Increasing Lead Generation for SaaS Companies: 3 Digital Marketing Strategies

Whether your SaaS company is a start-up or a seasoned brand, a steady pipeline of new sales leads is necessary for growth. It is imperative that SaaS brands develop customized inbound marketing strategies. These strategies should engage the right audiences at various points of the buyer’s journey, with the goal of turning them into qualified leads.

You already know that your software is your greatest asset. But implementing the right targeted marketing strategies that generate qualified leads, can help your SaaS brand expand its reach and attract new customers.  

How to Increase Lead Generation for SaaS Companies 

As you probably know, lead generation is the process of strategically attracting a potential customer who shows interest in your products. Lead generation provides two benefits to SaaS companies: 

• Increasing target market reach and sales conversions
• Establishing SaaS brands as thought leaders within their industry 

So, why is lead generation important? Because not every lead is created equal. 

Ideally, every website visitor would request a demo and be connected to your sales team. But this isn’t always the case. In reality, many prospects are still in the awareness stage. And they will shy away from aggressive sales tactics. But how can you turn prospects into those highly-coveted qualified leads?

Here are 3 ways to successfully generate qualified leads to your marketing funnel.

1. Enhance SEO to Increase Organic Lead Generation

SEO (search engine optimization) is an important strategy for SaaS companies to implement when looking to increase lead generation. Why? Because 53.3% of all the online traffic is generated from organic search. 

Using SEO best practices significantly improves lead generation by attracting more qualified prospects. To generate qualified leads organically, you must first drive traffic from search engines to your website. This is done through a targeted SEO strategy: 

• Identify relevant keywords and perform keyword research.

  This can be done with tools like SEMRush, Moz, and Google’s Keyword Planner. Be sure to define user intent behind the search terms prospective customers are using. There are two primary types of user intent: general knowledge about a topic and purchase intent. Understanding intent will help you nail down the keywords that will best attract qualified leads. 

• Implement a robust backlinking strategy.

  Building quality backlinks is an important part of improving SEO. Reputable backlinks essentially represent a “vote of confidence” from one site to another. When a large number of authoritative sites link to the same website, search engines rightfully come to the conclusion that content is worth linking to, and therefore also worth surfacing on a SERP (search engine results page).

• Implementing a content strategy that supports your SEO efforts.

  Content strategy and SEO go hand-in-hand. You must create personalized, keyword-specific content – like blogs, webinars, and eBooks. This content increases the likelihood of qualified leads finding your website through organic search. 

Your digital content strategy must give your audience valuable, relevant information and insights. This enables them to develop trust and gain a full understanding of the benefits of partnering with your SaaS brand. 

Here are few steps to consider as you map out your content strategy:

• Understand your target audience, including their needs and pain points.
• Distribute your content through relevant channels to your target audience 
• Personalize your content marketing by creating distinct, unique experiences between your target audience and your brand
• Don’t underestimate the power of visual content – videos, infographics, visual summaries.

2. Take Advantage of Pay-Per-Click Advertising 

PPC, or pay-per-click, is a complex and effective digital marketing tool with an impressively high ROI. This makes it an ideal strategy for SaaS companies looking to quickly increase their leads. While it may take more time to gain traction and bring in leads through SEO, PPC results can be immediate. 

Additional advantages of PPC advertising include: 

• The attraction of customers who have a “higher buying intent” to find your services. This can immediately put them in the qualified leads category. Traditional PPC campaigns, like those executed through Google Ads, appear at the exact moment your audience is searching for relevant information. This holds a significant advantage over other advertising strategies, when your ads are viewed by those that are not “actively” searching for your services.
• Demographic Targeting is beneficial for any audience that can be clearly defined. If you know the demographics of your target audience(s), PPC platforms allow you to cater the content of your ads specifically to those individuals. This ensures they are the only ones to see them. It also increases the likelihood that you are reaching the correct audience.

3. Utilize Software-Dedicated Referral Sites

Listing your company on a SaaS referral site, like Capterra or G2 Crowd, is a great way to expand visibility and attract new customers. These industry-specific directories put your company front and center for a wide range of searchers looking for a SaaS solution. Other benefits of utilizing a referral site to generate qualified leads include:  

• • Referral sites instill confidence in customers. A third-party directory with a selective publication process eliminates bias. This gives potential customers more confident in your services.
  • Positive reviews are incredibly valuable. Rather than telling potential customers how your software will solve their problems, positive reviews on a referral site do that for you. 
  • Referral sites are great for smaller SaaS brands. Is your brand a start-up? Are you new to the industry? Featuring your brand on referral sites is a great way for smaller SaaS brands to establish themselves in a saturated market. 

• Referral sites work well with PPC ads. Referral sites are ideal for PPC ads as they allow you to advertise by category, rather than by keyword. When advertising by category, new targeting opportunities become available that you may not have considered previously.