A Complete Guide To B2C SaaS Marketing
The SaaS market is so big that it has branched out into two main categories: the consumers and the businesses.
And the two major SaaS markets are rapidly growing even as we speak. The pandemic, along with other factors, is increasing our dependence on SaaS solutions.
Businesses were forced to take their operations online. Workers have had to work remotely.
Even our everyday lives have been confined at home and online. We depended on SaaS products more for our entertainment, education, and communication with loved ones.
So how do you take advantage of such a growing market?
In this article, we are going to talk about business-to-consumer (B2C) SaaS marketing and the different strategies you can do to win more consumers.
B2B VS B2C SaaS Marketing
First, let’s talk about how B2C marketing is different from business-to-business (B2B) SaaS marketing.
From the name itself, B2B SaaS solutions are those that you can use to streamline business processes. While B2C SaaS products are those that generally make life easier and more convenient.
When it comes to SaaS marketing, these are the major differences between B2B and B2C:
- Target Market
- Motivation For Buying
- Sales Cycle
- Churn Rates
- Competition
- Marketing Budgets
Target Market
Naturally, a B2B SaaS company would be more geared towards businesses and professionals. The target market for their SaaS solutions is people who are already in decision-making positions. Those would be the CEOs, CTOs, and so on.
Although, some B2B SaaS solutions today are targeting even the end-users. They generally use a product-led growth and/or a community-led growth model.
Segmenting a B2B market is usually based on firmographic factors like industry, company size, and executive title.
You can further develop buyer personas representing the executives, supervisors, or end-users.
On the other hand, B2C solutions would be more geared towards everyday consumers. It’s a broader market because everyone is a consumer.
But depending on the nature of your SaaS product, you can still narrow down your target market based on demographic factors, like gender, location, and income. You can also use psychographic factors like interests, beliefs, and values.
Motivation For Buying
In the case of a B2B buyer, the motivation for the purchase is often driven by business needs. The buyer is looking for a solution to specific business-related problems that they are having.
So B2B SaaS users take a rational approach to their buying decision. What’s more, they would want to see a return on investment (ROI) for their purchases.
That’s why it’s best to reach them with in-depth and highly informative content.
On the other hand, the motivation for buying a B2C SaaS solution is often driven by personal needs. The buyer generally wants to make their life easier and more convenient.
That’s why B2C SaaS buyers are often driven by emotions when they make a purchase. So it’s best to reach them with persuasive and engaging content.
Sales Cycle
The sales cycle for a B2B purchase is often longer because of the need to go through different decision-makers.
It can take weeks, or even months before a purchase is made.
On the other hand, the sales cycle for a B2C purchase is often shorter because there’s only one decision-maker.
Most B2C SaaS companies don’t need a sales team to sell their product. Rather, their customers can simply click a buy button on the pricing page or an app listing platform.
Because of that, it can take days or even just hours before they decide to buy your SaaS product.
But this doesn’t mean that you should ignore long-term customers in favor of short-term ones. In fact, it’s more important to focus on customer retention rather than acquisition.
Speaking of keeping your existing customers…
Churn Rates
Since B2B SaaS solutions are often used by businesses, they’re less likely to churn. This is because they have a greater need for the software and are more likely to see a return on investment.
What’s more, if you’re targeting enterprise markets that need bespoke solutions, you most probably have a long-term contract with them.
On the other hand, B2C SaaS solutions are more likely to churn because people can easily switch to another product if they’re not happy with yours.
There are a number of reasons for this, but it often boils down to two things: price and convenience.
If your B2C SaaS product is too expensive, people will look for a cheaper alternative. If it’s not convenient to use, they’ll also look for something else.
Competition
B2B SaaS markets are normally less competitive because the solutions are more specialized.
But there’s still a lot of competition in certain niches, like project management or customer relationship management (CRM) software.
On the other hand, B2C SaaS markets are typically more competitive because the solutions are more commoditized.
Everyone’s trying to sell the same thing, so it can be hard to stand out.
Marketing Budgets
B2B companies often have larger marketing budgets than B2C ones.
This is because they need to spend more money on things like lead generation, website development, and sales training.
On the other hand, B2C SaaS companies often have smaller marketing budgets because they don’t need to spend as much money on lead generation.
They can rely on organic traffic from search engines and social media. And they don’t need to spend as much money on sales and customer support because the product sells itself.
Popular Examples Of B2C SaaS Solutions
Now that we’ve looked at the differences between B2B and B2C SaaS marketing, let’s take a look at some popular examples of B2C SaaS solutions.
These include:
Spotify: A music streaming service that allows users to listen to millions of songs on their smartphones, laptops, and tablets.
Evernote: A note-taking app that lets users capture ideas and memories on their devices.
Netflix: A video streaming service that gives users access to thousands of TV shows and movies.
Canva: A design app that allows users to create professional-looking graphics, presentations, and posters.
