How to Build a Marketing Strategy for B2B SaaS

B2B SaaS is a high-stakes, long-sales-cycle game, and without a clear strategy, your marketing efforts will struggle to deliver real ROI. In fact, 42% of B2B marketers say a lack of quality data is their biggest barrier to lead generation, according to Statista. That makes a focused strategy not just helpful, but essential.

These are the principles that set apart successful B2B SaaS companies from those endlessly optimizing without traction:

• Focus on your ideal customer profile
  You’re not marketing to everyone. Define your ideal customer and tailor your content, channels, and campaigns to address their specific needs and problems.
  
  

• Map your marketing efforts to the sales funnel
  With longer buying cycles and multiple stakeholders, your marketing plan must align with every stage of the customer journey, from awareness to decision.
  
  

• Build to enable sales
  In B2B SaaS, marketing and sales teams must operate as a single engine. Marketing efforts should arm your sales team with the tools, insights, and qualified leads they need to close.
  
  

• Test, optimize, repeat
  Data is your best friend. Strong strategies emerge from rapid feedback loops, continuous A/B testing, and understanding what drives results across every marketing campaign.
  
  

• Consistency wins
  Your content marketing strategy, social media marketing, and referral programs won’t succeed with scattered execution. A unified marketing approach turns short bursts into long-term growth.

Why B2B SaaS Marketing Plays by Its Own Rules

Marketing for B2B SaaS isn’t about going viral or chasing vanity metrics; it’s about guiding potential customers through a complex, often months-long decision-making process.

You’re not just creating awareness. You’re aligning multiple stakeholders, shortening the sales cycle, and proving long-term value at every stage.

Here’s what makes marketing for B2B SaaS different:

You’re selling transformation, not features.
Your ideal customers care less about what your product does and more about how it improves their workflow, saves time, or drives revenue.

It’s a team decision.
Most SaaS purchasing decisions involve 3–5 stakeholders. Your content needs to speak to the end user, the buyer, and the executive sponsor.

The funnel is longer.
From initial interest to closed deal, the marketing funnel can stretch across weeks, or even quarters. Your marketing plan needs to engage at every stage.

Retention is as important as acquisition.
With SaaS, customer lifetime value drives your growth. A content marketing strategy that supports customer experience and customer retention is just as vital as generating qualified leads.

You’re always educating.
A great marketing campaign builds trust by helping potential customers make informed purchasing decisions. Think blog posts, whitepapers, comparison guides, and SaaS SEO that answers what buyers search for.

Step 1: Define Your Market and Ideal Customer Profile

Start with who, not what.

Before you launch a single campaign, you need to know exactly who you're trying to reach. A vague idea of “mid-sized companies” or “tech-savvy teams” isn’t enough. Your marketing strategy hinges on identifying your target market and narrowing it down into an ideal customer profile (ICP).

This includes key details like:

• Industry

• Company size

• Role and seniority of your buyer

• Budget range

• Pain points your product solves

• What triggers them to start searching for a solution
  
  

Once you’ve defined the business-level ICP, you’ll also want to build out detailed buyer personas for each stakeholder in the sales cycle. These are fictional but research-backed representations of the individuals you’ll be engaging across your customer journey.

Here’s a simple framework to get you started:

• Use tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, and SparkToro to gather market intelligence.

• Analyze your current customers to find patterns in who buys, renews, and refers.

• Interview your sales teams to learn what pain points come up in conversations with prospects.

• Sync with customer success to learn who sticks around and why, it’s the fastest way to reduce churn rates and find your loyal customers.

Pro-Tip: Don’t confuse data with insight. You might have dozens of firmographics and demographics, but what you need is clarity: who is most likely to become a long-term customer, and why?

Step 2: Set Clear, Measurable Marketing Goals

If you can’t measure it, you can’t optimize it.

Without specific goals, your marketing efforts can drift into vanity metrics or busywork. To make real progress, you need to align your marketing goals with your business objectives, whether that’s increasing qualified leads, reducing customer acquisition cost, or boosting conversion rate at a specific stage of the sales funnel.

Start by asking:

• What’s the primary goal of this quarter’s marketing campaign?

• How does this ladder up to revenue targets?

• What’s the role of marketing in supporting the sales teams?

• Which numbers matter most for this stage of growth?
  
  

Strong goals might include:

• Generate 300 new potential customers from LinkedIn Ads within 90 days

• Increase conversion rate on your demo page by 20% through A/B testing

• Decrease customer acquisition cost by 15% via improved targeting and content marketing strategy

• Drive 500 product-qualified leads into your marketing funnel using webinars and gated content
  
  

Track these goals using tools like:

• Google Analytics 4: Great for understanding user behavior across your website and app with event-based tracking and attribution modeling.

• HubSpot: Ideal for all-in-one inbound marketing and CRM integration, helping you nurture leads through every stage of the funnel.

• Mixpanel: Best for product analytics and tracking how users interact with your SaaS platform in real time.

