4 Experts Share How Your SaaS Can Stand Out Among the Competition
November 26, 2024
To have a great product is not enough – you got to convey your value to your audience. With countless alternatives vying for the attention of your potential buyers, you have to be, in the words of Seth Godin, a “purple cow” in the field of brown cows.
To shed light on this challenge, we turned to four industry experts who share invaluable insights on how clarity, context, and compelling storytelling can elevate your SaaS brand above the rest. From practical messaging strategies to optimizing for AI – these essential tactics ensure your product doesn't just blend in but stands out. Dive in as we uncover how a customer-centric approach combined with genuine emotional engagement can make all the difference in your SaaS journey.
Anthony Pierri, Co-Founder & Partner at FletchPMM
The former head of product marketing at Cognism told me that when they changed from the vaguer messaging on the left to the painfully straightforward messaging on the right...
...their conversion jumped 40%.
And they've had the right side messaging for over a year. (If it ain't broke, why fix it?)
Yet, the homepage hero breaks almost all of the "best practices."
- It has TONS of text.
- The full H1 + H2 is 106 words.
- The main tagline is four lines long on the screen.
- It's not a catchy slogan but just a describe of the main thing they provide.
- It has FOUR bullet points (technically five if you count the extra mini title).
- It's extremely functional messaging.
- It doesn't talk about boosting revenue, or high level business outcomes.
- All the promises it makes are believable given how they describe the tool.
If you JUST go by the constant string of "advice" on LinkedIn, you'd imagine this page would have zero chance of working.
And yet, if you think about why people READ WEBSITES IN THE FIRST PLACE....
...it suddenly makes total sense.
People read websites of SaaS companies...
(wait for it)
...to LEARN INFORMATION 😱😱😱
I know you might have thought they actually read your company's SaaS page because they want to be inspired.
Or maybe they read your page to double-check that you REALLY drive business outcomes 🙄
But then you can just think about the last time you read a company website you didn't know that much about (because if you already knew all about the company, why the heck would you be reading their homepage??)
You were likely trying to get answers to very basic questions:
→ what does this company do?
→ who is it for?
→ why is it better than what I'm already using?
My hope is that people have run the internal tests and have discovered that a clearer message is ACTUALLY more customer-centric than the vague, outcomes/brand-focused messaging that we normally see.
It may be crazy to imagine... but the best messaging for customers is likely not the same as what gets your executive team stoked in the board room.
Reach Out to Aimers for Expert Advice
Contact our team for a FREE audit of your ad accounts – no strings attached
Get In TouchJacob Statler, CEO & Lead Strategist for Stat Digital, a content marketing agency for B2B businesses
Why do your customers choose you? You’ll waste a fortune on marketing if you don’t know.
Is it affordable pricing? Attentive and caring customer support? A feature that others don’t have?
Make it very clear whenever your product is mentioned… landing pages, ad copy, blogs, or even a one-sentence value prop you might have in a social post or newsletter.
Show your audience what this differentiator looks like. If it’s pricing, show pricing graphs compared to competitors. If it’s a feature, show a GIF of how easy the feature is to use to get their dream outcome.
Darren Fenton, CEO of ScreenSpace, a platform for immersive storytelling aimed at B2B buyers
Sure. Your marketing may not look like trash… But if it blends in with the competition, it might as well be.
When your product is just another face in the crowd, you’re stuck in a race to the bottom — competing on price and features.
But here’s the secret: STORY is what truly sets you apart.
When you focus on a narrative that emotionally connects with your audience, you’re not just another option. You become the 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 option.
Your buyers don’t care about your product — or its solution.
They care about the 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺. Like in a great movie, the big resolution feels empty without a struggle. And the hero’s struggle means nothing without that epic payoff. The magic is in the 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. And that’s what your buyers are really after.
Here’s how to make it happen in marketing:
- Tap into your buyer's pain. Make it feel real.
- Offer a solution that feels almost too good to be true.
- Let them 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 it hands-on, with an interactive journey through your product.
- Validate that emotional "holy sh*t" moment when they realize it's possible.
Nail this — and your buyers won't care about anything 𝘣𝘶𝘵 your product.
Sheri Otto, B2B Marketing Strategist for Technology SMBs, sheriotto.com
OpenAI has recently launched a search feature for ChatGPT. It’s giving B2B marketers a new playbook and disrupting SEO!
Increasing your chances of appearing in the AI search results can help you remain ahead of the competition, which is not yet optimized for ChatGPT.
How to do it?
HINT. It's all about:
- Context
- Clarity
- Relevance
[Context] Create content within the context of common use cases for your target audience. Understand their positioning on the buyer's journey and address their pressing needs and immediate goals.
[Clarity] Be clear about the value your content will provide early on. I like to call it: 'the promise of value.' It will help the AI search engine categorize your content, much like how hashtags work on TikTok.
[Relevance] Similar to both context and clarity, indicate who your content is for and why your message is specific to the need. Your content exists for a reason, so share why it matters.
Takeaways
- Clarity is key. Confusing messaging can turn potential customers away. Clear, concise communication about what your SaaS offers and how it benefits users is paramount. Prioritize straightforward, functional messaging that directly addresses customer needs over catchy slogans.
- Leverage AI for SEO. Stay ahead of the competition by optimizing your content for emerging AI search technologies. Focus on context, clarity, and relevance to enhance your chances of appearing in AI-driven search results, all while creating content that resonates with your target audience.
- Identify your unique differentiators. Understand why customers choose your product over competitors. Make these differentiators crystal clear in your marketing materials by showcasing real examples, such as pricing comparisons or unique features, to drive home your value proposition.
- Tell a compelling story. Create an emotional connection with your audience through storytelling. Your customers are invested in their journey and the transformation your product offers. Highlight their challenges and how your solution can elevate their experiences, making them see your SaaS as the standout choice.
- Focus on the buyer’s experience. Remember that your audience cares more about their journey and the solution to their problem than the technical details of your product. Engage them with interactive experiences that emphasize this transformation.
Do you want custom-tailored insights on your PPC strategy? Get a free audit done by our experienced team – send us a request, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible!
Ekaterina crafts engaging and strategic content to drive brand awareness and audience engagement. Her expertise in digital marketing helps the agency deliver impactful campaigns and achieve client goals.