Ask HN: SaaS Distribution and Customer Acquisition
I was wondering if anyone could talk about how they acquire customers for SaaS (B2B) companies as opposed to consumer (B2C) websites. Are there any viral or SEO techniques commonly used?
I think it depends on the type of B2B you are speaking, in terms of market size.
An enterprise business or government probably wont start using a SaaS application on an enterprise scale because they found it on google...the process is typically through RFP and the selling company will need to go through those channels. So if you are trying to bag an elephant it wont happen through SEO and viral only.
Now if you are counting small business (<500 employees) or even midmarket (<5000 employees) it starts getting fuzzy. The acquisition process is usually not that mature and sometimes it can get lucky as much as a top spot on google to get noticed.
For any B2B though, unless you have some great new way of getting noticed, your best bets are through typical business channels - cold calling, networking, trade shows, responding to RFPs, and so on.
I guess the viral version of B2B might be having the best spectacle on a trade-show floor or miraculously getting a nod in Forbes.
I recommend reading up on Bassamiq (http://www.balsamiq.com/blog). There is a log of good information about how he grew his business.
Personally, I'm using Adwords and standard SEO techniques. I'm going after the small businesses. I don't see much chance for a viral techniques in my market. I going to experiment with some cold calling to see what the conversion rate is to see if it is a good use of time. I've started talking with a marketing guy and he has several ideas that I will try. No idea if they will work or not.
SEO is crucial. Good techniques are all over the place. Make sure to target the correct keywords, etc..
Finally, consider creating an affiliate or referral program. It can be pretty inexpensive to get going and you pay for performance (signups or users).