4 Examples of SaaS Marketing Done Right

When it comes to marketing, SaaS companies face some pretty big challenges.

Like finding a creative way to show a non-physical product.

Or standing out in a fast-growing and highly competitive industry.

And then finally, acquiring quality leads who will eventually become paying customers.

Marketing a digital, subscription-based product is much different than the traditional product-based marketing strategies we’ve become accustomed to.

We’re going to look at 4 SaaS companies that have nailed their marketing, and how you can apply these strategies to your own affiliate program.

Moz

If you Google anything remotely related to SEO, you’ll likely find Moz at the top of your search results.

Moz is an SEO software that has built a marketing strategy around creating tons of content.

But instead of focusing solely on how their software works, their content is built around understanding and mastering SEO.

By broadening their content beyond the product itself, they have been able to reach a wide variety of audiences. They’ve set out to make content for everyone — from beginner’s guides for those users who are just getting started to weekly Whiteboard videos for more experienced marketers.

How can you use this for your affiliate program?

Just as Moz diversified its content for a variety of audiences, you can do the same.

Do this by partnering with a variety of affiliates who can make different types of content aimed at different audiences.

Reach first-time audiences by partnering with affiliates who use your software, but aren’t necessarily in the industry. For example, a travel influencer promotes video editing software as one of the tools they use for their Instagram feed.

Or reach more targeted audiences by partnering with affiliates who can create in-depth content for those already in the know and familiar with industry solutions. For example, a niche blogger reviewing how to use certain technical features of video editing software.

Trello

No marketing campaign or ad spend can beat a great product with happy customers.

Just ask Trello.

As a collaboration software, Trello is a fan-favorite for organizing projects, teams and workflows. So much so, that they were able to build a marketing strategy completely around what their customers were saying.

Rather than investing in a marketing budget, Trello decided to focus their efforts on building a great, high-quality product.

Then, they let customers do the marketing.

Through word-of-mouth, their customer voices became successful promotions — with the company reaching over 50 million users in 2019.

How can you use this for your affiliate program?

Leverage word-of-mouth promotions through customer testimonials, product reviews, blog features, and social media posts.

SaaS customers want to hear reviews. Seek out review sites for your product, and pitch your affiliate program for placement on their site.

Customer testimonials instill trust in your brand and make your product more relatable. Encourage your customers to share their experience alongside referral links for others to sign up.

Ratings help boost your reputation and provide your brand with credibility. Use positive customer ratings as content for affiliate marketing assets.

All in all, the end goal should be to get people talking.

Dropbox

Cloud storage isn’t an everyday conversation topic. But somehow Dropbox got everyone talking, growing from 100k users to over 4 million in just a couple of years.

How did they do it? By making it easy to share referrals.

Dropbox is one of the best examples for referral marketing.

By making referral links readily available and convenient to share, customers were able to effortlessly promote the software with others. And on top of that, users were rewarded for their referrals.

How can you use this for your affiliate program?

If you’re here, likely, you’re already using a referral or affiliate program. If not, Dropbox is just one of many examples of why you should be.

As we said, Dropbox’s referral program worked so well because it made it easy.

You can do the same using Tapfiliate’s Affiliate Recruitment feature.

By enabling Affiliate Recruitment, your new customers can become affiliate prospects which will automatically send them a referral link that they can use to promote your business.

When they drive a new conversion or customer, the affiliate prospect is immediately promoted to affiliate status and invited to log in to their dashboard. Then, they can view their performance and find more of your program’s resources.

This means your affiliate program will be readily available to your customer— and most importantly, easy.

Canva

The term “influencer” is often associated with the stylish 20-somethings who share their jet-setting lifestyles via Instagram.

But, influencers can really be anyone influential.

For Canva — a once small graphic design startup — this was Guy Kawasaki. Guy was the marketing guru behind Apple, and now he is Canva’s Chief Evangelist.

He put his full weight behind the company, saying “Macintosh democratized computers; Google democratized information; and eBay democratized commerce. In the same way, Canva democratizes design.”

Making news headlines and blog features, this one influencer created a pretty big buzz for Canva. So big that Canva began growing by 30k users each weekday just two years after launching.

How can you use this for your affiliate program?

We’ve written about how influencers can be great for your affiliate program. Influencers give brand exposure, reach large audiences, and generate leads.

If you are looking to incorporate influencers into your affiliate marketing strategy, don’t limit your search to only those who fit the insta-famous description.

As Canva proved, an influencer is much more than a high follower count.

Instead, find someone whose stamp of approval matters to audiences — like experts with strong backgrounds and significant experience in the industry.

And find someone who can generate a sense of excitement around your brand — connect with those behind big name-brands or have notable projects in their portfolio.

Wrap Up

These are just some examples of many SaaS companies that have found effective marketing strategies. You can check out other saas examples if you need more inspiration.

Do you have any that come to mind? Tweet us your thoughts at @Tapfiliate.

Then, be sure to check our blog for more SaaS affiliate marketing tips!

Jessica Rangel

Spending my days writing marketing content, cycling around canals in Amsterdam, and attempting to master the Dutch language.