What is SaaS Marketing? (Expert Guide for 2025)

SaaS marketing is the act of utilizing digital marketing strategies to grow inbound demand generation for B2B and B2C software-as-a-service companies. SaaS marketing is usually quantified by the number of free trials, demonstration schedules, and leads that are generated from digital marketing tactics.

Key Takeaways

• SaaS marketing is the act of utilizing digital marketing tactics such as email marketing, paid advertising, SEO (search engine optimization), video marketing, and content marketing to grow inbound demand generation for a software business.
• Metrics that SaaS marketing usually look at are KPIs like: lead velocity, traffic from specific channels, MQL growth, SQL growth, number of leads generated, or number of free trials generated.
• The ultimate KPI for any SaaS marketing tactics is going to be revenue from that marketing channel. Or sometimes referred to as ROAS (return on advertising spend) for that given marketing source.

What is SaaS Marketing?

SaaS marketing focuses on promoting subscription-based software, which is usually cloud-based and available through the internet or native applications. The goal of any SaaS marketing plan is to create long-term customer relationships and sustained business growth. All SaaS marketing activities usually include the building of brand awareness, generating leads, and converting leads into paying customers.

Traditional marketing vs. SaaS marketing

SaaS marketing has increasingly become more similar to traditional marketing. For example, you never would have seen SaaS software tools have billboard advertisements next to highways before the year 2010. However, thanks to the technology boom in San Francisco, seeing software companies advertise themselves in these places became more commonplace.

This is where the adoption of software as a solution to common problems is also causing the ways that we market SaaS to adapt and change.

Here are the ways that SaaS marketing is different from traditional marketing:

1. Steeper competition: There’s limited space in most industries where SaaS can play a role. As a result, there’s steeper competition to build brand awareness and motivate a User or a prospect to learn more about the solution.
2. Greater emphasis on distribution: Where you advertise is more important than ever. As an example, LinkedIn has become a great place to advertise software solutions. However, in 2010, that would have never been the case. As engagement metrics change on the internet, so does the SaaS marketing plan.
3. Greater emphasis on solutions and pricing: Solutions and pricing are a strategy of themselves. In fact, there is so much work to be done here that SaaS companies created a new job title: product marketing. This is the act of continually testing positioning in the market to help with product-market-fit (PMF).

While traditional marketing is difficult, what makes SaaS marketing even more difficult is the limited places that the advertising or promoting of a brand actually works. For example, there are really only a few major channels that SaaS companies play in:

• Google and search: SEO is a huge part of how buyers and prospects research software solutions that may solve issues they have.
• Social media marketing: Facebook and LinkedIn are two primary places where B2B and B2C SaaS companies advertise.

Every other marketing channel, like email marketing and affiliate, as examples, are usually left lower on the priority list since they don’t usually create as strong of a growth trajectory.

Related: B2B Growth Strategies (Guide)

Top SaaS Marketing KPIs and Metrics to Track

Through all marketing activities, these metrics are usually tracked to help indicate success of the channel:

• LTV:CAC ratio to give true "customer acquisition cost"
• Activations or integrated closed-won contracts
• Signup to paid conversion (6-month and 12-month period)
• Churn rate
• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Retention rate
• Annual contract value
• Marketing sourced revenue (MSR)
• Top of the funnel leads generated by marketing source
• Number of active trials or trials from marketing source
• Lead velocity rate (LVR) from marketing source

In short, the ultimate metric for SaaS marketers is the LTV to CAC ratio. This indicates that a particular marketing channel is highly successful at generating revenue against dollars spent. As an example, SaaS companies often invest in SEO since it most commonly has a 1:5 CAC to LTV ratio. Meaning that for every $1 spent on advertising, there is a $5 return on that advertising dollar (ROAS or return on advertising spend).

Related: MQL vs SQL (Guide)

Common SaaS Marketing Channels

SaaS marketing strategies (which we’ll get into shortly) are usually underpinned on some of the following marketing channels. How you market into these channels will usually dictate your success.

Here are some of the common marketing channels that SaaS companies use to grow their business:

Digital Advertising

Here are digital marketing channels that are often used to create demand generation:

• Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
  • Google Ads
  • Bing Ads
• Social Media Advertising
  • Facebook/Instagram Ads
  • LinkedIn Ads
  • Twitter (X) Ads
  • TikTok Ads
• Retargeting Campaigns:some text
  • Google Display Network
  • Facebook Pixel Ads

SaaS companies targeting their ideal customer personas through well-researched paid keyword targeting:

Content Marketing

Here are SaaS content marketing channels that are often used to create demand generation:

• Blogs
  • Publish high-value articles on niche topics
• Whitepapers & E-books
  • Educational long-form resources
• Case Studies
  • Customer success stories to showcase real-world value
• Video Marketing
  • Tutorials, explainer videos, or webinars (YouTube, Vimeo)
• Infographics
  • Data visualization of industry trends

Related: SaaS Content Strategy (Guide)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Here is how SEO (search engine optimization) can be used to create demand generation:

