Software as a service (SaaS) companies have a very distinct business model that’s created to increase and ease adoption.

However, to do that, these businesses also need to utilize a public relations strategy that will align with that business model.

Although a company might provide plenty of services or products that consumers might need, it’s never a good idea to simply rely on the solutions to start selling themselves.

Solutions

Not all of the services from companies in the software as a service industry are created equal, which means every business will need to utilize a public relations strategy that’s personalized to the type of solution it is trying to promote.

That means companies need to be familiar with all of the different products that are also available on the market, as well as other similar products.

For instance, companies need to know SaaS productivity solutions, financial SaaS solutions, and CRM SaaS solutions as well.

By knowing all of the different solutions that are available in the market, companies will be able to adjust their public relations strategies in accordance with their own product.

Pitching

Companies in the SaaS industry can use their promotional messages to newsjack current news stories or trending topics.

In fact, some of the most successful public relations pitches from the industry have been so successful because they managed to connect their messages to other popular trends or topics.

In fact, when a business is able to do that, it can, for instance, link solutions to other events that are currently taking place inside the overall IT industry.

The easiest way to do that is to create a news story that’s going to be relatable and start weaving the company’s promotional messages and narrative into the discussion regarding an everyday situation in an attention-grabbing manner.

The goal of this strategy is to connect the company and its solution to what’s currently being talked about.

This is a content marketing strategy known as newsjacking, and it’s also a great way for companies to make their pitches a lot more appealing and relevant to the consumers they are trying to target.

It’s also a very effective way to market a business and its solutions because most journalists want to talk about breaking news stories and what’s currently happening.

By getting a company story to coincide with a piece of breaking news SaaS companies can increase the odds of being featured in media outlets and receiving positive media coverage.

Customer adoption

For a lot of potential customers in the software as a service market, one of the biggest sources of anxiety that they have is transitioning to a cloud-based tech environment.

To utilize effective public relations strategies, companies in the SaaS industry should start focusing on the concerns that these customers might have relating to how the adoption of the solution might impact their everyday life, instead of simply talking about all of the benefits that they’ll get by making a purchase.

Most customers already understand what a solution can help them do, but it’s important for these businesses to highlight how easily they can make the switch.

Public PR Strategy for SaaS Brands

Software as a service (SaaS)is any company that provides services through some platform or a digital tool. Instead of the customers having to install and constantly update the software they’re using, all they need to do is get on the Internet to be accessing the same tool.

This eliminates the need for a lot of complicated tools and platforms and maintaining devices. However, despite how useful these types of solutions can be, it’s not always easy for companies in the SaaS industry to effectively target audiences and convince them to become customers.

Fortunately, with the right public relations strategies, even the smallest SaaS businesses can reach their customers, improve brand awareness, and achieve a lot more success.

Brand Awareness

The SaaS market is relatively crowded as well as competitive, however, with the help of the right public relations strategies, companies can stand out from the crowd by improving their brand awareness.

Put simply, public relations is how SaaS companies can connect with their target audiences as well as the media.

It’s utilized in unison with other promotional and marketing efforts and can also be used to improve a company’s reputation, generate more exposure that isn’t necessarily paid for, and highlight the company’s expertise.

Just a few years ago, simply talking about a brand new and interesting SaaS solution and what it did was enough for a journalist to start getting interested in a business and talking about it in their articles.

However, the industry has grown since then, and it’s become a lot more difficult for businesses to stand out, which means it’s no longer simply enough to talk about the solution.

SaaS companies need to be able to showcase the benefits that customers will get from using their solutions, as well as all of the features that they have.

Thought Leadership

One of the ways that companies can reach their target audiences as well as generate positive media coverage is by conducting studies.

One of the easiest studies to do is a survey that companies can use to get more input from their existing customers, as well as utilize that information for public relations campaigns.

Most of the time, journalists want to see real-world facts that will support a company’s arguments, and if a company conducts a survey, it can show the outlets what the customers are already saying about the solution.

Furthermore, reporters love to see data, whether that data that was identified after the solution was released to the market, or it was discovered while the solution was being developed.

All of this information can be utilized in public relations campaigns, such as sharing market insights, forecasting future trends in the industry, and more.

This way, SaaS companies will have a much easier time creating a cohesive narrative for media outlets, that’s supported by the figures that are incorporated from the data and analytics of the business.

Lastly, most media outlets are a lot more likely to pick up a story that has a lot of data in it, because this type of information tends to be relevant and useful to large groups of people.

It’s also important to remember that visual presentation of data is a lot easier to process than text-based data, which means if a business has a lot of complicated statistics, it’s a lot more helpful to convert all of them into a visual format such as graphs or infographics.

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Ronn Torossian is the Founder & Chairman of 5W Public Relations, one of the largest independently owned PR firms in the United States. Since founding 5WPR in 2003, he has led the company's growth and vision, with the agency earning accolades including being named a Top 50 Global PR Agency by PRovoke Media, a top three NYC PR agency by O'Dwyers, one of Inc. Magazine's Best Workplaces and being awarded multiple American Business Awards, including a Stevie Award for PR Agency of the Year. With over 25 years of experience crafting and executing powerful narratives, Torossian is one of America's most prolific and well-respected public relations executives. Throughout his career he has advised leading and high-growth businesses, organizations, leaders and boards across corporate, technology and consumer industries. Torossian is known as one of the country's foremost experts on crisis communications. He has lectured on crisis PR at Harvard Business School, appears regularly in the media and has authored two editions of his book, "For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results With Game-Changing Public Relations," which is an industry best-seller. Torossian's strategic, resourceful approach has been recognized with numerous awards including being named the Stevie American Business Awards Entrepreneur of the Year, the American Business Awards PR Executive of the Year, twice over, an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year semi-finalist, a Top Crisis Communications Professional by Business Insider, Metropolitan Magazine's Most Influential New Yorker, and a recipient of Crain's New York Most Notable in Marketing & PR. Outside of 5W, Torossian serves as a business advisor to and investor in multiple early stage businesses across the media, B2B and B2C landscape. Torossian is the proud father of two daughters. He is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and a board member of multiple not for profit organizations.