Duolingo:A language learning app that helps users learn new languages through interactive games and exercises.
Common B2C SaaS Marketing Channels
Now that we’ve looked at some popular examples of B2C SaaS solutions, let’s take a look at some common B2C SaaS marketing channels.
- Social Media
- Paid Advertising
Social Media
Social media is one of the most effective marketing channels for B2C SaaS companies. This is because it’s a great way to reach out to potential customers and build relationships with them.
What’s more, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have millions of users all over the world. That means there’s a good chance that your target market is using one or more of these platforms.
To make the most of social media, you need to create engaging content that will capture people’s attention.
You also need to post and interact with your followers regularly. If you do this, you’ll be able to build a strong social media following that will not only be loyal to your brand. They will also help promote your B2C SaaS product.
Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is another effective digital marketing channel for a B2C company. This is because it allows you to reach out to a vast pool of potential customers who might be interested in your product.
There are a number of paid advertising platforms that you can use, including Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and LinkedIn Ads.
Through these different platforms, you can run various types of paid advertisements. These include search engine ads, social media ads, and retargeting ads.
Let’s talk about them one by one right now.
Search Engine Ads: These are ads that appear at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). It’s sort of a paid shortcut to search engine optimization (SEO).
When you run search engine ads, you need to choose the right keywords. These are the words and phrases that people use when they’re searching for products like yours.
If you choose the right keywords, your ad will appear in front of potential customers who are interested in your product. And it will be in the first few results that appear on the SERPs for your target keywords.
And if you have a well-designed ad, you’ll be able to persuade them to click on it and visit your website.
Social Media Ads: These are ads that appear on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
They allow you to reach out to potential customers even if they don’t follow your company pages.
When you run social media ads, you need to create content that is engaging enough to keep users from scrolling past them.
You also need to target your ads so that they’re only seen by people who are likely to be interested in your product. You can target specific users based on their age, interests, location, and more.
Retargeting Ads: These are ads that appear to people who have visited your website but didn’t take any action.
For example, if someone visits your website but doesn’t buy anything, you can retarget them with an ad that offers a discount on their first purchase.
This is a great way to persuade potential customers to come back to your website and take action.
Email Marketing
Another effective marketing channel for B2C SaaS companies is email marketing.
Although, this works more effectively for people who have actually bought your SaaS product or at least signed up for a free trial.
Email marketing allows you to keep in touch with your leads and promote new features or updates. It’s also a great way to build relationships with your existing customers and persuade them to keep using your product.
To make the most out of email marketing, you need to personalize for each customer.
But how do you do that?
First, you can segment your email list so that you’re only sending messages to people who are likely to be interested in them.
Second, you can use email marketing SaaS solutions like Mailchimp and AWeber. These tools will help you schedule your emails ahead of time, automatically personalize your emails, and track your email marketing metrics.
Yes, you need to track how your recipients are responding so that you can see what’s working and what’s not.
Monitor important metrics like open rates and click-through rates. Then adjust different aspects of your emails accordingly.
B2C SaaS Marketing Strategies
Now that you know about some of the most effective marketing channels for B2C SaaS companies, let’s take a look at some specific strategies that you can use.
- Product-Led Growth
- Community-Led Growth
- Content Marketing
- Influencer Marketing
- Leveraging Reviews To Build Your Brand
Product-Led Growth
Product-led growth is a strategy where the product is the main driver for the growth of a SaaS company.
The idea is that if you have a great product, people will naturally want to use it and recommend it to others. You won’t even need a sales team to sell your product.
To make this strategy work, you need to do three things: build a user-based design, deliver value, and get your users to talk about your product.
User-Based Design: If you want to build a product that would sell itself, you need a super solid product-market fit.
To do this, you need to first understand who your target market is and what their needs are. Then you need to design a product that is tailor-fit to meet those needs.
For example, let’s look at Spotify.
Before Spotify, the only way for people to listen to songs on-demand was to actually buy them.
It was the only legal way, at least.
People had to buy CDs or download tracks on iTunes for $0.99 to $1.30 per track. But most people just listened to the tracks for a few weeks or months before a new batch of chart-topping songs came along.
Some people didn’t know it yet. But they needed a way to listen to the songs that they wanted without having to buy the tracks one by one.
Then Spotify entered the scene.
It was a revolutionary product because it allowed people to listen to any song they wanted, anytime they wanted. And the best part was that it was free to use with ads or $9.99 per month without ads.
As a result, news about the music streaming platform spread like wildfire. People started using it and recommending it to their friends.
Another important factor that contributes to a great user experience is the intuitiveness of the SaaS solution’s interface.
Your users need to be able to easily utilize your product without much instruction. The interface needs to be intuitive and logical so that people can quickly figure out how to navigate it.
