# SaaS Marketing: How B2B Software Finds Customers

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Canonical: https://revnu.com/grow/b2b-saas

**How to get customers for a B2B SaaS company.** Pick one narrow buyer and a trigger that makes them shop, like a new hire in the role or a switch away from a competitor. Write to those named accounts by email and LinkedIn from the founder. Publish comparison and alternatives pages, and earn reviews on G2 and Capterra so you show up when buyers search and when they ask AI tools for options. Then run Google search ads on competitor and problem terms. Skip broad social ads until you know exactly who converts.

## Step by step

1. **Narrow to one buyer and one trigger.** Write down the job title who feels the pain, the company kind and size, and the event that makes them shop. 'Head of RevOps at a Series A SaaS company who just switched CRMs' beats 'mid-market companies'. Look at your best existing customers and find what they share. If you have none yet, pick the segment where you can name a competitor they hate.
2. **Fix the pages buyers check before replying.** Your homepage should say who it's for in the first line, not describe a category. Add a public pricing page or at least a starting point, a security page, and an integrations page. Claim your G2 and Capterra profiles and ask your happiest customers for a review. Prospects will look at all of this before they answer an email.
3. **Write to named accounts from the founder.** List 50 companies that match your buyer and trigger, then find the right person at each. Send a short, plain email and a LinkedIn connection request that references the trigger, like their competitor tool or their new role. Ask for a reply instead of a calendar slot in the first touch. Follow up twice with something useful, like a teardown or a customer example.
4. **Publish comparison and alternatives pages.** Write one page for each competitor: '[competitor] alternatives' and '[you] vs [competitor]'. Be fair about where the competitor wins, because buyers can tell when they're reading a hit piece. Add use-case pages for each job title you serve. These pages rank on Google and get pulled into AI answers when buyers ask for tool recommendations.
5. **Add search ads on high-intent terms.** Start Google search ads on competitor names, 'alternative' terms and specific problem phrases. Send each ad group to the matching comparison page, not the homepage. Add negative keywords for 'free', 'jobs', 'login' and 'tutorial'. Leave broad category terms and display ads off until the narrow terms work.
6. **Review what moved and double down.** Each week, check which segment replied, which page brought trial signups and which ad terms led to demos. Cut what isn't producing conversations. Feed the exact words customers used on calls back into your emails and pages. Revnu does this work in your account after sign-up and reports what moved every morning on Slack or iMessage.

## Who buys from a B2B SaaS company

A department head usually finds and champions the software. Finance, IT or a founder signs off, and security or procurement can stall a deal at the end.

- **Department head or team lead (the champion).** They feel the pain daily in spreadsheets, a clunky legacy tool or manual work. They start looking after a bad quarter, a new mandate from above, or when they inherit a team and want their own stack.
- **Founders and CEOs at small companies.** They buy fast and sign their own contracts. They care about setup time, price and whether the tool replaces a hire or a contractor.
- **IT and security reviewers.** They rarely start the search, but they can block it. They want SSO, a SOC 2 report or a filled-in security questionnaire, a data processing agreement, and clear answers on where data lives.
- **Finance and procurement.** They show up once a deal gets to a certain size. They compare your contract against existing vendors and push for annual terms, so a clean order form and a simple pricing page speed things up.
- **Teams unhappy with a competitor.** They are often the warmest buyers you have. A price increase, a renewal date, an acquisition of their current vendor or a sunset feature sends them looking.

