“What is marketing?”
It was a simple question asked in a room full of growth-stage founders and operators. Interestingly, our idea of marketing was very different from each other and that’s what made us realize that we needed a deeper look into B2B SaaS marketing.
What started as an interactive session at Tagbox’s office in Jaipur, quickly turned into a great seven-hour deep dive into the world of marketing with Ridhi (Founder, 91Ninjas). We talked about everything from getting ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) and positioning right to evaluating channels and choosing the best ones based on our unique business needs. The goal of the session was to declutter the world of marketing and share actionable tips on creating effective marketing strategies for our businesses.
Marketing is taking your product to market to grow your business
Ridhi Singh, Founder & CEO of 91Ninjas.
In this article, I’m sharing some key takeaways from Ridhi’s session, hoping it helps more people.
#1. Get your basics right
Even before working on a marketing strategy, businesses need to get the three core questions answered:
- Who should you sell your product/service to?
- What should you communicate?
- Which channel should you use to reach your ICP?
It is only after you are clear on your ICP, communication strategy, and marketing channels that you will be able to craft a great marketing strategy. If you don’t have answers to these, consider investing in ICP and positioning exercises.
#2. Not all your prospects are going to buy from you right now!
Hard truth. As growth-stage founders, you might have heard enough hard truths, here’s one more for you: “Only 5% of the buyers are “in-market” to buy from you right now!”
This means that businesses should look at their marketing efforts in two buckets:
- Demand capture – for business continuity
- Demand generation – for future pipeline creation
Demand capture efforts like Google Search ads will give you a continuous pipeline by converting the 5% in-market audience and ensure business continuity.
On the other hand, demand generation efforts (like LinkedIn brand awareness ads) will ensure you are on top of the minds of the remaining 95% of prospects who are not in-market right now but at some point in time, they will look for a solution like yours.
Investing in both types of efforts is critical for business growth.
#3. Choosing the right channel is half the battle won
Amidst so many activation channels and rapid shifts in market trends, decluttering and choosing the right channel is essential for stable and scalable growth.
How would you know if your chosen channel is right and not resource/cost intensive?
A good acquisition channel should be scalable i.e., it should have,
- High volume
- Looping/Compounding Effect
While evaluating channels, you should look for the compounding effect. Ridhi shared some real-life examples of businesses and taught how simple research with the right tools and some back-of-the-hand math can help founders make the right decisions.
For example: If you are considering SEO as a channel, look at the overall search volume in your domain and do simple math with standard CTR and conversion rate calculation to figure out the channel potential from a lead generation or revenue perspective.
#4. Consider these factors while choosing the channel for your business
While selecting the channel, businesses must consider 4 key factors – target audience, category, target geography, and target market segment. These play a pivotal role in determining the most effective channels. By strategically considering these elements, businesses can ensure their marketing efforts hit the mark, driving growth and maximizing ROI.
For example, if your target audience is a DTC founder, consider Meta/Instagram as a channel. On the other hand, if your target audience is an HR leader, explore LinkedIn as a main channel. Similarly, your target geography, market segment, and category also determine your marketing channels.
Remember, channel unlocking demands time and effort, so choose channels wisely.
#5. Remember the 2+2 “Ninja Rule” when it comes to the number of active channels
How many channels should you have? If your answer is 2-3, you’re nearly correct!
Ridhi recommends, following a 2+2 Ninja rule by 91Ninjas.
She says, “As a thumb rule, have
- 2 strong acquisition channels – they are needed for business continuity. These will ensure you have a sustainable pipeline
- 2 experimental channels – Experiment with not more than 2 channels at a time. Commit to them for at least 6 months. These will help you unlock the next growth stage and future-proof your business.”
While you imply all of this, be focused and diversify to reduce risks.
#6. Measuring a channel’s success: look at leading and lagging metrics
Understanding how to measure the success of any marketing channel is crucial for continuous improvement and achieving your business goals.
“With complex buyer journeys, you might not always be able to attribute revenue or sales to the right channel. That’s why businesses should be tracking leading and lagging metrics.” – said Ridhi.
Measuring both leading and lagging metrics mean that you would most likely make the right marketing decisions. This becomes more important in the world of SaaS marketing where not every marketing activity will lead to revenue growth instantly.
By focusing on these metrics and understanding the marketing funnel, businesses can effectively track the performance of their marketing channels, make informed decisions, and drive sustainable growth.
Wrapping it up!
We discussed more about channel-specific marketing strategies, common challenges, and the need to listen to our marketing teams 🙂
In a nutshell, a slide from the session sums it up all too well. If we think and execute well, marketing will work for B2B SaaS businesses
This article captures the learnings from our Playbook Roundtable Session in Jaipur. To learn more about Playbook Roundtables check out our initiative and join the community for exclusive insights and takeaways you can put to action.
