9 Lean

Marketing
Tactics for
Growing a
SaaS Business
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2

Table of
contents
02 Table of contents 13 02. Define Customer

04 Introduction 14 03. Plan Stories

06 The point of this book 17 04. Qualify Prospects

07 A complete campaign and marketing system 18 05. Capture Leads

08 Turning subscribers into qualified leads or trials 19 06. Automate Marketing

09 Converting leads to customers 20 07. Publish Campaigns

11 Content that helps fuel buying decisions 21 08. Drive Traffic

11 Nine steps to a complete marketing system 22 09. Test and Iterate

12 01. Clarifying Brand 23 Want to learn more?

 Improvement usually means
doing something that we have
never done before.
Shigeo Shingo, the Godfather of lean manufacturing
INTRODUCTION 4

Introduction
Real growth happens when you wade out a little
deeper into the water. When you go a little past where
you’re comfortable and allow yourself to learn from the
experience.

For you, doing any amount of marketing might feel like

wading out a little deeper than you are comfortable
with. That’s perfectly normal and I hear it all the time.
The good news is you’ve downloaded the right ebook.

I’ll help demystify the marketing process and give you

a system you can follow to launch an MVP (minimum
viable product) marketing campaign that you can be
proud of. More importantly, you can use it to drive more
leads and grow your business.
INTRODUCTION 5

A sincere thank you for your interest in the

Lean Marketing Playbook for SaaS
By reading this ebook, you’re When I go on 100km+ bike rides, it’s always the last
10km that are the hardest. My legs start to feel like
agreeing to wade out a little deeper
jelly. To push me through to finish, I like to think of
with me and I am grateful to you that jelly feeling like steel in a forge — sure it’s molten
for taking that step. This is only the and gooey right now, but wait until it cools off. It will
first step of many (nine, in fact) harden, stronger, and in better shape.

to get a foundational content Follow the simple tips in this ebook and you will
marketing campaign live and begin emerge a stronger, more effective growth marketer.

growing your SaaS. By taking the None of this is rocket science and I have made it
exceedingly simple.
process step-by-step, we can
build a completely operational and
scalable marketing funnel.
THE POINT OF THIS BOOK 6

The point
of this book
This book has two primary goals: Even with all of the advice and templates and tools
at your disposal, you still might prefer to have us
1. To give you value and knowledge about content
take care of the content for you. Every so often in
marketing for SaaS companies, such that you
these pages, I’ll drop in a reminder that all of this
have exactly what you need to build the marketing
can be taken care of for you — that you can hire my
systems you need to grow your business predictably.
team to coach you and produce the content for you.
2. To convince you to hire my agency to build those For now, though, keep reading and I’ll teach you the
campaigns with you. In the pages of this ebook, entire system we follow with all of our SaaS clients,
I’m giving you a peek into our process and laying to build them an operational, scalable marketing
out the exact steps my agency uses to build SaaS and sales funnel. And we do it with an
campaigns for our clients. assembly-line efficiency that would make even
Shigeo Shingo proud.
A COMPLETE CAMPAIGN AND MARKETING SYSTEM 7

A complete
campaign and
marketing system
Our goal is to take you from a lack of traction to This is what I’m describing when I say a sales funnel.
predictable growth, where it is easier for you to land You can see at the top of our funnel, at the widest part,
new customers and to repeat that process over and we have prospects. We’re not talking about the general
over, to lower your costs of acquisition and to drive up public here, these are people who could do business
your lifetime value. with you. This is your “addressable market,” if you like.

Our tactic in order to achieve this is to create a In order for us to convert these prospects to sales,
complete marketing and sales funnel. what we need to first establish is a micro-conversion
towards the top of this funnel, to bring them into our
What we want to do is take prospects and convert
awareness phase. A subscription. We’re going to go
them to leads and then of course convert them to
into greater detail as to how we do that as we go,
customers. To do that we need content that will
but for now, as a visual, this is our challenge. It is to
support them along that customer journey.
take prospects from the top of our funnel down to the
bottom — the purchase stage.
TURNING SUBSCRIBERS INTO QUALIFIED LEADS OR TRIALS 8

Turning subscribers
into qualified leads
or trials
We do that by breaking it down into a couple of
different conversions. The first is the subscription. The
next is the demo or the trial.

