SaaS marketing strategies: How to get more users in 2025

Meet your two audiences: users and decision makers

Here’s another wrinkle: you’re often selling to two completely different audiences at once.

The users need to love your product. They’re the ones logging in every day and actually using your features. But the decision makers? They care about ROI, security, and business impact.

Your marketing needs to thread this needle carefully—showing practical value for users while making the business case for buyers. And sometimes? These two audiences speak completely different languages.

B2C vs B2B SaaS marketing

B2B SaaS marketing comes with its own special challenges. While B2C software might focus on making life easier, faster, or more fun, B2B SaaS needs to prove serious business value.

Here’s what makes them different:

Sales cycles

• B2C: Quick decisions, often impulse buys
• B2B SaaS marketing: Longer cycles, multiple decision-makers

Price points

• B2C: Lower cost, simple pricing
• B2B: Higher investment, complex pricing tiers

Decision process

• B2C: Single user decides
• B2B SaaS marketing: Committee decisions, procurement teams

But here’s what both share: they need to show clear value, build trust, and keep customers happy. Whether you’re selling project management tools to enterprises or meditation apps to consumers, the core challenge stays the same—prove you’re worth keeping around month after month.

The bottom line? B2B SaaS marketing takes more patience, but the rewards are often bigger. Those longer sales cycles and higher price points mean each customer relationship matters more.

How to create an effective SaaS marketing strategy

Before you start creating content or running ads, let’s get real about something: you need a plan. Not a complicated 50-page document that’ll collect digital dust—a clear roadmap that actually guides your decisions.

Map out your goals (with real numbers)

“Growing the business” isn’t a goal—it’s a wish. Let’s get specific about what you’re trying to achieve.

Start with these core metrics:

• New trial signups per month
• Trial-to-paid conversion rate
• Monthly recurring revenue targets
• Customer retention goals

The key? Make these numbers specific and time-bound. “Increase trial signups by 25% in Q2” beats “get more signups” any day of the week.

Get to know your target audience

Wait—before you skip this part thinking “I know my audience,” here’s the truth: most SaaS companies only understand half of what drives their best customers.

You need to know:

• What problems keep them up at night
• How they evaluate solutions like yours
• Where they hang out online
• What makes them hit that “cancel subscription” button

Ask yourself: Who will benefit from my product? If you’re building accounting software for small businesses, then CFOs at enterprise companies aren’t your core audience. On the flip side, the owners of small businesses like plumbing services, freelance graphic design, or local restaurants are right up your alley.

Now that you have some idea of the types of people who will use your software, dig a little deeper into them and pretend you’re watching a movie about their life. (It’s like The Truman Show but less weird.)

• Demographics: What is their gender, age, education, and location? 
• Business type: What industry do they work in, what kinds of titles do they have, do they own the business or work for someone else?
• Challenges: What do they struggle with, what challenges do they face, what motivates them to succeed at work? 
• Habits: Where do they get their news, what social media channels do they use, what kind of shows do they watch? 

Pro tip: Talk to your current customers. Seriously. A 15-minute chat with someone who actually pays for your product will teach you more than a week of market research.

Create a marketing budget that makes sense

Here’s something nobody tells you about SaaS marketing budgets: they’re not one-size-fits-all. Your budget depends on your customer lifetime value (LTV) and acquisition costs (CAC).

A quick framework to start:

• 40% on programs that drive new leads
• 30% on converting trials to paid
• 20% on keeping customers happy
• 10% for testing new channels

Just remember—these aren’t fixed numbers. Adjust based on what’s working.

Keep each stage of the marketing funnel in mind

Every SaaS funnel has three main stages:

• Top of funnel: People discovering they have a problem
• Middle of funnel: People actively searching for solutions
• Bottom of funnel: People ready to choose a solution

Here’s what makes each stage unique—and why you need different approaches for each.

Top of funnel is where awareness begins. These folks are just starting to realize they have a problem. Maybe they’re frustrated with spreadsheets, or their team is growing too big for their current tools. They’re not looking for your product yet—they’re looking for answers.

Middle of funnel is when things get interesting. These people know they need a solution, and they’re checking out their options. They’re comparing features, reading reviews, and trying to figure out if your product is worth their time. This is where you show them exactly how you solve their problems.

Bottom of funnel is decision time. These prospects have done their homework. They’re starting trials, booking demos, and deciding if they trust you enough to commit. But here’s the thing about SaaS—getting them to sign up isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning of keeping them around.

