What I learned as the Head of Marketing at a Vertical SaaS Company
About a few months back I took the decision to work at FleetPanda, a vertical SaaS company.
Let me tell you what FleetPanda does - our software helps manage all dispatch operations for fuel distributors in North America region. Yes.
For most of my decade-long experience in SaaS, I have been marketing to marketers. It was like cooking for the chefs, difficult, but I knew who they were, and what they wanted. Then for about a couple years, I sold to recruiters. Not at the same level of familiarity, but I know they exist and made enough friends in the tribe to understand where they hang out, and how to make them care.
And then came the petroleum distributors in the US. To give you context, my founder had to record 10 videos, of 30 minutes each, just to to teach me the industry. I felt overwhelmed and lost. But slowly you start to get the hang of it. Because at the end of the day every human is just a human. Channels might change, tactics might change, but at the end, all you need to find is - where they hang out and how to make them care.
Here's what I learnt in the past year, heading marketing at a vertical SaaS:
Don't Bullshit.
As marketers at early-stage startups, we often think a general understanding is enough to kick off our first email campaign or launch ads on Google. However, this approach doesn't work in vertical SaaS, where the industry is niche, with fewer companies expecting you to address their core issues. These sectors have tight-knit communities skeptical of outsiders and generic solutions. To truly engage, you must immerse yourself in their world, using their language and understanding their specific challenges, like why a driver shortage matters more than "seamless integration with XYZ."
To bridge this gap, we had Pavan, our founder, create detailed whiteboard videos explaining the industry and our company inside out. This was in addition to the essential product training and onboarding. We also reviewed recordings of past and current demo calls to fully grasp the operational challenges and concerns of businesses within the industry. This comprehensive approach helped us develop the empathy and insight needed to effectively communicate and connect with our target audience.
Can you trust your database with your life?
Vertical SaaS markets exist because they have been criminally underserved. That also means that a lot of the usual suspects for data vendors wouldn't have half as accurate data for you to reach your audience. You need to find a trusted, high-quality agency that will build this database for you, with a mix of scraping, automation, and manual enrichment.
You need this, not just for your SDR engine, but also for all social media targeting. With the open targeting on LinkedIn and Facebook, the reachability is extremely poor. Hence, if you save on data, you will be bleeding on the ad engines.
Get your Product Marketing right before anything
My personal take on product marketing is straightforward: it's about deeply understanding customer problems and challenges, and aligning them with your product's use cases and benefits. This understanding is then communicated through various channels like landing pages, sales decks, videos, and emails. The essence of product marketing—grasping both sides of the equation—remains constant.
In a vertical SaaS environment, product marketing becomes crucial. The industries we cater to are often just beginning to recognize their problems or are unaware they exist. They need education to bridge this gap, but it must be done in a way that feels relevant to them. Marketing materials should reflect the customers' own language and problems as precisely as possible. That's why building a strong product marketing team is a priority.
Don’t skim on email marketing
In my experience, email is the standout channel for marketing effectiveness. Whether it's newsletters, nurture campaigns, or outbound emails, they all deliver results. Heck, a 4th of July email campaign achieved a 34% open rate and notable replies from a list of over 5,000 contacts, which is quite satisfying.
However, mastering email marketing is again, simple not easy. While managing the database and sending out emails is straightforward, crafting the right message is the real challenge. This ties back to the importance of solid product marketing. Understanding your product and your customer's needs is crucial before launching any campaign.
Here are a few emails we send:
Product Updates - 2 a month
Prospect Newsletters - 1 a month
Product Usage Digest - 1 a month
Content Emails to subscribers - once a month
Webinar emails - pre and post-webinar playbook
Event emails - pre and post-event playbook
And then some.
SDRs will be the Golden Geese of MQLs
In my side of the world, the most converting CTA is neither book a demo, or get pricing, it is the phone number put out on the homepage. People would rather directly call the number you ask them to. The reason behind it is simple - that is how their world operates. For every work-thing, they pick up the phone and call, so why not for software.
This preference also explains why sales development representatives (SDRs) are highly successful in our industry. They reach out directly by phone, and customers respond positively. They pick up the phone and call. And the customers are pleased, not pissed. Surprised? Makes the two of us.
Get the publisher partnerships and press release engine going
Create a comprehensive list of all publishers in your industry, including online magazines, news portals, and blogs. Gather detailed information on partnership opportunities they offer. Aim to secure free spots for your high-quality content and negotiate paid agreements for distributing company announcements.
We applied this strategy with 76 publishers in our sector. As a result, we secured four agreements to publish one blog post per month for free, plus additional arrangements to share our press releases based on their quality.
One of our placements get us about 4 qualified leads every month, on autopilot.
Trade associations are the trade secrets
Don’t sit on it (because I did and now I repent). Trade associations are invaluable, yet often overlooked. Don't make the mistake I did by ignoring them. Start by listing all the trade associations in your industry. Collaborate with your VP of Sales to pinpoint this year's key geographic areas. Highlight the top associations in those regions and reach out to learn about benefits for sponsored members. Ensure you have a commitment from the sales team to participate in the association's events and activities.
We leverage these relationships for various engagements, including physical events, webinars, newsletter features, directory listings, and even social gatherings like dinners and golf events.
Keep it simple, silly
When I began marketing to the FleetPanda audience, I used to write the first draft, in my natural flow. Then I used to strip down all marketing jargon and flowery words, and rewrite. And then do that exercise a couple of times, to finally have Pavan make it even more direct, before we could ship.
This approach isn't just for content; it's our overall marketing strategy. Our prospects prefer clear, direct communication and are turned off by polished marketing language. In summary, marketing in Vertical SaaS boils down to being empathetic, straightforward, useful, and genuine.
Happy Marketing!