## Where to find them

- **G2, Capterra and TrustRadius category pages.** Buyers build shortlists here and read competitor reviews for complaints. A complete profile with recent reviews also feeds what AI answers say when someone asks for tools in your category.
- **Integration marketplaces (HubSpot App Marketplace, Salesforce AppExchange, Shopify App Store, Slack App Directory).** People browsing a marketplace already use the host product and are looking for something that plugs in. A listing with a clear use case puts you in front of buyers at the moment they need you.
- **LinkedIn, filtered by job title and recent job changes.** New leaders tend to review the tools they inherit early in a role. You can find the exact title at the exact company kind and see who just moved.
- **Niche subreddits and practitioner Slack communities.** Ops, RevOps, devs and marketers ask for recommendations in places like r/sysadmin, r/sales or community Slacks. Answer questions as a person and pitch only where the rules allow it.
- **Google searches for '[competitor] alternatives' and '[competitor] vs'.** These searchers have already decided to buy software and are deciding which one. A dedicated page for each comparison catches them.
- **Product Hunt and Hacker News launch days.** They work best for developer tools and products for founders. Expect early adopters and feedback more than enterprise buyers.

## What to say

- **Switch from the incumbent.** "Saw [company] runs on [competitor]. Teams like [similar customer] moved over because [specific complaint you fix], and we migrate the data for you."
- **New in the seat.** "Congrats on the [new role] at [company]. When people step into that job they usually rework [process] first. Here's how [similar team] handled it with [product]."
- **Replace the spreadsheet.** "If your team still tracks [task] in a shared sheet, [product] does it automatically from [system they already use]. Worth a short look?"
- **Hiring signal.** "Noticed you're hiring a [role] to handle [task]. [Product] covers most of that work, which might change what that hire spends time on."

## Which channels fit

| Channel | Fit | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Founder-led email and LinkedIn to named accounts | Strong fit | If you sell sales-assisted plans to a definable title, writing to real people at chosen companies is the fastest way to learn your pitch and land your first customers. |
| Comparison, alternatives and use-case pages (SEO) | Strong fit | Software buyers research hard before they talk to sales, so pages that answer '[competitor] vs [you]' get found on Google and quoted by AI answers. |
| Review sites and integration marketplaces | Strong fit | Buyers check G2 and marketplace listings before shortlisting, so a thin profile costs you deals you never hear about. |
| Google and Microsoft search ads | Sometimes | They pay off on competitor, alternative and specific problem terms, and burn budget on broad category words like 'project management software'. |
| LinkedIn ads | Sometimes | The job title and company size targeting suits SaaS well, but clicks are expensive, so use it when your deals are large enough to absorb that. |
| Facebook and Instagram ads | Weak fit | You can't target by job title or company, so B2B SaaS spend there mostly reaches people who will never buy, unless you sell cheap self-serve software to freelancers or tiny shops. |
| Trade show booths | Sometimes | A vertical event where your exact buyer gathers can pay off, but book meetings ahead by email instead of hoping people stop by the booth. |

## Lead generation for SaaS

_Lead generation._ Good SaaS leads come from signals. A buyer list sorted by title alone gives you people who might need you someday. A list sorted by trigger gives you people shopping now. The triggers that work best are a new leader in the role, a job posting for work your product automates, a recent funding round, and a known competitor in their stack. Skip gated ebooks as your main lead source. They collect emails from students and researchers, and your sales calls become cold calls. Here's an example. A company selling contract management software lists every legal ops manager who started a new job in the last quarter at companies with an in-house legal team. It sends each one a note about cleaning up the contract repository they just inherited. Combine outbound like this with comparison pages and review site profiles so inbound buyers find you too.

## Cold email for B2B SaaS

_Cold email._ Cold email works for SaaS when you sell to a clear job title and your plans are big enough to justify a sales conversation. It works poorly for cheap self-serve products, where a sales call costs more than the customer pays. Keep emails short and plain. Send them from the founder, mention one specific reason you're writing, and ask a simple question. Skip open-tracking pixels and heavy HTML, which hurt deliverability. Send from a separate domain that you've warmed up. Follow CAN-SPAM with a real address and an easy opt-out, and be careful with EU contacts under GDPR. For example: 'Saw [company] is hiring two billing specialists. Teams your size use [product] to automate dunning so those hires work on disputes instead. Is billing on your list this quarter?' Pair each email with a LinkedIn touch to the same person.

