B2B SaaS Marketing Mistake #1: Targeting a Broad Market
Why you need to focus...
Hey there,
Welcome to the 5-part series on “5 Fatal B2B SaaS Marketing Mistakes“.
Today we're talking about—
MISTAKE #1: TARGETING A BROAD MARKET
A lot of early-stage B2B SaaS businesses try to target too many markets at the same time.
This leads to:
A poor product - because it tries to please everyone
Weak messaging which doesn't sell - because it isn't specific to someone's context, use-case, and pain points
Difficulty experimenting - because targeting several markets at once introduces an additional variable making it harder to figure out what's working and what's not
SO WHAT'S THE FIX?
You need a beachhead market. This is a specific market segment where you focus all your efforts before expanding.
With a beachhead, you'll be able to:
Discover the right distribution channels for your target audience
Write messaging that actually resonates and converts
Build a stronger feature set which solves their specific problems
Systematically test different market segments in search for product-market fit
Here's how to identify your ideal beachhead market—
STEP 1: SEGMENT YOUR TARGET MARKETS FUTHER
In B2B, you can segment potential markets using these two dimensions:
THE PERSON
Job title
Seniority (owner, C-level, VP, etc)
Experience
Skills and expertise
Education
Accreditations and qualifications
Interests (hobbies, professional groups, etc)
Location
THE COMPANY
Growth stage (startup, scaleup, SMB, enterprise)
Size (# employees, revenue, etc)
Industry or vertical
Geography
Tech stack
For example, instead of targeting "HR professionals" you might target "Chief Human Resource Officers at Fortune 1000 companies".
STEP 2: SCORE YOUR MARKET SEGMENTS
Once you've identified several potential segments, how do you figure out which ones make "good" beachhead markets?
Score each segment against the following:
Can you identify customers through specific channels or job titles?
Are there enough potential customers to support your business goals?
Is competition manageable in this segment?
Do these customers have specific problems your solution can address?
Do customers in this segment have similar use-cases and requirements?
Does word of mouth exist among these customers?
Would you enjoy serving these customers?
The more confident you are in these answers, the stronger the potential of the market segment.
STEP 3: SELECT ONE MARKET SEGMENT
Once you've scored your options, rank them, and then pick one which you feel good about. Go with your gut here. You can always change focus later if you learn this market does not work for you.
ACTIONS:
Run through the three step process above for identifying a beachhead market (segment -> score -> select). Try to come up with as many ideas for beachhead markets as possible before picking one
Focus RUTHLESSLY: realign your product features, rewrite your messaging, and focus your marketing channels exclusively for this market segment
NEXT TIME
Even with perfect targeting, you'll still struggle to win your first customers if you use the wrong marketing tactics... But that's a topic for next time.