Mari Luukkainen

Growth hacks for B2B SaaS

Mari Luukkainen -

As a B2B SaaS company, growth is essential to your success. While traditional marketing and sales tactics can be effective, there are also many growth hacks you can use to accelerate your growth.

Learn from the best: known B2B growth hack examples

These examples show the power of growth hacking for B2B SaaS companies. By using innovative tactics and testing new strategies, these companies were able to accelerate their growth and achieve success.

  1. Dropbox: Dropbox offered a referral program where users could earn free storage space by referring friends. This helped them quickly grow their user base and build strong word-of-mouth marketing.
  2. HubSpot: HubSpot used a free tool, the Website Grader, to drive traffic to their site and generate leads. The tool provided a free analysis of a website's SEO, social media, and other factors, which helped them generate leads and build brand awareness.
  3. Intercom: Intercom used targeted email marketing to increase conversions on their website. They sent targeted emails to users who had abandoned their website or had not yet completed a purchase, which helped them convert those leads into customers.
  4. Slack: Slack used a freemium model, where users could sign up for a free version of the product with limited features. This helped them build a massive user base and establish themselves as a leader in the messaging and collaboration space.
  5. Zoom: Zoom used trade shows and conferences to generate leads and build brand awareness. They attended industry events and set up booths to demo their product and connect with potential customers.
  6. Canva: Canva used social media marketing to build a following and generate brand awareness. They created visually stunning posts and shared them on social media, which helped them quickly grow their audience and establish themselves as a leading design tool.
  7. SalesForce: SalesForce used targeted LinkedIn advertising to generate leads and drive conversions. They used LinkedIn's targeting capabilities to reach decision-makers at companies and drive them to their website to learn more about their product.

B2B SaaS growth hack ideas

Here are some actionable growth hacks for B2B SaaS companies:

  1. Leverage social proof: Social proof is a powerful tool for building trust and credibility. Use customer testimonials, case studies, and reviews on your website, social media, and email marketing to showcase the success of your product and company.
  2. Referral programs: Word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful forms of marketing. Encourage your happy customers to refer their peers and colleagues by offering incentives or discounts for referrals.
  3. Use video: Video is a great way to engage with your audience and showcase your product's features and benefits. Use explainer videos, demo videos, and customer success stories on your website and social media to drive engagement and interest.
  4. Offer freemium or trial versions: Give potential customers a taste of what you offer by offering a free or low-cost trial version. This will help them understand the value of your product and potentially lead to more sales.
  5. Attend conferences: Attend industry events and conferences to network with potential customers and partners. This can help you build relationships, generate leads, and increase your brand visibility.
  6. Partner with other companies: Partnering with other companies can help you reach new audiences and generate more leads. Look for complementary businesses to partner with, and explore cross-promotion opportunities.
  7. Build a strong content strategy: Content marketing can be a powerful tool for building brand awareness and driving traffic to your website. Use a mix of blog posts, whitepapers, eBooks, and webinars to educate your audience and showcase your expertise.
  8. Optimize your website: Your website is often the first impression potential customers have of your company. Make sure it's optimized for conversions, with clear calls-to-action, easy navigation, and a clean design.

By implementing these growth hacks, you can accelerate your B2B SaaS company's growth and reach new heights of success. Remember to test and iterate on your tactics to find what works best for your business.

Use OKRs to track success

Examples of OKRs that B2B SaaS companies could use to drive growth:

Objective: Increase MRR by 20% in Q3.

Key Results:

  • Achieve 95% customer retention rate.
  • Acquire 50 new customers.
  • Increase average revenue per customer by 10%.

Objective: Improve customer satisfaction by 15% in Q4.

Key Results:

  • Achieve a Net Promoter Score of 9 or higher.
  • Decrease support response time by 50%.
  • Conduct 100 customer interviews to gather feedback and insights.

Objective: Increase website traffic by 30% in Q2.

Key Results:

  • Achieve 50% growth in organic search traffic.
  • Increase referral traffic by 20%.
  • Launch a content marketing campaign and generate 5,000 new leads.

Objective: Expand to a new market by the end of the year.

Key Results:

  • Conduct market research and identify 3 potential new markets.
  • Establish partnerships with at least 5 local companies in the new market.
  • Achieve $100,000 in revenue from the new market in the first quarter.

Objective: Improve lead conversion rate by 25% in Q4.

Key Results:

  • Increase lead qualification criteria to improve lead quality.
  • Implement lead nurturing campaigns to engage and educate leads.
  • Conduct A/B testing on landing pages and forms to optimize for conversions.

By setting clear and measurable OKRs, B2B SaaS companies can focus their efforts and drive growth in specific areas. These OKRs help teams prioritize their work, align around common goals, and measure progress towards achieving those goals.