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Forum Ventures Playbook: Early Stage B2B SaaS Marketing Plan

Alexis Clarfield-Henry

Forum Ventures Playbook: Early Stage B2B SaaS Marketing Plan

Platform Playbook: Early-Stage B2B SaaS Marketing Plan

For a B2B SaaS founder, your product and technology are crucial. But so is marketing. In the beginning, it's about understanding your customer, crafting a compelling value proposition, and developing strategies that will earn their trust and business. Think of marketing as the bridge between your technology and the customers who don't yet know how much they need it.

With limited time and resources, building your brand and launching a marketing strategy can often fall to the wayside and can be overlooked as a crucial priority in building your business.

As a founder, you might not have had exposure to sales and marketing, or even know where to start. Thats what we’re here for. The purpose of this playbook is to provide you with the tools and templates required to launch your B2B Marketing strategy to garner brand awareness for your company, build a loyal customer base, and establish you as an expert in your sector.

3 Key Points

There is no one-size-fits-all strategy.

‍What worked for someoneelse might not work for you.What worked for you 3 yearsago might not work today orin a different industry.

There are infinite paths to success.

‍The world is not black andwhite. Before defining yourgo-to-market strategy, youshould assess your strengthsand weaknesses and adaptyour plan to them.

Start simple.

‍If you are very early, andlooking for your first fewcustomers via founder leadsales, the first section is foryou - you aren’t ready for afull marketing plan yet.

“With a SaaS product, typically, you want to get a repeatable sales model in place first and then layer on marketing to crisp up the story and start using new channels to drive leads. Usually that’s around the same time you’ve solidified the go-to-market motion and started looking for a sales leader to take over for the founder.” - Arielle Jackson, Head of marketing at First Round capital

Very Early: Founder-Led Sales

First off, if you haven’t raised capital yet, and it's just the founding team, the only things that are going to matter are things that impact the immediate near term. Those things are:

1. Messaging Framework

2. Simple Website

3. Social Accounts

4. Content Pillars

5. Sales Deck

6. Cold Outreach

Messaging Framework

Your messaging framework will be the starting place for all of your sales and marketing assets by tying all content back to your main value proposition.

1. Describe Your Product.

Describe your product and the problem you are trying to solve in 1-2 sentences

• "Uber is a tech company that connects the physical and digital worlds to help make movement happen at the tap of a button." • "Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM platform that centralizes customer information to enhance relationships and business opportunities"

2. Identify your top 3 Value Propositions:

• How does your product help customers operate faster or more efficiently? How does it save them time and money?

• How does your product help customers operate better? How does it reduce cost? How does it make their lives easier? • How does your product help customers grow and scale? How does it help them increase sales or acquire more revenue?

3.Highlight proof points for each value proposition

• "ProductX saves customers time by automating manual and inefficient processes, enabling sales teams to spend time on what really matters" "ProductX helps ecommerce brands run their supply chains – Develop seasons, manage production and connect your factories, all in one place." "ProductX enables non-technical teams to build no-code tech solutions with the click of a button"

Website

The type of company you're building will influence your website. Most of you right now, are doing founder-led sales. A template for a good one-page website is here and a more developed website template can be found here. Use these templates, or something similar to guide your website wireframe. Ultimately, a web page (and especially the home page) should have a single purpose: getting a visitor to take one of 3 actions:

1. Explore the rest of your site

Getting them to dive into a specific use case and persona pages, learn about your team, explore case studies, or tutorials.

2. Try the product

Self-serve motions will continue to spread in B2B Getting a free user to an early "aha moment" can go a long way towards building trust.

3. Book a demo

Having 30+ minutes of undivided attention leaves room to really go deep into your differentiated value.

Best practices

• Strong hero shots that showcase product and its value add

• Single and focused call to action

• Clearly state value prop with compelling header and subhead

• Outline features and benefits (emphasis on the latter)

• Include testimonials and other forms of social proof to show customer satisfaction

Platforms to build your website: Webflow / Wix / Squarespace / Wordpress

Social Accounts

You must have a company presence on the main social channels to create brand awareness. LinkedIn is important for your company because it's able to be a place for your employees to recognize themselves as members of staff within the company.

Having a company LinkedIn is great for brand repertoire. You're able to showcase yourself and the business in the professional world. LinkedIn is used by most B2B professionals, so it's important to have a strong presence here. It is also another platform where you can share information that might not be on your actual website.

Create LinkedIn and Twitter profiles at the minimum.

• Create a LinkedIn company page here

• Create a Twitter Business Page here

Design header image and write description

• How to write a compelling 'About' section here

• Header and Logo Image Specifications here

• Header image templates here

Learn Best Practices

• Learn best practices for setting up your social accounts here and here

Content Pillars

Content pillars are key topics or themes that help to lay out your overall content strategy. They're the heart of what you'll cover on your digital and social media platforms.

