The Scientific Formula to Standing Out for B2B SaaS companies

all right for B2B SAS companies the scientific formula to stand it out and not having to worry about competition so the formula you see on the screen is what I'm going to be breaking down in this video before that quick background so I run Digis seed uh we exclusively work with B2B SAS companies executing demand generation programs and helping them with go to market strategy you can view our website to see the results we've generated and book a call with myself if you want to learn the process some of those results are on the screen about me specifically so my first job in SAS was as an Sr I then joined another startup as an early growth marketing higher and then I went ahead and founded digited so by this point I've worked with dozens of seven eight and nine figure B2B SAS companies and our sweet spots are building a demand engine go to market strategy solving product Market fit and messaging development and the formula that I'm going to be breaking down in this video has helped us scale individual B2B SAS companies from zero to seven figure advertising budgets without SA ricing profitability okay so why does standing out matter why should you care about this so standing out means you get to acquire attention at a discount and take the line share in the market while your competitors fight over scraps you know you even take a look at the top 20 tech companies by market cap and you'll see that things are not distributed evenly you know Salesforce their market cap is 9.5 so almost 10x out of HubSpot right similar category and the same applies at a tactical level you know Impressions clicks demos pipeline obviously this is at market cap the exact same applies at tactical level and a quick quote by Dan Kennedy ultimately the business that can spend the most to acquire a customer wins now companies have taken this quote quite literally during the growth at all cost era you know with companies willing to sacrifice the majority of their CLTV on acquiring customers with the aim of outspending the competition now this worked fine and it works fine when access to Capital is easy but it doesn't doesn't work so good when a downturn happens and budgets are cut like recently and standing out in the market and subsequently acquiring attention at a discount enables companies to aggressively grow while remaining Capital efficient by reducing the cash conversion cycle so you see in this great illustration here you have your marketing budget which gets spent to acquire a customer you then eventually reach your break even point the Delta between these two points is your CAC payback and then past that break even point you have free cash flow which you can then recycle back into your marketing budget and so companies that are able to reduce this uh cycle have more free cash flow to then put back into marketing and therefore are able to grow quickly and more efficiently now you might ask why should I care about attention when I want Revenue which is fair um but the truth is they are closely linked you know Revenue cannot be achieved without first having attention and of course not all attention is the same you know the objective here isn't to go viral by spouting nonsense online or negativity online to get engagement the objective is to create and then subsequently capture demand you know compelling narrative is a foundational element to this and that's why we're going to be covering that um and revenue is the goal for every business right um yet companies still fail to achieve their growth targets so just wanting to get Revenue doesn't mean you're going to achieve revenue and this obsession with Revenue has led to a historical obsession with marketing qualified leads for example so marketing teams being um comped on mqls so you just take a look at the demand waterfall methodology to to get a better idea of this but this has incentivized the wrong behaviors where marketing teams have just been optimizing for optins and and emails instead of pipeline instead of business objectives and this whole methodology is slowly being unraveled and companies are moving towards a demand generation approach which heavily relies on attention and just to show you some examples in a wild I've blurred out the founders just for confidentiality um but on the left here we have a SAS founder who bootstrapped to over 20 million AR I'll actually see if I can zoom in a bit here let's see if we're looking good okay zoomed in a bit too much I think um but over here on the left uh we have a SAS founder um bootstrap to 20 million AR uh they were spending 900k per year on their bdr team um and basically they they cut the majority of their team and here they're saying that you know they stepped up what they call founder brand content demand creation uh and you know their pipeline has they've 3x their Pipeline with 20% of the sales or they had um within four months right so they axed most of their sales team focused more on demand creation which is a pool model and they frea their sales pipeline over here on the right uh we have oh it's the same guy so he's saying that they cut their sales team from 50 to four reps and they're grow sped up right you don't hear many people saying this kind of thing um bottom right so we have another founder uh so basically they they did an analysis on the ROI of LinkedIn which is a demand creation channel uh which generated over 50 million in hero pipeline hero pipeline I believe closes is pipeline that closes at uh 25% or 14 million AR net new closed one Revenue over the last two years but if they were to um they then anal this via soft software based attribution and it only showed 977k in Clos one Revenue right so demand creation works it's just um the the biggest obstacle to that is is measuring it correctly and then further analysis so a bit of analysis done by another sort of expert in B2B marketing so they analyzed a data set released by an adte company um so 42 million of advertising spend was analyzed and found that 90 % of that budget was spent on lead generation optins so emails the average cost of those emails was $126 um and it took 333 leads or of of those emails to generate One customer which is 0.3% conversion rate with an ad CAC payback of 21 months so let's just sit for a few seconds and digest that so $42 million spent or analyzed sorry 90% of that was spent was spent on getting