Strategies for Distribution and Branding in SaaS

Your customers' network is a low cost, high impact way to drive SaaS growth. But how do you harness the power of positive network effects? Positive network effects occur when the value of your tool increases as your user base grows. Like LinkedIn... it becomes more valuable as more professionals join the platform. For SaaS companies, larger networks lead to several competitive advantages: – They're more trustworthy – They entice advertisers – They encourage referrals and word-of-mouth – They build more unique user-generated content – They increase retention To activate these effects, start by mobilizing your current user base. There are (at least) five proven strategies: 1. Increase reach with shareable features Take Pinterest as an example. Users can create shared 'boards' to collaborate on projects. This either re-engages current users or prompts new sign-ups when boards are shared. 2. Drive referrals with growth loops Consider DocuSign's growth loop. Every document sent for signature serves as an introduction to the platform, potentially converting recipients into new users. 3. Improve product quality with user-generated content GitHub leverages user-generated content to improve product quality. Developers contribute to existing projects and end up hosting their own, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of engagement. 4. Drive acquisition with incentives Airtable incentivizes referrals by crediting $10 to your account when you invite new users. This simple yet effective strategy turns every user into a potential brand ambassador. 5. Re-engage dormant users Venmo ensures each transaction appears in a public feed, prompting likes, comments, and reminders that bring users back to the app. Bonus: you can (and should!) combine multiple strategies. LinkedIn, for instance, uses referrals, re-engagement tactics, and registration incentives to create a powerful network effect. By harnessing the power of your user base, you can create a self-propelling mechanism for growth that benefits both your app AND your users.

I've bootstrapped two SaaS startups from $0 - $1,000,000 ARR in the Shopify ecosystem, making every mistake you can imagine. Here’s how I’d do it again if I started today: 1. PICK A LANE: - There are two lanes. Brands doing > $1M and brands doing < $1M. - The GTM motions for each are RADICALLY DIFFERENT. - Don't try to do both until you have mastered at least one. Let’s focus on building for brands > $1M, as this is where I’ve screwed up the most. 2. PRODUCT: - Don’t write a_single_line_of_code. - Spend 60-90 days talking with brands. - Refine the pitch/solution/value each time. - Look at their face for signs of interest, instead of their words. - Focus on where you are adding revenue for the lowest lift possible. - Brands will not switch providers or onboard a new tool otherwise. - See how many will commit to a 3-4 month free trial based on hardcoded screenshots of what the solution will look like. Super hard, but it's gonna be a tough first 18 months without this. 3. DISTRIBUTION: - Build in public on LinkedIn and X as a founder. 100x more effective than any paid ads you could run at this stage. - Build a TAM list in Hubspot (around 25,000 brands) to work from. Companies and Contacts. Enrich the data and work backwards. Track how much of the market you are penetrating as you grow. Study how Romain Lapeyre did this at Gorgias (his SaaStr videos are essential viewing) - GOOD cold email. Good, being the key. I’ve been fortunate to have some people in the ecosystem share their strategies in detail with me recently. Still works if done right vs spray and pray. - Invest in SEO early. I’m surprised at how much traffic we get from our blog and the people who show up through RB2B every day. - Buy a $299 Webflow template and hire a good designer to work on branding. Update the template. - Build best-in-class integrations for Klaviyo / Postscript / Gorgias / Skio/ etc. Use their latest tech/API's they want to promote. There’s a chance they could refer/promote to their customer base based on the strength of the integration. At the very least you'll make connections. Tech partnerships will be critical. - Do the same for agency partnerships. No one will take you seriously yet and that’s fine. We’re playing the long game. For every brand you onboard, identify if they’re currently looking for X,Y,Z solution if possible. Refer business to agencies whenever it makes actual sense. Start small, work up. This will come back to you eventually. Leads are the currency. - Show up to every event in your area and every event you can financially make it to. Meet people IRL, it goes a long way and most people in the ecosystem are happy to help. - As soon as you deliver over-the-top service for a brand, ask to put their logo on your site, and plaster over your social. Social proof is HEAVILY Weighted here. Ask for case studies once real results come through. Looks like we're going to the comments to continue 👇

Something that drives me insane in SaaS marketing: How many companies fumble a massive opportunity to generate hype and distribution for product or feature launches. This stops now. Here’s a 5-point checklist of everything you need to have dialed to get the most out of your launches on social: (1) Pre-launch content You should be hyping up the launch for ~1-2 weeks prior. The bigger the launch (i.e. an entire new product versus a feature update) the longer the pre-launch content should be in rotation. Tease the new launch. Create educational content around it. Find ways to engage your ICP. (2) Launch content This is the core. Have some sort of launch post(s) go out on the day of. This should come from both the founder and the company accounts. As we’ve seen with Airbnb’s Brian Chesky and OpenAI’s Sam Altman—founder-led content during launches is the way to go. But, you should also have something go out from your company account. Both matter. (3) Post-launch content This is where most companies fumble. The launch content should not end after the ‘launch post’ hits the timeline. Extend the hype for 1-2wks beyond launch date. Highlight use cases. Showcase customer stories. Make sure the people who may have missed the original post can’t possibly miss the launch. (4) Launch-adjacent content ‘Launch content’ isn’t just feature highlight GIFs and hard CTAs. Create content that is around a topic related to the product, but not always hard selling the product. For example: if you're an email marketing SaaS getting into SMS marketing, you’ll want to post more stuff around SMS (that isn’t only the product launch announcement). (5) Influencer amplification A) Have influencers & investors engage with the key launch posts when they go live B) Have your team engage with the key launch posts when they go live You want to give the launch content the absolute best chance at high performance that you can. Getting the post initial momentum using your connections tends to help with that. Oh. One more thing. Shoot to have a timeline that allows you to prep this stuff. It’s not always going to be feasible, I get it. But if you can give your content team a 1-2 week heads up versus a 1-2 hour heads up … I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the outcome. PS: If this was helpful, hit repost so more B2B marketers can see this.