How to choose a marketing channel to sell your SaaS?
There are a lot of marketing channels available to sell a SaaS product. So, how do you choose the right one?
Here are some factors to consider:
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The target market: Who are we trying to reach?
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The budget: How much can we afford to spend on marketing?
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The goals: What are we trying to achieve with marketing?
Once we considered these factors, we can start to narrow down the options and choose the best marketing channel for our SaaS product.
I agree with @Holger on this. Outbound is for fast results, and inbound is for the long-term game.
I would also say that a 4th optional step should be - experience. If you have experience and know how one channel works and the types of content that specific channel, then start with that. You will need to spend a lot of effort on learning how to market on a new channel instead of working on your software.
Proper outbound is good to get results fast.
Inbound is necessary to scale consistently from a long-term perspective.
I’d add . . .
And the reason is different stages require different strategies.
For example, early on, you’re doing things that don’t scale—giving talks, writing guest posts, emailing people you have relationships with, attending conferences, etc. These activities may move the needle early on but fail to work later. There’s simply not enough volume. Conversely, some traction channels are hard to get working early on but are significant sources of traction in the later stages of growth (e.g., API Marketplaces).
If you want to get a little more scientific about your strategy, I'd suggest the B.R.A.S.S Method:
(Blink: Gut Feeling) x (Relevance: Product/Channel Fit) x (Availability: Ease + Cost) x (Scalability: Does it scale?) = BRASS Score
It's essentially a way to diversify your acquisition. Which is super helpful as you grow.