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SaaS Marketing Agencies Buyer's Guide
Table of Contents
- » What is a B2B Saas Marketing Agency?
- » What services do B2B SaaS marketing agencies offer?
- » What are the benefits of B2B SaaS Marketing Agencies?
- » How to choose a B2B SaaS Marketing Agency?
- » Questions to ask before you hire a B2B SaaS Marketing Agency
- » Which marketing tools and what are their processes?
- Wrapping it up
With an annual growth rate of 18%, the SaaS market is booming, and most companies are moving towards cloud-based SaaS platforms.
SaaS technologies have created their own space in the IT world and made it easier to deliver the necessary features and functionality to end-users. The subscription model is widely prevalent among both large organizations and startups. Suffice to say that SaaS isn't going anywhere soon because of its affordability and agility.
As the demand for SaaS rises, so does the competition. Medium-sized and small businesses rarely get the chance to compete with large B2B SaaS companies owing to the lack of marketing expertise and resources.
For tackling problems faced by medium and small-sized SaaS businesses, B2B SaaS marketing agencies provide an all in one solution for all your marketing problems.
» What is a B2B Saas Marketing Agency?
B2B SaaS Marketing agency is the agency that helps Software-as-a-service business owners craft a data-driven SaaS marketing plan. The agency assists in customer acquisition, lead generation, drive sales, and help scale exponentially.
» What services do B2B SaaS marketing agencies offer?
The services offered by SaaS marketing agencies differ from agencies to agencies. But most of them provide essential services
- Lead Generation
- Customer Acquisition
- PPC ads
- SEM and SEO
- Content Marketing
» What are the benefits of B2B SaaS Marketing Agencies?
SaaS business owners face various problems in marketing SaaS products. Most of them are well-versed in the business's technology department but do not have extensive knowledge or an in-house team for their marketing needs, and this is where the B2B SaaS marketing companies can help you.
Some of the challenges faced by SaaS businesses are:
- Google AdWords not working
- Organic search traffic taking too long
- Content marketing is not working
- CPC rates are too damn expensive
Years of expertise and experience give them a proven system which works in the real world instead of just paper. Hiring and training the in-house marketing employees can be time-consuming and expensive, with no guarantee for results. Established SaaS marketing agencies have experts that have proven marketing records and know what they are doing. It saves both time and cost as you don't need to train anyone or risk the chances of failure.
» How to choose a B2B SaaS Marketing Agency?
› Know your needs first.
Goal setting is a vital part of marketing strategy. Why? You need to be able to look back at the last 12 months and see whether you could achieve the goal you set. Most likely, when you start working with an agency, they will need to know what your expectations are from them. For example, you want to increase the leads and ROI by 150% in 12 months.
The goal should follow a SMART framework:
S- Specific
M- Measurable
A- Attainable
R- Relevant
T -Time-bound
Following the SMART framework will help you create a realistic and measurable SaaS marketing plan. Goal setting will help you maintain focus and achieve the targets promptly.
› Full service vs. Specialized
If you only need one or two specialized services such as PPC ads or SaaS content marketing, it makes sense to hire an agency specialized in them instead of hiring a full-service agency.
But if you don't have time and budget for an in-house marketing team, then the full-service SaaS marketing agency is the best choice. These agencies provide all the services from inbound and outbound marketing to audience research, advertising, SEO/SEM, lead generation, and many others.
› Budget (You get what you pay for)
It should go without saying that a great B2B SaaS Marketing company with top-level expertise and a proven track of results will charge higher. Aside from the primary service charges, there will be a secondary cost of running AdSense ads, maintaining the marketing tools, and other such things. Hence you should factor in all the costs for setting a budget.
The budget for hiring a B2B SaaS Marketing agency will highly depend on the types of goals.
For instance, if you're looking to increase your ROI in the next two years, you will have to factor in service costs for two years at once. In most cases, you won't be getting results overnight. It will take a long time before you start seeing results. Therefore, patience is the name of the game here.
If any agency charges cheap fees that are too good to be true, then run (literally!).
Chances are they are outsourcing the work to cheap freelancers, and this can put you at significant risk.
» Questions to ask before you hire a B2B SaaS Marketing Agency
- How does your SaaS marketing agency go about goal-setting?
2. Does your agency offer lead generation capability?
3. Do you have any particular marketing specializations?
4. Does your agency provide web design services?
5. What is your focus area - inbound marketing or outbound marketing?
6. Will your agency take care of the customer acquisition aspect of my business?
7. Do you have the resources for handling PPC ad campaigns?
8. Does your SaaS marketing company have the means to meet my business’s SEO, as well as SEM requirements?
9. Will you help us out with planning and executing content marketing strategies?
10. What is your process for creating customer personas?
11. Do you have predefined standard procedures for every marketing activity in place?
12. How do you analyze if the strategies are working as planned?
13. What kind of marketing metrics and KPIs do you consider for evaluation?
14. How long have you been in the business?
15. Could you help me with some case studies?
16. Who are your existing clients? Have you worked in my industry before?
17. What type of reports would you be generating?
18. How often should I expect performance reports from you?
19. Will I get a dedicated team of experts?
20. How proactive would this collaboration be?
21. What do I need to do on my end in order to reap successful results out of this association?
22. What will be the procedure to end the contract?
23. Will there be any additional costs for added services?
» Which marketing tools and what are their processes?
Ask which type of tools the agency uses for marketing activities and automation. If they use different tools from the ones you use in your business, the agency may need time to learn the tools you use, or you will have to pay for the extra tools and services they use.
Through experience, every agency creates a set of proven processes that have worked for them over time. For example, many of them will tell you to create a content strategy.
A genuine professional agency will know that the content strategy does not merely mean creating content and posting it. It involves gathering data such as keywords, competitor analysis, audience demographics, and interests.
› Experience and Proven track of results
If you are seeking professional help, you will want experts who know what they are doing. Before you hire an agency, doing some background research will help you see the agency's history and proven results.
Where to look for background research?
- Case studies can give you deep insights into how the said agency increased their clients' results.
• Most agency websites show testimonials from top clients.
• Reviews on authoritative websites like, SoftwareWorld, Upcity and Clutch.
• Previous clients and brands they worked with.
Doing quick research and asking the past client's experience with the services will provide deeper insights into the agency's work, and this will also help you stay away from the agencies that are all talks and no actions.
› Do they understand your business and products?
Nothing is worse than finding out that the agency you hired does not understand your business or product. Remember, it is your money you are putting down, and the agency should respect your choices. Always look for an agency that understands your problems and respects your preferences.
Wrapping it up
There are thousands of B2B SaaS marketing agencies around you. Choosing one that is the best fit can be a nerve-wracking and life-changing decision. We have provided you with a checklist of what you need to look for when hiring the B2B SaaS marketing agency for your SaaS business. Now you know how to hire an agency, it's time to choose the one that is the best fit and get a jumpstart.
Remember that SaaS marketing is on its own an entirely different marketing world due to the nature of SaaS products. SaaS products are subscription-based, and the business will generate profits only when the clients choose to stay with them for long. Hence it is vital that you select the SaaS startup marketing agency with experience with marketing SaaS products and understand the ins and outs of the SaaS industry.