The Three Stages of Marketing

Most SaaS founders skip the marketing plan because it feels too complex. Allan Dib solved that by creating a SaaS marketing strategy that fits on a single page - nine boxes covering everything from identifying your target market to orchestrating referrals. In this episode, Allan walks through each phase of his SaaS marketing strategy - the before, during, and after stages - with specific SaaS examples and why getting a customer a result during their trial is the most critical conversion step.

Allan's SaaS marketing plan framework breaks the customer journey into three phases with three components each. Only 3% of any market is ready to buy now. Without a marketing plan for SaaS that includes lead capture and nurturing, you lose the other 97%. Allan grew two businesses to national scale and exit using this one-page marketing plan SaaS framework.

Allan Dib is a serial entrepreneur, marketer, and author of The 1-Page Marketing Plan. He grew an IT company and a VoIP provider to national scale, exiting both.

🔑 Key Lessons

• 🎯 Your SaaS marketing strategy must target narrowly or fail broadly: Allan says trying to market to everyone means you reach no one. Picking a tight target market makes every dollar of marketing spend more effective.
• 📉 Capture leads or lose 97% of your pipeline: Only 3% of prospects are ready to buy now. Without a lead capture system like free trials or email opt-ins, the other 97% simply disappear from your SaaS marketing strategy.
• 🚀 Get customers a result during their trial to convert: Prospects sign up, see a confusing dashboard, and leave. Onboarding that delivers the specific outcome they wanted turns conversion into order-taking.
• 💰 Customer lifetime value determines acquisition budget: If a customer is worth $10,000 over their lifetime, spending $2,000 to acquire them is rational. Increasing LTV expands how much you can invest in your SaaS marketing strategy.
• 🤝 Orchestrate referrals by making the referrer look good: Giving a friend a $100 voucher makes the referrer look generous. Build referral mechanics that create social goodwill as part of your SaaS marketing plan.
• 🔄 Segment because startups and enterprises need different messaging: Allan runs three segments with completely different messaging, pricing, and goals. Segment-specific content dramatically increases relevance and conversion.

Chapters

• Introduction
• Allan Dib's background - from IT geek to serial entrepreneur
• What is SuccessWise and the 1-Page Marketing Plan
• Benefits of a one-page SaaS marketing strategy
• Three phases: before, during, and after
• Phase 1 - Identifying your target market
• Creating an ideal customer profile for SaaS
• Crafting your message to the target market
• The plan as a living document
• Choosing media channels to reach your audience
• Phase 2 - Lead capture and free trials
• Sales conversion strategies for SaaS
• Lead capture, nurturing, and outbound selling
• Creative nurturing beyond email
• Creating separate plans per segment
• Phase 3 - Delivering a world-class experience
• Increasing customer lifetime value
• Switching monthly to annual subscriptions
• Orchestrating and stimulating referrals
• The best marketer wins every time
• Where to find Allan Dib and the book

Resources

• Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/193
• Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email