We know it—SaaS is such a fast-paced industry. The industry’s annual growth rate is about 18%.
And now that we’re approaching the new year, it’s hardly surprising that SaaS marketers are already looking for the key trends of 2023.
And by the way, there are a number of exciting developments on the horizon. 🤩
So, in this article, we'll take a look at 11 SaaS marketing trends that are likely to impact the industry. With that said, let's dive into what's in store for SaaS marketers in 2023.
What's different about SaaS marketing?
Like we said earlier, the SaaS market is rapidly growing. The competition to be a top-of-mind software choice is fiercer.
So what do marketers work on? It's all about figuring out how to best drive users to try out and then keep coming back to a product or service. And that’s SaaS marketing—the process of promoting the service.
Here’s what makes it different, though.
- SaaS are often selling to other businesses, which means they need B2B marketing strategies.
- SaaS products are often priced based on usage, so your pricing strategy will be a key part of your B2B marketing efforts.
- SaaS products usually have a long sales cycle, that’s why your marketing needs to be focused on educating potential customers.
And this is the most worthy to point out:
In SaaS, you're selling a subscription-based service. That means customer acquisition is only half the battle. You need to work harder to keep them engaged so they don’t churn.
BUT PLEASE DON’T FRET. To better brace ourselves, we give you a list of Saas marketing trends that’ll most likely evolve in 2023. 🙂
11 SaaS marketing trends we can expect in 2023
Here are a few SaaS marketing trends that we can expect to see more of.
#1 Podcast growth will boom
We're already seeing a lot of businesses move towards podcasting as a way to reach their target audiences, and this SaaS marketing trend is only going to grow. And we think it’s worth it—a whopping 177 million Americans listen to podcasts in 2022. That’s a 57% increase from 2021.
More and more people are consuming content via podcasts, and companies are starting to realize the potential of this platform. Thus, we can expect to see an increase in the number of SaaS vendors producing podcasts in order to connect with their customers and promote their brands. Not only that, but it’s also a way to generate leads and create thought-leadership content.
Here are our favorite B2B marketing podcasts:
#2 Increased use of AI automation
NO, AI won’t replace human writers—but we’ll be leveraging its capacity. A SaaS marketing trend we see is the increased use of AI technology. And that’s automation for us marketers.
In 2023, we believe more companies will start/continue using AI automation to power their marketing efforts. This technology can help you gather data, segment your audience, and create targeted content much faster and easier than if you were doing it manually.
Further reading: The Rise of the AI Copywriting SaaS: Bye-bye Human Writers?
# 3 Founder-led marketing
One of the SaaS marketing trends we're seeing is a shift toward founder-led marketing. In the past, many companies have relied on marketing efforts built around varying aspects. However, this is no longer sustainable in the current climate. Founders should now be the ones who get active in social media—bridging customer and business relationships. And we know it: they’re usually the most passionate about their product and have the vision for where they want to take it.
In the book by Dave Gerhardt (our favorite marketer 😉) called Founder Brand: Turn Your Story Into Your Competitive Advantage, DG guides founders, CEOs, and marketing teams to position themselves as the brand of their business. And that social media can connect you to your customers.
Will Cannon, the founder of Uplead and Signaturely, is using his Twitter account to connect with followers/customers.
#4 More conversational marketing
Saas marketing trend #4, we're going to see a move towards more conversational marketing. Simply put, we're going to see more conversational chatbots being used to interact with potential customers.
There are a few reasons for this trend.
- Chatbots can help to create a more personal connection between businesses and potential customers.
- They help to save time by automating some of the more repetitive tasks associated with marketing, such as answering FAQs.
- Also, chatbots can help to gather data about potential customers that can be used to tailor future marketing campaigns.
According to the ChatBot platform, conversational chatbots helped a client drive 30% more leads.
#5 More brands will invest in video content
Here’s something we can both agree on—video marketing is one of the most effective ways to engage with customers and promote your product or service. We've seen a dramatic rise in the use of video content by brands (60% of brands use video as a marketing tool), and this trend is only likely to continue in the years to come.
By the way, did you know that “short video clips” are the trend today? Yep, it's a 45% share of revenue on YouTube Shorts.
Learn more about them in this post - How short videos can revolutionize the way you market your SaaS.
But if you, too, will follow the lead, we recommend live-action videos. Why? Look at this:
👉64.3% of people preferred live-action interactive videos over animated ones.
