This summer, my 2 year old joined pre-school.
What fun, right? One of his pet nursery rhymes seems to be, ‘Chubby cheeks, dimple chin….. ‘. No problem, if you have forgotten. Here it is. He is still some time away from reciting it, but his excitement – palpable and infectious. And as we reach, ‘… Teacher’s pet, is that you …’, his excitement peaks with Yes Yes Yes.
And he would flap his arms all around. I get the same emotion …Yes Yes Yes… when Znbound is asked if it is a saas inbound marketing agency. We love SaaS unequivocally. Ok, we do inbound marketing for other sectors as well. It is with SaaS that we truly deliver and thrive while doing it. We enjoy it. I have been wondering why it is so. Here are some thoughts that I could gather.
Impacting unit economics
We are a ROI focused saas inbound marketing agency. It is critical for us to get a sense of how our work is impacting unit economics. In SaaS, it is simpler to get that visibility, unlike some of the other sectors that we have stepped into. Two straightforward metrics call the shots in SaaS.
- LTV – Lifetime value of a Customer
- CAC – Customer acquisition cost
For a single customer, the key unit economics revolve around this simple equation : LTV / CAC.
As a partner to our SaaS clients, we are able to correlate our inbound marketing delivery to the change in these metrics. CAC is clear and is a function of all the costs that go into marketing and sales. LTV numbers are visible inside the CRM thanks to the transparency exhibited by our clients. Then the only challenge left is to move the LTV / CAC equation above 3 – a thumb rule to start scaling SaaS businesses. Only if this were simple and easy.
Thriving with experimentation, failure and perseverance
Saas customer acquisition is complex. What we have learnt over the years (and many accounts) is that a formula exists for customer acquisition via inbound marketing. The formula has to be discovered. Number of variables exist. All have to be tested. This requires relentless experimentation, and enthusiasm to move from one failed experiment to another. It is hard work but we seem to enjoy this cycle. The quest to find the winning formula keeps us going. When that quality meets supportive SaaS founders who also seem to value experimentation, it sets up the engagement for success.
Large Body of Successful Work and Pipeline
Not only have we been blessed with a strong pipeline of SaaS enquiries, but we have made good on our commitment to all the assignments we have taken up.
Lucky Pipeline
When Znbound began, we got a mix of projects in SaaS, real estate and B2B services. Our first projects were acquired through referrals and mostly, it was just luck. Time went by. Inbound marketing started showing results. SaaS enquiries formed a major chunk of the inbound pipeline. The volume of inbound enquiries was enough for a small team like ours. We got spoilt. We got lazy. (We still are. We really have to do something about an outbound go-to market). Because the pipeline was full, and full of SaaS, our deals and work exhibited the same composition. We did not stop at acquisition. We delivered the goods.
Delivering Results
Like life, business is a journey too. Customer acquisition is the fuel that keeps the journey going. Businesses get started with inbound marketing to impact customer acquisition. It does not happen instantly. Neither does it happen fast. But when it happens, it brings with it a sense of confidence. A sense of confidence rooted in predictability. The same happened to Znbound. Inbound Marketing generated a predictable pipeline of qualified leads. It transformed us into believers. We left no stone unturned in transferring that belief to our clients. Results followed.
- A key account management software company closes one large deal, every month. Predictable !!!
- A CMMS Software company doubled US organic traffic in 6 months, after being flat for 12 months.
Well, not all accounts worked out. Most did. The ones that did not, we undertook a root cause analysis to determine the reasons. I intend to document the reasons in a consequent blog.
Your Saasy Inbound Marketing Agency
I understand this has been a ‘brag’ post. I somehow could not find a way to do this better. If you are a SaaS company struggling with,
- Product Market Fit
- Growth
- Predictable Revenue, or
- Just a one-off web design / development effort..
we seem to understand what you want. Reviews we have garnered from SaaS companies as a HubSpot Partner bear testimony to this. The team has worked relentlessly to become a respnsive inbound marketing agency.
Of course, there is more ground to cover. Perhaps, I will need a new nursery rhyme.