Saeed Shiripur is an Iranian-German entrepreneur, CEO and founder of EZFunnels, a software-as-a-service company.
The only way to beat your competitors is to stop trying to beat your competitors. The blue ocean strategy concept states that “cutthroat competition only results in competitors vying for ever shrinking pools of profits in a blood red ocean.”
The growing adoption of SaaS represents a blue ocean market opportunity – a non-competitive, growing market with greater chances of success, less risk, and increased commissions for partners.
You may ask, is a SaaS affiliate program worth it? What are the benefits of promoting SaaS as a partner? As the founder and CEO of an online and affiliate marketing company, I believe you should take this opportunity for four reasons.
The SaaS market is growing at 18% per year. SaaS adoption has grown exponentially due to Covid and the changes it has brought to the way businesses operate.
Despite the growing market, most SaaS fails in the first two years, which is typical for startups. According to the CBI report, the main reasons are market problems: lack of market penetration experience, poor product-to-market fit, and lack of marketing funds.
While I’m looking for solutions to these market problems, I’m seeing more and more founders creating SaaS affiliate programs. This helps them easily reach their target audience with almost zero upfront cost. However, due to the seemingly complex nature of SaaS offerings, most affiliates stick to traditional affiliate marketing niches.
But for affiliates who dare (and usually end up mastering it), SaaS affiliate programs are a blue ocean of affiliate marketing with big rewards.
Imagine that you are promoting a unique product that has no direct competitors, while at the same time allowing potential customers to try the product just before paying. Easy to sell, right?
• Most SaaS (not all) are innovative and unique in the market, as opposed to traditional traditional offerings.
• Almost all SaaS offer some form of free trial. All you have to do is get your audience to try the product.
• Free trials also reduce churn and chargebacks as users get to know the product before paying.
• Most SaaS companies have a sales force and a customer onboarding process. This way you just focus on sending your leads to switch off.
Traditional niche affiliate marketing partnerships require you to constantly bring in new customers to keep your commissions growing. SaaS users are billed monthly/yearly. Therefore, most SaaS affiliate programs also offer their partners a monthly commission.
You will continue to receive a percentage of the referrer’s monthly subscription fee for as long as he remains a client. Plus, new features are released on a regular basis, ensuring your referrals stick around for as long as possible and your pockets filled with regular commissions.
SaaS offerings are designed with business needs in mind. SaaS usually has several tariff plans for each range of customers. For example, a small business can always upgrade as it grows to meet new usage needs. Most SaaS also offer customized plans to meet the needs of large enterprises.
Customers do not need to change their minds as they can switch plans without any disruption or downtime. The flexibility of SaaS to meet customer growth needs can lead to higher commission income for partners.
The SaaS affiliate program you promote can make a big difference to your SaaS affiliate marketing success. So, what should you pay attention to before promoting SaaS?
• Long-lived cookies. For example, a 30-day cookie expiration means that you will earn a commission if a website visitor makes a purchase within 30 days of clicking on your affiliate link. The longer the cookie lifetime, the better.
The assumption that SaaS products are complex and partners are hard to sell is a myth in my opinion. Your job is half done when you have the right audience that needs a SaaS solution.
Like any other product, a SaaS buyer buys a product because of its benefits. Specifications are the icing on the cake with which buyers can justify their purchase decision. So don’t let the technical nature of SaaS scare you away from SaaS affiliate programs.
The Forbes Business Council is the leading organization for developing and connecting business owners and leaders. Am I right?
Post time: Dec-02-2022