9 Sales Promotion Ideas for Your Software or SaaS Startup

The Software-as-a-Service industry, or SaaS, as many know it, is not all that new. And yet, there are still several people who aren’t as familiar with it and all that it offers. You can always outsource your sales outreach to explain to leads how you can help them out. Even leading SaaS brands like Salesforce invest in strategies to promote their solutions to new audiences and grow their business. And if the big brands are doing it, it’s time for you to get on board or get left behind. 

Today, there are a lot more resources that can help you promote your business without actively pitching or selling anything. By being prepared and making sure that you’ve got everything in place, you’ll be able to generate a lot more interest than you would otherwise. The Internet is a great resource because it gives you access to a much bigger audience. However, it also gives you much more competition. Ready to fight back? Here are some ideas to help you get started on better promotions. 

1. Offer incentives for reviews

Reviews are a great way to get people on board. After all, if there’s anything that a consumer trusts, it’s the word of another consumer. Try to get your existing clients and partners to provide you with reviews on your website or even on third-party review sites or listing pages like your Google My Business listing. You can offer them a discount or a free service in return, or give them any other kind of perk. Just make sure that it’s something valuable and that it is something worth their time. 

2. Partner with third-party review sites

As a software company, you have another very valuable resource: third-party review sites. If you can create a partnership with these sites or somehow otherwise connect with them, it could help you find more and better reviews, as well as establish your reputation as an authority in your industry. Getting a highly rated review on one of these sites can change the entire nature of your business. 

3. Use YouTube for webinars and more

If you’re one of the companies that think that YouTube isn’t a viable marketing tool for you, you’re sorely mistaken. Just about every business can benefit from the power of YouTube videos when they’re used correctly. Don’t just make sales videos, though. Make webinars, post informative content, and even share industry news to help your audience stay informed. A YouTube marketing strategy is an important part of any modern business today. 

4. Host chats on Twitter

This is much like hosting a live forum—you can engage any and all followers that wish to attend, allowing them to ask questions while you field the answers. Twitter chats are a great way to connect one-on-one with people and it’s a tech-friendly solution that shows your clients that you’re taking a forward-thinking approach to digital marketing. All of your social media profiles are great marketing vehicles, but it’s features like this that stand out above the rest. 

5. Optimize your website

Is your website optimized? Are you using all the right SEO keywords? Do you have a simple, clean site architecture and navigation? What about mobile—is your site mobile-friendly? All of these things matter, and they matter more than you might realize. Today’s consumer doesn’t want to wait for anything. They want to get instant answers when they have a need or curiosity and if your site isn’t optimized, it won’t make the list. Take the time to implement a solid website optimization plan and see what kind of promotion it does for itself. 

6. Offer incentives for referrals 

Referrals and word of mouth are still big money makers for a lot of companies. Especially in the world of software where things can sometimes seem complicated and overly technical, having someone tell you it’s really not so bad (or even that it’s good) can make all the difference. Come up with a referral program for your existing clients and make sure that you reward them and the people they refer, too. You can even offer incentives and rewards for people mentioning they found you on social media, etc. 

7. Showcase your product in action

What better way to convince people that they need your software solution than to show them how it works? You’re going to want to go further than a simple screenshare explainer video, though—get engaged and get people excited about your software and the solutions that it can provide. You can use your website, YouTube, and even social media to show off how your software works and get people interested by helping them see what they’re getting. 

8. Create a blog and share relevant content

One big part of becoming a force on the Internet is becoming a thought leader in your industry. Starting a blog will allow you to do just that. You can share all kinds of software content, SaaS industry news, information about your business, insight about the types of software you offer, and so forth. As long as it’s relevant and interesting to the potential visitors, it will be a good way to build your image online and put yourself in a position of authority to boost your sales and more. 

9. Find a partner like Smith.ai to help with promotions, lead intake, and more

The final tip is about making the most of your resources. Now that you’ve got all these new potential leads coming in, you will want to make sure that there’s a system in place to handle it all, including a 24/7 answering service to make sure that you don’t miss a thing. You’ll also want to take advantage of outsourced sales teams like the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai, who can assist with an array of outreach campaigns to save you the work in the first place. 

Not only can we manage your communications, but we can handle lead intake, scheduling, and even payment collection to cover all the bases and help you get more for your money. While your business is growing, we’ll create a tailored strategy agile enough to grow with you. 

To learn more, schedule a consultation to discuss what the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai can do to help your SaaS company. You can also reach us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 727-6484.