The SaaS industry has increased rapidly over a few years, and it is going to grow more with predicted global revenue of $208 billion by 2023 (Gartner Forecast).
A Major boost in demand for SaaS (software as a service) has been observed in the past few years.
Therefore, this industry is going to shine like a star in the future.
When it comes to making sales, SaaS providers have access to a vast array of tools, including online demo platforms, sales intelligence platform, customer relationship management systems (CRMs), marketing intelligence tools, invoice generator and many more.
This allows them to cultivate tighter ties with their clientele.
The end time of the year is generally a stress-free time for people but for software companies the holiday season may be very hectic as it is a golden opportunity for them to generate sales.
During this period, they pass through a hectic schedule.
The organizations of the SaaS world generate huge revenue during this time, and they always try innovative approaches to attract their customers like running a holiday giveaway, promoting special offers, creating holiday referral programs, running loyalty promotions, etc.
All companies are trying their best to make their SaaS popular among customers.
What is SaaS?
Software as a service is a model that provides software applications to users via the internet as a subscription service.
You don't have to bother with installing and maintaining software since you access it over the internet, liberating you from the complexities of managing both software and hardware.
Software as a service application may also be referred to as web-based software, available on demand, or hosted software.
No matter what they are called, apps offered as a service are continuously operated on the service provider's servers.
If you think of a bank as an analogy for the SaaS model, you'll have a better idea of how it works.
Banks are beautiful examples since they maintain their customers' confidentiality while still offering dependable and safe services on a large scale.
Implementing SaaS solutions can streamline this process, providing seamless and scalable software management directly over the internet.
Another example SaaS solution is easy form building tool, POWR form builder that lets you easily design personalized contact forms, quote forms, sales forms, and more for your website - without programming knowledge or a steep learning curve. Works with the new Storefront drag-and-drop page builder.
What is SaaS Sales Cycle?
The SaaS sales cycle generally depends on some factors.
For example, if you are selling costly SaaS products so during the time of purchase more decision-makers may be included on the buyer’s side.
This can make little bit lengthier to you sales cycle.
First of all, you will have to think about the cost of your software, the second thing you have to decide is how long you would like to contract with the customer for your product.
Next, you will have to decide how long you’d like to do a contract with your client. The average length of a sales cycle is 84 days, some other points you can also include:
- Cross-sell and Upsell income
- One-time charges like training fees
- Clients churn rate
- The annual contract value of every contract can be put together
The third important point, if you realize that your sales cycle period is too long then you can execute some steps to shorten it:
- Sales content management with the help of a lead generation expert.
- You can offer a free trial of one week to 30 days to your users.
- Inspire your advertising team to share educational content around the latest market channels before leading outreach.
In the end, if you are not being able to shorten your sales cycle so you can make sure to design it into your budget from the starting point.
If you can't do it, then it can seriously affect your sales targets or may be possible that you will have to struggle to reach your goal.
Get Ready with Special Days Sales and Promotions
You can create unique offers and promotions for the customer for some special days to boost your sales of SaaS products.
For instance, we are currently choosing black Friday as a special day here so special techniques you can execute are given below:
- Black Friday is considered a very important and reputable day, so you can demonstrate the objective of your product and how your product can solve the problems of customers and you can post it with your special offers on social media or other platforms. This approach can create trust among the users and your post can get huge views on this special day. It's also important to remember that if you have a social media scheduler, you can set up Black Friday social media posts months in advance.
- Lots of customers will be glancing for adequate products on this special day. Packaging plays a very important role to attract the customers. Custom rigid boxes wholesale for your delicate products is a great option. So, there will be a presence of a Huge Audience, so you have to execute a perfect satisfactory campaign successfully which may be fruitful for your product.
Take Time to Thank Your Old Customers
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Customers and their loyalty are too precious for any business, and it simply means in terms of business that the user keeps using your software instead of another competitor.
If you contact the customer then he will feel how important he is to you and you can show appreciation for their choice to keep utilizing your software.
This is one of the best ways to keep maintaining your SaaS sales.
During the holiday season, your competitors can display the promotions so at that time you can give the time to thank as well as engage with your old and faithful customers. And it can avoid churn.
So finally, it may be a win-win situation for your tool.
Increase Your Online Presence
You can get ready to post suitable offers for your SaaS product on diverse kinds of social media platforms.
These platforms may be the best source of marketing for your product just because of a substantial number of daily users on these platforms.
You can create unique styles of campaigns to attract customers on these platforms.
You can bring in new clients and pique their interest in what you have to offer if you provide content that is both intriguing and useful.
To grab your audience’s attention, you can always schedule social media posts during the time when they are most active.
Furthermore, your engagement on different social media platforms as well as your campaigns can create a positive impression on revenue and boost the sales of your SaaS products.
You also will be able to hike in sales if you apply the campaign and execute all the things properly.
To understand which marketing campaign produces the most sales opportunities and revenue you can integrate Google Analytics with Salesforce.
Run a Holiday Referral Campaign
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Sales in one week by providing a limited-time lifetime plan during a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale, when shoppers anticipate seeing the most significant bargains of the year.
Because subscribing to the lifetime plan rewards customer commitment, the sales offer did not merely result in an immediate spike in revenue.
Customers who subscribe to the lifetime plan also have an average lifetime value of 1.5 to 2 times greater.
Instead of paying a set amount each month, clients may pay just for the service they use under this model, which is popular among businesses that sell or provide low-priced goods or services.
