SaaS Growth Hacks: Best Strategies to Market Your Product in Short Time

Your dream to build a disruptive SaaS product and ride on its success may end up in a fizzle if you fail to make yourself heard in the noisy SaaS marketplace. You are just one among the many out there vying for user attention, and so rising above the din is easier said than done. Yet, to succeed, you need to do everything possible to cut through the noise and capture user attention. How you do it can make a difference between your voice getting heard or drowned.

All the success stories of SaaS giants like Slack, HubSpot, Dropbox, Zoom, Canva, etc., have one thing in common – there is no silver bullet to winning audience attention. You must discover an offbeat way to distract them and make them hear you out. It's all about drawing and redrawing strategies till you succeed. It's also about striving relentlessly for out-of-the-box ideas that excite them to sit up, listen to you, and act.

This blog lists some unconventional strategies SaaS giants adopt to rise above the market chaos and make a mark.

1)    Nothing Beats a Well-thought-out Referral Program

Don’t blow your own trumpet. Let your customers do it for you and your prospects will make a beeline for your product.  It’s more organic, trustworthy and cost-effective.

Slack’s referral program can be an inspiration. Both referrers and referred users got additional storage space for their Slack accounts, discounts on paid plans, swags or merchandise, integrations, etc. Like Slack, Dropbox offers extra storage space to users, for bringing each friend on board.

Tips to Create a Successful Referral Program for Your SaaS Product  Make your referral program compelling and irresistible; offer something that is different and beats expectations Keep it simple for your customer to understand and follow. Avoid complicated rules or requirements. Offer incentives for multiple referrals introduce tiered rewards or bonuses to encourage users to refer multiple people Make it easy for users to share your referral program with their friends and colleagues. Gather feedback from your users and make adjustments to your referral program as needed. Promote your program aggressively through your website, email marketing, and social media.

2)    Get a Head Start by Integrating Virality Features

Make it easy for your product to go viral. Include features to make sharing on the go possible. As a spur, incentivize your users to share, and word about your product will spread like a jungle fire.

Dropbox’s story of creating viral loops is a case in point. Any non-user who received a file from a Dropbox user is invited to open a free Dropbox account. And users who sent files to non-users could avail extra storage.

Tips to Integrate Virality Features in Your SaaS Product Offer Free trials or freemium models to tempt users to share it with their network. Incorporate game-like features, such as leaderboards or achievements, to encourage users to compete and share their progress. Include social sharing features to allow users to share creations with the product Evoke strong emotions, such as joy, surprise, or fear, to induce users to share.

 3)    A Phased Launch is Always an Unbeatable Growth Strategy

When you launch your SaaS product, your aim is to minimize risk and maximize success. The safest way is to test the waters with a small market before expanding to larger ones. This way you build and grow your user base, optimize your marketing efforts and refine your product.

Spotify, the popular music streaming service, initially launched in Sweden and gradually expanded to other European countries, carefully analyzing market response. This allowed Spotify to refine their service, build a strong user base in each region, and minimize risks associated with a full-scale global launch.

Tips to Launch Your SaaS Product in a Phased Manner  Identify target regions based on market potential and competition. Prioritize regions considering size, cultural fit, and market readiness. Develop a regional marketing strategy tailored to local preferences. Test and iterate based on user feedback. Expand gradually to adjacent regions. Continuously monitor and adapt your strategy.

 

4)    Acquire an Edge with Cross-Device and Cross-Platform Availability

Don’t leave any of your prospects behind by being device or platform specific. Design your product for all devices and platforms so that you can cast your net wide. Give your users the freedom to pick up from where they left off and they will snuggle up to you.

Take Slack, for example. This team collaboration tool owes it success squarely to its cross-device and cross-platform feature. Be it iPhone, Android tablet, Mac, or Windows PC, Slack works smoothly across the board. A user can start a conversation on desktop, continue it on phone during commute, and wrap it up on their personal laptop without missing a beat.

 

Tips to Make Your SaaS Product Cross-Device and Cross-Platform Friendly Adopt responsive design; make your user interface adapt seamlessly to different screen sizes and orientations. Use progressive web apps (PWAs); combine the best of web and mobile app experiences for wider accessibility. Implement cloud syncing; keep user data and preferences synchronized across all devices and platforms. Maintain consistent core functionality; ensure key features work similarly across all platforms to reduce user confusion. Use platform-agnostic technologies; consider frameworks like React Native or Flutter for consistent cross-platform development. Design for offline functionality; allow basic features to work without the need for constant internet connectivity. Implement cross-platform authentication, use secure, universal login methods that work across all devices. Ensure data portability; make it easy for users to export and transfer their data between platforms.

5)    Choose Your Digital Channel with Care

If you plan to promote your SaaS products through digital channels – choose your channels wisely. It's all about finding that perfect match between your product, your audience, and the channel. Get it right, and you win hands down.

Dropbox went wrong, by trying everything out at a time when its audience was not ready for cloud storage. It tried display ads, affiliate marketing, and a host of other things, but nothing clicked.

 

Tips to Identify the Right Digital Channel to Promote Your SaaS Product Analyze where your target customers spend their time online. Use platforms like LinkedIn for B2B or Instagram for B2C. Use tools like Google Analytics to track which channels drive traffic and conversions. Review competitors for insights. Experiment with multiple channels (social media, email, search) and use A/B testing to identify which perform best. Choose channels based on your content. Use Instagram for visuals, LinkedIn for professional/educational content, or YouTube for tutorials. Study competitor strategies and identify any underused channels where you can stand out.

Conclusion

Your SaaS product is unique, so adopt unique ways to promote it. Stumbling upon your own way takes time, but finding one can be more rewarding than anything else. Think out-of-the-box and mix and match your strategies. Keep experimenting with an open mind. Go through other success stories to feel inspired and finally hit upon the ultimate winning idea. In the end, it all boils down to patience, perseverance, and persistence.