5 Must-Know Marketing Principles for SaaS Brands Who Refuse to Play Small

Yep, you guessed it: We live in a “dynamic world” of “rapidly changing,” “ever-evolving,” and “increasingly complex” digital landscapes. 

But here’s the thing: all those cliché and AI-generated turns of phrase are, regrettably, true. That’s why you need to (queue David Bowie) “turn and face the strange Ch-ch-changes.” 

Yes, the competition is fierce. So, to stand out, there are a few key strategic principles you can implement to stay ahead in the industry. Let’s chat about them. 

1. A Manually Verified TAM Is Foundational

If your SaaS product dominated the industry and had no real competitors, what is the maximum amount of revenue you could generate? Estimating that potential demand for your product is your Total Addressable Market, or TAM. 

The simplest equation for calculating TAM is:

Average revenue per customer × Total number of potential customers in your target market

(If you’re not sure how to best source the data for calculating TAM, check out Directive’s three-part YouTube series.)

A clear and manually verified TAM is a crucial foundation for SaaS marketers—it will drive your entire content marketing approach. 

Wait, why manually verify? 

Relying solely on black box advertising and automated tools or algorithms will lead to skewed insights. The data provided can sometimes misclassify companies and industries or otherwise give inaccurate or outdated info. If you want to target legit potential buyers, manually verify your TAM.

And by manually verify, we mean manually search each company on your TAM list and check out their website. According to Syed Wasif A., head of digital marketing at Confidential, “Without this step, there’s a risk of including companies that don’t belong to the chosen industry, have been acquired, or encounter issues like website redirects or 404 errors. Taking the time for thorough manual checks helps maintain the integrity of your data.”

Once you’ve identified and manually verified your TAM, upload that data to Salesforce and tag it appropriately. This process will help you accurately report on market share, track performance metrics, and visualize a solid marketing strategy.

Knowing your TAM can ensure that your content reaches the right audience, maximizing the ROI of paid media and minimizing wasted impressions.

2. You Need Better Content, Not More Content

With a TAM, you know who to market to. Now make sure you’re offering up quality content to that audience.

There tends to be this floating notion among content marketers that quantity—a constant flow of digital ads, emails, and social posts—equals success. But if you’re producing a bunch of content that lacks substance, it’s going to dilute your brand’s message and fail to resonate with your target audience. 

Here’s the deal: The market is already saturated with repetitive, uninspiring, unreliable, and low-quality content. Don’t add to the garbage pile. Instead, take the time to create content that you and your team can stand behind.

Aim to entertain, inspire, and educate your audience. You can play around with different formats—from case studies, podcasts, and webinars to blogs and social media posts (like this one). Once you’ve generated this content, ask yourself: are you proud of it? Do you believe it adds genuine value to your audience? If not, go back to the drawing board. 

Here are a few tips to improve your content:

• Focus on Storytelling: Weave in narratives to connect with your audience on an emotional level. 
• Use Multimedia: Keep your audience engaged with content that uses visuals, infographics, and videos.
• Encourage Feedback: Engage with your audience through comments and discussions to refine your content strategy continually.

As Directive CEO Garrett Mehrguth opined, “The world needs art, in the form of content, that its creators are obsessed with.” 

3. Optimize For Attention

When your target audience is already bombarded with messaging from all sides, capturing attention can feel impossible. 

To stand out, you have to not only produce quality content but back it up with a unique brand voice, a strong point of view, and a clear methodology.

“No one cares about your SaaS brand,” Mehrguth says. “That’s fine and you can fix it. No one cared about me or my agency either until I stood for something.”

There’s already a lot of digital noise out in the ether—so consider taking a risk and trying out some bold marketing stunts that will both garner attention and foster a deeper connection with your audience. 

As long as it aligns with your brand voice, don’t be afraid to get weird.

