#69 - Write your SaaS Growth

10 SaaS Pricing Models

November 18, 2023

Welcome 370 SaaS Founders, Tech Entrepreneurs, and  Marketers to the 69th edition of Write your SaaS Growth Newsletter:

In this edition, we discuss:

  • Google Ads: 3 Google Ad Optimizations for your SaaS

  • Product Validation: SaaS Product/Feature Validation Checklist

  • Community: $1M+ valued Paid Communities in 5 years

  • Growth Marketing: 10 Ways to Grow your SaaS

  • Pricing: 10 Pricing Models for SaaS

Let’s GO!

Google Ads 📈

3 Google Ads optimizations that will work for your SaaS:

Simon says he has done over 40 audits of Google Ads accounts in the past year and noticed there are 3 free & useful optimizations that often get overlooked.

Preface: Broad strategy and account structure will always be the biggest needle movers towards succes in Google Ads That’s obvious But there are a bunch of smaller optimizations That can subtly increase account performance Often, those small increases lead to big results

  1. Advertiser verification: Once you set up your Google Ads account Google will spam you with notifications to verify the company you’re advertising for Kind of annoying and… Seemingly unnecessary?But going trough the verification process gives you a few benefits… Like being able to upload your logo And get rid of that bland and unprofessional “blue globe thing” adding credibility & getting a free bump in CTR Just takes a few days of trusted Google bureaucracy!

  2. Linker Tag When looking under the hood of Tag Manager, you’re always in for surprises That’s a story for another day… One thing I notice is that the Conversion Linker Tag gets overlooked… … like a lotThe Conversion Linker Tag is: “used to help tags measure click data so that conversions are measured effectively” - Google & It’s super easy to set up:This is another easy way to optimise your account this time to further ensure clean data collection Remember, he who has the best data, wins! takes literally 5 minutes and is 100% free

    1. Head over to your Tag Manager container

    2. Click Tags and then New

    3. Click Tag Configuration and select Conversion Linker

    4. Select a trigger (in most cases, you should use a trigger that fires on ALL page views)

    5. Save and publish your tag configuration

  3. Kick out Amazon! Yes, you heard me… This is a great tip for Ecom accounts Sometimes you’ll notice Amazon bidding for your branded terms That’s not cool because Amazon usually has a war chest of ad spend and doesn’t afraid of anythingSo… is there a way to kick Amazon off your tail and reclaim your precious branded clicks? Well yeah, just file a trademark complaint with Google! & Reclaim your clicks from Bezos! Note: I can't guarantee this works 100% of the time, but it has in the past. Worth a shot!

Product Validation 📈

Here’s how to get your idea validated for a SaaS or even a new Feature:

Adam shares validation checklist:

  • Is there Google traffic for it?

  • Is there high/low SEO competition for it?

  • What business already validated it?

  • Why is it working for them?

  • Are people asking questions about it on Quora?

  • Is there momentum behind demand?

  • Can I get customers to talk to me before I build it?

  • Can I do a pre-sale before I build it?

  • Are there daily Reddit/Facebook posts about it?

  • Are there existing services/software I can leverage?

  • How can I arbitrage services or features?

  • Am I willing to spend 4 years on this?

  • If it fails how can I pivot the idea?

  • Can I start a podcast/YouTube channel about it?

  • Could I build this in a weekend or a day?

  • Could I reduce the MVP to a Google Sheet?

  • Will someone pay me $30 to buy this tomorrow?

  • Are there cheap/free ways to capture customers?

  • Why am I a fit to solve this problem?

  • Is this a solo venture or will I need to hire a team?

  • Have I "mom-tested" the idea?

  • Who tried this and failed?

Community 📈

There will be a rise in $1M/month “paid communities” in the next 5 years.

Greg says Even a handful of $5M+/month paid communities. A few probably go IPO. It’s SaaS-like MRR returns without having to compete against Microsoft. No investing millions to create software.

90% of these high cash-flow paid communities will come from B2B. Each B2B segment will have paid communities. It’s the unbundling of YPO meets the unbundling of Slack/FB Groups. YPO doesn’t feel fresh. Slack/FB Groups aren’t ideal for B2B use-case. Perfect storm.

Examples: Car Dealership Owners, Canadian nurses, AI engineers etc.

The mini-playbook: 

  1. Find underserved niche (I use subreddits, Google Trends etc)

  2. Build an audience (catchy name, interesting stories)

  3. Convert to free community (get email address, nurture, I use Skool)

  4. Sell paid community (monthly for MRR, I use Skool)

What makes a great community:

  1. People who have a shared goal, who want to grow together

  2. Rituals that bring them back. People will join these communities because it will accelerate their journey. You just gotta overload them with value.

I’ll give you an example. We just about to blast through 200 members to our new paid community "Community Empire". A place where people who go to learn and build businesses powered by community. Basically, a program to teach people about paid communities using Skool (comes with the membership) and a peer community too. So, we charge $99/month so that’s $20k/month or $240k/year.

Not crazy And the real value is people are learning, building audiences, communities etc. They see success and want to partner with us. Maybe we invest, buy their businesses or partner.