I say demo or trial because depending on your business

model it might not make sense for you to have a
sales call with every lead. Converting them to a do-it-
yourself trial might be the move.

What we need to do is think systematically about how

we have to convince our prospects at each one of
these stages, and the things that we need to do to
convince them. With the right content, we can help
them move along that journey a little faster.
CONVERTING LEADS TO CUSTOMERS 9

Converting leads to customers

The final conversion in our funnel is the purchase. That’s Only later can we groom them and move them along
what you really want to see. It’s the bottom line metric to the consideration stage. That’s where they might
that matters most here: revenue. Later in this book, we actually be thinking of taking a look at different
delve deeper into how we use content to have better software tools, for example. It’s only now that they
sales demos with leads. For now, I wanted you to have begin to consider our solution as something that might
an idea of what a sales funnel looks like, visualized. be able to solve the problem they are experiencing.
It’s a series of conversions — and we’re going to use
Then of course we try to move them along to the
content to help make each of them happen.
decision stage, which is where they make that buying
Here’s another way of visualizing that in a more linear decision and become a customer. To do that, we
fashion, where we see that at the start we have need a way of closing sales. My top suggestion is to
prospects that may be at our awareness stage. They actually have conversations. Call them sales demos,
know about us, they know that they have a problem customer interviews, discovery calls… call them
that perhaps technology can solve. whatever you want but the way to grow your business
is by responding to the questions and feedback of your
existing and potential customers.
 10

I have included a visual here that will let you know We also have to convince them of the value of
what the journey looks like in terms of the content attending a demo or attempting a trial. In other words,
we will be preparing as we go. On the left is our we actually dedicate an entire email just talking about
awareness content. This could be an e-book, a the value of attending a demo with us or attempting
webinar, or some kind of offer that initially gets them a trial. We are not selling the product yet, we are selling
to subscribe to our list. the demo, and I hope you can understand the power
of that.
Now we can actually start marketing to them because
we have that permission component. It’s only once We are strictly trying to get them on the phone so that
we have their attention and they understand who we we can have that initial sales call.
are as a company that we can start to introduce our
product content.
CONTENT THAT HELPS FUEL BUYING DECISIONS 11

Content that helps

fuel buying decisions *A word about marketing automation tools
As they progress along we can begin to give them
To accomplish a lot of what I talk about in this
some decision-making content. The most effective
book, you’ll need a marketing automation tool of
way to do this is with case studies of customers who
some kind. If you do not have ActiveCampaign,
look similar to them. Other forms of decision-making
Hubspot, Keap, MailChimp, or something that
content are ROI (Return on Investment) documents, or
will allow for email automation, this is your early
maybe a competitor comparison matrix.
warning.
A book-a-demo button on your homepage is terrific as
I tried to make the tips and automation
a call to action and I love seeing them, but there’s a lot
suggestions in this book as straightforward as
of trust that needs to be gained before somebody will
possible, so as to be tool-agnostic.
take that step. What we’re doing instead is going for a
micro-conversion first, and telling our story through a
series of emails, so that it becomes that much easier to
get that demo booked and ultimately to make that sale.

Here are the nine lean marketing tactics we use —

Nine steps to a complete call it our nine-step process, to build a completely
marketing system operational, automated marketing program. Follow
these steps to create an inbound sales funnel of your
own and start promoting it on all of your channels.
 01.CLARIFY BRAND 12

01
Start with brand clarity so your
prospects will know you’re right for
them. Who are you? What do you
Clarify Brand stand for?