Customers need to perceive your product's value before being prepared to purchase; therefore, a primary and easy-to-understand price structure is essential to making this model work.
Nevertheless, while using the transactional sales model, it might be challenging to upsell or cross-sell clients on new services or items.
This is because customers have already made a purchase and may not be interested in shelling out further cash on SaaS development.
If you are thinking of using the transactional sales model, ensure that your pricing is straightforward and also that you have a method to track customer usage to identify future upselling or cross-selling opportunities.
If you follow these steps, you will have a better chance of success with the transactional sales model.
Run a Holiday Giveaway
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The giveaway for your SaaS product may be beneficial during the time of holiday season.
You can offer the holiday special giveaway so you will be able to get new customers and it will also keep your existing clients happy.
For example, you can offer premium plan memberships for a long period to attract customers.
You can also ask your customer to share your content on social media and it can increase the chances of winning so they will happily share your plan on different platforms, and this can create a good buzz for your product.
Run a Limited-Time Lifetime Plan
You can offer lifetime deals for early adopters who are eager to pay you for the product and excited for a perpetual license so once they pay for your SaaS product you will provide lifetime access to them.
After that, there will be no need to pay for a monthly or annual subscription plan.
Offering a lifetime deal to the customers for which they will pay-once-and-use-forever, sounds exceptional for initial traction as well as cash flow.
Motionbox is one of the successful examples of this offer.
Focus on Upsells and Cross-Sells
After a potential customer has shown interest in your product, it is essential to follow up with them.
This demonstrates that you are interested in their company and are eager to assist them in achieving their goals.
It also allows you to respond to any inquiries they may have on the service you provide on SaaS development.
Cross-selling is a strategy aimed at offering new goods to a current client.
At the same time, upselling is a strategy designed to sell a more feature-rich (and costly) product edition to an existing customer.
Both of these methods are developed to boost revenue.
Create Your Festive Theme
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You can create a festival-based theme for the promotion of your SaaS product.
This strategy may be fruitful for your start-up. You can create different themes for various festivals like Christmas, Cyber Monday, Black Friday etc.
Suppose you want to create it for Christmas then first of all you will have to keep in mind that it should be great in appearance, and you can add a small attractive crown to your logo, and you don’t have to use the entire Christmas collection and your major focus should be on customer service.
If you could do all these things successfully in an attractive way, then it can boost the sale of your product.
Focus on Customer Service
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To sell more products or services to already existing clients is called upselling.
When you upsell, you provide your current clients more value by giving them additional products or services they may not have been aware of.
This allows you to earn more revenue from these consumers.
It is beneficial to have a dedicated account executive for your current clients to solve particular gaps, ultimately establishing loyalty and boosting the lifetime value of your consumers with great customer service.
You can use a customer feedback tool during your holiday season sales campaign, Survey tool collects information from your subscriber later you can analyze and conclude that data to improve your sales.
You can use it to collect information, act on feedback, and show your customers that you value their input.
Scalable Implementation of The Omnichannel
A capability that supports all kinds of fulfilment and allows searching at the shop or zip code level across all platforms and devices.
Merchandising platform designed for revenue boosts efficiency and allows merchandising teams to make choices guided by data with actionable insights.
The usage of social media is a vital tool that can be utilized to market your product and create leads.
You can bring in new clients and pique their interest in what you have to offer if you provide content that is both intriguing and useful.
Create a Halloween-Themed Email Marketing Campaign
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It’s essential to keep in mind that effective Halloween email marketing campaigns take an extended period as well as effort.
This method is completely dependent on the quality of the relationship or behavior you've made with your subscribers.
The possibility will be increased for the success of your campaign if you have built strong bonds with your customers.
You can categorize your Halloween email campaign into three steps which are given below:
- Pre-Halloween: You can create the campaign a few weeks before the Halloween period.
- Halloween: In this scenario, the campaign will run on Halloween and the days surrounding it.
- Post-Halloween: You can create the campaign after the few weeks of Halloween to attract clients.
Create Ad Campaigns
You can build the credibility of your product and organization by creating LinkedIn posts and other similar content that centers around helping your customers.
This will also attract potential customers and get them interested in what you have to offer, which will hit both product marketing and lead generation strategies at the same time.
Final Thoughts - Make SMART Goals
Set realistic goals. What do you want to accomplish with your SaaS holiday sales increase campaigns?
Make sure your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound.
What're the seasonal habits of your target SaaS customers? What do they respond best to? What're their problems?
The more you know about your target audience, the better you can design campaigns that resonate with them.
You also have to create a budget for your holiday campaign, you should have a rough figure in mind about, how much money you are going to spend on your campaign with both direct and indirect costs such as advertising, production, shipping, and customer service.
You will be able to reach a larger audience and create connections with prospective consumers if you make use of the cheap customer acquisition cost (CAC) of social media.
Upselling relies heavily on having first-rate customer service and support.
Not only does this reduce the rate at which customers leave your business, but it also displays that your organization prioritizes the success of your customers.
This helps to foster customer loyalty and encourages customers to try out more of your products and services.
Groovy Web has all the expertise and proficiency in terms of SaaS development, which makes it a highly regarded and popular company in the industry.
Author Bio
Bhagavati is a technical content writer currently working at Groovyweb.co, writing about SaaS, marketing, web development and cloud solutions. When not writing, he tries to discover more about web technologies and the natural formations in the sky.