• On-Page SEO
  • Optimize meta tags, keywords, and structure
• Off-Page SEO
  • Build backlinks through guest blogging or partnerships
• Technical SEO
  • Improve site speed and crawlability
• Local SEO
  • Focus on geo-specific searches

Our favorite example of this:

Email Marketing

Here is how email marketing can be used in demand capturing:

• Nurture Campaigns
  • Drip campaigns to convert free trial users
• Product Updates
  • Share new features or use cases
• Newsletters
  • Deliver regular value through educational or industry updates

Social Media Marketing

Here is how social media marketing can be used in demand generation:

• Organic Posting
  • LinkedIn, Twitter (X), Facebook, Instagram, TikTok
• Communities and Groups
  • Engage in LinkedIn Groups, Facebook Groups, or Reddit
• Influencer Partnerships
  • Collaborate with thought leaders or niche influencers

Our favorite great example of this:

Affiliate and Referral Marketing

Here is how affiliate marketing and referral marketing can be used in lead generation:

• Affiliate Programs
  • Partner with bloggers or influencers for commissions
• Referral Programs
  • Incentivize current users to bring in new customers

Strategic Partnerships and Co-Marketing Opportunities

Here is how strategic partnerships can be used in demand generation:

• Strategic Partnerships
  • Work with complementary SaaS providers
• Joint Webinars or Content
  • Collaborate on webinars, blogs, or white papers

Events and Offline Channels

Here is how events, community building, and other offline channels can be used to create demand:

• Community Building
  • Creating Facebook groups, IRC channels, and more
• Industry Conferences
  • Attend, sponsor, or speak at SaaS-related events
• Meetups and Networking
  • Host or participate in local events
• Traditional Media
  • Niche publications, trade magazines

Related: SaaS Inbound Marketing (Guide)

SaaS Marketing Team Structure

To succeed with SaaS marketing, creating an effective and highly talented team can be the best way to succeed. Here are some common teams that CEOs often hire and develop:

1. Leadership Team

• Sets marketing strategy and goals (e.g., OKRs).
• Aligns marketing with company objectives.
• Oversees team structure, budget, and cross-department collaboration.

2. Demand Generation Team

• Demand Generation Manager: Executes campaigns to attract leads.
• Paid Media Specialist: Manages paid acquisition channels.
• Email Marketing Specialist: Designs nurture campaigns.

3. Product Marketing Team

• Product Marketing Manager: Develops value propositions and go-to-market strategies.
• Content Strategist/Copywriter: Creates sales materials and whitepapers.
• Sales Enablement Specialist: Supports sales teams with tools and training.

4. Content & SEO Team

• Content Marketing Manager: Oversees blog posts, case studies, videos.
• SEO Specialist: Optimizes content for keyword ranking.
• Video Content Creator: Produces product demos and webinars.
• Social Media Manager: Promotes content and engages audiences.

5. Growth Marketing Team

• Growth Marketing Manager: Leads A/B testing and growth experiments.
• Web Optimization Specialist: Enhances website conversion rates.

6. Customer Marketing Team

• Customer Marketing Manager: Focuses on product adoption and upselling.
• Community Manager: Engages with user communities.
• Customer Success Content Specialist: Creates onboarding guides and tutorials.

7. Marketing Operations Team

• Marketing Operations Manager: Manages the tech stack.
• Data Analyst: Tracks performance metrics and ROI.
• CRM Specialist: Integrates marketing and sales systems.

The need for each of the teams above can be highly dependent on the type of customer that you’re trying to go after (B2B, enterprise, B2C) as well as the stage of your business. For example, startup businesses probably don’t require most of the teams listed above. In addition, they may benefit more from working with a SaaS marketing agency rather than trying to budget and spend on hiring.

Related: How to Grow a SaaS Business (Guide)

However, later stage businesses, usually after Series C, may require most of the teams listed above to truly scale beyond their current stage.

For more information on how to develop an ideal SaaS marketing team, read our guide right here.

Examples of SaaS Marketing Strategies

All SaaS marketing examples usually develop demand generation through the development of top-of-funnel, middle-of-funnel, and bottom-of-funnel activities. In short, top-of-funnel activities increase brand awareness and share of voice. Middle-of-funnel activities help to increase MQLs or free trial signups by capturing in-market buyers who are aware of their business pain points and are actively searching for a solution. And bottom-of-funnel activities help to capture demand that’s already aware of your business or brand.

Here are some examples of high level SaaS marketing strategies:

1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO can be a powerful tool to capture researchers or in-market buyers that are evaluating software solutions to their specific pain points. As an example, someone searching Google for “preventive maintenance software” already has a keen understanding of their business need and through the keyword itself, shows that they’re actively looking to deploy that solution.

Note: SEO has changed quite dramatically in the past few years. Thanks to the creation of Google's processors like the Helpful Content Processor and EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trust), the competition has become quote steep. Read our complete guide on SaaS SEO right here.

