Are you finding it challenging to convert new clientele for your business?
According to Forbes, Americans are exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 ads daily.
If you’re thinking about hiring a SaaS PPC agency to manage your SaaS PPC campaigns, you will likely know the immense value of PPC in driving traffic to your website and increasing your leads and sales.
But with Google’s constantly changing algorithm, the cost of bidding on competitive keywords can skyrocket. Hence, it is more critical than ever to ensure that you’re partnering with an experienced digital marketing agency for SaaS that knows how to optimize your campaigns with proven SaaS strategies that will get you results and keep your costs low.
This decision can be tricky, and it’s common to second-guess your choice later on or realize that you should have gone with someone else. To make the right choice, you must consider what matters most to you and your budget and time frame.
This article will show you how to choose the right SaaS advertising agency just as soon as we are done covering the basics of PPC for SaaS brands. Here’s what you can look forward to learning:
- What is SaaS marketing?
- The concept of PPC advertising
- Benefits of PPC advertising for SaaS brands
- Understanding the differences between PPC goals for B2C and B2B-focused SaaS brands
- PPC best practices
- How SaaS PPC works in different stages of the sales funnel
- 15 Key metrics to monitor the performance of your SaaS PPC campaign
- When to consider hiring a PPC agency
- Pros of hiring a PPC agency
- What to expect from the best PPC agency:
- Factors to consider before hiring a PPC agency for your software company
- Top tools PPC Agencies use to achieve success
- The fee structure of a SaaS PPC agency
Let’s start by answering a vital question–what is SaaS marketing?
What is SaaS Marketing?
Based on the business model of software as a service, SaaS marketing isn’t just another buzzword—it’s an integral part of ensuring that your product or service reaches the right audience and converting them into sales and lifetime customers.
SaaS (software as a service) is a term that refers to business models where software applications are provided via Internet-based subscriptions, as opposed to physical storage media (like CD-ROMs or DVDs) or rented on a per-use basis.
In the software industry, Software as a Service (SaaS) refers to an application that provides services to the customer over the internet, rather than requiring the customer to install software on their computer’s hard drive or another external device.
All customers can use these applications, including small and mid-sized businesses that may not have access to extensive IT teams.
In SaaS, marketers focus on nurturing customer relationships. They can effectively understand their customers’ needs and patterns by employing predictive analytics based on data collection and large sets of consumer behavior history.
(Source: Mario Peshev)
As part of SaaS marketing, it’s essential to educate your target market about SaaS applications and how they can benefit them and their business operations.
Now that we’ve dealt with the question “What is SaaS marketing,” let’s move into PPC marketing for SaaS.
The Concept of PPC Advertising
PPC advertising, or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, is one of the best ways for SaaS brands to connect with new leads effectively.
(Source: Knowmad)
When you advertise on search engines like Google, you can use ad words that generate interest in your products and services. These SaaS ads can appear in various places: at the top and sidebars of search engine result pages (SERPs), as sponsored listings on websites, and within social media feeds. In addition, the SaaS ads often contain text and images from a brand’s website.
Advertisers only pay when someone clicks their SaaS ad – but there are some tricks to landing these clicks!
Every PPC for SaaS campaign aims to make money through increased conversion rates and decreased costs per click. With careful planning, businesses can maximize profits by increasing overall sales while keeping costs low. It’s also essential to understand how different campaigns affect conversions differently.
As far as online SaaS marketing goes, PPC for SaaS is relatively inexpensive because advertisers only pay when someone clicks their ad. And it can be very effective if used correctly; according to a survey conducted by Clutch, 75% of people (three-fourth) said paid ads have helped them find the information they are looking for online.
(Source: Clutch)
With thousands of online properties from which to choose—and hundreds of millions of internet users worldwide—it’s vital to have access to various SaaS marketing channels when promoting your business online.
Here are five paid advertising platforms that stand out as some of today’s best options:
- Facebook Ads (Facebook)
- Google Ads (Google)
- LinkedIn Ads (LinkedIn)
- Twitter Ads (Twitter)
- Bing Ads (Microsoft Bing)
Benefits of PPC Advertising for SaaS Brands
More than any other type of SaaS advertising, PPC ads give you a clear idea of how much it costs to acquire a customer or lead, allowing you to control your costs better.
