It's been reported that most (86%) buyers are already “overwhelmed and annoyed” by receiving 10+ marketing messages.
So, if your priority as a growing B2B startup is still brand awareness over selling, you need to think about how to create a healthy, ROI-driving balance.
After all, SaaS marketing at this stage should be revenue-focused. Else, you’ll just be burning seed money..
🔥 Need to build your B2B sales pipeline? Let’s identify your top ICPs and craft your customer acquisition plan. Book a call with us today!
Today’s B2B marketers are taking more active roles in positioning the product and priming leads for sales conversations.
Read the full article for a comprehensive detail on this—and learn how we’re responding. 😉
The current state of B2B SaaS Marketing
In a recent study by BetterCloud, companies are actively using 130 SaaS apps on average, up 18% from last year.
This might translate into B2Bs booming a lot, but that is not the full picture. There are looming problems that challenge the industry.
First off, we can't ignore recession warnings.
Tighter budgets mean justifying marketing spend will become a lot harder. Retaining current customers and showing concrete ROI will be more important than ever.
Then, there’s AI charming its way into founders, SaaS leaders, and even agenices —especially in content marketing. It can’t take over writers’ jobs completely, but it can definitely replace the writing part of the job. If you know what we mean. 😉
Also, AI-driven tools enable marketers to analyze extensive datasets, generate marketing angles, and polish content much more quickly. A year after ChatGPT’s launch, it now has more than 1.4 billion users.
Finally, the self-service buyer reigns supreme—with 75% of the B2B buyers wanting to purchase without sales rep involvement.
This requires B2B companies to meet customers where they are, starting the selling subtly with content that educates and enables self-paced research
And only offer the demo option once the buyer is like 50% sold on the solution and needs to talk to a person for some very specific questions or sophisticated use-case.
It also prompted B2B SaaS companies to finally take content seriously.
Just go to LinkedIn and see how employees are starting to build an audience to help sell their company’s solutions. Content-led sales are inevitable, and B2Bs are accepting this already.
How 2024 B2B SaaS is changing
Now let's look at how B2B SaaS marketing is evolving in 2024.
If you look closely, all signs point to marketing getting tighter with sales to directly impact revenue.
Messaging is a major challenge
Here's the deal— generic branding and bland value propositions just don't cut it anymore. We need targeted messaging that speaks directly to our ideal customers' pain points from the start. And get them nodding their heads immediately.
But unfortunately: messaging, value propositions, and differentiated messaging are all struggles of B2B SaaS. CEO Peep Laja’s survey found that almost 50% of B2B SaaS CMOs and VP marketing have this very challenge.
🔥 Need specialists to help you with your positioning? We at CaaSocio believe that sales start with a clear positioning. Book a call with us today!
Double down on “ROI-getting” sales outbound
In 2024, B2B SaaS and tech should double down on outbound strategies that aren't just about reaching out by spamming. Sorry not sorry
They should be about delivering tangible, measurable returns on investment (ROI). Like COO Santosh Sharan says, “Outbound teams that have a Signals-first approach will win the future.”
Outreach needs both marketing and sales skills.
Leveraging intent and other buyer signals is so crucial. When we identify prospects actively in-market for solutions, we can engage with tailored messaging that speaks to their current needs and mindset. It becomes a value-added conversation, not an interruption.
More focus on sales enablement content
With long B2B sales cycles and self-educating buyers, arming our sales teams with value-driven content is more important than ever.
Only 1 in 4 salespeople think effective sales enablement content would result in the most growth for their company. No wonder salespeople are finding it harder than ever to hit their quotas.
B2B SaaS are cutting budgets
Many B2B SaaS companies are strategically trimming their budgets due to economic uncertainties. This has led businesses to reassess their expenditures, particularly in the marketing domain. An article from Insider Intelligence says that B2B marketing firms are reducing their spending and focusing on ROI for 2023 and 2024.
An excerpt from Forbes’ The rise of financial operations excellence in B2B SaaS—”...more than ever, the effective management of cash flows and working capital is vital to the survival and growth of firms.”
Emphasis on sales and marketing alignment
SaaS companies are aligning their sales and marketing strategies to ensure a seamless customer experience from the first touchpoint to the final sale. From the same HubSpot blog report, 61% claimed their sales and marketing teams are more aligned this year than they were last year.
AI in B2B marketing is [just] overhyped
While AI has undoubtedly made significant changes, there's a growing sense that the industry buzz might be exaggerated. AI solutions are not always as magical solo solution as the hype suggests.
How we’re responding—the CaaSocio pivot
B2B companies always have this craving for growth. And by growth, they mean sales in the short term and building assets that’ll make more sales in the (near) future. 😅
We’ve catered to this need before by:
- Offering outbound services to those who need B2B leads ASAP
- Working on content and copy assets to help fuel their marketing campaigns
And with all the major shifts happening in SaaS right now—from the emphasis on "ROI-getting" sales outbound to the growing significance of sales enablement content—we recognized an opportunity to align our agency with the evolving needs of our clients.
CaaSocio cofounder, Sarah shared,
“It might be a challenging time, but I'm always looking forward and trusting that we can weather this. Winter is almost over. We just have to understand that recession is just like the winter season. A time to pause, reflect, and realign.
Hence, we are pivoting.”
So we’re merging these 2 seemingly unrelated offers into one:
Creating a steady, profitable, and scalable pipeline of B2B leads with outbound and content
This repackaged and not entirely new offer involves:
- Giving clients quick wins booked demos after just 2 weeks of working with us
- Solves the sales-marketing misalignment that plagues even the big companies
- Make B2B selling easier and faster with content that helps sales teams sell—even outside of Zoom
And we’ll do that with this Profitable Acquisition Roadmap:
Trivia: CaaSocio’s very first closed deal was a B2B outbound project, and it’s been a steady offer the whole year round. We always had lead generation clients that come to us (even though we’re not actively looking for them). And we have case studies that show 😉
Here's the great thing—our team has spot-on sales-marketing alignment, so you’ll enjoy seamless collaboration with us. All toward the same goal.
So team working in silos? mismatched goals? and disjointed sales and marketing processes? Forget it! We’re like the extension of your sales and marketing team.
CaaSocio Co-founder, Aiza remarks,
“Moving forward, CaaSocio will be known as the SaaS marketing agency that can do B2B user acquisition predictably for users through the combination of B2B user acquisition and sales content strategy.”
Let’s help you create a profit-focused customer acquisition strategy that will give you a steady, profitable, and scalable pipeline of B2B leads. Book a call with us.