Search engine optimization strategies for SaaS can include the following:

1. Creating high-value solutions pages that generate free trial signups or lead generation by highlighting particular use cases and personas.
2. Creating reviews and list pages that help in-market researchers choose the best solution. This would be lists of software solutions, pricing, pros and cons, and much more.
3. Creating free resources that attract the ideal customer persona (ICP) through offering free downloadable resources for Users.

Related: SEO Strategies for SaaS Startups

2. Paid Search Marketing

Using paid advertising can be a powerful way to capture the same demand that SEO (search engine optimization) can capture. That’s in-market buyers that are researching solutions for their business.

Paid advertising can work wonders on platforms like Google, Reddit, Yelp, and other places where PPC advertising is available. Paid advertising can be “tricky” to nail exactly. Often, SaaS marketing teams are going to use tools like HotJar or FullStory to review session playbacks from specific advertising cohorts to ensure that the right audience is reaching the right page.

Some paid search marketing strategies for SaaS can include the following:

1. Targeting high value keywords where your competitors are already advertising.
2. Advertising tutorial or review listicle pages that also match specific keywords that are being put into Google.

3. Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing can also be a highly powerful strategy for SaaS companies. In particular, the utilization of LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn has become a highly active community for business professionals. In addition, they offer robust targeting opportunities for paid advertising. This allows a SaaS marketer to identify highly-specific personas that they want to target with their advertisement.

As a result, LinkedIn has certainly grown as one of the top places to perform social media marketing, both organically and in paid form.

Some social media marketing strategies for SaaS can include the following:

1. Creating video marketing material for LinkedIn and promoting the video marketing (let’s call it a case study or a guide) through organic promotion as well as paid promotion. And including that promoting on relevant social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit).
2. Developing small communities of business professionals through groups and the sharing of useful information, free resources, and helping business professionals connect through networking.

SaaS Company Marketing Case Study - Ahrefs

Taking all of the above and putting it into action, we really like how Ahrefs, a SaaS company that helps SEO professionals perform keyword research, content marketing research, and link building research—has done all of it.

Here’s what they did really well:

Video Marketing:

Their YouTube channel is growing their brand awareness and inbound demand generation.

SEO and Organic Search:

Their highly performant SEO articles are getting their SaaS product in front of the right people.

Paid Advertising:

Targeting their audience on the platforms they know work well.

Email Marketing:

Capturing demand and putting them into lead nurturing campaigns. As well as utilizing their content footprint to help.

Common Questions on SaaS Marketing

Common questions and answers about SaaS marketing:

If I have a freemium model, does that change my SaaS marketing needs?

Generally, no. Most of the activities and team members required won’t change based on whether you have a paid, fixed-contract, freemium, or some other type of SaaS model. What metrics that you track may change, however. For example, a SaaS business that works on long-term fixed contracts will want to track MQLs and SQLs (marketing qualified leads and sales qualified leads). These will be stronger indicators of pending revenue.

However, companies that have a freemium model may want to track free trial signups and signup to paid conversion rates as the primary KPIs.

What are some of the top SaaS marketing tools to use?

There are a variety of tools that can be used to help SaaS marketing. Our recommendation is always to choose your tools based on the type of marketing that you’re doing. For example, you may want to use Hootsuite if your team is performing a significant amount of social media marketing.

However, here are some of the common tools that are used:

• Google Analytics
• Hubspot
• HotJar
• Fullstory
• ChatGPT
• Hootsuite
• Zapier
• Ahrefs
• SEMRush
• Intercom
• SproutSocial

The abundance of marketing tools is rather vast. Which is why it’s best to think about the tools that you’re going to use as being supportive to your team's goals or OKRs.

Should SaaS marketing teams have OKRs?

The abbreviation OKR stands for objectives and key results. This is a very simple goal setting methodology that helps teams to set direction that impacts important company or corporate metrics.

All SaaS marketing teams should have OKRs that are set by either the VP of Marketing or the Chief Marketing Officer. These OKRs should be set by individual teams.

For example, for your SaaS SEO team, you may want to set the following OKRs:

• Improve organic search presencesome text
  • Increase rate of MQL and SQLs by 22%
  • Increase lead velocity rate (LVR) by 18%
• Improve share of voice against competitorssome text
  • Increase organic search share of voice by 30%
  • Reduce LTV:CAC ratio from organic search by 25%

Individual teams and their OKRs can vary. However, the setting of these OKRs is arguably one of the most important things that leaders can do for a business on an annual basis. For a complete guide on setting SaaS SEO OKRs, read our guide right here.

Other SaaS Resources

• SaaS SEO Trends for 2024
• Reasons SaaS SEO Campaigns Fail
• B2B SaaS SEO
• SaaS SEO Meaning and Definition
• SaaS SEO Budgets
• SaaS SEO KPIs
• SaaS SEO Roadmap: Examples
• How Important is SEO for SaaS (Facts)
• SaaS SEO Audit
• 13 SaaS SEO Mistakes to Avoid
• SaaS SEO Checklist