Outbound sales strategies are the bread and butter of many marketing departments. But, in today’s SaaS (Software as a Service) market, where prospects are increasingly becoming more knowledgeable, they might not work as well anymore.
The times when businesses can spam prospects with one pitch after another are gone. Who doesn’t know email spam is a thing? Today’s effective SaaS lead generation strategies must adapt to more sophisticated prospecting and engagement methods.
An effective way to gain new leads and potential subscribers for B2B SaaS companies is to use both online and offline marketing techniques.
Therefore, in this article, we want to share 7 different lead generation strategies to help you attract more clients to your business. We’ll start with a brief overview of lead generation in SaaS; you can skip ahead to the strategies section if you are already familiar with this concept.
What is Lead Generation in SaaS?
SaaS lead generation focuses on generating leads for SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) providers. A SaaS company provides software that customers can use online instead of installing it on their own computers. As a result, users can access the program from anywhere and at any time. Some examples of SaaS companies include Google Apps (Docs), Salesforce (CRM), Dropbox (cloud storage), Slack (communication), GitHub (code hosting), and MailChimp (Email Marketing).
Lead generation is not limited to the internet; it can come from other places such as social media, blogs, ads, conferences, events, and more. However, most leads are generated through online marketing efforts nowadays.
Chasing down leads and persuading them to convert to customers is one of the most arduous—but rewarding!—tasks in SaaS marketing.
But what exactly is a lead? A lead is not just a person who has expressed interest in your product or service but rather is at a stage before that.
A lead could be someone who has started filling out a form on your website and stopped halfway through or someone who has downloaded a free trial of your software but never sent you their credit card info.
Potential customers need to be directed to look at your company and consider choosing you as a potential provider. But, as we all know, money doesn’t grow on trees. So leads need to be chased down, tackled, and persuaded to convert to customers.
Why is it important to have a Lead Generation Strategy as a SaaS?
While there are many ways to generate leads, SaaS lead generation strategies utilize both organic and inorganic techniques. Organic techniques focus on getting your website found organically in search engines. On the other hand, inorganic techniques involve actively connecting with your potential customers through social media, email marketing, paid ads, and other digital avenues.
The goal of SaaS lead generation is to attract a qualified audience and persuade them to purchase your service.
3 Companies Who Have Great Lead Generation Strategies
Developing qualified leads for a sales team is a time-consuming process, and not all companies have the time to devote to it. In fact, some companies don’t even have a marketing department. For that reason, many businesses work with lead generation companies to handle the process.
The following are three companies with the best lead generation strategies:
1- CIENCE
CIENCE provides lead generation strategies and services by employing a team of more than 550 employees across the world. The company has a data-driven approach and operates with one goal: to test and experiment with different strategies to assist B2B businesses in attracting prospects and building long-term partnerships.
The company offers the following services:
– Lead generation
– Conversion optimization
– Voice services
– CRM consulting
Their team uses proven tactics like cold email outreach to help businesses build relationships with leads through email.
Additionally, they offer advanced tools and technologies, like Prospector, to make sure your marketing efforts are efficient and effective.
2- Belkins
Success with B2B lead generation isn’t about luck—it’s about strategy. And not just any strategy, but one tailored specifically to your needs and goals.
That’s what Belkins does for its clients. Belkins is a B2B lead generation agency that helps clients with every aspect of their sales funnel, including building targeted sales leads lists and booking B2B appointments with qualified prospects.
The Belkins team combines digital solutions with state-of-the-art technology and develops a personalized strategy for each client. They are committed to delivering a predictable outcome – they guarantee the minimum number of meetings booked.
Some of their services include:
- Appointment setting with prospects that convert into deals.
- Manual lead research (based on your Ideal Customer Profile).
- Building a solid brand awareness campaign with Linkedin Influencer Program.
- Protecting your emails from spam + increasing deliverability with Folderly.
3- Visitor Queue
Visitor Queue is a B2B lead generation tool with great strategies to drive traffic straight from your website to your inbox.
They can help you identify the companies visiting your website, so you can follow up right away. Visitor Queue is easy to set up – all you need is just to add a line of code to your website, and you’ll begin generating leads right away.
Some of their key features include:
- Real-time Leads
- Unlimited Users
- User-First Design
- Website Visit Information
- Company Social Media Accounts
7 Strategies to Generate Leads Nonstop as a SaaS Business
1- Find out Platforms Your Customers Use
When you’re trying to find your target audience, especially when it comes to a SaaS solution, it’s essential to understand where they go to find answers within their industry.
