5 Smart Email Marketing Tips for Your SaaS Business

Customer retention is more important to the SaaS industry than just about any other industry out there, and making the most of your email subscription list helps you in your retention efforts. According to Kissmetrics, 80 percent of your revenues will come from just 20 percent of your current customers, so cultivating those relationships and staying connected is a must. Email marketing allows you to create regular, automated touchpoints that boost those valuable connections and help you retain as many of your current customers as possible.

At its best, email marketing builds relationships, boosts engagement and provides value; at its worst, it is seen as an annoyance or even spam by the recipient. How can you be sure that the emails you send to your subscribers are the good kind — and that you’re actively building relationships? These ideas can help:

1. Send Valuable Content

Just getting in touch isn’t enough: You need to be regularly sharing useful content. Every piece you send needs to be valuable in some way to the recipient – simply touching base because you are “supposed to” won’t cut it. If you have an email newsletter, use this vehicle to relay interesting news, statistics about your industry and even spotlight some of the latest industry trends. Highlighting little-known features of your recurring payment software or your subscription billing software can help existing clients learn even more about using your product and inform prospects about your capabilities without a heavy sales pitch.

2. Develop Your Voice

If your brand doesn’t already have a consistent voice, it’s time to think about how you’re coming across to your readers. Developing a consistent voice that carries across your communications helps prospects know what to expect and goes a long way toward forging a lasting connection. You are sending the same email to all of your prospects; using a consistent voice or approach helps them to feel a more personal connection to your brand.

3. What Traits Do Your Subscribers Share?

Your current buyers and clients have at least one thing in common — your service. They also likely share other interests and preferences; if you can connect on more than one level, you can be more certain that your emails will be opened and read.

Whether it’s humor, hobbies, a specific fandom or other interests, knowing what makes your subscribers tick can help you forge a more personal connection. You may actually already have this information: If you’ve come up with a marketing persona, incorporate these details into your email marketing strategy to really resonate with your prospects.

4. Skip the Promotion

No one wants to be constantly barraged with promotional messages and heavy-handed calls to action. At least some of your emails need to be about providing information without strings attached. Whether you’re offering a freebie, sharing great news or simply providing access to something new, some of your contact points need to include things that purely to benefit your reader.

If you are constantly sending “look at me” and “special offer” emails, you’ll end up in the spam folder before long. Striking the right ratio of promotion to information and sharing helps ensure that your prospects don’t feel like they are being harassed or like they are constantly being closed.

5. Track What Works

Keep track of which emails your prospects are opening — and which ones are simply sitting. By measuring your progress, you can get an idea of which headlines work and which emails are producing results; you can then use this information to further tailor your email marketing efforts.

When you maximize your emails to give your customers what they want without the hard sell, you’ll have positioned your business favorably when you roll out that next upgrade. Happy writing!

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