Okay, if you have landed here to know how to leverage Influencer marketing in the SaaS industry, then we assume that you already have a comprehension of what Influencer marketing is all about. In this social media-driven society we live, a majority of people are turning towards their favorite celebrities, influencers, or Youtubers for advice before making any shopping decision. The facts about influencer marketing – 70% of teens trust influencers, 60% of them follow their suggestions, 49% of consumers depend on influencer’s guidance – excites forward-thinking marketers. 67% of marketers have already embarked on their journey. More it, knowing the best influencer marketing software results in 11X higher ROI than any other form of digital marketing, several industries are also hopping onto this club.

One such industry that is relatively new to influencer marketing but can gain high-profit margins (if harnessed rightly) is SaaS. While it might confuse and, at the same time, surprise you to think about this combination. Don’t worry, we have got you covered. This article talks about how to harness this burgeoning trend in SaaS companies successfully to gain maximum impact.

Leveraging Influencer marketing in the SaaS industry

SaaS companies have now begun to understand that the market (read consumers) listens and trusts influencers more than anyone else. And hence, it is important to connect with buyers via a medium that has a greater chance of building a strong relationship.

Check out the steps that can help you build deeper, authentic, and meaningful conversations with audiences:

Step 1: Decide on goals

The foremost, essential thing that needs to be considered is to determine the objective of your business. Before implementing this new trend of marketing, SaaS companies should have answers to the following questions:

●       How will the influencer promote my software product?

●       Who are my audiences? Am I targeting influencers who are followed by my audiences?

●       Is it actually required for my business?

●       Do I have sufficient funds?

●       What results do I expect from influencer marketing?

●       How am I going to execute this?

●       Have I maintained a strategy or backup plan if this doesn’t work?

These answers will help you comprehend your requirements and how you will make it happen.

Step 2: Make a list of all known influencers

The most critical step in influencer marketing is finding the right influencer who fits well for your business. There might be chances that you already know a few of them who belong to your industry. Note down their names first. Next, carry out considerable research on who can influence your audiences more. Lastly, make a list of all the influencers.

Step 3: Use Influencer Ranking Tool before collaborating

Before trying to establish a relationship with influencers, it is mandatory to identify the right person for your business. As you (read a SaaS company) are new to following this marketing trend, you need to be more careful while selecting an influencer. However, how to understand who is the best for your business you ask? Well, you are fortunate to have Influencer Ranking tools in this quest.

An Influencer Ranking tool provides valuable insights that let you analyze, compare, and select only potential influencers. In a single dashboard, you get to check influencers’ followers, engagement rate, his/her country, and other important details. This meaningful information can help you find out who can best target your audience and drive sales.

Step 4: Choose a platform for Influencer Marketing Campaign

Now that you have selected the best influencer, the next step is to choose which platform can have maximum impact on your audiences.

For this, you should consider where exactly your users spend most of their time. The platform actually depends a lot on which age group you are targeting. If you want to target teens, then your focus can be on Snapchat, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You can also opt for blogs and podcasts to target the younger generation. On the other hand, if you are focussing on older people, then you can go for Twitter and Facebook.

Once you select the medium, develop engaging content for the campaign that influencers can use. Along with influencers, don’t forget that content also plays a significant role in achieving marketing success. To be precise, good content.

Step 5: Review the strategy and measure the metrics

Like any form of marketing, tracking metric performance is essential in influence marketing too. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that define marketing success should be measured regularly.

The engagement should be measured. For example, if a SaaS product is promoted by an influencer on Instagram, then you should track how many of your targets have reacted or commented on the post.

Final Thoughts

The influencer marketing industry is expected to reach 10 billion dollars by the end of 2020, which was just 2 billion dollars in 2017. Now imagine the adoption rate across the globe. Though influencer marketing in SaaS hasn’t reached the mainstream yet, early adopters are always considered to be forward-thinkers, groundbreakers, and innovators. Just don’t forget one thing. Every SaaS company has to have its own strategy that is developed as per the business requirements and needs. You can also see top marketing trends in the SaaS industry of 2021 for your company’s benefit. And this means every SaaS company has to follow an altogether different approach to influencer marketing depending upon their strategy. And therefore, the above-mentioned steps should just be used as a reference and not a must-follow guide. Tweak the above-shared strategy depending on your business nature and SaaS products to gain business profits and growth.