For example, if you created a sales solution for B2B food manufacturers, then you would likely want to be on LinkedIn or another similar platform.
This isn’t always cut-and-dried—for example, TikTok isn’t just for beauty consultants and day spas—but if you know who your target customers are and what they need, you’ll be able to figure out which platforms they’ll be on. Then all you have to do is reach them!
2- Create Engaging and Informative Content
There’s no doubt that content is king in the world of SaaS marketing. But to make the most of it, your strategy has to be informed and consistent.
You can’t just start writing about your industry without doing any research on your buyer personas first. It’s essential to know your audience and research what’s been written on the subject before, as well as trends and new developments within the niche.
At the same time, you need to be posting regularly. Once a month may not cut it—you need to have something new for your followers to digest at least once a week (if not more often).
The more content you generate, the more opportunities you’ll have to position yourself as an expert in whatever field your SaaS caters to, showing that you understand what your target market is going through and can help them along the way.
Do not overlook SEO! Everything from how long a piece of content is to how many other websites link back to it affects its “google-ability,” so make sure you keep that in mind when creating informative material.
In short: do your research, publish often, and optimize!
3- Optimize Your Website’s Speed
Probably, like most of us, you’ve experienced the frustration of a slow-loading website, and it had a negative impact on your desire to continue browsing that site.
If a website takes longer than three seconds to load, it’s likely to lose an estimated 40% of visitors—and those visitors aren’t the only thing lost. A slow-loading website can also negatively impact your search engine rankings and hurt your lead generation and sales conversion rates.
It’s important to monitor your website’s loading speed using tools available on the internet such as GTMetrix and Google PageSpeed Insights and compare results with others in your industry. This will show you where you stand and help you determine if there is any need for improvement.
4- Make Sure Your Website is Mobile-Friendly
In a marketing world where mobile use continues to outpace desktop use, you must make sure your website is optimized for mobile.
In today’s fast-paced world, buyers don’t have time to sit down in front of their computers to find the product or information they want. Therefore, creating a mobile-friendly website is essential for your business growth. This way, you can capture more leads and convert them.
You need a website optimized for mobile, meaning it loads quickly and is easy to navigate. If you don’t have this, you may be losing leads right at the moment they are most likely to convert.
It is the last thing you want for a potential customer to get frustrated on your site and navigate away to the search engine results page (SERP) in search of another company that is mobile-friendly. So, get your website mobile-friendly and optimized now!
5- Write Guest Blog Posts
As an inbound marketer, you may have noticed that guest blogging has been getting a lot of mixed reviews lately. Some say it’s dead, while others are still using it to drive traffic to their website and generate leads for their business.
To help you decide whether guest blogging is right for you, we’ve put together a list of tips that will allow you to make the most out of your guest blogging campaigns.
- Pick the right site to post your guest blog.
Make sure to check if the readers of the site are in line with your target audience. By doing this, you can make sure that you are driving the right traffic toward your site.
- Choose sites with high domain authority.
Sites with a high domain authority rating are considered high quality by search engines. Backlinks from this site to yours will boost your search engine ranking. In turn, your website will perform better in search engine results. You can use Href and Moz to determine the domain authority of a website.
- Produce high-quality content for the site.
Be sure your guest blog post will provide readers with just as much value as what you provide on your own site. Your guest blog pitch will have a higher chance of being accepted this way, and you might be invited to write another guest blog for them in the future as well.
6- Use Customer Service Automation Tools
Customer Service Automation Tools like Chatbots and live chats are great ways to provide customer support and can guarantee your lead generation growth. One of the greatest advantages of these tools is that you can have them available 24/7.
Even if your business has limited operating hours, this will impress your customers and show them that you care about their needs.
You can use chatbots to automate simple tasks such as providing users with answers to frequently asked questions or instructing them on how to use the basic features of your software.
If a user has a more complex problem, you can also set up your chatbot so it connects them with agents who can solve their issues right away.
Although chatbots are convenient and will make your life easier, you should always keep the human factor present in your relationship with customers.
They will appreciate having live support available who cares about their needs and is ready to answer their questions.
7- Give Click Pop-Ups a Shot
We will conclude this list of powerful lead generation strategies for SaaS startups by suggesting click pop-ups.
Pop-ups are one of the most effective forms of lead generation, but not all pop-ups are created equal.
Although entry, exit, and scroll pop-ups are still helpful, click pop-ups are proving to be the most efficient type of pop-ups for lead generation.
Click pop-ups are the least intrusive, so your visitors will not feel that they’re being forced to provide their information.
Click pop-ups work well because they have a relatively short signup process that asks only for visitors’ email addresses and names. So go ahead and try creating your first click popup using the Userguiding modal feature!
