SaaS marketing strategies for lead generation, email marketing, demand generation and more

So, you’ve created an excellent SaaS product. Now, it’s time to promote it to potential customers and start selling it.

To do this, you’ll need an agile SaaS marketing and lead generation strategy. One that concisely explains why you’re the only option for stakeholders and positions your brand as an industry leader.

But where do you start?

Well, as a B2B email marketing agency and SaaS lead generation experts, we’ve sent millions of emails. And, it’s safe to say we know a thing or two about what works and what doesn’t. So, we thought we would use this experience to explain how lead gen works specifically for SaaS companies.

Here, we explore what SaaS lead generation is, the tasks you need to complete to ensure your strategy is watertight and the tactics you can employ to ensure your business stands out.

Before we start, here is a quick disclaimer: This guide uses various tech industries to explain how strategies work. If you work for or run a SaaS company, your audience might not be other tech firms – they could be small businesses or project managers. But, regardless of who you target, the strategy largely remains the same.

What is SaaS lead generation?

Lead generation as a SaaS provider is all about identifying, targeting, and attracting customers who might be interested in or benefit from your expertise and offering and converting these people into paying customers.

B2B SaaS lead generation involves strategic digital marketing designed to engage with desired customers and encourage them to schedule a demo or book an appointment. This process typically includes:

• Identifying leads: Find your target audience, those who’ll benefit from your SaaS product.
• Engaging leads: Gain their interest with relevant content in cold emails, social media, content and case studies.
• Nurturing leads: Use webinars, demos and introductory offers to encourage the most engaged leads to paying customers:
• Retaining leads: Once they’re on board, it’s all about providing the best customer experience and service to build long-term relationships.

Want to find out more? Read our ultimate guide to B2B lead generation.

What are the different types of leads?

Before we start considering how to attract leads’ interest, it’s good to know what qualifies as one. There are three different types of leads, these are:

1. Sales-qualified leads (SQL): These are hot leads. People in this category have interacted with a sales representative and understand their needs and how your product can help them, making them more likely to convert.
2. Marketing-qualified leads (MQL): These are warm leads. They’ve shown some interest, e.g. by signing up for a free trial or downloading a case study/whitepaper, but they need more nurturing before committing to your product.
3. Product qualified lead (PQL): These are as hot as SQL leads. PQLs have already engaged with your product, e.g. by offering a free trial or plan. They know how your product can help them and are keen on its capabilities.

Learn more by reading our guide on MQLs vs SQLs.

Lead generation for SaaS companies: a prospecting strategy

Here’s a look at how the prospecting and lead generation process works for SaaS companies, breaking down the key steps you need to nail to run a successful campaign that actually moves the needle for your business.

1. Set SMART goals for SaaS lead generation efforts

The first thing you need to do is define your business goals. This means setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) goals to ensure your lead generation strategy has a purpose.

Instead of increasing revenue or leads, a SMART goal could be to ‘increase the number of conversions from email marketing by 20% over the next quarter’.

These goals can also be tied to other KPIs, like reducing customer acquisition costs and improving ROIs.

Using SMART goals ensures your lead generation efforts are measurable and effective. They also give your marketing efforts more focus and a tangible target.

2. Mapping your total addressable market

When prospecting SaaS companies, mapping your total addressable market is a great place to start. At this early point, we are only looking to contact prospects or find a little more information than the market size. 

Let’s say we have a large pool of tech companies to target with our product. We want to target any decision-maker in firms with under 500 employees, including the whole C-suite and a few other top business leaders.

Without some pretty nifty software, calculating the market from that information would be rather tricky. Thankfully, we have a totally free market map generator that provides this breakdown.

It also gives us the summary below, highlighting the prospects you can target as part of your SaaS campaign. If this is too big of an audience, we will work with the client to refine targeting efforts and hone in on potential customers.

Email marketing lead generation for SaaS companies

Before an email is sent, we must deal with the technical side of things. Continuing with the example above, sending over 158,000 emails carries a significant threat and could damage your domain reputation if your email deliverability isn’t spot on.

Once the technical set-up is finalized, it’s time to write the emails. For an in-depth guide, see our golden rules of writing a prospecting email, but remember: you can’t convince someone to buy in the first email. 

Instead, you should focus on organizing a call and convincing the prospect face-to-face (or screen-to-screen).

Leave out jargon, too. While this might be challenging, you want to avoid alienating prospects by using technical terms or overcomplicating your messaging.

When’s the best time to send emails to SaaS companies?

