Matthews on Marketing

Matthews on Marketing

Three Ways to Goose Conversion and Fight Churn in SaaS

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Another excerpt from my forthcoming SaaS Marketing Handbook - TM Nurturing Nurturing is the process of moving a lead closer to a sale through continued marketing. Nurturing is not unique to SaaS marketing, but it is especially important. Prospects in your database who are not yet ready to buy need to be “nurtured” until they are ready to buy. Email marketing is the most common form of nurturing. The trick is to understand what type of content is of interest, and how many times – touches – a … [Read more...]

How SaaS Affects the Marketing Mix

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Not All of Your Tactics Will Be Change, But the Emphasis Will Shift While the SaaS business model is quite different from sales of perpetual software licenses, the marketing tactics are not entirely unique. SaaS companies still go to trade shows, have customer newsletters, and engage in direct marketing. The real difference is not in the tactics, but the emphasis on those tactics in the marketing mix. Here are a few guiding principles of how the buying cycle is different, and the resulting … [Read more...]

The Roadmap to SaaS Marketing Maturity

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SaaS nirvana is a tempting, alluring place. Stories abound on TechCrunch, Forbes and other tech business press about the fortunes of those who make it. Multiples for SaaS IPOs tend to be among the highest in the tech industry. So there is a palpable pressure in a SaaS marketer to get there as fast as possible. But pushing against this headlong rush to El dorado is another force, a discipline required to get it right before growth – the ramp – kicks in. You can burn a lot of money if you don’t … [Read more...]

Five SaaS Marketing Pitfalls to Avoid

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This is an excerpt from my forthcoming SaaS Marketing Handbook -TM I have fallen into almost every one of these pits. Some of them more than once. I’ve learned the hard way that you need to clearly set expectations, and under promise and over deliver, to be successful as a SaaS marketer. Pitfall #1 “[Person’s name] a [Board Member | Friend of Mine | Fellow CEO | Next Door Neighbor] told me they are getting a [fill in ridiculously high number] conversion rate for [fill in a dollar amount that’s … [Read more...]

Four SaaS Marketing Myths

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This is an excerpt from my forthcoming SaaS Marketing Handbook -TM Like any business model that has made billions for executives and shareholders, SaaS has its own mythology. Stories heard in the boardrooms of SaaS titans have been passed down to aspiring SaaS CEOs. Ambitious CMOs who want a piece of the SaaS game often burnish their conversation stats. Which is to say, be wary of SaaS war stories. Make sure to separate history from lore. Here are four common SaaS marketing myths dispelled. … [Read more...]

SaaS Marketing Maturity Survey

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I am writing a new book called The SaaS Marketing Handbook. In the book, I am including a what I call a "SaaS marketing maturity model." The idea is to describe phases for new SaaS marketers, and give them clear guidance on what the phases are, how to know what to do in each phase, and what indicator(s) let them know they can move on to the next phase. If you are an experienced SaaS marketer, head of sales, founder or exec, I'd like to hear from you. How long did it take to get to … [Read more...]

Marketingspeak: What is ‘Agile Marketing’?

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Have you noticed the growing 'Agile Marketing' trend? Adapted from a popular software development methodology, agile marketers set goals and objectives monthly and work on them in monthly “sprints.” The idea behind agile marketing is to adapt quickly and achieve results fast. It is suitable for companies that are in rapidly changing, perhaps highly competitive, markets. Even if a company chooses to work in this way, an annual plan that sets the “arc” for the year is still a good idea. Also, … [Read more...]

The Six Components of a Message Platform

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Given the glut of information buyers face every day, a successful marketing campaign needs to say something interesting, relevant, and meaningful. And, it needs to say it over and over again. Marketers refer to the collection of carefully chosen words and phrases that they use to describe their offering as a message platform. The message platform is the master document on which a lot of other writing will be based. All communication should conform to the message platform. There are many ways … [Read more...]

13 Questions to Jump-start Your Buyer Persona Research

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Interviews are critical to developing a good buyer persona. Actually speaking with the buyers can uncover insights that would never come to light otherwise. Simply creating a persona via research, using demographics, is a waste of time. You need to understand how they think, not just who they are. Many marketers never take this step. Contacting real buyers is a difficult and challenging task. And what do you ask them? Here are 13 questions to get you started, followed by a format for compiling … [Read more...]

Five Easy New Year’s Resolutions for Marketing Teams

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For as many years as I can remember, I’ve used the quiet period between Christmas and New Year’s to reflect on the year that’s passed, as well as on what lies ahead. Invariably, I’m surprised at the volume of work done by my team. Those Q1 programs seem like so long ago… Yet for all of the accomplishments, there are the unrealized goals. I often rue how we’ve strayed from good marketing practice in some way. Not being close to the customer. Taking our eye off the competition. Not rigorously … [Read more...]