Software as a service is one of the fastest-growing business models in the technology world. With demand for scalable and more accessible software solutions skyrocketing, expect exponential growth in the number of software as a service provider. This will make the software as a service industry more competitive.
To stand out from the crowd, Software as a service business will need help from Hostnoc affiliates who can promote their services. Software as a service businesses can pay them some commission for doing so. Affiliates will become an integral part of your digital marketing strategy.
Your affiliates can harness the power of their social media, website, and other marketing channels to drive traffic and lead to your software as a service business. Promoting a software as a service business is little different from promoting physical products traditional businesses sell.
Affiliates must have a deep understanding of how software as a service business model and tools that can help affiliates to do a great job at marketing your software as a service business. In this article, HOSTNOC will highlight some ways affiliates can use to promote software as a service business, the strategies that work best, and some tips for success in this growing industry.
What is Software as a Service Businesses?
Before discussing ways affiliates can use to promote software as a service business, it is important to understand the software as a service business model. In a software-as-a-service business model, a software application is delivered to users via the internet in the form of a service. This means that they do not have to purchase the software.
Instead, they will be charged a subscription fee. This subscription based model helps software as a service businesses earn recurring revenue. These software are hosted on the cloud to remote servers which users can access through their web browsers.
HubSpot, Salesforce, Dropbox, Slack and Zoom are some of the best examples of software as a service. Affiliates promoting software as a service businesses should know how to target the right audience and personalize their marketing messages to attract the right users.
Why Software as a Service is Perfect for Affiliate Marketing?
Software as a service businesses are well-suited for affiliate marketing. Here is why.
- Scalable Subscriptions:
A vast majority of software as a service solution providers adapt
s a subscription based model. This means that affiliates can not only earn commission on one sale but can also create an additional stream of recurring income.
- Digital Nature:
Software as a service products are completely digital. This means that you don’t have to worry about maintaining an inventory and shipping the products to customers as you would do with traditional products.
- High-Quality Products:
Software as a service businesses tend to have high-value products because they tend to solve specific problems for users. Software as a service business are critical for solving business problems whether they are customer relationship management, marketing, or managing accounts. This means that affiliates can easily promote software as a service solutions because they are in high demand and their quality is much better too.
- Low Barrier to Entry:
Affiliate programs of software as a service providers have a simple sign up process which makes it easier for new affiliates to join their affiliate program. Affiliates can get started easily and start promoting products with little upfront investment. This lowers the barrier to entry.
- Effective Tracking and Analytics:
Software as a service providers give affiliates access to state of the art tracking tools. This means that affiliates can see how their marketing campaigns are performing. These tools also come with real time tracking features and affiliates can see the data in real time, which allows them to tweak their marketing campaigns to achieve even better results.
- Building Long-Term Relationships:
Successful affiliates truly understand the value of building long term relationships with software as a service provider. As software as a service businesses expands, they launch new products and services. This gives affiliates an even wider catalogue of products and services to promote. With better relationships, they would be first in line to access and promote these products, giving them a competitive advantage over other affiliates.
Effective Strategies for Promoting Software as a Service as an Affiliate
Here are some tried and tested strategies for promoting software as a service business that can help affiliates make more money in commissions.
1. Create Quality Content Around the Software as a Service Products
One of the best ways to attract people to software as a service product is through content marketing. By publishing helpful content around SaaS products, you can not only establish yourself as an industry expert but can also drive relevant traffic to the website.
- Write Reviews:
People buy from brands they trust. You can build trust with reviews and customer testimonials. Write product reviews that are unbiased and specific instead of general ones. Don’t just talk about the advantages, also highlight the shortcomings of the products. This will make your reviews more authentic, which is exactly what customers want.
- How-to Guides and Tutorials:
Some software as a service products are packed with features and have a complicated user interface. This makes it harder for new users to wrap their heads around it. You can create guides and tutorials to help them get over these steep learning curves.
Focus on showing customers how they can make the most of features available in the software as a service tool. Video can be a great medium for how to guide and tutorials. Once you show them how to use different tools in the software, they are more likely to stay engaged and interact for longer and even use it to solve their business biggest pain points.
- Case Studies and Success Stories:
Another great way to build trust is to include real world case studies and share customer success stories. When users see case studies that include data and read customer success stories, they are more likely to make a purchase. Prospects can relate to the experiences shared by other customers and success stories This can improve brand perception, making the prospect more likely to make a purchase.