Unlike other forms of advertising like print ads or TV commercials, with SaaS PPC advertising, you only pay when someone clicks on an ad (or takes another desired action). This advantage makes it such a cost-effective form of marketing for SaaS brands like yours.
(Source: Addon Solutions)
Let’s talk about some key benefits of PPC marketing for SaaS brands:
1) Better ROI:
The real advantage of using PPC for SaaS ads is measuring your return on investment (ROI). You can also easily track how much it costs you to acquire a customer and how much profit you make from each customer.
Besides, you are likely to make an average of $8 for every $1.60 you spend on ads.
This advantage is not possible with other forms of SaaS advertising like print ads or TV commercials.
2) Competitive Advantage Over Non-PPC Advertisers:
Statista reports that the software as a service (SaaS) market, estimated to be worth about $152 billion in 2021, could reach $208 billion by 2023.
(Source: Technavio)
Many SaaS brands think they can rely solely on organic search results to bring in leads, but most searches are conducted through paid ads.
Organic results usually appear in search engine results pages (SERPs) at least below third place. Therefore, your SaaS ad will have more visibility if you use PPC instead of relying solely on organic results.
3) Increase in the Number of Leads and Sales:
One of the most significant advantages of PPC for SaaS brands is that PPC ads help them get more leads than any other form of SaaS advertising.
According to HubSpot, 33% of all marketers say they use paid ads to increase brand awareness.
4) Cost Savings in Terms of Both Time and Money:
Using PPC ads will save you money because you only pay when someone clicks on an ad or takes another desired action. If no one clicks on your ad, you don’t pay anything.
5) It Allows You to Run Specific, Targeted Campaigns:
Another advantage of PPC marketing for SaaS brands is allowing you to target potential customers with particular ads.
For example, suppose your product is designed for small businesses with 20 employees or less and is based in New York City. In that case, you can optimize your SaaS ad to show up only when someone searches for keywords related to small businesses in NYC.
In addition, you can use Google’s Custom Segments to create a custom audience on Google and Facebook. These audiences will allow you to reach people who already know about your brand, increasing conversions and sales!
6) Allows Quick Responses to Changing Trends in Buyer Behavior:
When buyers search online, they often do so with precise questions and needs. As these needs change over time, you must stay ahead of them by tailoring your messaging accordingly. The best way to keep taps on changing trends is through SaaS PPC advertising.
7) Allows You to Run Geo-targeted Campaigns so that People from Specific Areas Can See Your Ads as Well as Locals:
For example, if a person lives in Boston, why would they want to see an advertisement from a company based out of Los Angeles?
With geo-targeting, companies like yours can increase visibility among their ideal customer base while saving money by not wasting money showing SaaS ads outside their target area.
Understanding the Differences between PPC Goals for B2C and B2B-focused SaaS Brands
As a SaaS startup business owner, you understand the importance of investing in your digital marketing for SaaS startups campaigns.
It allows you to reach potential customers, but it can also provide valuable data about what messaging resonates best with your target audience and how much those users are willing to spend when they decide to make a purchase.
SaaS PPC campaigns are a popular and effective way to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, and generate leads. When implemented correctly, SaaS PPC campaigns can achieve all of the goals that digital marketing strategists intend to accomplish.
There’s a lot of confusion regarding marketing a SaaS business. There are two camps: B2B and B2C. But before we dive into those SaaS strategies, let’s talk about what they mean.
A business-to-business (B2B) company sells to other businesses, while a business-to-consumer (B2C) company sells to end users/consumers—not other companies. This distinction is vital because SaaS b2b marketing sales cycles are typically longer than B2C sales cycles.
There are often subtle differences in both SaaS marketing strategies that should be considered when deciding which types of keywords to bid on and how to structure your bids.
(Source: Postcron)
Understanding the differences between the goals of B2C and B2B SaaS marketing strategy, however, requires looking at PPC from a slightly different perspective than most companies are used to doing.
Here’s what you need to know about B2B vs. B2C PPC goals and why they matter in your SaaS marketing campaign:
#1 – Marketing Objectives
A B2B SaaS marketing strategy typically looks for a more direct lead generation approach, so PPC campaigns must incorporate powerful lead capture tactics. These tactics include collecting leads via email and forms, integrating tracking pixels for attribution, and allowing users to contact your business quickly through phone numbers or chat features.