Check out some of these recent strange—and certainly unforgettable—marketing campaigns that broke through the noise:

• Michael Cera’s brilliant and cryptic collaboration with CeraVe
• Daniel Craig’s inspired dance moves for Belvedere Vodka
• Liquid Death’s partnership with Bad Birdie (spoiler: it’s a golf club you can urinate in)
• Katy Perry’s new QR code tattoo promoting her upcoming album 

Customers love brands that can prove they understand the industry while daring to be different. In Mehrguth’s words, “BE SHOCKINGLY MEMORABLE.” 

4. Less Sales Enablement, More Brand

So what’s holding you back from creating fresh, interesting, and “out there” content? 

Many SaaS companies fall into the trap of creating content solely for sales enablement, which often results in mediocre content that just doesn’t drive conversions.

So if that’s you, it’s time to rethink your approach. 

Yes, sales enablement is important. But if you have tunnel vision on outreach and only create content that converts, your team will never hit its creative stride, and prospective clients will quickly forget you.

That’s why you need to invest in a brand campaign if you haven’t already. Show your audience what your brand stands for and why they should care. It doesn’t matter if you have a fantastic product—that alone won’t lead to demand generation.

Customers these days expect more. They want to commit to a brand that’s authentic, evocative, and moving. “Focus on inspiring, not converting,” Mehrguth says. 

Look at Heineken’s We’ll Meet Again campaign, for example. Launched in the middle of COVID-19, this campaign resonated with its audience on a global scale: It tapped into our shared feelings of isolation and uncertainty while offering a vision of hope for the future. Its relatable message, compelling visuals, and alignment with its socially driven brand identity created a positive and memorable connection with consumers.

Brands like this, which focus on authenticity and building community, often see increased brand affinity and cultivate a loyal customer base. 

5. Do More Events, But Differently

Folks, it’s time to think outside the booth. 

Event marketing is a powerful tool, but the traditional approach—setting up a booth at a trade show—isn’t the most effective strategy anymore. 

For one, it’s just expensive. Be honest: Are you seeing a clear ROI for what you’re paying? 

Cost aside, as CEO of Groover Commerce Ethan Griffin put it, “People have changed in terms of what they find valuable at events. They prefer the experiential side of things, and not endlessly circling the trade show floor.”

Don’t stick to the conventional event playbook. Try switching it up:

1. Find a Local Event: Scout around for a sporting or music event in the same city as the original conference or trade show. Consider what experience would best align with your target consumer. 
2. Rent a Box: Venues often offer box rentals for events, which provides an exclusive experience for your guests. As a bonus, these venues tend to handle most of the logistics, so you can focus on socializing and customer engagement.
3. Co-Market with a Partner: Collaborating with another company can both lower costs and expand your reach and brand awareness. 
4. Build a Landing Page: Create a dedicated landing page promoting your event. This can be your central hub for event info and RSVPs.
5. Leverage Google Ads: Launch a targeted Google ad campaign to direct traffic to your event landing page.
6. Geofencing Campaigns: Use geofencing on social media to invite locals to your event (psst, make sure to zero in on your verified TAM). 
7. Evaluate Success: After the event, debrief on what worked and (more importantly) what maybe didn’t. Assess the long-term impact of the event with a trailing 12-month lookback. A few metrics to look at:

• Engagement Metrics: How did attendees engage with follow-up content or products after the event?
• Lead Generation and Customer Acquisition: Did the event result in any new customers?
• Revenue Growth: Was there an increase in sales that we can link back to the event?

8. Celebrate Your Success: Take the time to celebrate what went well with your team and recognize those who contributed to the event’s success. This will reinforce a culture of support, creativity, and innovation in your future marketing efforts.

The Bottom Line

It’s up to you to make people care and invest in your brand. 

The best marketing strategy will never come from churning out generic content or following the status quo. It comes from understanding your target audience and then committing to quality, authenticity, continual learning, and creative solutions. 

“The best artists in the world are the ones that make people feel something,” says Garrett Mehrguth. 

When everything is digital and media-driven, it’s easy to forget that you’re marketing to real humans, not robots. 

So let’s try to keep it interesting and make those humans feel things.