• Salesforce Marketing Cloud: Designed for enterprise teams managing complex, multichannel campaigns with deep customization and segmentation.

Step 3: Choose the Right Marketing Channels for B2B SaaS

Where your ideal customers spend time should guide where you show up.

Not every channel is built for B2B SaaS, and you don’t need to be everywhere. What matters is choosing the right mix of marketing channels that reach your target audience at the right stage in their customer journey.

Here’s how to think about channel selection:

🧠 For Awareness:

• LinkedIn Ads: Great for targeting by industry, job title, and company size.

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Invest in SaaS SEO to get discovered by potential customers actively researching solutions.

• Podcasts and Guest Blogging: Build thought leadership and trust in niche markets.
  
  

📩 For Nurture and Conversion:

• Email Marketing: Still king for B2B. Use it to educate, not just sell.

• Webinars and Virtual Events: Ideal for longer sales cycles where education and credibility matter.

• Retargeting Campaigns: Bring back visitors who engaged but didn’t convert.
  
  

📈 For Acceleration and Retention:

• Referral Programs: Encourage current users to bring in more qualified leads.

• Customer Advocacy Platforms: Turn happy customers into brand champions.

• In-app Messaging Tools: Tools like Intercom or Pendo drive upsells and engagement inside your product.

Not sure where to start?  Try using Facebook Audience Insights or SparkToro to dig into where your audience is already active.

Step 4: Build Campaigns and Test Everything

Guessing isn’t a strategy. Testing is.

Once your channels are selected, it’s time to get tactical. That means launching targeted campaigns and immediately learning from them. The most effective B2B SaaS teams are relentless about experimentation.

Start here:

• Choose one goal (e.g., demo signups, whitepaper downloads).

• Pick one audience segment from your target audience or buyer persona.

• Develop two versions of your ad, landing page, or email. Change just one variable.

Then A/B test it.

Popular platforms for A/B testing:

• Optimizely – Built for enterprise-level experimentation across web and product.

• Unbounce – Ideal for quickly testing landing pages and CTAs without dev help.

• Google Optimize (sunset, but look to alternatives like VWO) – VWO is a solid pick for full-funnel experimentation.

The key: Don’t wait for perfection. Launch fast, track performance, and learn. Then iterate.

Pro-Tip: Your first version will rarely win, and that’s the point. You’re building a process, not just a one-time campaign.

Step 5: Create Content That Converts

Not all content is created equal, especially in B2B SaaS.

Your content marketing strategy isn’t about going viral. It’s about educating potential customers, reducing friction in the sales funnel, and driving real business outcomes.

Speak to their problems

B2B buyers aren't browsing for fun; they’re solving something. That means your content needs to be relevant, specific, and actionable. Before promoting your product, show you understand their challenges.

Match content to the customer journey

Blog posts and social posts build awareness. Case studies and demo videos build trust. ROI calculators and feature comparisons help them buy.

Each piece should do one thing well, and guide the reader to a clear next step.

Think long-term

A single blog post won’t win the deal. But a content engine that maps to your marketing funnel? That builds authority, trust, and momentum.

Looking for inspiration?

• Ahrefs Blog: Breaks down complex SaaS SEO topics with clarity and utility.

• Gong Blog: Combines data storytelling with a sharp tone for sales leaders.

Step 6: Align Sales and Marketing

Two teams. One pipeline.

In B2B SaaS, your marketing team and your sales teams don’t just coexist, they co-own the revenue number. If they’re out of sync, your marketing efforts can generate tons of leads that go nowhere.

Let’s fix that.

1. Define a “qualified lead” together

If marketing thinks a free ebook download = hot lead, and sales disagrees? You’ve got a pipeline problem. Get both teams aligned on what qualifies someone to move from MQL to SQL.

2. Share data early and often

Your sales team knows which pain points close deals. Marketing knows which content gets clicks. Share that intel. Build feedback loops into weekly standups, shared dashboards, or tools like Gong and Chili Piper.

3. Build campaigns together

Campaigns should start at the whiteboard, not in a silo. Marketing crafts the narrative, sales sharpens it with on-the-ground insights. This collaboration turns generic messaging into laser-targeted assets.

4. Use tech to close the loop

Tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Outreach help bridge the gap between your systems and your people.

Pro-Tip: Hold a monthly “Lost Deal Review” with both teams. No blame, just learning. It’s one of the fastest ways to improve your messaging, tighten targeting, and shorten the sales cycle.

Step 7: Retain and Expand Your Customer Base

Landing the deal is just the beginning.

In SaaS, growth doesn’t just come from new logos, it comes from keeping and expanding the ones you already have. Your customer base is your best growth engine, and your marketing strategy should reflect that.

Reduce churn before it starts

High churn rates kill momentum. Use onboarding emails, educational content, and proactive check-ins to make sure customers find value fast. The goal? A seamless customer experience that builds confidence and trust early.

