Tools I've used to market my SaaS with a $0 budget

Totally agree! Twitter was very useful for one of my previous companies.

I think a common mistake people have when it comes to these channels is that people treat it like an advertisement or landing page, the copy and content is the marketing pitch, it doesn’t feel genuine.

Like you said, answering questions and being part of the conversation, rather than promoting, can be just as valuable.

Ah you are correct, I did not know that! Thanks for adding.

Dropping the link of the announcement from Google below, looks like they have partnered with some other tools. Are you familiar with any?

https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/12979939?hl=en

Nice! I’ll be sure to check it out.

Oh, and I would really appreciate if you can use markup to actually add the link to each tool. Might make it easier to check them out.

So I'll start with a short disclaimer before a long answer (which you might not need, but might be helpful anyway).....

Disclaimer is: Most these tools won't get you the "We 10x users overnight" type outcome. What they will do is help you build a foundation to get your first users signed up, establish some brand recognition, build an online presence. Once you have this, then you can start integrating more paid tools or begin paid advertising. However — I've found several of these tools to still be my go-to even when I've had a budget just because I don't see the need to pay enterprise prices for most things (especially on small teams).

Now to the long answer....

Like almost any marketing, there's no true direct attribution. It's all a fun, marketing eco-system that comes together but here's how I can sum it up...

Solid content marketing is how you bring in these users/paying customers at a steady amount, for a very low cost. This is what SEO & Content tools are for.

But this is the long game, it won't happen right away.

And this can't stand alone.

You need a good website that people see "ah this is interesting". That's what the design, video tools are for.

Then you need the branding/reviews/referrals so when people search you they know it's credible and worthwhile. That's where design & promotion tools come in.

For example, you can use Figma to create fancy screenshots to use in your G2 profile to make it kook professional, which can generate leads from their marketplace. Your G2 profile will also show up in Google search, and they have a program where you can ask for reviews. It all ties together.

Oh will definitely be checking this out and sharing with a few people I know who have this problem. Thanks for sharing!

Is this your project?

Yeah, you're correct — free(ish) is how I call them. You can get the basic profile, but for any hard ROI in terms of marketing, you need to pay to play.

I've actually ran paid ads here, and I will say they were pretty effective in reaching target audience + customers with high CLTV. But this was post acquisition, as these platforms are very expensive.

To wrap it up: I would still suggest making a profile here for a few reasons:

• It's still another channel where you can show your product, pricing and screenshots
• Gives your website an extra spot in search rankings = some trust and authority
• Gartner (company of software advice) provides a program where they give your customers $5 or $10 amazon giftcards in exchange for a review = great way to get reviews
• G2 has great collateral for product reviews called badges, a lot of SaaS websites feature these on the homepage and pricing page = great social proof for any of your marketing content.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the comment! Any secret to this being successful?

I'm in B2B, few DM options aside from LinkedIn (which has now become a reason to not get on Linkedin unfortnately). Haven't had much experience with this as a result.

Thank you! I like to describe my working style as “scrappy”.

Hahaha I love that! If you don’t write this, I’m going to add to my brainstorm list!

Definitely Ahrefs or Semrush if you have the budget, but I think people often purchase these tools (with no background knowledge) and then just assume it will “do seo” for them.

Anyhow, rant over, definitely one of those tools + a monitoring tool for technical SEO.

Checking it out now — congrats on this!

Is this geared to more individual bloggers (travel, food, fashion) or towards enterprise/business blogs?

It’s a pretty new tool, I was part of the beta (beginning of 2023 I think?).

There’s a chrome extension listing

Helped out during the Beta (I think Jan/Feb?) for feedback, was sent to me via a former colleague. The Amsterdam startup scene has a pretty strong network!

Currently been using Spectacle to record demo videos in NL/DE since I only speak English.

Thanks for sharing your company, congrats on this! I've looked at your site and agree with your focus areas...

One other idea I'd suggest (if you don't mind) is looking to other groups that use design, but are not designers. Reasoning is:

• Designers likely already have their favorite tool or would create it themselves.
• Your tool provides a way for non-designers to make a logo that's professional but without needing professional design skills = small business owners, entrepreneurs, etc.

Here's an report on Canva (similar audience) I think might be interesting to you: https://research.contrary.com/reports/canva