Conduct a survey of your key stakeholders and find Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can skip this
some alignment around your brand. Decide on the step. Before you go too deep into anything else, get
messaging that will define your company’s brand. clear on who you are, what you do, and where you want
Are you part of a current technology trend? Are there to go. Find some branding exercises you can do to help
causes or values that you feel passionately about? you begin to establish a brand identity.
Choose your main talking points and stick to them.

Engage in some workshop exercises that will allow you

to very quickly come into alignment around what your
branding and your message will be. The decisions you
make in this step form the basis for the remaining eight.
 02.DEFINE CUSTOMER 13

02 Establish your ideal client profile and

start making your marketing decisions
with them in mind.
Define Customer

Having a specific avatar of your ideal client profile The homework here is to commit to one persona that
(ICP), their specific characteristics AND mindset will you will use for this campaign. List the characteristics
help you create messaging that will resonate with and mindset that make them ideal. Find a niche! Focus
them. The more you specialize here, the more you on a specific job title in a specific market for the best
can connect with them, their specific needs and pain results. Here’s an example… is this YOU?
points. The narrower your focus, the better.
Technical Founder, CEO of early-stage SaaS
Who are you trying to sell to? In the second step,
company (post-revenue)
identify your personas; the characteristics that your
ideal customers share that make them ideal for you. Mindsets: Characteristics:

What kind of customer are you able to help the most • Storytelling and content • Some revenue but no plan
matter • No VP-level marketing
now? What kind of customer is the readiest to pay for • Marketing systems have • No serious traction yet
value • No sales scripts
what you have? The more you focus on a specific type
• Traction takes time and • No traffic
of customer the easier it becomes for your message investment
• Follow the lean or agile
to resonate with them — for them to feel as though we methodology
are indeed the solution to their problem. • Move quickly, obsessed
with growth
 03.SHARE STORIES 14

03 The best way to tell your company story

is by highlighting the transformation
Plan Stories that your clients experience.

We call it “social proof.” When a third party like a By way of a review, our goal is to create a marketing
client does the promotion for you, it is much easier for and sales funnel with a bit of automation. You’re going
prospective clients to see themselves succeeding with to create a series of six emails that will help your
your product. This works even better if the case study customers move along their buying journey.
is with a business that is similar in many ways to your
prospects. See above re: defining your customer.

You have a number of key pieces of content to create

so get started right away. After all, you are now clear
on your brand messaging and customer personas,
right? Start to draft your case study and begin to think
about the stories we need to tell in order to convert
more customers.
03 Plan Stories 03.SHARE STORIES 15

At the top of the funnel, we are raising our prospect’s find relevant. In the next email, send a product guide.
awareness and converting them as a lead. To do that, That guide can also be a downloadable PDF. People
you’ll create a high-value ebook that your prospect will have asked me why I suggest making your product
WANT. The working title we often use is: document a PDF and the reason is simple: It makes it a
more high-value piece that our prospect can share with
How [CLIENT PERSONA] can [ACHIEVE their boss or department to help you make the sale,
TRANSFORMATION] using [TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION] along with the ebook and a case study. Make sense?
Onward!
E.g. How Early-stage SaaS Companies can Grow
The next email is one that actually promotes your demo
Faster Using Marketing Automation
or trial, whichever it is that you’re trying to get as your

In one of the emails in our email automation, you’re next conversion. It’s an email that simply talks about

going to talk about product features and how they the benefits of the demo itself. What they’ll be missing

solve a customer’s problem. You’ll also provide some if they don’t act.

social proof and some business proof in the form of Why an email about your demo (or trial)?
a case study in order to help them make that buying
I hope you recognize the power of having the
decision.
opportunity to focus an email on the specific
Make a six email (minimum) automation benefits of your trial or demo. This is the story that

When a prospect downloads your ebook, the first email you previously didn’t have a chance to tell. You were

is received instantly and contains a link to the free probably leaving all of that work to a single button on

download. That is email one. your site. Now when you invite them to take the next
step, they have considerable more context for why they
You’ll follow that up with an email I call “more like that.”
might be compelled to.
Another interesting fact, story or trend that they will
03 Plan Stories 03.SHARE STORIES 16