Turn current users into power users

Your marketing team should work with product and success teams to spotlight features, share best practices, and celebrate wins. Help users go deeper with your product, and expansion will follow.

Run retention-focused campaigns

Think beyond acquisition. Run targeted campaigns that:

• Promote new features

• Invite users to webinars

• Offer exclusive access to training or events

Keep your current customers engaged, informed, and excited about what’s next.

Give them a reason to refer

Happy users are your best advocates. Leverage referral programs to turn satisfaction into the pipeline. Tools like ReferralCandy or PartnerStack make it easy to scale.

Step 8: Use AI to Scale Smarter

You don’t need a bigger team. You need better tools.

AI isn’t just a trend, it’s a practical way to amplify your marketing efforts without adding headcount. From drafting a blog post to optimizing your SaaS SEO, the right tools can help you do more, faster.

Start with Averi

Averi helps marketing teams at B2B SaaS companies scale content production, automate insights, and eliminate the guesswork. Whether you’re launching a new marketing campaign or refining your marketing plan, Averi keeps you focused on what works.

Other tools to explore:

• Jasper: AI copywriting built for marketers

• Clearbit: Data enrichment to target your ideal customers

• Mutiny: AI-driven website personalization for B2B

• ChatGPT: Research, ideation, content, fast and flexible

AI can help you:

• Refine messaging across your online presence

• Analyze conversion data and boost conversion rate

• Map the customer journey more precisely

• Support account-based marketing by customizing assets at scale

But remember: AI is the engine, not the driver. You still need strategy, voice, and a clear sense of your marketing goals.

Pro-Tip: Give your AI tools a role, not just a task. Instead of saying “write a blog,” say “act as a strategist writing for this persona in this stage of the funnel.” It’s how you turn average outputs into impactful assets.

Common B2B SaaS Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Even with a strong plan in place, it’s easy to fall into patterns that waste time, confuse your message, or slow your funnel. Here are five common missteps, and how to dodge them.

• Focusing only on top-of-funnel traffic

If your marketing approach is all awareness and no follow-through, you’re building a leaky funnel. Ensure every campaign has a clear next step.

• Forgetting your current customers

Customer retention drives revenue. If your strategy ignores post-sale engagement, you’re leaving lifetime value on the table.

• Over-personalizing without segmentation

Trying to tailor every message without a clear target audience leads to muddy messaging. Start with segments aligned to your ideal customer profile and scale from there.

• Underestimating the power of SEO

SaaS SEO isn’t just a blog post here and there; it’s a long-term asset. Skipping it means missing high-intent traffic from potential customers actively looking for solutions.

• Misaligning with the sales team

When marketing and sales aren’t on the same page, leads stall. Shared definitions, tools, and feedback loops are the backbone of a functioning sales funnel.

How Averi Helps You Execute

A great strategy means nothing without execution. That’s where Averi comes in.

We combine AI tools with human support to help B2B SaaS turn plans into output, fast. From building marketing campaigns to generating content marketing and managing performance insights, Averi enables you to scale without the overhead. 

You don't need a bigger team to get results. You need the right experts, at the right time, with the right AI-powered systems to support them.

It’s like having an extra marketing team, without the extra headcount.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good marketing budget for a B2B SaaS company?
A typical B2B SaaS marketing budget ranges from 7% to 15% of annual revenue, depending on growth stage and goals. Early-stage companies may invest more aggressively to acquire a strong customer base.

How do I know if I'm targeting the right audience?

Start by building an ideal customer profile and validating it with real data, review which segments convert best, stick around longest, and refer others. Use tools like SparkToro or Clearbit for targeting insights.

What are the most effective marketing channels for B2B SaaS?

It depends on your target audience, but LinkedIn, organic SaaS SEO, webinars, and email marketing are go-to channels for most B2B SaaS teams.

How do I increase my conversion rate?

Test everything, landing pages, subject lines, CTAs. Remove friction from the customer journey and align messaging to their stage in the sales funnel.

When should I hire a marketing team?

Hire once you have early traction and need to scale repeatable marketing efforts. Your first hire should be a generalist who understands strategy, content, and growth.

How do I support sales with marketing?

Create collateral that addresses buyer objections, educate leads with content, and collaborate with your sales teams on persona insights and campaign planning.

What’s the role of content marketing in SaaS?

Your content marketing strategy is how you earn trust, educate buyers, and create inbound momentum. It's key to scaling without scaling spend.

How can I reduce churn rates?

Focus on onboarding, value realization, and proactive communication. Use lifecycle emails and customer marketing to keep users engaged and supported.

What KPIs matter most for B2B SaaS?

Track customer acquisition cost, conversion rate, customer lifetime value, and MQL-to-SQL progression. Stick to KPIs that tie back to pipeline or retention.

What’s account-based marketing, and should I use it?

Account-based marketing targets high-value companies with customized campaigns. It’s a great fit for SaaS companies with longer sales cycles and larger deal sizes.

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