Here’s what our client, eggcrate has to say:
You can also check out their post as to why animated explainer videos no longer work like they used to for SaaS.
#6 SEO will become more complex as search engines get smarter
SEO is a complex and ever-changing field. If you’d like to know more about Google's algorithm, Moz has a list of major algorithm updates from 2000 to today.
Let me tell you what I mean.
What may have worked last year may not work this year, and what works today may be outdated tomorrow. This is because search engines are constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated in their ability to understand and interpret user queries. So a Saas marketing trend we expect will be SEO getting more complex.
If you need help in this category, our partner—Jenn Pereira—can. 😉 She just helped a website increase traffic to over 400,000/month in just 4 months.
#7 Social media platforms will be shaky
Social media has become an increasingly important part of the marketing mix. However, we can also expect to see some instability in the social media landscape.
Let’s take Twitter, for example.
News flash📣📣📣 Twitter had a major outage. And this had some netizens blame Elon musk for their feed issues. Also, look at this:
But we also see tweets from Elon Musk like these:
A Saas marketing trend we see is that social media platforms could possibly be on the shaky ground in the near future.
From outages and accounts getting hacked to billions of users’ data being harvested for political influence, it's no wonder people are losing confidence in these networks. It's important to remember that while technology is undoubtedly improving every day, we should still remain skeptical when it comes to relying on it too heavily in our day-to-day lives.
#8 Email marketing will remain popular
Email marketing works like a charm to reach their target audiences. It’s incredibly effective, especially when it comes to building relationships with potential and current customers.
But what can we expect from email marketing in 2023?
Another Saas marketing trend to keep an eye on is the use of 2 or more email marketing tools and using emails in tandem with in-apps or chatbots.
Yes, as businesses become savvier about email marketing, they'll start to use multiple tools to create more sophisticated campaigns—and keep it all under the budget. A good example of this would be using Intercom for creating behavior-based onboarding email sequences and SendGrid for sending email blasts.
Further reading: Tools for Email Marketing Your SaaS- Our Top 10 Picks
#9 Lead generation will be secondary to demand generation
Our (fearless) forecast—this Saas marketing trend will have a major impact on the way SaaS companies operate, and those who don't adapt will quickly be left behind. A significant change we're seeing is a shift from lead generation to demand generation.
For quite some time, the focus has been on generating as many leads as possible, regardless of whether they're actually interested in your product.
But admit it, that’s not the case anymore. We're likely to see more marketers focusing on quality over quantity when it comes to leads. Businesses will take a more targeted approach in marketing, like customizing their messages to specific accounts and tracking progress at the account level.
And this targeted approach is proving to be more effective than lead generation. Thus, a growing number of companies are making the switch.
# 10 Improved measurement and attribution
This is a general fact—measurement and attribution are essential for understanding the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns. Without accurate data, it's impossible to know which channels are generating the most qualified leads or which messages are resonating with the audience.
That's why we can expect to see a Saas marketing trend of continued focus on measurement and attribution in 2023. Thanks to advancements in technology, there will be more tools available to help businesses track their marketing efforts and assess their results.
But let’s not underestimate the power of self-attribution by some founders and executives alike. That's free info, like when they tell other businesses how they found you. CaaSocio leverages self-attribution, especially when clients schedule a call with us and completes the booking form. 😊
#11 Vertical SaaS will continue to rise
First, let's define vertical SaaS—they’re SaaS companies that focus on a specific industry or niche, as opposed to offering a broad range of products and services.
Recently, vertical SaaS has been on the rise, and this Saas marketing trend is expected to continue in 2023. And there are several reasons for this.
- As industries become more complex, companies are increasingly turning to specialized solutions that can meet their specific needs.
- With the abundance of data, companies are looking for solutions that can help them make sense of all the information they have.
- The competition continues to intensify, and companies are looking for any edge they can get.
So, which SaaS marketing trend will you focus on?
If you’re a SaaS, staying on top of marketing trends can be crucial. We’ve compiled a list of 11 SaaS marketing trends that we think will make a difference in 2023.
From podcasts and AI automation to vertical solutions, these trends provide opportunities for businesses to get creative with their marketing strategies and better connect with their target audience.
Which of these trends do you think will have the biggest impact on your business? And if you need help enacting any of them, reach out – we’d be happy to chat. Here are our SaaS copywriting services:
Book a call now to get started.
