Choosing a product marketing firm for SaaS
As a company with a SaaS product, you’re likely familiar with challenges like customers stalling after onboarding, a new feature generating a lot of interest but lacking adoption, or a new lookalike competitor threatening to poach your customers.
These issues don’t necessarily indicate that something is wrong with your product. Rather, it may indicate that your messaging needs a bit of reshaping and refining to help customers succeed after the sale.
This is what makes choosing the right SaaS product marketing firm so important. The ideal partner is one that understands how to communicate your product’s value, from awareness to advocacy, in a way that helps attract new buyers and fulfill your marketing promises.
Diagnose where growth slows
Since the first step to solving a problem is identifying its cause, the right prospective partner will want to know where customers are getting stuck.
For instance, if your sales team is struggling to close deals, it could be that the product positioning needs some TLC (which is a great time to bring in a SaaS sales enablement partner). If existing customers aren’t expanding their use of your product over time, you may be missing an opportunity to communicate your product’s additional benefits during customer onboarding messaging.
Different challenges call for different solutions, so it’s important to find a firm that takes the time to understand your specific needs. A strong partner knows the in’s and out’s of your SaaS go-to-market strategy, and they will dig deeper into your day-to-day operations with that plan in mind.
Reviewing common sales objections and listening closely to what customers say during onboarding may be a good place to start, but a high-quality SaaS product marketing firm will go beyond, asking intelligent, thoughtful questions that can only come from intentional planning. When vetting a new partner, ask them which problem they would tackle first and what information they would need in order to tackle it. Their answers will help inform whether they’re committed to problem-solving your company’s challenges or simply trying to sell another one-size-fits-all approach to marketing materials.
Carry the promise past the sale
Your SaaS product’s value should continue to prove its worth long after a customer signs a contract, which is why thoughtful messaging throughout the entire customer journey is so important. When you’re evaluating a potential SaaS product marketing firm, ask about their experience in developing customer-facing materials after launch. How would they adapt a core product benefit for a potential buyer, versus a new customer, versus an existing one of 5 years?
The right partner has a dynamic approach that strengthens the customer journey, optimizing at each stage and understanding how each message builds on the last.
Measure the specific problem
A strong SaaS product marketing firm should be able to identify clear indicators that show you’re making progress toward your specific goals. For instance, if your challenge is:
Clearer product positioning: they may want to know whether sales teams are experiencing fewer objections.
Feature adoption: they will want to measure in-app feature usage.
Expansion: they may want to understand what use case examples existing customers are showing interest in.
No matter your specific challenge, your potential partner should be able to identify the right data points, tell you which measurables they could reasonably influence, and how often they would review performance insights and optimize plans.
When working with your partner, keep expectations realistic to help maintain a steady progress. Knowing that marketing materials alone can’t guarantee revenue increases, consider asking your prospective Saas product marketing firm how else they plan to move the needle.
For example, how would they improve messaging to help customers thoroughly understand and adopt your product? While it’s important to know that wins may be made up of smaller, incremental improvements, you’ll still want to understand how their work model would contribute to your business goals on a broader scale.
Test the cross-team handoffs
Intentional messaging is one part of SaaS product marketing. When evaluating a new potential partner, ask questions that help you understand how they handle cross-team coordination. Who would be involved before launch, during launch, and after launch? How might they ensure smooth transitions at each stage while roles are shifting?
Another important question you may want to ask is how they would outline decisions, owners, timing, and materials needed when facing a challenge.
With a lot of moving parts, you’ll want to ask your prospective firm how they’d coordinate everything, especially those unplanned pivots you can’t see coming. Think late-surfacing product bugs, staffing changes, or even earlier-than-expected maternity leaves (true story, for one of our clients). This expertise is crucial to keeping teams informed and ensuring that customers receive accurate, consistent information—so don’t forget to ask about it during the vetting process.
Choose a SaaS partner for growth beyond launch
The right SaaS product marketing firm will carry you through launch and beyond. Creating connective tissue between sales, onboarding, feature adoption, and expansion will enable forward progress. So before deciding on a prospective partner, consider asking how they’d approach a real challenge your team is facing. How would they identify where the breakdown is? What would they do to rework and repair a broken process successfully? How would they evolve customer-facing materials as they go?
Taking the time to thoroughly vet your partners before weaving them into your team will save you time in the long run.
Need a partner who can help you go beyond with your SaaS product? Let’s talk.