Developing a social media strategy can be tough. But what if you are a Software as a Solution (SaaS) company? Since your business model is unique, you want to follow some basic building blocks but also think outside the standard box when it comes to your SM approach. 
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Clarify your Goals
This is a critical first step for any social media strategy. Start by assessing what you want your social media to achieve and how you want it to help your brand. Since SaaS is a very specific service model, you want to be sure that your social media aligns with your larger marketing goals.
First, assess any current social media and determine what is or is not working. Next, explain exactly what sets you apart from your competitors and what problems your software suite solves. SM superstar HootSuite offers some helpful templates to get you started.
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Only Publish Relevant Content
Although this could be said for many industries when discussing social media strategy for SaaS, Sadhana Balaji, Product Marketer at Chargebee, recommends the following fundamental principles: publish content if it meets one of the three Bs—behavior, beliefs, or belongings—or its solves a burning problem.
“In short, if your content doesn't generate value for the reader, then it's better left unpublished,” she continued. This point is particularly important when promoting “unsexy” products and services, like billing software.
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Look to Experts in your Industry
There is a popular expression widely attributed to Picasso that says, “good artists borrow, great artists steal.” And while we are not advocating theft, it can very helpful to look at other SaaS companies who are excelling at social media to help inspire you.
HubSpot is consistently mentioned as a SaaS company that is killing it on SM and their blog reaches more than 2 million readers. not far behind are Moz, KISSMetrics, HootSuite, Marketo, SalesForce, and others. They succeed at sharing useful, fact-based content via multiple social channels.
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Really Know Your Audience
Does your target audience prefer Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn? What are their interests outside of your product or service? Pop culture? Politics? HootSuite had outstanding success when they launched their “Game of Thrones”-themed video marketing campaign that drew parallels between their services and the show. The video struck a chord on social media and had thousands of shares within hours of its release. To date, it has almost 1 million views and is considered their most successful piece of content marketing.
Learning what makes your buyers tick isn’t just about the issues that keep them up at night. Once you know what platforms your prospects like the most, engage in discussions and use those conversations as content springboards. You always want to use buyer personas, but also remember that buyers are real people with full lives. If you hit the mark just right readers can take your campaign viral via social sharing.
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Focus on Success Stories
Since part of the appeal of SaaS is that it works in the background, it can be tough to market it since the product doesn’t really draw attention. When you think about it, your clients want to how the software is going to make their jobs easier; they don’t necessarily want “see” it or know how it works.
Using client success stories is an ideal way to illuminate your products benefits and demonstrate how it had improved workflow for other businesses. There are some people who respond to stats and numbers, but more people will relate to the human element. Create case studies and blog posts and share them on the social media. Seeing how you have helped others will enable prospects to envision how you can help them.
When creating your social media strategy, remember to adhere to some basic best practices and adjust your approach to meet the specific needs and concerns of SaaS customers and leads. Remember the ultimate goal is boosting your sales and increasing your ROI, so assess which channels are offering the most benefit to you and knock it out of the park on those.
If you need help with your social media, take a look at this ultimate guide that we recently created.