email with an average cost of $126 per email it took 333 of those emails or leads to then convert into a customer right with a ad CAC payback of 21 months 21 months to break even on new customers acquired uh and this is following the demand waterfall methodology right and so looking at these numbers is this still the most efficient way for companies to grow you know obsessing over getting opt-ins and emails uh paying $126 for emails right when there are data platforms out there we can get emails for for less than a dollar right so introducing um the the actual formula then so n uh is narrative so this is a strategic approach to Distributing your company's message m is core message so this is a foundational element that is distributed to the market and it's broken down further into variables VM and V and we're going to um talk through those A is for audience so these are the the companies and person owners you target with whom you want your narrative to resonate and this breaks down further into variable CMP s is story so this is the journey used to evoke emotion and create a loyal following broken further down into variables p s o and v d is differentiation so how you separate your product from other Solutions in the market really important to stand out broken down further into variables you and I it's important that all elements are considered When developing a narrative for example if you create a message but not others it will result in another noise lost in the sound of the internet establishing differentiation but not the others will ins will result when you having an interest in product or an interest in message but it just being a whisper okay so introducing it further just making sure we're still recording okay so narrative um so strategic approach to Distributing your company's message now I don't use the word strategic here which is a classic buzzword I don't use it um just because it is a buzzword but because for this to work this whole formula to be solved the message you distribute to the market and the underpinning approach needs to be structured it needs to have some organization to it you know previously how companies would approach this uh with their with their narrative is they would just throw stuff at a wall and hope it sticks they would dilute the impact of their messaging with irrelevancy and they would launch marketing campaigns that don't link back to business objectives right this is why marketing teams obsess over um optins and emails is because because that's how they're incentivized and it's just completely um misaligned with with business objectives you end up getting a bunch of emails but it takes you know over 300 of them to to convert into a customer of a terrible conversion rate and so this leads to the odd win here and there but with no idea how it happened just a stroke of luck and so it can't be replicated attracting the wrong type of customers resulting in low conversions and high churn and a relevant metrics being measured you know friction between teams and a lack of growth you know marketing have hit their target they're getting a bunch of emails they're happy they've got the mqls but sales are sitting there you know they've missed their quota because there wasn't enough pipeline being generated and and closed one customers and so quick little thought exercise imagine you had two companies company a company B both mtech companies and Company a every email ad or piece of content they distributed feels like it's part of a bigger picture you know they've turned their story into something everyone talks about when you think of a specific product category this is one of the companies that comes to mind right away you know just sit there and think right now when you think of certain product categories whether it be sales Eng sales engagement B2B data analytics who comes to mind e-commerce um and because of that they're able to attract a dedicated customer base who are loyal to the brand you know there might be better companies out there than Shopify but they've developed a brand they are associated with e-commerce Company B their marketing lacks a unifying theme and often comes across as disconnected from their actual product offerings they're the lack of a clear narrative creates a misalignment between teams affecting their ability to collaborate as a result company's B company B's growth and Market presence lags behind you know who would you want to be in this situation probably company a and a little concept I want to introduce here is the line of relevancy so um inspired from a great marketer I know called whiz so the further you stray you want to imagine this this hypothetical line uh when it comes to marketing the further you stray away from this red line with your message um the weaker its impact right if you start talking about things that are unrelated to your product category unrelated to your value proposition unrelated to what makes you unique the impact of that message is going to weaken so you always want to stay close to the line um and this is what we'll we'll be going through okay solving the variables okay so M core message which is the foundational element that is distributed to the market broken down down further into vision mission and value proposition so a company's core message is the fabric of its narrative it gives purpose and a Northstar for internal teams and helps the market understand how they benefit from your product previously companies would focus on feature or capability driven so you know our product as Xyz messaging which is known as product marketing which heavily centers around the product and the company rather than the target audience and their needs now this often leads to a disconnect between value product value and Market position and struggling to stand out due to other companies adopting a similar approach and a raise to the bottom as the key differentiator becomes pricing or features rather than value right everyone out there is just pitch slap in the market saying we've got this feature we've got this cool underlying Tech happening right now with with AI um and so everyone just sounds the same they're just competing be they're um measuring on how many features they have or or they pricing and there's just a complete disregard to what the market actually cares about so using this framework you can create a narrative driven message so Shi in the focus from