To answer this, we dug deep into our data archive. Analysing over 2.5 million prospecting emails and breaking them down into different industries to calculate the best time to send sales emails to tech firms.

The best time to send sales prospecting emails to a tech company is between 10 and 11am on Tuesdays. 

During this magical hour, we see a lead rate of 5.55%. And, while potential customers aren’t always as receptive as they are on a Tuesday, the 10-11am slot gets the highest lead rate on each day of the week.

IT professionals seem to knock off early (or are just too tied up by the end of the day to answer emails) as the lowest open rates are all clustered between 3-5 pm each day. Hey, they’re a busy bunch; we’re not judging!

Content marketing strategies for lead generation

According to Demand Wave’s State of Digital Marketing Report, which surveyed 179 B2B senior marketing executives, 63% of respondents said email and organic search were the biggest revenue drivers.

This means your content strategy needs to be up to scratch. Here’s how to do it.

Use content marketing and SEO to reach relevant audiences

Content marketing should be integral to your prospecting activities because it can be a cost-effective way of generating leads and reaching potential customers.

Well-written content that addresses your target market’s pain points and ranks high on search engine results pages (SERPs) will organically reach your audience as they search for solutions.

This also establishes your SaaS company as an authority in its space, vital for building trust and positioning your brand as an industry leader.

When you write content, make sure it’s optimized for uber-relevant long-tail keywords. This will attract high-quality leads looking for your expertise.

For more information on how content marketing can upgrade your lead generation, read our full guide.

Digital marketing strategies for SaaS lead generation

Adopting digital marketing strategies is crucial for generating leads and creating a buzz around your business. 

With such a huge pool of potential customers online looking for solutions on LinkedIn, you need to tap into their problems and create relevant, engaging solutions.

Host industry webinars to generate leads

Webinars are an excellent way to engage and educate potential customers while showcasing your expertise. Hosting a webinar gives you a chance to provide valuable insights that solve your audience’s problems and position your SaaS company as a trusted authority.

To maximize your webinar lead generation, optimise your landing pages to capture prospect data effectively, including clear value propositions and simple sign-up forms.

After the webinar, follow up with attendees by sending thank-you emails that include key takeaways or an exclusive offer to keep them engaged.

Webinars also offer the opportunity to build relationships with potential customers. Consider organising Q&A sessions, live demos, or thought leadership panels. Each interaction helps foster trust and encourages prospects to move further along the sales funnel.

Leverage social media and email marketing for lead generation

Social media and email marketing are essential tools for SaaS lead generation. Platforms like LinkedIn and X enable you to connect directly with your target audience, establish authority, and share valuable content that resonates with their needs.

Email marketing complements this by nurturing those connections. Through carefully crafted campaigns, you can educate leads about your product, demonstrate how it addresses their pain points, and provide case studies or testimonials to build trust.

Personalisation is paramount when using email marketing for lead generation. Tailor your messaging to your lead’s specific interests or behaviors, and include strong calls-to-action (CTAs) to encourage the next step, whether booking a demo or signing up for a trial.

Psssst…check out our complete guide to LinkedIn lead generation and tips on using LinkedIn with email prospecting to take your connection game from ‘meh’ to ‘phwoaar’.

Demand generation for SaaS providers

Outbound lead generation and marketing, like emails and PPC activity, is important for building brand awareness, but this must also be supplemented by inbound marketing, including keyword-optimized content and landing pages. 

One reason to prioritize inbound marketing is that it creates awareness and demand for your product and service. 

Create valuable resources to capture leads

In addition to giving away free content via a blog, you should reel prospects in with gated content in the form of ebooks, whitepapers, and guides in exchange for contact information.

These should provide valuable insights and showcase expertise, emphasizing your SaaS company’s trust and credibility.

Optimise landing pages to maximise conversions

Your landing pages play a pivotal role in converting traffic into leads. A high-performing page will communicate your offering clearly and concisely and include a prominent, action-oriented CTA that guides users toward conversion.

Minimise form fields to lower friction and boost sign-ups. For example, asking only for essential information, like names and emails, can significantly increase completion rates.

Regular testing is crucial for improving conversion rates. A/B test different headlines, images, and button placements to find what resonates most with your audience. With each version, you’ll gain valuable insights that lead to better performance and more conversions.

Referral and partnership strategies for SaaS growth

According to Neilsen Trust, 88% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know more than other forms of marketing. So it’s essential you’re leveraging this marketing to generate leads. 