You got them subscribed, they’ve opted in, maybe It could be a video series, it might be a webinar. For
they’ve engaged with the previous emails, but this one sake of this chapter and to keep things simple I’ll keep
is your opportunity to describe in detail the value of referring to it as a lead generation ebook and I’ll offer
attending a demo with you or sign up for a trial. They’re instructions as to how to make one.
much more ready to give your product a chance.
Ebooks are my go-to because they have the lowest
The next email is one I call the social proof. This one barrier to entry. You can create a high-value piece of
is a testimonial, or really a preview of the next email content quickly, apply some design to it, and massively
which links to your case study. That’s no small amount shift your ability to convert leads.
of content. Let’s break it down so you can start
The product document should highlight the specific
planning what you’ll need.
features of your product that solve specific problems
Planning your content pieces for your prospects. The case study should talk about
the client’s challenge, your solutions, and the results
At the heart of this campaign are three major pieces of
they achieved. Ideally, it also contains a testimonial
content:
from them, in their own words.
1. Lead generation ebook

2. Product Document

3. Case Study

First is the lead generation ebook or offer. I say offer

because you might opt not to do an ebook and instead
offer some other form of value to your prospects.
 04. QUALIFY PROSPECTS 17

04 Decide what you want to ask in your

first lead form, in order to determine if

Qualify Prospects prospects are a good fit.

When a visitor opts-in to your list (because you were In your marketing automation tool, build a lead capture
promoting content specifically to them, as instructed form that you will use as your first top-of-funnel
above) what one thing would you most like to know from conversion. Stick with name and email for the forms,
them to determine if they are a good lead? Too many unless you expect that the volume of leads will be very
fields can negatively affect conversions. Ask only what high and you want to add another qualifying question
is necessary to ensure quality leads and a clean list. to help you prioritize your leads.

You now have a customer persona, but now we’re

getting into some of the specific logistics around what
is a qualified prospect. Company size, willingness to
buy, whether they have the budget, maybe even certain
belief systems. It’s also a good idea at this stage to
establish some marketing KPI’s (Key Performance
Indicators) that you want to track in order to measure
performance.
 05. CAPTURE LEADS 18

05 On a dedicated landing page, seek a

micro-conversion first: Leads subscribe

Capture Leads to claim an offer (e.g. ebook)

Rather than trying to convert traffic to a software In this step, create a landing page that talks about
demo, seek a smaller conversion first. You are currently the value of downloading your lead generation ebook.
reading an example of this: a document that is for a This is where your form will live. Prospects will see your
very specific persona that promises some value in landing page, be compelled to subscribe and convert
exchange for a subscription. Remember to use things to your list. On the landing page, list the key things the
like job titles or specific industries in your copy to reader can learn in the pages of the ebook.
remove any ambiguity.
 06. AUTOMATE MARKETING 19

06 Once leads convert to your list, send

them automated emails that add more
Automate value and build trust.

Marketing

If you’ve correctly targeted your ICP and offered a automation tool. Use the six aforementioned emails, at
piece of content that speaks specifically to them, intervals of a day or two between each, so that they
you can continue to give them value with a series of span the two-week period following the time that they
automated emails. Here, you can also begin to promote subscribed.
the value of trying your software or seeing a demo.
Build trust before you ask and always communicate the
value to them.

This is where the magic (there’s no magic!) happens.

When someone subscribes, we want an automated
way to nurture them along their customer journey and
educate them about the value we can offer them.

You’re already way ahead of me here. In step six,

build out an email nurture sequence in your marketing
 07. PROMOTE YOUR CAMPAIGNS 20

07 Make some noise about your

campaign — add forms to your site,
Publish tell your partners, tell your list, share

Campaigns on social.

