Enterprise B2B SaaS marketing refers to the strategies and tactics used to promote and sell Software as a Service (SaaS) products to large businesses or enterprises, rather than individual consumers.
Enterprise B2B SaaS products are the most difficult to sell and typically have the longest buying cycles, but they also have the highest ROI and potential sales value.
Enterprise B2B SaaS products can come in many forms but they have some common attributes:
A common characteristic of enterprise B2B SaaS products is that they are used company-wide. This is what makes them so important and why they can be difficult to buy and implement. These are tools like CRM systems and employee HR tools, they are often managed by central teams but they can have thousands of end-users within the organisation.
Enterprise SaaS products usually have to be deeply embedded into the inner workings of a large organisation. They don't often work in isolation and sometimes require being connected into secure systems with sensitive data. These integrations can often be custom in nature and have their own costs.
More often than not an enterprise system is championed by one person or team within a large organisation. But when it comes to purchasing and implementing the software it can start to involve many different stakeholders in the business. This can slow the process down, sometimes to the point where people leave and the relationships breakdown and never return.
Enterprise B2B SaaS products can be difficult to sell, but for good reason as the average contract value of an enterprise SaaS product can be in the hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions. This can mean that ROI when it comes to some marketing channels can be ridiculously high, especially if you are using inbound marketing for your enterprise SaaS product.
Lengthy and complex buyer journeys are the norm in enterprise B2B SaaS. This is down to the value of the deal, the complexity of implementation and the number stakeholders involved. There is unsurprisingly a correlation between the number of people involved in the decision making process and the length of the journey. One of the biggest challenges companies face is maintaining client relationships as employees leave on both sides of a long process.
A high -touch sales process means that sales are in constant communication with a potential buyer. This is nearly always true in enterprise deals as the value warrants a white-glove approach. The cost of acquiring a new customer including the cost of the sales team is often eclipsed by the value of the deal. There is however a significant challenge for companies to high and retain employees that can add value to the buying process and have enough industry experience to help deals get over the line.
Here are some examples of SaaS products that sit in the category of team-specific. These are tools that are typically used in specific teams within a business and often require collaboration and integrations with other software tools in the same space.
Salesforce is arguably the original SaaS company. They of course self more than just enterprises but they are a good example of an enterprise B2B SaaS product that is used by many multinationals
Workday combines HR, Finance and Planning into one enterprise tool. A perfect example of an enterprise B2B SaaS product that isn't really relevant or accessible to small businesses.
Citrix is a technology product used by many enterprise companies enabling IT services to deliver applications to teams across the globe whilst maintaining and enforcing the proper security measures.
Marketing strategies for enterprise B2B SaaS products require heavier investment because of the value of the deals.
Typically the sales cycle is long and can involve multiple stakeholders. The main challenge of marketing for these companies is the upfront investment required to attain new customers. Often your Customer Acquisition Costs can be fairly high once everything is taken into consideration.
A lot of marketings time and money can be spent on sales enablement when working with enterprise companies. This usually involved helpeing create content specific for certain buyers and personalising website content based on account based marketing campaigns.
Enterprise B2B SaaS marketing targets the promotion and sale of Software as a Service products specifically to large companies.
This form of marketing addresses complex decision-making processes and emphasizes tailored strategies like account-based marketing, content marketing, and CRM.
The main aim is to engage multiple stakeholders within the enterprise, showcasing the software’s scalability, security, and customization to meet their specific needs and drive long-term engagement.
There are lots of challenges that come with enterprise marketing and marketers can get often get caught up in high-touch ABM strategies and lose sight of implementing proven strategies like Inbound Marketing.
At B2B Hackers we speciliase in providing knowledge and support for B2B SaaS companies. Whether that's through useful guides and templates or our recommended list of B2B SaaS specialist agencies we're here to help.
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