Delivering Value As Quickly As Possible: The only way for a user to be willing to pay for a B2C SaaS solution is to experience the product’s value for themselves.
SaaS businesses usually do this through a free trial or a freemium model. With a free trial, you give your users access to the full product for a limited time. After the trial period is over, they need to pay to continue using it.
The freemium model, on the other hand, is when you offer a basic version of your product for free and then charge for premium features.
Both of these methods allow users to experience the product’s value firsthand.
But you also need to deliver value as quickly as possible. The sooner your users see the value of your product, the sooner they can decide to buy it.
Get Your Users To Talk About Your Product: The last thing you need to do to make product-led growth work is to get your users to talk about your product.
The best way for them to do this is by providing a great customer experience. Make sure that they are happy with your product and that they are getting value from it. If you can do that, they will be more than happy to talk about it with their friends.
Community-Led Growth
Another growth strategy that you can use for your B2C SaaS company is community-led growth. This is actually an extension of product-led growth.
Once you acquire customers who are happy with your SaaS product, you can add them to a group where you can constantly communicate with them. As a result, you get to build brand loyalty and advocacy among your users.
You can also use this group to get feedback and suggestions from them. This will help you improve your product and make it more user-friendly.
Some of the best ways to grow your community are social media, forums, and chat apps like Slack and Discord.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is one of the most effective inbound marketing strategies for SaaS businesses, both B2B and B2C.
But still, there are major differences between content marketing for a B2B audience and for a B2C audience.
For B2B businesses, the primary goal for content marketing is to educate potential customers.
Business people and professionals are hungry for information that can help them improve their business processes or job performance. Many of them also want to dive into the nitty-gritty of how SaaS solutions can help them do so.
But for B2C, remember that consumers tend to make emotion-based decisions when it comes to buying B2C SaaS products. So content marketing in this area focuses more on entertaining your potential customers.
You need to create content that would capture their attention and get them interested in your product. You even need to get viral, if you can.
You can do this by coming up with creative and catchy headlines, using attractive visuals, and writing in a fun and engaging tone.
Some of the best channels for B2C content marketing are social media, YouTube, and blogs. TikTok is also getting more and more popular when it comes to SaaS-related content.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is one of the most popular digital marketing strategies these days, especially for B2C businesses.
The reason for this is that people are more likely to buy a product if it’s endorsed by someone they trust.
This is why it’s important to partner with influencers who have an engaged following in your target market. These influencers can help you reach your target audience and promote your product in a way that would be more effective than traditional advertising.
When looking for influencers to work with, make sure to check their engagement rate and whether their followers are genuinely interested in your type of product. You should also consider their influence on your target market.
What’s more, I think it goes without saying that you need to get influencers whose niches are relevant to your product.
For example, let’s say you’re selling a language tutoring solution. You could reach out to a language expert who is trending on social media. Or if you have an audio editing tool, you could find a popular DJ or musician.
This way, you would be attracting an audience that is more likely to buy your SaaS product.
Leveraging Reviews To Build Your Brand
Another SaaS marketing strategy that you can use for your B2C SaaS company is to leverage reviews to build your brand.
People tend to trust online reviews as much as they would trust recommendations from friends or family. So if you can get positive reviews from people who have used your product, that would be very beneficial for your business.
To go about this, you can use the following methods and platforms: SaaS review sites, app listing platforms, customer testimonials, and user-generated content.
SaaS Review Sites: First, you can encourage your customers to leave reviews on popular review sites like Capterra, G2, and TrustRadius.
This strategy also works with B2B SaaS marketing, by the way.
App Listing Platforms: Second, make sure that you have favorable reviews on app listing platforms.
If you’re selling a B2C SaaS solution, chances are you have a mobile app for it too. Make sure to list your app on popular app listing sites like the App Store and Google Play Store.
Having positive reviews on these platforms can help you attract more potential customers so when prospective customers check out your app on these platforms, make sure they will see good things about it.
Customer Testimonials: You can also include testimonials from satisfied customers on your website and social media accounts. To make it more engaging, you can even have these testimonials in video form.
User-Generated Content: Last but not least, you can leverage user-generated content to promote your product. This is when your customers create content about your product, like blog posts, social media posts, or videos.
This is a great way to show potential customers that people are using and enjoying your product. And it’s also a great way to build up some social proof for your business.
Final Thoughts About B2C SaaS Marketing
B2C marketing is a different beast from B2B. But that doesn’t mean it’s any easier.
In fact, I would say it’s even more challenging because you need to be more creative in your approach. You need to come up with content that would capture the attention of your target audience and get them interested in your product.
After all, you have a huge and universal market whose buying decisions are more based on emotion than information. So there’s the challenge of appealing to their hearts, not just to their minds.
But if you can crack the code on B2C SaaS marketing, the rewards can be very lucrative.
Looking for more guides and strategies on growing your SaaS company? Visit our SaaS marketing blog here.
