🧠 9 ways to grow your SaaS

Happy pre-Friday 🎉

Thanks to everyone who’s taken part in the content poll over the past few weeks! The clear winner is…Growth Strategies.

So by popular opinion, here are 9 ways to grow your SaaS. Whether you’re B2B or B2C, a solo founder, or a hot startup - there’s something in here for everyone.

Let’s jump in… 👇

(Reading time: 5 minutes)

1. Build a free tool

Building a separate free, but highly limited, version of your paid-for product is an underrated way for SaaS businesses to grow.

A free tool (with no signup) is a way to spin off a key feature of your product and get your value proposition directly in front of the customer the moment they hit your site.

Plus, customers are more likely to try out a free tool than sign up for a free trial, so overall paid conversions can be higher if you include a strong call-to-action.

This full guide breaks down why this strategy works and how you can start using it for your SaaS.

2. Start a referral program

Offer your existing customers, ambassadors and social media followers the chance to earn rewards for referring customers to you.

Rewards are usually in the form of a revenue share for a fixed period (e.g. a 50% revenue share for 6 months). Or a fixed reward for each new sign-up (e.g. the customer gets $30 off their first month, and you earn $30 for referring them).

Referrals naturally have a low CAC (customer acquisition cost) as the hard work is done by the referrer, not you.

Platforms like ReferralRock and Reflio make this super easy to set up (yes, those are referral links…).

3. Socials

Building in public has always been one of the best ways to get your customers excited about your product roadmap. But in recent years social media has really taken this to the next level.

Here are the top accounts killing it building in public on X:

• @denk_tweets - CEO @ Beehiiv

• @PaulYacoubian - Founder of copy.ai

• @yongfook - Relentless SaaS bootstrapper

But it’s not just reserved for creator-first and B2C businesses. Sage, a B2B finance SaaS is killing it on TikTok, who would have thought?!

4. Engage in forums

Places like Reddit, HackerNews, FB groups, Discords, and Slack channels are magnets for solution-orientated conversations.

Contribute to discussions, help others and provide your product as a solution to someone’s problem. I have seen SaaS products generate hundreds of new signups or leads with just one post on Reddit.

This full guide goes into detail about how to find relevant subreddits and how to engage in a way that drives traffic to your product.

5. Blogging

Create informative blog posts on:

• Pain points your SaaS solves

• Comparisons with competitors

• Product updates

Make sure to include a call-to-action to sign up in each post. Bonus points for applying to other sites in your niche to guest post - this is a great way to reach new customers.

Check this list for sites accepting guest posts in the SaaS space (make sure to sort by DA or ‘domain authority’).

6. Launch on ProductHunt

ProductHunt continues to be the holy grail of social proof for SaaS founders.

But for those that don’t know, it’s a launch site for tech products where the most upvoted products that are launched each day are given god-like status and can receive thousands of sign-ups in a single day.

This blog post is the most comprehensive article I’ve seen on how to use it to drive growth and describes how a team made it into the top 5, three days running.

7. Attend conferences

Meeting industry professionals or like-minded individuals is a great way to not only get some edge on how to improve your product but also to find new customers.

This is especially important if you’re in the B2B space (like me!) where relationships are key to closing sales.

Check these out:

• MicroConf - Best for indie hackers

• SaaSStr Annual Conference - Best for corps or startups

8. Be a podcast guest

Podcasts are hot right now and being a guest is a great way to reach more customers.

Talk about your product, and why it solves listeners’ problems and ask the host to share a signup link in the podcast description and show notes.

This works best if you already have a personal brand as hosts are much more likely to want to collaborate with you.

9. List on SaaS directories

Listing and directory sites are trusted places that potential customers go to when looking for new or alternative solutions to their problems.

All of the following offer free listings:

• SaaSHub

• startups.fyi

• G2

• Capterra

Some also offer paid listings to drive more traffic and get featured in newsletters.

👉 You’ll want to see this…

🔥 Want To Pay To Get Roasted? - This productised service will tell you everything that’s wrong with your landing page. The perfect gift for your delusional boss?

Product Management IRL - An excellently put-together newsletter from a product expert with real-world advice for founders and businesses building world-class products.

SaaS Marketing Tips - A SaaS marketing expert shares tips and tricks from growing ruttl.com from 0 → 15,000 sign-ups.

That’s all for this week! 👋

- Charlie

P.S. - Check out the official IdeaHub subreddit where you can share ideas with other builders.