The world of business and information technology is one filled with cryptic acronyms and complicated phraseology. No less so than in our title – let’s quickly break it down.
- B2B – Business to Business: a corporate model in which one business sells a product to another.
- SaaS – Software as a subscription: a piece of software sold on a subscription based model, usually on a month by month or annual basis, as opposed to a flat fee.
- Lead Generation: the ways in which a business can attract new customers, with the goal of increasing sales.
If you’re reading this then you’re undoubtedly acquainted with at least the first two. Now put each of those terms together and you’ll quickly figure out what we’re talking about: marketing.
As a SaaS developer, figuring out the most effective way to market your business in the ever competitive online sphere is an almost impossible task, with white label software abound and a litany of other developers vying for your customers’ attention.
What you need is a top shelf marketing agency, an organisation that can take an invaluable aspect of your business, lead generation, off your hands so you can focus on building the best software for your customers.
Some such agencies offer full service, full funnel coverage, while others permit you to distribute your marketing repertoire between companies – worth considering, of course, if that guarantees a better deal.
But then we are again faced with this problem of choice. How do we separate wheat from chaff when it comes to marketing agencies?
Allow us to take care of that for you. Here are our picks, packaged and arranged in a neat top nine, with the vital information in tow.
1. AdTuna
- Bespoke marketing campaigns tailored to your business.
- Experience working with B2B SaaS companies.
- Full service marketing as standard.
We’ve selected AdTuna for our number one spot because it ticks all our boxes. One: it’s a full service agency, so you can consider every aspect of your business’ marketing endeavours taken care of.
Two: they’re more than familiar with SaaS developers, which makes them instantly more attentive to our needs than some other marketing agencies that operate within a distinct niche.
Thirdly: you’ll be getting a bespoke plan that is tailored specifically to your business’ long term (or strategic) goals.
2. Kalungi
- Full service agency.
- Pay-per-performance model.
- Specific SaaS focus.
What puts Kalungi above many other marketing agencies on our list is its commitment to the particular SaaS niche.
Make no mistake, SaaS services are an ever growing industry, so it’s about time that a marketing agency directed their efforts towards what’s now a significant chunk of the B2B landscape.
They’ve also placed a deliberate focus on helping early-stage companies, something that might be valuable to you if, for instance, you were drawn to reading this article in the first place.
This includes a full service package, but also a marketing audit for existing organisations so they can better understand what works, and what doesn’t work, about their marketing. Among their resources there’s even a B2B SaaS marketing 101, hopefully giving you a better understanding of just how essential cogent marketing is.
3. Online Optimism
- Full service agency.
- Friendly faced approach which encourages collaboration between companies.
- Credibility supported by a substantial number of video testimonials.
Online Optimism brands itself as the digital marketing agency that ‘companies want to work with’ – in short, they’re all about the friendly face. You won’t find any mentions of ‘optimal funnel systems’ or ‘revenue R&D’ here.
But make no mistake, this isn’t indicative of a simplistic approach, instead, it shows how much they value brand identity, something you as a B2B SaaS retailer are going to have to establish if you want convivial relations with your clients.
They’re a full service agency, and even extend to video production – evidence of this is helpfully provided in the number of well-produced video testimonials from various partners that you can see on their website.
4. Disruptive Advertising
- Award winning full service agency.
- Comprehensive ‘audit’ of your business to create the ideal marketing approach.
- Verified by hundreds of satisfied customers.
Disruptive has a uniquely auspicious meaning in the business world. And what does it mean? Typically, an organisation that comes in and smashes the status quo to pieces (supposedly) by innovating a product or service and creating a mass of new demand, seeing massive revenue gains as a result.
We would hope Disruptive Advertising can guide your business to such lofty heights, and there’s certainly good reason to take their approach seriously. Their key initiative is the ‘audit’, where they examine your business from the ground up, before articulating the most effective marketing strategy and working with you to implement it.
5. The Shelf
- Influencer driven marketing.
- Excellent for creative SaaS.
- Readily available digital marketing resources.
The Shelf is a bit of a wild card on our part, and whether or not they are right for you may depend on the kind of SaaS product you’re delivering to your customers. If it’s one with a high level of interactivity, where content creation is front and centre, then the Shelf might be exactly the marketing agency you need.
With an influencer based approach that’s seen them work with several well-known brands (and we really mean well known – as in Walmart, and Pepsi among others), they’re a unique addition to our list, one which you can find out more about here.
6. Roketto
- Full service agency.
- Consumer driven solutions.
- Conscientious approach.
Consider Roketto the yin to Disruptive Advertising’s yang. The philosophy behind this leading Canadian digital marketing agency is simple: out with the aggressive, big budget, shock and awe tactics of other agencies, where the attitude is all about hitting potential customers with the hard sell, and in with an interactive, consumer driven, content rich approach.
7. Smartbug Media
- Full service agency.
- Experienced with SaaS firms.
- Tried and tested credibility.
Smartbug: another full service agency with a significant library of information that bolsters their credibility as an effective marketer.
Specialising in ‘demand generation, revenue operations, e-commerce marketing, and paid media’ (which seems like a fairly holistic approach to us), they promise to be the only digital marketing agency you need. Which is fortunate because digital marketers often come with an expensive price tag.
While it’s evident that they work with a range of industries, there’s a clear understanding of SaaS operations and, at least according to them, they have worked with over 100 software and technology companies.
You’ll find case studies displaying their efficacy on their website, not to mention over 300 positive reviews on Hub Spot, 99% of which are five stars.
8. Heinz Marketing
- Long term attitude to lead generation.
- By the numbers evidence of results.
- Holistic, full funnel approach.
You’ll have to forgive the use of some stock images on their website, because it’s clear that, to their partners at least, Heinz Marketing is a credible, effective agency. One which places their strategic focus on a system they call the ‘predictable pipeline’.
The goal is less about aggressive targeting, but using the data gained from generated leads to set measurable goals for a business, and then executing these goals with an emphasis placed on customer loyalty, referrals and lifetime value.
In short, if you’re a business that produces SaaS as a long term solution for your customers (even if retailed on a month by month basis), Heinz Marketing have exactly the kind of strategic approach you need.
9. Refine Labs
- Proactive approach that accounts for frequent innovation within the SaaS industry.
- Massive library of information and advice at your disposal.
- Services delivered on a month by month Basis.
Refine Labs have distilled their lead generation approach into what they’re calling ‘Revenue R&D’. It’s built upon a proactive strategy that aims to keep up with the ever shifting invasions of the SaaS market, with the philosophy that ‘incrementalism and risk aversion are less effective’ than an aggressive strategy that shifts with the marketing trends of the time.
You’ll also get plenty of guidance with 1:1 consultations and an expansive library of information, in the form of workshops, keynotes and previous expert sessions contained in what they’ve called ‘The Vault’.
With that final placement, we’ve come to the end of our article. If you’re new to the world of B2B SaaS, we hope to have illuminated you as the general landscape of digital marketing and lead generation.
Before you commit to a specific agency, we’ll trust that you do your own research to decide whether such an organisation is right for you. Remember, there’s more than just experience with the SaaS niche to consider, and whatever service you ultimately choose will come with a significant price tag, but such is the value of lead generation.
But regardless of whether you’re new to the scene or an established company well on your way to success, we wish you the best of luck in all your marketing endeavours.
