In this post, we are going to develop 3 Product Marketing models, one based on product, one based on sales and a hybrid one in which we combine the power of the product, and the strength of sales for SaaS.
All models are valid and functional, it will depend on your context, market and budget, which one you can assume and which one fits better with your strategy.
Normally this model is focused on products with a low ticket and low friction when using the product, also low, since the aim of this model is to act as an acquisition channel, but also for the product to be self-serve or self-service, that is to say, that no sales or support agents intervene in the process. With this application, the marketing and product teams work so that the product itself is the one that receives users, explains how it works and generates product adoption in the short term.
Among the challenges for product marketing profiles of this model are:
- Have a clear value proposition to be conveyed on the web and in acquisition channels
- To have defined the target to whom we are addressing
- Create user onboarding that allows users to adopt the product without intervention (or with as little intervention as possible) from support teams.
- Communicate the value of the product to generate retention
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In this model, we find a classic sales force model, in which the team works on a base of leads that are either sought by them or given to them by the marketing team doing inbound.
Normally in this model we find figures such as SDR (Sales Development Representative) focused on qualifying inbound leads, BDR (Business Development Representative) focused on prospecting leads, Account Manager focused on making sales to previously prospected accounts and Customer Success, focused on maintaining long-term relationships with customers and generating new sales opportunities.
Among the challenges for product marketing profiles of this model are:
- Be in constant contact with the sales, marketing and customer success departments to ensure that the expectations generated in the TOP (Top of the funnel) phase are met once customers use the product.
- Obtain internal and external feedback to improve value proposition, onboarding and user experience using the product.
- Narrow the target users to whom you sell and generate use cases for each of them.
- Define positioning and pricing strategies that help increase ARPA (average revenue per account).
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Finally, there is a very interesting model that combines the best of both worlds, product and sales. In this model, companies use the product as a tool to get low ticket users to self-serve, create an account, use the product and pay.
They also use the product as a source of leads to pass the most interesting accounts to the sales team, thus generating a constant flow. On the other hand, the sales team focuses on both large accounts and leads previously qualified by the marketing team.
In this model, the sales force is usually at an advantage, since the leads provided by the product and marketing team are leads that have already been using the product and understand its value, thus giving the sales team a lead at a stage where they are very willing to pay.
Among the 3 models, this is the model where a Product Marketing profile can get the most out of their skills, as they can align with marketing to generate opportunities and lead volume, with product to ensure that the customer has a very positive experience when registering and with the sales team to generate more high ticket transactions.
In these examples we will see that although they are very product-led oriented companies, they also have a sales component in their home and pricing.
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For this question there is no right answer, no standard answer. My recommendation will always be to have common sense, test and iterate. What do I mean by common sense? If your product is worth 2€ per month, and your LTV is one year, in the best case scenario you can assume a cost of 24€ to acquire a customer (and even then, you would not be making money). So, in addition to the pricing of your product, it would be worth analyzing:
- Pricing
- Team involvement when it comes to customer payment
- Product and marketing strategy
- Innovation capacity of the product team (creating functionalities for a higher tier of customers)
- Team expertise
Among many other factors. If you need help to define your strategy, we can help you :)
Identifying the model on which a company or competitor is betting is not usually very complex, we must look at two factors:
It will be enough for us to enter their website and see if the CTAs (call to action) are to do an action by ourselves (like creating an account) or to do a demo with a sales representative. It can also be the case that we see both CTAs (demo and create account) or even that depending on the day, or the location, we find one option or the other (because they are experimenting which model works best for them).
If we enter the pricing page we can be more certain of the strategy followed by this company. On the other hand, if when entering the pricing page, we see a "book a demo" and we cannot see the monetary value of the product, we are with a 99% probability, in front of a product with a Sales Led model.
If you need help in determining the model that best fits your SaaS, do not hesitate to contact us.
