Efficient SaaS growth calls for smarter B2B targeting

Afternoon all, a quick tank top from the front garden.

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Two things that sort of struck me this week. One is that clearly there is a huge instruction from VC that SaaS businesses should grow more efficiently. I think we all know that. Which means that spend, marketing spend, marketing resources are going to be much lighter than they were.

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And the second thing is that we know that lots of people that we talk to are being asked to go and target the B2B sector. So, one small bit of advice: it’s not a B2B sector, it’s about 85 different sub-verticals, all of which have got different identities, all of which think of themselves not as being a B2B company but being instead an engineering firm or a distribution firm.

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In order to really grow efficiently, particularly in that business-to-business set of sub-verticals, the right thing to do is to target the five or ten of those sub-verticals that you really think you can help.

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Do some really good research work. Make sure you understand which ones of them should be in your ICP, and then do the manpower and do the legwork to make sure you’ve earned the right to go and engage with those.

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Don’t do the lazy thing and do a B2B thing because it won’t work.

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Thank you very much, bye.

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Blog

The peer-led buyer: why trust trumps pitch

Buyers don’t want your pitch—they want proof. Today’s retail tech decision-makers are self-educating, peer-influenced, and allergic to outdated sales tactics. Over 80% of their journey happens before they speak to a vendor. So if you’re not showing up in the places they trust—content, conversations, and events—you’re not in the running. In this article, we explore how B2B buyers research, why peer-led content and events outperform traditional marketing, and what vendors can do to build trust before the sales cycle even starts.