Think of it like this: you wouldn’t propose marriage on a first date. Your funnel works the same way. Each stage builds trust and understanding until both sides are ready to commit to a longer relationship.

The key? Don’t rush it. Each stage matters, and trying to skip steps is like trying to sprint through a marathon—you’ll burn out before you reach the finish line.

How to choose which marketing channels and activites to prioritize

Here’s the thing about marketing channels and marketing campaigns—they’re not one-size-fits-all. What works for a project management tool aimed at enterprise teams might flop for a design app built for freelancers.

The good news? You’ve got options. Lots of them. And while you won’t use every channel (nor should you), understanding each one helps you pick the right mix for your audience and goals.

Some of these channels are free, perfect if you’re just starting out. Others might need a budget behind them. But they all have one thing in common—when used right, they work.

Let’s break down the channels and approaches that are actually moving the needle for SaaS companies:

1. Publish blog content to build authority and drive traffic

Blog content has long been a pillar of great content marketing.

Publishing educational blog posts that are relevant (and useful) to your audience provides multiple benefits. First, it sets you up as a thought leader in your industry and can bring credibility to your SaaS. You can use your blog to write about industry trends specific to your niche, present forward-thinking ideas, and offer solution-based articles (like, ahem, this one). 

Blog posts are great tools for driving traffic to your website since the more you publish, the greater the chances they’ll get found in a Google search—especially if you’ve got a solid keyword search strategy in place. 

You can also use a blog as a lead generation tool simply by inserting a call to action and maybe a form. The bottom line is: If you aren’t building out your blog, what are you waiting for?

Example: Honeybook

Honeybook is a great example of a SaaS marketed to freelancers publishing blog posts centered around, well, freelancing. As you can see they provide solution-based blogs on how to customize brochures or how to price their services (often a sticky and tricky subject for freelancers!).

Here are just a few of the things Honeybook does to make good use of their blog resources:

• A list of categories is placed on the left side, making it easy to jump directly to the type of content the reader is interested in.
• Honeybook displays thumbnail images for each blog post, creating a visual layout that pleases the eye and engages curiosity.
• The “Our editor’s picks” section highlights specific blog posts and implies that these particular posts have a lot of value to provide.
• For those who prefer watching videos to reading, Honeybook helpfully provides an easily-browsable playlist of video content. 

2. Build an SEO program that drives qualified traffic

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing your content and website to rank higher in search engine results. (Want to learn more about SEO? We’ve got you covered.)

But here’s the thing: SEO isn’t just about ranking high in search results—it’s about showing up when your ideal customers are looking for solutions.

This means:

• Writing content people actually want to read
• Optimizing your pages to be search engine-friendly
• Building quality backlinks
• Making sure your site loads fast and works well on mobile

But here’s what matters most: Google itself says valuable, informative content has the biggest influence on rankings. Focus there first.

3. Run webinars that educate and convert

Although it can take some time and work to create a webinar—as it should with every piece of content you produce—crafting a visually appealing slide deck or finding an industry leader to guest-host is worth the effort. 

In fact, 73% of B2B marketers and sales representatives say webinars are one of the best tools for generating qualified leads. 

Example: Mailchimp

Mailchimp does a marvelous job promoting their free webinars. Here’s what they do well: 

• On a dedicated page just for workshops, you can see all the topics with a one-liner description for each.
• They offer the webinars in different time zones (the Americas, Europe and Africa, and Australia and Asia) knowing their audience is based around the world.
• They introduce the workshop host so you know who to expect going in.
• There’s an FAQ section at the bottom of the page, including how to contact support.

4. Create (or guest on) podcasts that connect with your ideal buyers

A podcast gives you a different way to reach your audience. It’s more personal than a blog post and more convenient than a webinar—people can tune in during their commute or while working out.

Example: Jobber

Jobber demonstrates this beautifully with their podcast. They offer a SaaS solution to local service-based businesses like landscaping companies, HVAC, and cleaning services. 

• They bring guests on the podcast who share their successes in a particular area of their business (customer service, new services, HR, etc.), how they got there, and the lessons they learned. 
• They include hyperlinked icons for all the major podcast hubs for quick access: Google Podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. 
• You can sign up to get podcast updates straight to your email. 
• They spread the love by promoting other industry-relevant podcasts.

While we’re on the topic of podcasts, we have one of our own that we think you’ll get a lot out of. In each episode of Unprompted you’ll join renowned marketing experts as they explore the rapidly-changing world of AI marketing and share insights into how AI can help you market your SaaS product.

