversations with new users before they do
Iterate constantly
🧰 Marketing Tech Stack to Add this Week! 🧰
SPONSORED
You hold the power to revolutionize your customer experience and accelerate growth.
With TARS, unleash the potential of chatbot technology to acquire, engage, and convert customers like never before. Say goodbye to endless support queues and hello to instant responses, 24/7. Seamlessly automate lead generation, qualify prospects, and drive conversions at scale.
Harness the efficiency and effectiveness of TARS to dominate your market. Join the ranks of successful SaaS pioneers who have harnessed the power of conversational AI.
It's time to supercharge your acquisition strategy with TARS.
Sales 📈
Denis says 99% of SaaS founders never dial in their sales strategy. I’ve built sales systems for over 55 startups.
Here’s the exact process I follow every time which lets us 2X MRR in 4 months:
Start with defining your SAAS offering: Clearly identify your solution, target customer, and how your offering can help. Align your offering with the real-life solution to ensure strategy, processes, onboarding, and user retention are optimized.
Perfect your value proposition: Refine your value proposition by using empathy and understanding customer problems. Work with a professional copywriter and gather feedback from your target market to ensure your value proposition communicates how your SAAS helps its users.
Choose a marketing channel: Develop campaigns across different marketing channels to generate awareness and leads. Some effective channels to include: - Networking at industry events - Cold outreach - PPC campaigns - Content marketing - SEO - Social media.
Use the network you already have: Reach out to customers within your existing network. It'll yield better conversion rates and provide valuable feedback. Focus on one sales channel to avoid overwhelming yourself and implement a feedback system for lost leads.
Always be optimizing: Optimize your strategy by understanding key performance indicators (KPIs) such as CTR, CPM and CPL. Identify areas for improvement, perform A/B tests, and patch any holes in your sales cycle. Continuously optimize to drive qualified leads & increase ROI
Understand the B2B SAAS sales cycle: A great B2B SaaS sales cycle should have the following:
Sales strategy driving consistent but measured leads
Qualification processes
Live demos
A strong close
Sometimes selling SAAS requires a human touch: Connect with customers on a personal level, understand their problems, and aim to solve them. Go beyond digital marketing and leverage real human connections. Incentivize referrals and utilize word-of-mouth marketing.
Perfect your SAAS sales onboarding: - Provide 1-1 support for activation and configuration. Reduce friction and ensure a smooth uptake of your solution. Eg: Ghost increased their conversion by 1000% just by optimizing the flow for their highest-paying customers.
Focus on user retention and upselling: Retain your customers as ambassadors and learn from their feedback. Focus on upselling existing happy customers, reply promptly to those interested in doing more business, and create a sales script to systemize the process.For example, LowFruits’s credit-based pricing model is a great example of this. If customers want to make more searches, they’ll just have to pay for more credits.
How to monitor sales? Depending upon your marketing channels you'd need to track different KPIs. PPC: track CPC and conversion rate Social: number of DMs sent and content produced SEO: track your conversion for pages that get traffic
Offer a seamless user experience: Ensure that your SAAS product is user-friendly. Invest in user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design to optimize usability and enhance customer satisfaction. Continuously gather user feedback and iterate on your product.
Leverage case studies and testimonials: Create case studies that highlight how your SAAS solution has helped other businesses achieve their goals and overcome challenges. Use them in your sales materials, website, and marketing campaigns to demonstrate the value it brings.
Implement a structured sales process: Develop a structured sales process that guides your team through each stage of the sales cycle. Define clear milestones, qualification criteria, and actions for each stage, and provide your sales team with the necessary tools.
Continuously learn and adapt: Stay updated on industry trends, competitive landscape, and evolving customer needs. Continuously learn from your sales efforts, analyze data, and adapt your strategies and tactics accordingly. And never stop experimenting.
Also make sure to analyze data, monitor user behavior, and make data-driven adjustments. Continuously optimize your landing page copy to help improve your conversion rates more and more over time.
Pricing 📈
Dave says the easiest way to make more money? Clever pricing psychology. Here are 7 proven strategies that will change how sell forever:
Price Framing: Compare the cost to something relatable. Don't use the generic "All for the price of 1 cup of coffee" if you're in the fitness industry. You could compare your subscription to the bad habit the customer is replacing. This makes the purchase a rational choice
Subtle Decoy: Price the middle and top tiers very closely. Provide a lot more value & features to the top tier. The middle tier is simply a decoy. It makes the top tier seem like an incredible deal by comparison.
Obvious Decoy: Price the middle and top tiers the exact same. Provide much more value/features to the top tier. The middle tier is simply a decoy to convey this value. This makes it the obvious choice, a no-brainer.
Default Bias: People want to make fewer decisions. Give them a default option and guide them. Using words like 'Standard' and 'Regular' can help let them know this is the popular choice. Add a visual letting them know it's the default option.
Anchoring: Set a large price beside your main product. This raises the perceived value and sets a point of reference. The standard option will be seen as a bargain. Eg, if you're selling a digital course for $149 you can offer the course and 1-hour consultation for $1999.
Scarcity Pricing: Use this if you have a high-ticket product that relies on finite resources such as time. Let the customers know that there are limited quantities. This creates a fear of missing out and projects exclusivity.
Annual Discounts: Always find ways to incentivize people who commit to you for the long term. You should reward them for trusting in your product. I'd suggest a 20-30% discount for locking into a yearly subscription.
How can we help each other? 🥅
Thanks for reading! SaaSwrites is a humble attempt to help SaaS founders and marketers grow their SaaS.
See you next Saturday.
Ricky,
P.S. If you liked this edition, it would mean the world to us if you share it with your friends. :) Thank you in advance!
Join the conversation