Lots of good stuff today.
First, a strategic view at growth and 16 different product growth strategies. I bet you haven’t considered at least a few of them, if not most.
Then a detailed walkthrough of a Facebook ad campaign focused on sales, with tips and examples.
Then top 10 growth mistakes to avoid.
At the very end, I’m addressing GrowRevenue pricing going forward.
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16 Product Strategies for Growth [The Produx Labs]
This list is designed for leaders who are thinking about what the next phase of their company should be so that you can make sure you’ve entertained all the options. It’s very easy to think of one path and fall in love with it without exploring alternative routes.
- Innovate to be Best in Breed
- Build + Bundle Complementary Products
- Acquire Complementary Products
- Integrate with Partner Products
- Develop Tangential Product Lines
- Go Up Market
- Go Down Market
- Attack New Markets / Verticals (Reposition)
- Expand into New Geographies
- Create a Self-Service Channel
- Establish a Partner Channel
- Become an Open Platform
- Increase Your Prices
- Merge with Competitors
- Improve Product Value Realization
- Sunset / Sell Off a Product Line
Each strategy includes tips to achieve success with it and when it’s the best option to consider, along with company examples for each.
The easiest way to grow your SaaS to $100,000 in less than 6 months: Facebook Ads [Twitter thread]
Sam Thompson used this exact strategy to grow $28,626 in 51 days.
First, you need an OFFER. Focus on two things:
- Position yourself as the solution to their problem
Problem -> YOU -> Solution - Price your product fairly and affordably.
Valuable Product + Attainable Price = NO-BRAINER OFFER
Tips:
- Offers <$30/Month Convert WAY Better Than >$30/Month
- Free Trials Convert Best On Cold Traffic
- If your cheapest plan is >$100, run ads at a FREE opt-in first!
- Offer an e-book, free worksheet, etc….then upsell through email or retargeting campaigns.
Second, you need CREATIVE. Your creative needs FOUR elements:
- Call out your CUSTOMER
- Ask a question related to their PROBLEM
- Introduce your VALUE PROP
- CTA for next step (ie CLICK HERE)
Example:
Tips:
- Use Canva to make these in <5 minutes
- Add simple gifs to make it more eye-catching
- Use high-contrasting colors so it POPS
- Include specific CTA
You have one goal: STOP THE SCROLL.
Get their attention first, then deliver your pitch. High-quality clicks = better conversions.
Third, you need COPY. Your copy expands on the information in your creative. FOCUS ON BENEFITS.
Shopify sellers care more about increasing sales than how many influencers you have in your database. Creators care more about gaining followers than you having dark mode.
Tips:
- Cheaper Product = Shorter Copy
- Use Emojis To Stand Out
- Focus on Major Value Prop
- Remember You Are Selling Time, Money or Pleasure
Fourth, you need TARGETING. Improving your ad performance comes down to really understanding your audience.
Do NOT waste your time trying to narrow down age, gender, location, etc. FOCUS ON INTERESTS.
What do your customers pay attention to.
Pro tip:
Target using SaaS tools your potential customers ALREADY USE.
Examples:
Content Creators → Canva
E-Commerce Interest → Shopify
Musicians Interest → DistroKid
Web Developers Interest → WordPress
SaaS Specific Interests WIN.
Fifth, you need a CAMPAIGN. For simplicity, you will create ONE.
One Campaign with 6-8 ad sets.
Each Ad Set = One Interest
Each Ad Set = 2-3 Ads (Creatives)
You want to test creatives and audience interests to find your most profitable vertical.
Tips:
- Turn On Campaign Budget Optimization
- Start With $25/Day
- Automatic Placements
Facebook will automatically allocate your spend to the best-performing ads. Let them do their job.
Run for a few days, then TURN OFF the ads that aren’t doing well.
Lastly, you need to pay attention to your DATA. You goal is to BREAK EVEN on acquisition.
You charge $29/month? You should only spend $29 to get a new customer. That is the KEY to EXPONENTIAL GROWTH.
Spend $100 to make $100. Reuse the $100 the next day.
By recycling ad spend you can scale your ad campaigns PROFITABLY. Without coming out of pocket.
Now every successful payment on months 2, 3, 4… + PROFIT. Instead of trying to make up for losses from acquiring customers. Your bank account will thank you.
Boom! That’s the easiest way to start with FB ads.
We Studied 6,452 SaaS Companies. The Findings Will Make You Grow. [Chargebee]
Five actionable pockets of leverageable growth that any subscription company can easily use to improve their retention, acquisition, and monetization strategies.
- Finding #1 — You need to localize your pricing, because we’re in a globalized world
- Finding #2 — Delinquent churn is a tricky beast that must be slayed early
- Finding #3 — You need to spend so much more time on your pricing
- Finding #4 — Annual subscriptions are your friends. Get more friends.
- Finding #5 — Expansion revenue is absolutely key
Each point thoroughly explained in the full article.
Top 10 Mistakes In Running A Growth Team [John Egan]
- Using Percentage Gains
- Goaling On The Wrong Metric
- Not Understanding Survivorship Bias
- Not Looking At User Segments Critical To Future Growth
- Not Having a Rigorous Process for Setting Your Roadmap
- Not Staffing Teams Correctly
- Losing Sight Of The Goal
- Building Features Hoping They Drive Growth
- Getting Stuck In A Local Maximum
- Big Bets Without Clear Milestones
Learn and avoid.
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Until next Thursday!
Radek Sienkiewicz
PS. GrowRevenue is not a SaaS but the first finding that makes SaaS companies grow (see article #3 above) is to localize my pricing. Sorry that I kept it not localized for so long. Here you go: $0.00 / €0.00 / £0.00 / ¥0.00 / ₹0.00 / ₿0.00 / Ξ0.00. Hope that clears things up.