5. Experiment with paid advertising campaigns

Paid advertising is like the travelator (y’know, those moving sidewalks in airports) of digital marketing. You could make it to your gate just by hoofin’ it normally but the travelator will get you there faster. It’s the same with the coveted number one spot in SERPs—getting there organically would just take you longer. And ain’t nobody got time for that. 

Hopping on the travelator—er, we mean, allocating budget for pay-per-click ads can give you a quick boost in traffic and even help to push your organic content closer to the top of search results. 

Paid ads aren’t only reserved for Google, though. Word on the digital street is that many B2B SaaS companies are tired of the top spots on Google being taken up by sponsored ads and are turning to Facebook and LinkedIn where they can create more personalized ads and connect with their audience. 

The other great thing about paid ads is that you have control over your budget. You can set daily or campaign budgets to avoid overspending and easily adjust your spending based on campaign performance and goals.

While paid advertising offers many advantages, it’s essential to have a well-defined strategy, set clear goals, and continually monitor and optimize your campaigns to maximize your ROAS. 

Example: Abyss Scuba Diving

Sometimes, when you’re trying to achieve your goals, you just have to dive right in. That’s exactly what Australian business Abyss Scuba Diving demonstrated when they dove into an advertising campaign strategy that boosted their average conversion rate to 35%—almost seven times the industry standard.

Here’s how they did it:

• Through PPC campaigns they targeted people in specific situations, such as international visitors applying for long-term visas to visit Australia.
• By signing up for Unbounce’s Smart Builder tool they were easily able to create effective, high-converting landing pages. 
• They employed Unbounce’s AI-powered Smart Copy and Smart Traffic tools to optimize the pages and further increase conversion rates.

6. Trial a SaaS influencer marketing program on social media

If you’ve logged onto Instagram or TikTok lately, you’ll notice that social media and influencer marketing kind of go hand in hand these days. From user-generated content to influencers promoting brands, it’s a 21.1 billion-dollar industry. And yet 37% of SaaS companies allocate less than $10k of their annual marketing budget to influencer marketing. 

And if you think influencer marketing is only for B2C, think again. B2B influencers can have either an ongoing relationship with brands or just do one-time collaborations. Either way, there’s gold to be found in them hills influencer relationships. 

Example: Notion

Notion sponsored Ali Abdaal’s video on his favorite note-taking app for students. Smart. Since Ali is the world’s most followed productivity expert (4.82M YouTube subscribers), that exposes Notion’s product to a whole lotta eyeballs. 

• They don’t hide the sponsorship opportunity—in fact, they promote it at the top of the video and offer 1,000 viewers a free personal plan for Notion.
• Their logo is included when Notion is brought up, and screenshots are shared even in the intro so viewers can know what’s expected.

To leverage social media and influencer marketing effectively in your SaaS marketing strategy, it’s essential to have a clear plan and a deep understanding of your target audience. Identify the right social media platforms for your audience and select influencers whose values and audience align with your brand. 

Beyond influencers, social media is still a great place to promote blog posts, product launches, and webinars. In fact, considering the average person spends 2.5 hours each day scrolling on their phone to catch up on the latest social media updates (ahem!), you’d be remiss to skip it as part of your marketing plan.

Consistency in posting, engagement with your audience, and a strategic approach to influencer partnerships can maximize the impact of these strategies on your marketing efforts.

7. Run email marketing campaign to convert leads or trials into customers

A $36 ROI for every $1 spent is a solid reason to start sending emails to your followers, if you don’t already. Find an email marketing service (a SaaS for a SaaS!) that works for you and get started with the following email flows:

• Welcome series
• New free trial series
• Onboarding emails
• Milestone flow
• Weekly newsletter
• Product update campaign
• Reactivation emails

When designing and writing your emails, check out these email marketing tips to capitalize on that gargantuan ROI.

Example: Unbounce

Here at Unbounce we’ve put a lot of work into creating an effective and welcoming email experience. After signing up for Unbounce’s free trial, you get an email like this: 

• The email is nicely designed (if we do say so ourselves) with just enough white space to keep it uncluttered.
• It has a nice welcoming hello that includes my name 🤩.
• It’s clear what the email is about—my 14-day free trial that they want to help me get the most out of.
• If I want to dig deeper, there’s a video on how to use the page builders so I can jump right in.

Advanced SaaS marketing strategies

Okay, you’ve got the basics down. Your content is solid, your ads are running, and you’re building an audience. Now let’s talk about leveling up.

These aren’t your everyday marketing tactics—they’re the strategies that can take your SaaS from steady growth to hockey stick territory. But here’s the thing: they only work if you’ve got a strong foundation first.