Lead Generation Platforms for SaaS Businesses
1- HubSpot
HubSpot may be best known as an incredible marketing tool, but today we’re going to focus on its lead generation features.
HubSpot has tons of tools to help make lead generation more manageable and productive. Features for sales teams include sales automation, pipeline management, meeting scheduling, tracking, goal setting, and live chat.
Higher tiers offer even more tools, such as sales forecasting, 1:1 video creation, smart send times, and predictive lead scoring. These features will help your team generate more leads with less effort.
Pricing: Starts at $45 per month for two users.
2- Walnut
Along with email marketing tools that help generate leads, there is also a complementary tool that each can benefit from: Walnut!
What Walnut does is help you close more deals by providing you with reusable sales demo templates that you can customize while keeping each target prospect’s needs.
Finalizing these demos without having to spend so much time on them, you’ll realize how easy it’s to create personalized and guided demos whenever needed. The best part? Prospects and organizations will be able to watch these high-quality demos whenever they want to and share them with teammates as well, helping the whole process go smoother.
Moreover, departments other than marketing, such as sales and customer success, can also use this powerful tool in their favor as Walnut can skyrocket every team’s performance when used right.
Don’t forget to ask prospects to add their information before letting them watch the demo (if you’re putting your demo on your website) and include a button that directs to booking a meeting with your sales team so that you can contact them later on.
Pricing: Please contact Walnut’s sales team for custom pricing.
3- GetResponse
GetResponse is a marketing platform that can help you generate qualified leads with ease.
It has live chat to contact your customers, transactional emails to notify your customers, and landing page builders to mesmerize your customers—all to gain new leads that will increase your sales.
With the tools this platform provides, you’ll be able to convert traffic, nurture leads, score, and segment them.
Moreover, with GetResponse as your all-in-one marketing software, you can:
- take your email marketing service to the next level by making use of features like email creator, autoresponders, email analytics, bulk emails, transactional emails, and list management
- build an online place to promote your own business via website builder with the help of features like AI-powered creator, predesigned templates, drag-and-drop editor, forms and popups, and domain management
- automate your workflow, thanks to tags and scores, automation flows, abandoned cart emails, website visitor tracking, and product recommendations
- hold webinars to attract your target audience by using screen sharing, call-to-action button, on-demand webinars, whiteboard, and polls and surveys
- make use of paid ads that call for social media integrations, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Google—all provided by GetResponse
- create landing pages that generate revenue, thanks to Facebook Pixel, signup forms, popups, countdown timer, and e-commerce tools
- be in constant contact with your audience to improve user experience by utilizing live chat that includes customization tools, chat availability, visitor capture forms, chat notifications, and chat analytics
- send automatic notifications to your visitors and keep track of the rates easily via custom prompts, unlimited notifications, web push analytics, and automated notifications
- get into SMS marketing and automate the whole process by using SMS editor, URL shortener, and SMS reports
Pricing: Free, paid plans start at $15.58/month/1,000 contacts
4- MailChimp
Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing platforms that can significantly help you lead generation—and with good reason. The platform offers an intuitive, easy-to-use drag-and-drop email builder for creating stunning emails and provides email automation to keep things running smoothly.
But that’s not all! Mailchimp comes with a free plan that allows you to store up to 2,000 email contacts and send out 12,000 emails/month. If you need more than that, paid plans start at $14/month.
Pricing: Free, paid plans start at $9.99/month.
As a Final Note
Simply put, SaaS lead generation can be a game-changer for companies selling their products online. You can use any of the seven strategies above in addition to email marketing to boost your marketing efforts and generate more leads.
What’s more, all of these strategies are relatively easy and inexpensive to enact. So who knows, perhaps just one method will be enough for your goals!
Frequently Asked Questions
How do SaaS companies generate leads?
SaaS companies can use effective strategies to generate more leads like creating engaging and informative content, optimizing website speed, writing guest blogs, reaching customers on their preferred channels.
Which platform is best for lead generation?
The following are ten of the best platforms you can use to generate leads:
- HubSpot Marketing Hub
- MailChimp
- Lusha
- Bitrix24
- EngageBay
- UserGuiding
- Dynamics 365
- Constant Contact
- Monday.com
- Salesforce Sales Cloud
How do startups generate leads?
Here are the seven best lead gen strategies for startups:
- Reach out to customers on their preferred platforms
- Create engaging and informative content
- Optimize website’s speed
- Make sure the website is mobile-friendly
- Write guest blogs
- Use customer service automation tools
- Use click pop-ups
