How to market a small internet company
September 10, 2012 9:54 AM Subscribe
I have a SaaS company, that has a product it has been selling for a while. While we have a specific niche market for this product, we have not been able to reach our customers. How to grow the company - any ideas?
I am part of a SaaS company, that has a product it has been selling for a while. We have taken search engine optimization on the site just about as far as it can go. While we have a specific niche market for this product, we have not been able to reach our customers. If we were a larger company, we could hire a marketing person and have them work this problem. However, given our current size, that's just not practical. What other marketing options are there for a small (3 people, 1 full time) company? I have been considering things like blogging, starting a forum, providing some kind of value added service, but I am a little bit lost as to how to get started. Any ideaas?
I am part of a SaaS company, that has a product it has been selling for a while. We have taken search engine optimization on the site just about as far as it can go. While we have a specific niche market for this product, we have not been able to reach our customers. If we were a larger company, we could hire a marketing person and have them work this problem. However, given our current size, that's just not practical. What other marketing options are there for a small (3 people, 1 full time) company? I have been considering things like blogging, starting a forum, providing some kind of value added service, but I am a little bit lost as to how to get started. Any ideaas?
Where do your customers hang out? Can your current customers help you figure this out? What forums, blogs, etc.. they read? Seems like that would be where you would want to target your efforts.
Also, there are firms that specialize in Search Engine Optimization -- if your customers are likely to google for your kind of service/product, perhaps that is something to look into. It seems like you could contract for that work -- you wouldn't need to add a person to your company to do that.
Finally, once you figure this out :), you have another product/service you can offer -- helping small SaaS companies reach customers :).
posted by elmay at 10:12 AM on September 10, 2012
Also, there are firms that specialize in Search Engine Optimization -- if your customers are likely to google for your kind of service/product, perhaps that is something to look into. It seems like you could contract for that work -- you wouldn't need to add a person to your company to do that.
Finally, once you figure this out :), you have another product/service you can offer -- helping small SaaS companies reach customers :).
posted by elmay at 10:12 AM on September 10, 2012
Have you attended conferences aimed at your target customers, whether as a sponsor or even just as an attendee who hands out lots of business cards?
posted by cranberry_nut at 10:14 AM on September 10, 2012
posted by cranberry_nut at 10:14 AM on September 10, 2012
Blogger outreach.
If your vertical is big enough to serve, someone's writing about it. Figure out who those people are and contact them. You'd be surprised how easy this can be, especially since you've already got some traction. Be prepared to not necessarily "write the story" for them, but to feed them some bite-sized snippets about your product, why you're different, and why people should use you.
posted by mkultra at 10:21 AM on September 10, 2012
If your vertical is big enough to serve, someone's writing about it. Figure out who those people are and contact them. You'd be surprised how easy this can be, especially since you've already got some traction. Be prepared to not necessarily "write the story" for them, but to feed them some bite-sized snippets about your product, why you're different, and why people should use you.
posted by mkultra at 10:21 AM on September 10, 2012
Social media for sure.
Host events targeting your customer base.
Reach out to industry media to write an article on your company.
Network, network, network.
posted by getmetoSF at 10:30 AM on September 10, 2012
Host events targeting your customer base.
Reach out to industry media to write an article on your company.
Network, network, network.
posted by getmetoSF at 10:30 AM on September 10, 2012
Would be much easier to give you advice if there were more information about what you are doing. It's so general that it is really hard to provide specific ideas.
BTW, you could also post on The Business of Software site, but again I think you would need to be a little more specific.
posted by Dansaman at 10:50 AM on September 10, 2012
BTW, you could also post on The Business of Software site, but again I think you would need to be a little more specific.
posted by Dansaman at 10:50 AM on September 10, 2012
I think most people don't search for SaaS apps in google.
Talk to bloggers, sponsor podcasts, advertise on networks like Fusion, The Deck, BuySellAds. Most of them are focused on the designer-developer-geek niche, but BuySellAds has lots of categories & cheaper ad spots.
posted by floatboth at 11:16 AM on September 10, 2012
Talk to bloggers, sponsor podcasts, advertise on networks like Fusion, The Deck, BuySellAds. Most of them are focused on the designer-developer-geek niche, but BuySellAds has lots of categories & cheaper ad spots.
posted by floatboth at 11:16 AM on September 10, 2012
We need more information about your product and clientele. Some industries focus on traditional sales with in-person demos and expense account dinners. Others respond well to an active online presence.
posted by scose at 11:33 AM on September 10, 2012
posted by scose at 11:33 AM on September 10, 2012
Jason Cohen over at asmartbear has talked about this, see also the comments. You could even email him for advice if you wish.
posted by Wretch729 at 12:45 PM on September 10, 2012
posted by Wretch729 at 12:45 PM on September 10, 2012
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posted by bottlebrushtree at 10:00 AM on September 10, 2012