Account-based marketing for enterprise deals

Picture this: instead of casting a wide net and hoping to catch the right fish, you’re spearfishing. That’s account-based marketing (ABM) in a nutshell.

Here’s how it works: you identify your dream customers—those enterprise accounts that could transform your business—and create marketing campaigns specifically for them. Not their industry. Not their category. Them.

The magic happens when you align your entire team around these target accounts:

• Marketing creates content that speaks to their exact challenges
• Sales gets deep insight into each account before reaching out
• Customer success prepares for their specific needs
• Even product development can prioritize features they’ll love

But don’t mistake this for simply sending personalized emails. True ABM means treating each target account like its own market. Your campaigns should feel like they were built just for them—because they were.

Building a referral program that scales

Think word of mouth is just something that happens naturally? Think again. The best SaaS companies engineer it. They understand that existing customers are one of the best ways to generate new customers.

Here’s what most people get wrong about referral programs: they treat them like an afterthought. “Hey, tell your friends about us!” isn’t a strategy—it’s a wish. Real referral programs are built with the same care as your product.

The math is pretty wild: referred customers have a 37% higher retention rate and they bring in new users at basically zero cost. But there’s a catch—you need to make it worth their while.

A few ways to nail this:

• Give rewards that actually matter (hint: discounts on annual plans work better than swag)
• Make sharing dead simple (one click, not ten)
• Show referrers exactly where their referrals stand
• Thank people quickly when they bring in new users

Take Dropbox’s famous referral program. They didn’t just ask for referrals—they gave both sides extra storage space. The result? They grew from 100,000 to 4 million users in just 15 months.

Turning customers into advocates

Here’s something wild—your happiest existing customers could be your best marketing channel. But most SaaS companies completely drop the ball on this one.

Sure, you’ve got testimonials on your website. Maybe even a few case studies. But true advocacy? That’s different. We’re talking about building a community of customers who can’t stop talking about your product.

The secret isn’t just making people happy (though that’s step one). It’s about giving them a platform and a reason to share their success. Check out what the best advocacy programs do:

• Create customer spotlight series that make users the hero
• Build private communities where power users can connect
• Give early access to new features (and actually listen to feedback)
• Help advocates grow their own careers or businesses

Look at Slack. Their customers don’t just use their product—they rave about it. Why? Because Slack turned them into stars. They share their workflows, get featured in success stories, and help shape the product’s future.

The best part? This kind of marketing can’t be faked. When real customers share real success stories, people listen.

Creating high-converting landing pages

Landing pages aren’t just another item on your marketing checklist—they’re where all your other marketing efforts pay off. Or don’t.

Here’s the deal: you can drive all the traffic in the world to your site, but if your landing pages don’t convince visitors to take action, you’re just burning money.

The best SaaS landing pages do three things really well:

• Show the product in action (no one wants to read a wall of text)
• Make the value crystal clear (what problem are you solving?)
• Remove every possible barrier to conversion (less is more)

Data tells the story here. We analyzed thousands of SaaS landing pages and found something interesting—pages that include multiple offers can decrease conversions by up to 266%.

But the real magic happens when you get personal. Using AI-powered tools like Smart Traffic to show different versions of your page to different audiences? That’s how companies like Abyss Scuba Diving hit conversion rates of 35%—seven times the industry average.

Quick tip: Start with a template that’s proven to work, then test like crazy. Your first version won’t be perfect, but that’s okay. Every test teaches you something about what your audience responds to.

Video content that connects and converts

Let’s talk about video—because in 2025, it’s not just a “nice to have” anymore. But here’s the good news: you don’t need Hollywood budgets to make video work for your SaaS.

There are actually a bunch of different video types that work well, and they each serve their own purpose. Let’s break them down:

• Quick product demos: These are your greatest hits—90-second videos showing your best features in action. No fluff, just “here’s how this makes your life better.” Perfect for social media and your homepage.
• The founder story: Got a founder or team member who’s great on camera? Let them talk. Share your mission, explain why you built the product, talk about where you’re headed. People buy from people they trust—and nothing builds trust like seeing the faces behind the product.
• Live demo recordings: Here’s a secret: record your best sales demos. When a rep absolutely nails explaining your product? That’s gold. Clean it up, edit out the customer-specific stuff, and you’ve got a perfect mid-funnel asset.
• Product tutorials: Think bite-sized how-tos. “Here’s how to set up your first campaign” or “Three ways to use our analytics dashboard.” Keep them under three minutes and focused on one specific thing.
• Customer success stories: Get your happy customers on camera talking about their wins. But here’s the key—make it about their success, not your product. Your software should be the supporting character in their story, not the star.