## Facebook ads for SaaS, and the ads that work better

_Advertising._ Facebook ads for SaaS mostly fail for B2B products, because you can't target by job title, company or seniority. They can work for cheap self-serve tools sold to freelancers, creators or very small shops, and for retargeting people who already visited your pricing page. For most B2B SaaS, start with Google and Microsoft search ads on competitor and 'alternative' terms. Those people have already decided to buy. Next, try LinkedIn ads aimed at the exact title and company size, ideally with a conversation ad or a document ad instead of a demo request form. Reddit ads in practitioner subreddits suit developer and technical tools. For example, a bidding campaign on '[competitor] alternative' that lands on an honest comparison page will usually tell you more in its first stretch than a broad Facebook campaign. Revnu runs search, LinkedIn, Reddit and X ads. It does not run Facebook or Instagram ads.

## How customers decide

A champion finds you, tries a demo or free trial, and then has to sell you internally to a budget owner and often to IT. Deals stall at security review, procurement and the end of a budget year. You speed things up by handing the champion a one-page business case, a ready security packet and a pricing page that answers the question before they ask.

## One prompt, worked through

> We sell inventory forecasting software for independent coffee roasters that sell wholesale to cafes. Find operations managers and owners at US roasters with wholesale accounts, especially ones still forecasting in spreadsheets, and get me demos.

1. Revnu reads your website, works out that the buyer is the owner or ops lead at a roaster with a wholesale program, and finds those companies and the right person at each.
2. It writes to them by email and LinkedIn in your voice about green coffee ordering and wholesale forecasting, and every message waits for your approval.
3. When roasters reply, it drafts your responses and sends your booking link, while running Google search ads on roaster inventory terms and publishing pages that rank on Google and get cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity.
4. Every morning it reports what moved on Slack or iMessage.

Hand it to Revnu: https://revnu.com/sign-up?prompt=Find+%5Bjob+title%5D+at+%5Bkind+of+company%5D+who+%5Btrigger%2C+like+using+a+competitor+or+just+starting+the+role%5D+and+write+to+them+about+how+%5Bproduct%5D+fixes+their+problem.&source=grow%2Fb2b-saas

## FAQ

### Should a B2B SaaS company start with inbound or outbound?

Start with outbound if you don't have customers yet. Writing to named buyers teaches you which pitch and segment work far faster than waiting for search traffic. Build comparison pages and review profiles alongside it so inbound grows while outbound pays the bills.

### Do Facebook ads work for SaaS?

Rarely for B2B. You can't target by job title or company, so much of your spend reaches people who don't buy software at work. They can work for cheap self-serve products aimed at freelancers, and for retargeting your own site visitors.

### How do I get my first SaaS customers with no brand?

Have the founder write directly to a narrow list of people with a painful, specific problem, and offer hands-on setup. Early buyers choose a founder who answers their messages over a known brand. Ask each one for a G2 review and a referral once they're happy.

### Are competitor comparison pages risky?

They're standard in SaaS, and buyers look for them. Keep claims accurate and dated, credit the competitor where it's strong, and don't use their logo in a way that suggests endorsement. Bidding on competitor names in search ads is allowed, but avoid putting their trademark in your ad copy.

### What slows down B2B SaaS deals the most?

Security review and procurement, once a champion has already said yes. Have a security page, a questionnaire you've already filled out and a standard data processing agreement ready before anyone asks. Also make sure you're talking to someone who can reach the budget owner.

### What does it cost?

Plans start at $99 a month, and Revnu starts on what you typed as soon as you sign up. Cancel any time in Settings.

### Does anything run before I sign up?

No. Nothing is checked or generated on this page. Revnu does the work inside your account, where it can read your website, keep what it finds and carry on from there.

Last updated: 2026-10-14

## Machine-readable resources

- LLM index: https://revnu.com/llms.txt
- Full LLM context: https://revnu.com/llms-full.txt