How I would market a SaaS tool

Micky Weis

15 years of experience in online marketing. Former CMO at, among others, Firtal Web A/S. Blogger about marketing and the things I’ve experienced along the way. Follow me on LinkedIn for daily updates.

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What is a SaaS tool?

In this series of posts where I dive into how I would market a business, I also want to dedicate a post to the marketing of a SaaS tool.

SaaS is short for “Software as a Service” and refers to many of the programs we use daily that aren’t downloaded directly onto our devices.

Instead, it’s a software tool stored online — in a cloud, so to speak — and can be accessed from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.

SaaS now comes in many forms and includes tools like Morningscore, Custimy, and Sleeknote. What they all have in common is that they continually update themselves and solve specific challenges businesses often face.

SaaS tools have also proven valuable in my own marketing work, and in this post, I’ll dive into how I would personally market a SaaS product.

The customer journey is longer – it’s hard to move people

It’s become a known fact that the customer journey has significantly lengthened with the boom of e-commerce.

In other words, there are so many different products and services available that most customers need time to consider the pros and cons of each option.

This is a factor that must be considered when presenting a new service to the market. It can be difficult to convince people, and conversion can take time.

Nonetheless, the likelihood of conversion increases if you offer a service, tool, or product that genuinely solves a common problem.

In short, it’s about standing out and creating something that truly brings value to the user.

Solve a niche problem

When developing a SaaS tool, no one expects you to reinvent the wheel. It’s more about identifying common user pain points and offering solutions.

Take Mailchimp or Sleeknote, for example. Both offer intuitive tools that are easy to use and deliver on their promises.

Track your data: what’s your churn & CPA?

Whether you’re looking to attract investors to your SaaS tool or want to analyze how many resources are needed to acquire new customers, you must know your data.

In particular:

• Churn rate – how many customers you lose per month.
• CPA (Cost per Acquisition) – how much it costs to acquire new customers.

These metrics help determine if your SaaS tool and its marketing are retaining customers or if you’re losing them — and how expensive it is to gain new ones.

This is actionable data that can help you fine-tune your marketing strategy.

Churn rate and CPA are both important concepts in marketing. You can read more about them and many other concepts in my digital dictionary here.

Funding sucks, but you often need it

Many startups need funding to move from one stage to the next. It’s not easy and requires solid data and a clear vision for your SaaS tool.

Here are a few types of funding:

• Crowdfunding – a larger group of people investing in your startup.
• Personal resources – for those with enough savings to get started.
• Private investors – individuals such as business leaders investing in your company.
• Startup grants – grants specifically for entrepreneurs, especially in the early stages.

Each option has its benefits, and you should choose based on what makes sense for your business.

Start seeking funding early – it rarely works out on the first try, and always have a plan B.

Pricing a SaaS tool

Pricing is tricky in the SaaS world. Should it be a fixed monthly price, or should it scale as the customer grows?

Many SaaS tools base pricing on usage. For example:

• Number of emails sent
• Number of orders in a webshop
• Revenue
• Website traffic

Dynamic pricing based on usage can break down barriers for smaller customers who don’t want to pay a high price early on when they have fewer users, emails, or sales.

This way, you “grow” alongside your customers.

Be careful hiding pricing behind a “demo”

One major mistake I often see is hiding the price behind a “Request a demo” button.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve left a (probably great) SaaS tool because they wanted me to book a demo just to see the price.

Why not just tell me the price upfront? If the price is that high, are you trying to hide it?

These are the thoughts that instantly go through my head.

Create your own PR with Bazoom

Your SaaS tool needs to be visible to those who could benefit from it. Creating your own PR — content that links back to your site — makes sense here.

This is part of your link-building strategy and helps create awareness around your product.

I would use Bazoom (another solid SaaS tool) for PR.

Bazoom creates high-quality content with relevant links back to your site, boosting your SEO and brand authority by placing your links on websites within the same niche.

Content marketing: find your angle

Marketing a software tool that helps companies with specific tasks benefits greatly from content marketing.

As mentioned earlier, the customer journey is longer today, and users need time to be convinced that a SaaS tool is worth the investment.

The more content your users can consume from your own channels, the more likely they are to convert.

Solve a real problem

It’s no easy task to develop a software tool that solves real problems, is easy to get started with, and is user-friendly. But that’s what companies are looking for.

The research phase is a vital part of the customer journey, and it will quickly become clear whether a tool solves a problem or is just another overhyped product that doesn’t deliver.

There’s no point in developing something that just sits in the shadow of more successful tools — identify niche problems and use your expertise to solve them.

I promise that many companies and entrepreneurs will appreciate someone actually tackling specific problems creatively.

Launch small bites

As a developer, you have the technical expertise. But your users don’t.

To help them get started, the software must be simple and not overwhelming. Many people struggle with complex setups.

Sometimes developers overthink things and add too many features, making the tool even more complicated. That’s not necessary — and can confuse users.

Again, Sleeknote is a great example. They’ve kept it simple and stuck to what works.

Customer feedback

Customer feedback is one of the most important things for any company, especially startups.

A SaaS tool should offer a simple solution to a business problem. Its interface should be intuitive and solve or automate a specific task.

Ultimately, only the user can determine if the tool is user-friendly, which is why you need feedback. Gather it through follow-up emails, pop-ups, or direct conversations.

This is the best way to learn what works and what doesn’t — and how to improve.

Feedback lets you address user concerns and clarify your product’s value.

Use Mouseflow and Convert.com to analyze user behavior

When launching a new SaaS tool, I would track how users interact with the website offering the product.

The interface should be as user-friendly as possible so people can start using the tool easily.

You are 90% more tech-savvy than your users – build for everyone

I can’t stress this enough: your software must be user-friendly.

It’s your job to make sure anyone can use it from day one.

Ask people around you — who aren’t software experts — to test the tool. Can they figure it out? If not, fix it.

If your tool isn’t easy to use, people will go elsewhere.

Create hooks to help people get started

When users begin using a new SaaS tool, they need motivation and a smooth onboarding process.

Make signup quick and engaging. No one wants to spend too much time just getting started.

Add hooks like gamification — Morningscore does this well, turning onboarding into a “game” with tasks that unlock access.

You could also visualize the onboarding with clear progress steps to show users how close they are to completing setup.

In my opinion, that kind of clarity makes it much easier to get started — and increases motivation.