The best part? You can start small. Pick one type that makes sense for your audience and nail that before moving on to the next. And remember—authenticity beats production value every time. A genuine conversation with slightly messy lighting will outperform a super-polished video that feels fake.

Common SaaS marketing challenges (and how to solve them)

Every SaaS business faces roadblocks. Here are the big ones—and what to do about them.

Standing out in a crowded saas industry

The truth? The saas market is packed. With thousands of saas companies competing for attention, you need more than just a solid product.

Here’s what works:

• Know exactly who your target market is
• Create content that speaks their language
• Show how your saas products solve specific problems
• Build marketing strategies that highlight your unique angle

Keeping existing customers engaged

Want a wake-up call? Your existing customers are gold. Most marketing teams chase new leads while forgetting about the people already paying them money.

Smart companies focus on the entire customer journey:

• Build content just for current users
• Check in at key moments
• Celebrate their wins
• Ask what they need next

Aligning your sales team and marketing team

Here’s a story you might recognize: Your marketing team is bringing in leads like crazy, but your sales team says they’re not the right fit.

This disconnect is costing saas marketers millions in wasted effort. The fix isn’t just more meetings—it’s getting everyone focused on moving prospects through your sales funnel:

• Create clear definitions of qualified leads
• Build feedback loops between teams
• Let data guide your marketing efforts
• Share wins together

Managing the basics

Not everyone using your product is tech-savvy, and that’s fine. What matters is how you handle it. Start by offering multiple ways to get help—some people love chat, others need a phone call, and plenty are happy with email. Your documentation needs to be crystal clear too, written for humans and not robots.

The real game-changer? Response time expectations. You don’t need 24/7 support, but you do need to tell people when they’ll hear back from you. And here’s the secret sauce: train your team to speak human. No one wants to feel stupid for asking a question about your product.

Dealing with technical growing pains

Let’s be real—no software is perfect. Problems will pop up. What separates the good from the great is how you handle those moments.

Clear communication is everything. When something breaks, tell people what’s happening and when you expect it to be fixed. Better yet, catch issues before they become problems with solid monitoring. And when users spot something wrong? Make it dead simple to report. The faster you know about an issue, the faster you can fix it—and keep those customers happy.

Remember: most users will forgive a glitch, but they’ll never forget being left in the dark about it.

Measuring your marketing campaigns

Running Google Ads? Chasing organic traffic? With so many marketing channels out there, how do you know where to put your marketing budget?

Here’s how to figure it out:

• Track everything that matters
• Test one channel at a time
• Set clear success metrics
• Know when to double down on what’s working

The secret to handling these challenges? Don’t try to fix everything at once. Pick the problems hitting your growth the hardest and tackle them first. Even the biggest names in the saas industry started by solving one problem at a time.

How to measure the effectiveness of SaaS marketing strategies

Here’s the thing. You could have the most bedazzled (yes, this is a thing) SaaS marketing plan in all of SaaS-land and still fall flat with your marketing efforts. The only way to make informed decisions about what’s working and what’s not is data. 

SaaS marketing metrics are the only way to measure what strategies are working and how to double-down on them. 

Here’s a quick look at some of the most common SaaS marketing metrics. (For more details about each of these, have a gander at the bottom of this page.)

• Website traffic: Measure the number of visitors, pageviews, and unique visitors to your website.
• Conversion rate: Track the percentage of visitors who take a desired action, such as signing up for a trial or subscribing to a newsletter.
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC): Calculate how much it costs to acquire a new customer, including marketing expenses.
• Customer lifetime value (CLTV or LTV): Determine the total revenue a customer generates over their lifetime as a subscriber.
• Churn rate: Measure the percentage of customers who cancel their subscriptions.
• Monthly recurring revenue (MRR): Track the predictable monthly revenue generated from subscriptions.
• Customer retention rate: Measure the percentage of customers retained over a specific period.
• Return on investment (ROI): Calculate the return on marketing investment for specific campaigns.

Use tools like Google Analytics, Smart Traffic, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems to collect and track these metrics. You can also gather feedback from customers through surveys and interviews. 

Most importantly, remember that measuring the effectiveness of your SaaS marketing strategies is an ongoing process. Take the time to regularly review your performance data, adapt to changes in the market, and refine your strategies to ensure that you are maximizing your marketing budget.