2. Use Paid Advertising
For those affiliates who want to generate quick results for software as a service business, paid advertising is an ideal choice. It can not only attract prospects but can also help you to convert them into paying customers.
- Google Ads:
Google is the most popular search engine in the world and by a long shot. Running ads on Google can help you target users which search for a particular search term. Your ads will be shown to them and they are more likely to convert because they are already in the market to buy a particular product or service.
- Facebook and Instagram Ads:
Did you know that more than 5 billion people use social media worldwide? Yes, you read that right. According to social media statistics, 62% of the world’s population use social media. Facebook has more than 3.07 billion monthly active users while instagram has 2 billion monthly active users, according to a report.
Running ads on these social media platforms allows you to target users with specific demographics and interests. Thanks to granular targeting features, affiliates can reach customers who are most likely to buy software as a service solutions.
- Retargeting:
Buyers don’t make a purchase the first time they interact with your brand. They go through dozens of touchpoints before making the final purchase. This is where retargeting can come in handy. With retargeting, you can move prospects into the next stage of buyer’s journey and sales funnels. It can also be a great source of following up with users who have interacted with your brand in one way or another.
3. Use Proven SEO Techniques
Affiliates must optimize their content so that it can rank higher in search engines. To do this, they will have to conduct keyword research, build backlinks and implement on page SEO best practices. This will help them attract traffic to software as a service businesses website, build credibility and trust and generate more leads.
- Keyword Research:
Affiliates should conduct keyword research to identify the most relevant and keywords related to the software as a service solution. This might include terms like “best SaaS for project management” or “top customer relationship management tools for small businesses.” If you want to target a more niche focused audience, you can target long tail variations of the keywords in your content.
- On-Page SEO:
Search engines spiders read on page elements of your page to decide where to rank the page in their search engine index. On page elements such as Meta Title, Meta Description and URL can all indicate the relevance of the page to search engines.
Subheadings can also help break down the page and make it easier to read for the user. That is why it is imperative that you should include a keyword in all these paces to increase your chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages.
- Backlinks:
Authority is another important element of search engine algorithms. Affiliates will have to build backlinks to increase authority of software as a service websites they are promoting. The higher the authority of the software as a service website, the more likely it is to rank higher on search engines. Focus on relevance and quality when acquiring backlinks and it will pay off in the long run.
4. Focus on Video Marketing
According to video statistics, a user retains 95% of the message when they watch a video as compared to only 10% of message when they read text. 88% of buyers are more likely to buy a product after watching a video. Businesses that leverage video marketing have a 34% higher conversion rate as compared to businesses that don’t. In addition to this, videos can also help affiliates build a deeper connection with the target audience.
- Product Demos:
Prospects want to see products in action and one of the best ways to achieve that goal is through product demos. Show how your SaaS product can help businesses get over some of their biggest challenges.
- Webinars:
Hosting webinars on the right topics can help affiliates generate leads, increase reach and engagement and cement software as a service business as an authority in their prospective domains.
5. Build Relationships with Software as a Service Companies
Affiliate marketing is not just about generating sales. You have to look beyond these metrics to build long term relationships in order to succeed.
- Collaborate on Promotions:
Every software as a service business introduces seasonal offers. Affiliates can collaborate with software as a service companies during these seasonal promotions to increase sales. If you have good relationships with software as a service companies, they will give you access to exclusive offers such as discounts and coupon codes.
- Use Affiliate Management Platforms:
Some software as a services companies go above and beyond to give you access to affiliate management platforms. This gives you access to a unified dashboard which consolidates everything from tracking features to commission management, promotional marketing materials to communication all in one place. This makes it easier for affiliates to manage their marketing campaigns.
6. Promote Hosting Solutions for SaaS Companies
Some software as a service businesses need robust and reliable hosting to operate efficiently. As an affiliate, promoting web hosting solutions like dedicated server hosting or VPS server options can be an additional revenue stream. Many software as a service businesses require high-performance servers to ensure their applications run smoothly, especially as their user base grows.
By partnering with web hosting companies or offering hosting-related services, affiliates can target software as a service provider who needs scalable and reliable hosting solutions. Dedicated server hosting and VPS server are particularly appealing to software as a service businesses that need guaranteed resources, high security and customization options for their applications.
Did this article help you as an affiliate in promoting software as a service business? Share your feedback with us in the comments section below.