So that’s the gravy for paid communities. And it's some thanksgiving It isn’t just the pure MRR that’s nice. It’s the 100 ways you can build on-top of the community. Build funds, events, media businesses etc. That's my little brain dump.

Point: Paid community businesses are SLEEPER businesses.

My Point: Pair it up with SaaS and the valuation will go bonkers!

🧰 Marketing Tech Stack to Add this Week! 🧰

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Growth Marketing 📈

10 ways to grow from 10 SaaS Founders.

Walter asked 41 SaaS Experts - What's your #1 SaaS Growth Hack? Here are 10 best answers:

  1. I build my software businesses in public, engaging with my customers and partners as I create and improve the product. I show them the ups and downs of the journey, allowing them to invest their trust, attention, and budget in what I offer. @arvidkahl

  2. Being a socially responsible company can help you develop a more attractive image of shareholders and consumers, which can positively impact your bottom lines, gaining more trust and customer loyalty. @ninhtran09

  3. My #1 SaaS Growth Hack is programmatic SEO. Imagine being able to spin up hundreds or even thousands of unique pieces of content using a data set, a little code, and a bit of curation. @coreyhainesco

  4. Number one growth hack for b2b saas is getting 50 email domains to run outbound campaigns, sending 50 emails a day from each. This lets you reach 2500 prospects a day for just few hundred dollars in software costs @Denis__Shatalin

  5. My favorite "hack" is and will always be becoming product-led. When you make it easy for users to experience the value of the product, you'll find users turning into paying customers without talking to you. @wes_bush

  6. We can learn a lot by looking at customer acquisition costs and lifetime value, but I suggest SaaS businesses first make sure that they understand retention. A subscription business should focus on why customers keep using your service. porlando

  7. Focus on the needs of your customers and get to know your customers. By focusing on the details of your customers, you will know how to communicate to them and save your company money by targeting your marketing dollars. @frankiezada

  8. My number 1 growth hack is to find a complimentary partner that you can add value to and get them to promote you into their customer base. This can be done with things like joint videos, webinars and panel discussions. @RichardJstweet

  9. Identify segments of customers who would use, and pay, for your product. Sign up to communities where those people hang out. Once your presence is established, share what you work on and how it can solve their problems. @td_evans

  10. Learn where are all the places your ICP hang out and use different forms of communication at different timing that will resonate with your audience including email, LinkedIn, text, paid ads and even Direct Mail (everyone has a mailbox) @AkeelJabber

Pricing 📈

Know the pros and cons of pricing your SaaS?

Matt shares the pros and cons of 10 different Pricing Models for SaaS:

  • Freemium: Users get free access on signup and pay for usage later.

    • Sales effort: Low

    • Resell Profitability: Low

    • Popularity: Common

  • Monthly Subscription Users have to pay first for access.

    • Sales effort: Medium

    • Resell Profitability: Medium

    • Popularity: Common

  • Annual Subscription Users have to pay first for access.

    • Sales effort: High

    • Resell Profitability: High

    • Popularity: Common

  • 7-Day Free Trial, Monthly Subscription: Users provide their credit card for free usage and get charged later.

    • Sales effort: Medium

    • Resell Profitability: Medium

    • Popularity: Common

  • 14-Day Free Trial, Monthly Subscription Users provide their credit card for free usage and get charged later.

    • Sales effort: Medium

    • Resell Profitability: Medium

    • Popularity: Common

  • 30-Day Free Trial, Monthly Subscription: Users provide their credit card for free usage and get charged later.

    • Sales effort: Low

    • Resell Profitability: Low

    • Popularity: Uncommon

  • 7-Day Free Trial, Annual Subscription: Users provide their credit card for free usage and get charged later.

    • Sales effort: Medium

    • Resell Profitability: High

    • Popularity: Uncommon

  • 14-Day Free Trial, Annual Subscription: Users provide their credit card for free usage and get charged later.

    • Sales effort: Medium

    • Resell Profitability: High

    • Popularity: Uncommon

  • 30-Day Free Trial, Annual Subscription: Users provide their credit card for free usage and get charged later.

    • Sales effort: Low

    • Resell Profitability: Medium

    • Popularity: Rare

  • One-Time Payment: Users pay once for perpetual access.

    • Sales effort: Very Low

    • Resell Profitability: Low

    • Popularity: Rare

  • SaaS Bundle: Users get access as part of a larger SaaS offering.

    • Sales effort: Medium

    • Resell Profitability: High

    • Popularity: Rare

  • Project Bundle: Users get access as part of a larger project proposal.

    • Sales effort: High

    • Resell Profitability: High

    • Popularity: Rare

  • Integration: Users get access as part of a deep API integration or partnership with another piece of software.

    • Sales effort: High

    • Resell Profitability: High

    • Popularity: Very Rare

How can we help each other? 🥅

  • Let me help you build a creative and unique marketing campaign for your SaaS. Know more

  • Subscribe to my Marketing Campaigns Playbook newsletter

  • I’m building a new product MarkaTick - a marketing planner and tracker tool for businesses. Check it out here!

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!

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