Seth Godin wrote this today:
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“Some people say that marketing doesn’t work on them. That all they want is a good product, a fair price, and they’ll be on their way.
But that’s a marketing story as well.
Who decided what ‘good’ was? And ‘fair’? Your preference for the straightforward is still a preference. Your expectations for what you need are simply yours.
It’s all a story.
Great marketers don’t invent frills and fluff in order to create value. Great marketers have the wisdom to know that they will be judged and the practical empathy to go to where those that would judge them are.”
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To which I’d love to add a couple of things. This applies generally when we talk about marketing but naturally as we go down the crevasses of some industries, things differ a bit.
Which is the case for SaaS. “Good” and “fair” have a much stronger meaning in our industry, since we’re talking about analytical people on both sides of the deal (both the buyer and the seller).
Therefore a certain phenomenon doesn’t really happen in SaaS: competing mainly on price.
Maybe it does but we don’t get to hear about it. I’m not sponsored at all by Basecamp since I keep on mentioning them but they’re a popular example that I can use since lots of us know them:
The column on the right is competing on price — but that’s not everything. They show that you’ll get what these people do in a cheaper manner BUT the main thing is that you have Google Suite, Dropbox, Asana Premium and Slack all-in-one.
Yes, add on top of that the story and personality. The “frills and fluff” that Seth mentions and the empathy to understand that their audience will respond to the smiley face in their logo and the pastel colours.
So how do we translate Seth’s thoughts to SaaS?
It’s simple. Since you’re in this industry, you’re very likely to sell to people who are into tech (no need to explain that).
What are the “frills and fluff” that will work on them? And by work I don’t mean they’re some magical spells that will manipulate them to your advantage. I mean something that will work like the smiley face in Basecamp works for young ambitious programmers whose missions are to change the world into a better place.
They won’t react too well to Microsoft’s pitch — Microsoft is looking at multi-billion corporate deals, where the other party is wearing a black/navy suit and tie.
The same way the people in suits won’t really take Basecamp seriously.
Which side of this multi-faceted market is yours? There’s enough space for you to exist, except in one case: if you don’t pick a side. No one sits on the pointy end of a pyramid.
And to sit on the pointy end of a pyramid would mean to not pick an audience, saying “I sell to everyone”.
About Ch Daniel
I run Chagency_, an experiences design agency — we help SaaS CEOs reduce user churn. I write daily on this topic and in similar areas. Here are my best pieces.
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I’ve also founded an app that went 0-200K users in its 1st year — chdaniel.com/app
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Picture credits: Fromsquare Studio