From your case studies and ebook “big rocks,” chisel off • Many “snippets” of the content in each of your
many smaller pieces of content for use in blogs, videos, docs, for use on your social media channels, in
and social media. Always link back to the place where newsletters, and anywhere else it makes sense to
the full content can be downloaded. Think about the distribute it (groups, forums, email lists?)
places where your ideal clients gather. Do you have any
partners that will let you promote your new content to
their lists?

To get everything “live,” you should have:

• Your landing page published, containing your form

• Your email automation sequence ready to go,

including personalization and immediate delivery of
your lead generation ebook
 08. DRIVE TRAFFIC 21

08 When the above fundamentals are in

place, you can confidently invest in
Drive Traffic the right traffic sources.

What’s the ideal traffic source for finding more of Here is a good rule of thumb: Post to your social media
your ideal client profile? It could be SEO, video, social channels every day. Keep it highly relevant. You can link
media, partner co-marketing, or ads. Once you have to your landing page and ebook offer often, but also
these fundamentals in place, you can more confidently mix it up with awareness content and curated articles
invest in driving results and establishing your cost per that are relevant to your audience and aligned with
acquisition (CPA) of new customers. your brand message.

Imagine the power of knowing that when you send Want to establish some SEO juice early? Splice your
traffic to your landing page, that there are mechanisms lead generation ebook up into several excerpts for
in place to capture that traffic. And to groom them your blog. Publish your product document and case
towards the next conversion that you’re trying to study as blog posts too. When you can, use keywords
accomplish. This is the fun stage, where you can start that searchers who have a buying intent will use. For
driving traffic. example, the category of software your product falls
under, or the industry trend that it’s a part of. This part
There are plenty of organic traffic-generating activities
can take some research, but if your content is good
and now that you have a sales funnel you can also
and comprehensive, over time you can establish some
try paid acquisition. You can approach all of these
organic traffic.
activities with more confidence (and massively
improved return on investment) because you have a
conversion system in place.
 09. TEST AND ITERATE 22

09 Add more relevant case studies,

test your messaging, measure and

Test and Iterate constantly seek to improve.

Your goal now is to define and then improve your how you qualify those leads so you can convert more
customer acquisition cost (CAC). When you have a of them to sales. If you’re doing the selling yourself,
formulaic system for acquiring customers, you become identify any objections you come across often and
an attractive investment. More exit strategies or address them in additional emails in your automation.
funding will become a possibility. And now that you If you’re handing the leads off to a sales team, check
have a playbook, you can iterate it for new niches, in with them often to find out how you can add value in
markets, and ICPs on your path to becoming a unicorn. the process and help to qualify your leads.

Sometimes people ask me what this system has to Use the data to inform where you need to improve.
do with the lean methodology. Our definition of lean Continue to improve and obsess over your growth.
marketing is exactly as you probably interpret it to mean: Keep in mind that the most valuable data you can
we start with a minimum viable product, we measure and collect is qualitative feedback from your customers
test obsessively, and we seek to eliminate waste. and prospects. Your marketing should make every
attempt to start conversations with your prospects —
Now that your campaign is live, start analyzing your
it’s the best way to learn what you need to know about
results. Pay attention to the conversion rate of your
them, to meet their needs, and to sell to them.
landing page, the open rate and click-through rate of
your emails, and your conversion rate from subscriber
to demo or trial. Once you start consistently driving
leads to demos on your calendar, start working on
Want to learn more about how to take
action with these tactics and help your
company grow?
This ebook will help you get started, but you might need a little extra
guidance, or you might wish to have us take care of the content creation
for you. Our lean marketing playbook program includes video training,
group coaching, content creation, and design.

We can work together to launch a complete sales funnel, marketing

automation, and content for your marketing channels. Let’s chat about
how we can work with you to launch a campaign and help you grow.

Book a free, no strings attached, 45-minute strategy call with Jordan and
ask about the Lean Marketing Playbook for SaaS program.

BOOK YOUR STRATEGY CALL NOW