#2 – Method of Creating Content Around Keywords
While most of these SaaS strategies can be used by both businesses, digital marketing for B2B Saas brands tend to focus on generating traffic through keyword-specific landing pages (rather than blogging) and capturing information about their customers as soon as possible.
While B2C SaaS brands may succeed with content creation surrounding targeted keywords, targeting specific customer groups may help boost conversion rates among buyers who already know what they want.
#3 – Customers’ Needs
While B2C customers typically want fast solutions or quick fixes—such as a website built quickly—B2B customers want something else entirely: value.
They don’t just want their problem solved; they want their problem solved well. It takes longer to close sales because your potential clients will ask more questions before agreeing to purchase.
They might ask for references or testimonials from other companies who have worked with you. Hence, it’s essential to have a great landing page that can answer all these questions while providing enough information so your prospects can make an informed decision without calling you directly.
#4 – What Are Your Customer Service Needs?
When it comes to customer service, B2B companies have a lot more on their plate than B2C companies—and they need to be prepared for it! For example, if you sell accounting software, you’ll likely need to offer 24/7 support because many businesses operate around-the-clock.
#5 – Buyer Persona
The typical buyer persona for a B2B company is an executive or director in charge of purchasing products or services. On the other hand, the buyer persona for a B2C company is an end-user/consumer who makes buying decisions on behalf of their household (e.g., buying groceries).
#6 – Marketing Strategy
In SaaS B2B marketing, it’s critical that your marketing appeals to a buyer persona’s professional needs—not their personal needs. For example, if you sell accounting software, don’t show pictures of smiling families on vacation; instead, highlight how much time and money business owners can save by using your product.
In B2C marketing, it’s critical that your marketing appeals to a buyer persona’s personal needs—not their professional needs.
#7 – How Do Customers Buy from ou?
In SaaS B2B marketing, buyers typically purchase products or services directly from a company’s website. In B2C marketing, buyers usually buy products or services in-person at retail stores or online through an eCommerce platform (e.g., Amazon).
PPC Best Practices
One of the essential parts of running an online business, especially in the digital marketing for B2B SaaS space, is understanding your customers and how to best reach them.
While social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and content marketing are essential parts of this puzzle, paid search (PPC) can impact your bottom line. But you must set it up correctly and manage it consistently over time.
PPC stands for pay-per-click advertising and refers to Google Ads, Facebook ads, Instagram ads, LinkedIn ads, etc. For SaaS brands that sell their product online, PPC is the most direct path to acquiring new customers on the internet.
(Source: Tulip Shree Infotech)
Let’s walk you through PPC best practices used by top SaaS brands to see if they make sense for your business.
#1 – Understand Your Ideal Customer
One of your goals in creating a successful PPC campaign is to find and bring into your funnel new people who might be interested in buying your product.
So how will you build an effective SaaS advertising campaign if you don’t know who these people are or have a general sense of what they’re like?
The best way to identify your ideal customer is to use data about existing customers — such as their demographic profile and psychographic profile (i.e., lifestyle, hobbies, tastes, and interests). In other words, it will help if you can define characteristics that all of your customers share in common.
#2 – Create a Persona and Buyer Journey Map
One of your first steps in planning a SaaS PPC campaign should be to create buyer personas and a buyer journey map.
Buyer personas are hypothetical representations of your ideal customer based on market research, surveys, and demographic data.
(Source: AWeber)
A buyer journey map is essentially a diagram that shows how customers move through various points of their buying journey. It maps their behavior, goals, interests, feelings, and needs along their path to becoming loyal customers.
(Source: Inturact)
Michael Brennan describes the buyer journey as “…nothing more than a series of questions that must be answered.”
The stronger you understand who you’re selling to—and why they’re buying—the better able you’ll be to tailor your messaging accordingly. And because SaaS PPC advertising is designed with behavioral targeting in mind, developing these profiles will only make it easier for you to reach potential customers when and where they need it most.
#3 – Conduct Keyword Research
Keyword research is one of those essential but overlooked aspects of SaaS PPC optimization. Most companies set up their campaigns and leave them alone; that’s like optimizing your landing page without knowing what keywords it should rank for.