Nine Common SaaS marketing errors

I’ve said a few times that I think SaaS vendor marketing sucks. That doesn’t win me many friends so as a helper, here goes as to why. As I’m building out the online apps wiki it’s amazing just how much information providers forget to put on their websites. Much of it is Marketing 101. Here are a few of the latest horrors and in no particular order:

1. No contact phone no – OK, so the phone is a bit outdated but we do business with people, preferably those with whom we can speak
2. No Twitter account reference – maybe not so important to you but it is to those who comment on your stuff
3. Lack of clear pricing information or in some cases any pricing information – this is de rigeur in today’s market. Instant #fail
4. Links to glitzy win story at third parties but no link to the third party itself – doh!!
5. No links to third party partners who might be sources of business – you can have as many partners as you like but if we don’t know who they are then what possible traction do you expect to get for your hard spent marketing money?
6. No links to third party reference stories written by third parties – these are gold. If you’ve got them, flaunt them.
7. Providing video that can’t be embedded anywhere – not much good if a high traffic site wants to show off some of your stuff
8. Lack of information about key markets – if we don’t know who you want to sell to, how do you expect people to know your value proposition?
9. No information on the management team or when founded – OK, so you might have been a rocket scientist for NASA or successfully launched a clutch of start ups. But if I don’t even know your name then what can I possibly conclude about you or your credentials?

ALL OF WHICH MAKES IT REAL HARD FOR ME TO HAVE ANY REAL CLUE WHETHER YOU’RE WORTH DOING BUSINESS.

I won’t embarrass the guilty. If you read this then you know who you are. And those are just what I’ve found today. Will tomorrow be any better?

PS – Frank Scavo points out this isn’t exclusive to SaaS. True – but then these are folk that like to make the big ‘customer first’ play. Nearly al these points have relevance to customers.