Content marketing isn't going to do much in the immediate near term, but by doing this, you have blog posts and content for a few months, that can be done in a few hours. A template for creating content pillars is here.

Basic Outline for Content Pillars

• Your audience's problem

• The Impact of that problem

• The market - why now?

• Current solutions + issues • Your solution

• Proof points and value of your solution

To determine your content pillars, think about your brand and the categories you fall into. If you just met someone, how would you describe your business and what your service/products bring to the table? Establish yourself as an expert on one or a few things and build trust with specific people.

Use ChatGPT to assist in writing these pieces, or outsource to a freelancer on Fiverr or Upwork. GPT prompts here.

i.e. If you are in ecommerce, you might talk about the rise in return logistics costs and shifting consumer demands. If you are in fintech, you might talk about simple investing strategies or the difference between various savings accounts.

Frequency

• You don't need to be creating content daily. Create a set schedule (i.e. the first of every month) and remain consistent.

• Map out topics in advance so you aren't struggling or rushing to create something. Batch-create blog posts and content a few at a time so you have content for a 1-2 months in advance.

• Schedule your posts in advance. With Linkedin, Hootsuite, Later, or Hubspot, you can pre-schedule your content to publish on specific days. Set aside 1-2 hours at the beginning of the month and schedule everything.

Sales Deck

You will need a sales deck with your key messaging and value propositions.

• Template can be found here

Cold Sales Outreach

The unfortunate nature of sales is that you will have to do cold outreach to your targetted customer segments to build your sales pipeline.

• Linkedin Outreach templates and best practices here

• Email Outreach templates and Best Practices here

B2B SaaS Marketing Plan: Early Signs of Product Market Fit

Once you've raised a little bit of capital and are starting to see early-signs of product market fit, then you can start thinking about a marketing plan. Here's how to start:

1. Define Your Goals

Having a clear roadmap for your business is crucial for success. Setting both short- and long-term goals provides you with a direction and helps maintain focus.

• Understand why you are doing what you're doing and where you hope to be in the short- and long-term.

• What do you want to achieve in 3, 6, and 12 months?

2. KPIs and Analytics

Monitoring the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will show you if your marketing efforts are effective. It's about making data-driven decisions to refine your strategies.

• Set clear, measurable KPIs. What can you measure to test if your efforts are moving the needle?

• Great KPIs to track at this stage are: website users, social engagement, content downloads, newsletter subscribers etc. Use tools like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, or HubSpot to track. Learn how to set up Google Analytics here and here

3. Market and Competitor Analysis

A well-informed understanding of your market and competition is pivotal for business growth. It helps you identify opportunities and threats and adapt your strategies accordingly.

• Understand your market size, growth rate, and trends.

• What are others in the market talking about? What are the hot topics that people are thinking about in your space?

• What can you differentiate on?

• Analyze top competitors: strengths, weaknesses, market share, and positioning.

• Templates and best practices for competitor analysis here

4. Budget

Having a well-defined budget is important for resource allocation. Even with limited funds, various free and paid channels can be effectively used for marketing. Marketing budget templates here. Prioritize channels and campaigns based on your goals and audience. If you're a B2B company, LinkedIn and email will likely be the channels you want to focus on. If your target market and ICP are younger, or your product is visually appealing, TikTok might be the way to go.

Free Channels

• Social media marketing

• Email marketing (Mailchimp and other email marketing tools have a free version that has many capabilities)

• Reach out to Podcasts to be a guest

Paid Channels

• Newsletter ad placements - ranges from $500-2000 per ad placement Paid social media marketing - ranges from $100/week to as high as you want

5. Identify your Target Customer

Knowing your customer is the foundation of any successful marketing strategy. Create profiles that help you understand their needs, pain points, and decision- making processes.

Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Create your ICP using the Framework here and here.

INDUSTRY: Why does this industry care about our solution? Is this industry ready for a disruptive technology? Why? Why Now? Why us?

GEOGRAPHY: Why this Geography specifically? What about this Geography is a better fit than alternatives?

REVENUE: Does companies at this size benefit from our solution? Does the department I'm targeting have budget at this revenue? How much?

EMPLOYEE COUNT: How long for companies at this size to pay you? How big is the team I'm targeting at a company this size? Is it large enough?

KEY OBJECTIVES: What problems are target customers trying to solve? How does my solution solve those problems? Why us, why now?

TECH STACK: What does an ideal tech stack look like? Why? Are modifications required to use your product? Why/why not?

Buyer Personas

Understanding your customers is key to effective marketing. Creating detailed buyer personas helps you customize your messaging, products, and strategy based on your target audience's specific needs and preferences to give you the insights to attract, engage, and convert your ideal customers. Develop buyer personas for each person and stage in the buyer's journey. Template for persona journey mapping here

• Pain Points: What are their challenges?
• Success Metrics: How do they measure success?
• Decision making: What drives them to make decisions?
• Communication: What's their preferred channel? What language do they speak?