The most common ways of doing this are by helping your clients create a buzz, e.g. by offering exceptional service and other schemes, or by collaborating with businesses also used by your target market. 

Interested in using referral marketing to generate better leads? Read our guide.

Implement a referral scheme to drive word-of-mouth marketing

Referrals are among the most effective sources of high-quality leads for SaaS companies. By incentivising existing customers to refer your product to others, you can harness the power of word-of-mouth marketing to expand your customer base organically.

A well-designed referral program rewards existing customers, making them more likely to sign up in the future and building trust with new prospects. Referred leads are more likely to convert because they come with a built-in endorsement from someone they trust.

Keep your incentive simple and transparent. Whether it’s a discount, an account credit, or another reward, ensure it aligns with your customer’s needs and preferences to encourage participation.

Partner with other businesses to expand reach

Collaborating with other businesses in niches like yours is a powerful way to reach new audiences and generate leads. These partnerships can take many forms, such as co-branded content, joint webinars, or cross-promotional campaigns.

For example, if your SaaS company specializes in project management software, you could find a partner with a time-tracking tool to create an integrated solution or co-host a webinar on productivity best practices. Collaborations like these add value for both audiences while strengthening your credibility.

To ensure success, identify businesses with a similar target audience that don’t compete directly with your offering, providing mutual benefit and maximizing lead generation potential.

Measuring and optimising lead generation efforts

Effective marketing strategies must include actions relating to monitoring and realigning campaigns. Otherwise, you risk ignoring valuable insights from your target market and affecting your ROI. 

Track and measure lead generation efforts

Ensure you’re using analytics and tracking tools to monitor KPIs like conversion, email open rates, and lead engagement levels.

Leverage these insights to refine your approach. For example, if a particular email campaign isn’t performing, test new subject lines or adjust the content to better address your audience’s needs.

CRM and marketing platforms are significant in this process. They help you manage leads efficiently, track their journey through the sales funnel, and automate repetitive tasks, leaving you more time for strategic planning.

By embracing a data-driven mindset, you can optimise your lead generation efforts, achieve greater efficiency, and drive results.

Sales prospecting benchmarks for tech companies

At Sopro, we believe in transparency. So, we publish all of our campaign results on our site. They are anonymised to protect our clients’ business interests but are segmented by industry.

This means we can dig into the industries we entered into our market map to see what sort of lead rates and average cost-per-lead information we can expect from tech firms.

Prospecting Nanotech companies is fruitful, with a lead rate of 7.7% and a cost per lead of £26.48. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty niche market, so it won’t be applicable to many. Computer hardware earns a lead rate of over 3% and a CPL of under £70.

At the other end of our lead gen spectrum, Internet companies and Computer networking both have a cost per lead of just over £100 and a lead rate of only just over 2%.

Prospecting for tech companies has its challenges, as these lead rates are below our all-industry average.

Case study: sales prospecting for tech

iTacit is a Canadian platform simplifying employee communication, training, and compliance. Their innovative offering connects frontline teams with the tools they need but doesn’t fit neatly into traditional market categories. This made reaching their target audience challenging.

Our team was brought in to deliver a ready-made source of leads, giving iTacit the space to focus on product development and internal growth while maintaining momentum in business development.

“Sopro was a really great way for us to plug and play into a proven business development program and not lose ground on demand generation, while giving us the time to build up our internal business development functions.”
Teri Maltais | Marketing Director at iTacit

Sopro tested multiple messaging strategies, adapting based on performance insights and reporting regularly on outcomes. This tailored approach, combined with our data analytics, identified the most responsive market segments, ensuring iTacit could engage with high-value prospects effectively.

With Sopro managing outreach seamlessly, iTacit gained actionable insights and a steady flow of qualified leads, achieving a 2% lead rate, a cost per lead of £214, and an expanded sales pipeline.

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If SaaS or tech companies are your B2B target market and you want to outsource lead generation to an expert multi-channel marketing agency, you’ve come to the right place. Our award-winning service has revolutionized prospecting for 10 years.

Contact us today to discuss how our B2B lead generation agency could drive leads into your pipeline. We also offer lead generation services for marketing and advertising agencies, and act as a lead generation agency for professional training and coaching services, a lead generation agency for ISPs and broadband providers, and more.

Or, if you’re looking for more guidance, take a look at our blog. Our B2B email marketing experts have compiled guides on everything you need to know about lead generation on prospecting, including information on lead generation challenges, the link between email open rates and lead rates and using referral markets to generate better leads.