Estimated read time: 4 minutes, 20 seconds

With the endless listings of software services, review sites, and the growing software scene in general––it’s getting more and more difficult to stand out from the competition.

Making your Software as a Service (SaaS) stand out in an overcrowded market can be tough. However, the following tips will help boost your visibility, engage with your customers, and ultimately, grow your business.

1. Make It Easy For Users To Recommend Your Work

Word of mouth marketing (WOMM), or customer referrals, is an inexpensive marketing tactic that can really make or break your business. Statistically speaking, according to a survey by Small Business Trends, 85% of small businesses get more business through word of mouth than any other form of marketing.

This couldn’t be truer for software companies, as the comments in the ‘customer reviews’ section carry a lot of weight for potential customers considering a purchase. 84% of consumers trust online reviews just as much as referrals from a friend. Great customer reviews lead to more interest in and use of your service and therefore, business growth. Conversely, fewer reviews or an excess of bad comments will result in potential users being chased away.

Make it easy for your users to ‘share the love’ of your SaaS by including prompts for them to recommend and rate your service while they are using it. Also, make sure to create a profile on the top software review sites as these are very popular places for potential users to look and compare solutions. Some top ones we suggest are G2 Crowd, Capterra, and TrustRadius.Once your profiles are created, there are many tactics to grow your reviews on each site. Some of these sites offer ad placements or you can incentivize your customers with a gift card for leaving a review. In fact, 43% of people will leave a review in exchange for a reward.

2. Get To Know Your Competitors

Chess is a game of war—a game of outthinking and outmaneuvering your opponent using various strategies until a victor stands tall. Similarly, knowing what your competitors are up to will keep you abreast of their successes or failures, which will help you improve on what worked for them and avoid the decisions that lost them a few pawns and knights along the way.

You might not be able to read their minds, but, thanks to the evolution of website and tracking analytics, social media, and endless news sources (among other things), you can keep tabs on most of their activities and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Look for ways to fill in e-commerce service gaps that their SaaS is missing. What are their customer’s concerns or feedback? Can you leverage your online storefront to help win them over and grow your business? What areas are they underperforming, and where are they winning?

3. Uncover Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is a factor of your business that differentiates it from competitors. If you want to sell more, your USP must solve a problem, and this solution must communicate value to your customers. Think of it as a way of creating an emotional association with your product/brand in the mind of your customer.

One way to connect with your audience is to communicate naturally through your online store platform, website, blogs, social media etc. in the same tone as you would speak to them in person. Try to strike a balance between promoting the value of your business, while keeping the language authentic and conversational.

Stand out from the crowd and grow your business by streamlining every phase of your online store platform and interaction points. Sign-up or purchase options should be simple and convenient, while your customer service response times and level of assistance should be timely and professional. Think of the word ‘seamless’ as you work through every aspect of your service.

4. Implement A Consistent Messaging Strategy

Reach out and improve your relationships by engaging with your users. Write out five key messaging statements that position your online store platform as unique. Your messaging statements should illustrate how your company will communicate across different channels and provide you with tactics for implementing them.

Your messaging strategy should also determine how you interact with your users on social media and respond to blog comments. Ask your users direct questions so they provide feedback on their experiences, which will help you iron out any pitfalls and satisfy their needs. Identify the main problems your consumers are voicing, as well as where they require additional support so that you can nurture relationships and earn promoters. Interacting with customers enhances the relationship and makes them feel more connected to you and your brand––which will also build trust.

With many digital products on the software market, these tips can help you improve your visibility and stand out from the competition. Going the extra mile when engaging with your users will enhance your relationship with them and boost referrals.

While you’re busy enhancing your software business and making your presence more visible, let us manage your online storefront so you can focus on your product. FastSpring is a global e-commerce platform that partners with SaaS companies to provide a full-stack digital solution.