exclusively being focused on your company and its product to what it actually means for your customer what do they get out of it you know a message that still positions your product as uh the better option to other products in the market but also weaves in your vision mission and Valu proposition that relates to your audience and so if you manage to nail this your target audience is going to feel connected to your company your product is viewed as a key requirement in your target audience's Journey not another commodity and you're measured on value which means your pricing and therefore your revenue and your margins can be higher because while everyone is competing on features and pricing you know you've actually connected with your market and so you're measured on value instead and I just want to introduce the The Narrative resonance Factor so when your message resonates not just on a surface level but on a narrative level it creates a deeper more emotional connection and this is what companies that have managed to master attention and master their Market have um achieved okay audience a so the companies and personas you target with whom you want your narrative to resonate so we break this down further into companies and personas so why this is uh an important variable to have is because without a clearly defined audience your message will be too broad and it will fail to resonate you know we we need to know what are the pains the fears the aspirations that your audience has um and the more clarity you have as a founder or a marketer the more personalized and effective your messaging is going to be you know traditionally audience identification has exclusively focused on firmographics and demographics uh so on firmographics we're looking at like company size industry geography technographics so what tools they're using and then demographics you know age sex education occupation and so this approach leads leads to a generalized view of your audience assuming that all members of a demographic group think and behave the same which can cause campaigns to be less effective due to not addressing the specific needs des and pain points of different segments within a demographic and then subsequently lower engagement rates poor conversions and a lack of meaningful connection with potential customers so deeply understanding your audience involves diving into psychographics and behavior patterns alongside demographics so it's about understanding the fears the wants the dreams of your potential customers and this approach is not just about who you are targe in um but also understanding how they think which leads to highly targeted campaigns that are more effective your message resonates deeper uh creating a sense of understanding and trust between a company and its audience and subsequently higher engagement better conversion rates and the development of a loyal customer base and I've recorded and created a bunch of content on this so you can see this on my YouTube if you want this loom video I'll send it over to you so how to generate infinite angles using research and AI and we've got an sop here for voice of customer research that we share with clients just shoot me a message I'll send any of these across to you and so I want to introduce behavioral resonance so in B2B and this is a common objection right in B2B purchase decisions are logical right um they're based on numbers and facts of course if you're buying 10,000 20,000 30,000 software that's you're not going to make that decision based on emotions however entering a logical discussion with cold traffic is difficult you know they don't even know who you are they don't know who your company is they don't know what you do and they don't know why they should care and so understanding and targeting The behavor Driven motivations of your target audience is more effective for demand creation of course when it comes to capturing that demand converting that demand you know you need to enter a logical discussion but to create that demand in the first place to capture their attention um you want to resonate at an emotional level uh so here's Keller's pyramid um which talks about the the impact of this okay moving on to story so the journey used to evoke emotion and create a loyal following so we break this further down into problem solution obstacles and vehicle so why are stories impactful and it's because it's quite literally how humans have been connecting since the beginning of time right stories date back Millennia um and companies mostly focus on product marketing you know link talk about features capabilities which of course have their place you know you need to talk about why your product is better than other products and um how those features link to specific outcomes but this isn't great for demand creation it should be one tool in the tool boox of of your campaigns um but it shouldn't be you know the whole toolbox which often leads to a lack of emotional resonance because you're just pitch slapping you're just saying hey we've got these great features all this underlying Tech um and you're not developing any brand Equity because there's a lack of substance there's a lack of connection that's being attached to message again you're just being commoditized and so with a narrative driven approach the focus shifts from just you know features capabilities to actually focusing on your customers Journey you know nobody jumps out of bed in the morning and goes ah I'm going to buy a 10,000 20,000 software product they have to go through this journey of awareness and so the story revolves around your customers as the hero and demonstrates how your product fits into that journey and improves their life and so if you crack this you'll have um a narrative that the customers can see themselves being a part of building a stronger connection with your company you'll improve your customer experience and subsequently improve your engagement and loyalty and so uh introduce the empathy driven Arc so you want to build narratives that deeply emphasize with a customer situation their fears hopes desires and wants while also positioning your product as the vehicle that gets them to the promised land so inspired by the hero's journey by Russell Bronson this is a great illustration by me so here's your target audience here here's the vehicle your your that's going to get them to the promised land over here and then you