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6. Value Proposition and Messaging Framework

Communicating your product's value effectively can make or break a sale. Your messaging should resonate with the customer and address their specific needs at different stages.

• Craft a compelling value proposition.

• Map out key messages for different stages of the buyer journey. (see “Messaging Framework” section above)

• Create content that addresses the concerns and questions of each of your personas.

7. Brand Building

Building a strong brand helps to differentiate your business in a crowded marketplace. It's not just about visuals but also about what your company stands for and how it communicates. Think about your favourite brands and how they consistently convey their values through various channels.

Voice

Clearly state your company's values, mission, and promise. Articulate what you stand for, look credible, and instill trust

Value-Added Thought Leadership

Share industry insights, trends, and best practices. Guide for Thought leadership here.

Consistency

Ensure all touchpoints reflect your brand.

Visuals

Develop a consistent and professional visual identity.

Inbound Marketing

Content Marketing

Effective content marketing is essential for establishing your brand's authority and attracting a loyal audience. A well-structured content calendar can help you manage and deliver diverse types of valuable content.

• Develop a content calendar. Refer to the provided links for in-depth strategies.

• Types: Articles, webinars, eBooks, videos, infographics, and newsletters. • Use Canva or Visme to create stunning graphics and ebooks

SEO Strategy

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a long-term investment that can drive organic traffic to your website. Researching and optimizing for relevant keywords will make your site more accessible to your target audience.

• Research keywords. Utilize tools like SEMRush, Aherfs, and Moz, Google Adwords, or Ubersuggest

• Beginners Guide to SEO

• Data Driven SEO Strategies

• Google Search Console

Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the most direct ways to communicate with both potential and existing customers. From building your mailing list to sending consistent newsletters, it's a scalable way to engage and convert your audience. Set up a free account on Hubspot or Mailchimp to build and manage your lists.

• Build your mailing list from day one. It will be small at the beginning, but will get bigger over time, and with consistency.

• Send out a newsletter with consistency. Don't wait for your list to be huge before you start mailing them. It doesn't need to be weekly, even once per month is ok. Pick your cadence and stick to it

• Share product updates and educational content. Send your customers useful tips to be more successful and let them know when new features are released.

• Create lead nurturing sequences. It's great to have people download your ebooks or join a webinar, but after this first action, you want to set up a workflow to let them discover your SaaS product and convert into paid users.

• Maintain Email List Hygiene

• Clean up your list regularly to get rid of old emails, update job titles and maintain engagement rates.

Paid Marketing

While paid marketing can accelerate growth, it needs to be approached carefully, especially for startups or businesses with limited budgets. The focus should initially be on organic growth on platforms where your target market hangs out, moving to paid channels as you better understand your audience and ROI metrics. Start small and test different campaigns.

Paid Channels:

• Newsletter Ad placements

• Google Ads

• Paid Social Media Marketing • Podcast Ads

Before you start with a paid strategy, define what success looks like for that campaign and crate KPIs for the campaign (i.e. CTR, conversion rate, demo submissions, etc.)

Social Media Marketing

Social Networks are for humans. A CEO with a strong personal brand can be 10x more effective than the company's Facebook page, especially on Linkedin and Twitter. Your Social media strategy will only be as strong as your content marketing is. You need to feed your target audience with high-value content (quality over quantity ALWAYS)

• Focus on platforms favored by B2B, like LinkedIn and Twitter.

• Engage personally and professionally.

• Your content strength dictates your social media impact.

• Use Hootsuite, Later, Buffer or Hubspot to manage social publishing and pre- schedule content to be published to your platforms. Use Mention for social listening.

Analytics

You can't improve what you don't measure. Put good analytics practices and processes in place before you start marketing so you can measure what's working and where you need to pivot.

• Regularly review your KPIs Track your progress on the key metrics you defined at the beginning. Are there any leading indicators that show your efforts are working?

• Test, measure and fail fast. Scale what is effective. Pivot what might not be working. Don't wait until a campaign is over to pivot and risk wasting time and/or money.

• Adjust strategies based on data.

• The numbers don't lie. Use the valuable data you are collecting to see how your efforts are working and take action against those insights.

• Don't reinvent the wheel. Use tools like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, or Hotjar and social analytics build into channels such as Linkedin and Twitter to understand user behaviors.

Conclusion

Starting is the hardest part. Once you've laid down the basics, refine, and iterate based on feedback and data. Embrace failures as they're just opportunities to learn and pivot. And always remember: the core of marketing is understanding and serving your customer.

Good luck on your journey!

What should you outsource?

If and when you think about hiring your first marketer, or outsourcing some of these tasks, below are some key considerations to keep in mind. Depending on your strategy / market / customer base, below are some of the most effective things to outsource to an agency or a new hire:

• Design: branding, website, social assets

• Content: pillar piece, blog, newsletter, whitepaper

• Social media: think about getting a part time intern or engaging with a freelance social media agency if you plan to leverage these channels a lot

• PR: news, announcements, events, thought leadership