have some obstacles some limiting beliefs um that are preventing them from getting there okay D differentiation so how you separate your product from other Solutions in the market really really important um you can get all of this right but if you don't solve for this variable here then um you know you're just not going to position yourself as unique so broken down further into unique proposition and Innovation so in a market that's swamped with competition so uh there's loads of product out there they have similar features they have um similar pricing they have similar value propositions positioning your company as unique has never been more important and I've already said this don't want to sound like a broken record but especially with what's going on right now with you know the new tech that um people are getting their hands on standing out is going to be really really important because you just can't compete on features so historically differentiation in B2B marketing has focused on surface level attributes like pricing and features companies primarily highlighted their products were better or cheaper than their competitors relying heavily on Direct comparisons and technical specs you know we have feature a we have feature B which has often led to companies focusing on the competition because they're just always obsessing over competition keeping an eye on them what product releases do they have um what features do they have you know how can we how can we beat them on that level which then means they've completely forgotten about their customers ultimately what matters um and it's just a raise to the bottom um you know really customers features are great you know you need to have a product with with good features and capabilities but really the customers care about what they get out from it and so as the market becomes more crowded and buyer sophistication level rises so does skepticism and so competing on features won't cut in so here's an adapted um model of Eugene Schwarz levels of awareness so see you know in a a market that has low competition you know you can make any claim you can say your product does anything it can be really simple marketing and people are going to buy it because you're oneof one right there aren't there isn't any competition or there's low competition out there and so they're going to buy it but as more competition competition enters the market you need to start making bigger claims in your competitors you know bigger features or better marketing and so when you sort of get to the end here when uh skepticism is at an all-time high there's just so much competition it's about actually being empathetic with your customer understanding what they want and positioning your product as a solution to that that wins you you know not all these fancy claims and fancy features and nice websites uh it's just about obsessing over your customer which is funny cuz we're just going back to First principles and so it has this kind of loop and so differentiation goes beyond features of pricing it's about creating a unique position in the minds and hearts of customers by aligning your brand Value Story and customer experience this method involves creating a distinct Voice or an Innovative approach to solving customer problems and so if you crack this you're able to take market share from your competitors who are busy obsessing over the competition and fighting over features and pricing uh you you'll get uh increased Customer Loyalty that um you know your customers will care more about you than these new shiny features that your competitors are releasing and therefore you'll have higher customer retention so here's an example of an angle we tested with a client uh who we exclusively manage their demand programs so highly highly competitive product category even more so now um and so we created a new opportunity rather than saying you know we've got um these better features than competitors or you know um we've got better capabilities or or better pricing we introduced a entirely new opportunity which was cold Emil 3.0 and so concluding this bringing this to an end uh so goals and Alignment uh just consider whether the demand waterf methodology is still the right strategy going into 2024 for you you know obsess and over these emails and opt-ins try transition from a push to pool model if you want to reduce your acquisition costs and improve your cash conversion cycle the quicker that cash conversion cycle at a more tactical level the shorter your ca payback the quicker you can Channel um recycle that money back into your marketing and acquire more customers while being efficient narrative driven growth develop a unique message that resonates with your target audience and creates demand create a compelling story if you want to create a loyal following and escape the competitor Rat Race now companies that continue down this predictable Revenue path um going to struggle in 2024 there's there's no two ways about it you know Market Innovation is happening fast there's a lot of competition happening on the sales engagement side so inboxes are getting busier than ever before a lot of things are being automated so it's um the barrier to entry for cold outbound is is really really low at the moment CPAs Are Climbing uh advertising is getting more expensive and competitors are appearing every day the barrier to entry for just creating software is is lower than ever um so more products enter in the market and so those companies who manage to connect with their audience and master attention are going to win those companies that skip straight to level five awareness um sorry level five of sophistication are going to win because they understand um they need to obsess over their customers bringing it back to First principles and so if you'd like to learn how we've helped B2B SAS companies adopt this model and execute profitable demand programs book a call and uh we'll run an audit uh so you can book a call there there'll be a link in the description and if you're currently working with an agency we will beat their performance or you get a full refund and I'll guarantee that and some quick testimonials of some of the companies we've helped work with I'm not going to uh stop too much on these but yeah hope you found that useful um definitely worth trying to solve this formula here if you need a hand of anything just give me a shout have to help