EPISODE SUMMARY
We had Paris Childess, CEO and Founder of Hop Online, bounce on over and talk about the power of digital marketing and how it can be applied to SaaS startups with Matt Wolach, host of the SaaS-Story in the Making Podcast.
Paris also talks about the power of the consumer in the information age, as well as the importance of taking action as software founders where the fast-paced environment creates incredible advantages over the competition.
PODCAST-AT-A-GLANCE
Podcast: SaaS-Story in the Making
Episode: How To Use Digital Marketing To Scale Your SaaS Company
Host: Matt Wolach, a B2B SaaS Sales Coach, Mentor, and Investor
Guest: Paris Childess, CEO and Founder of Hop Online
TOP TIPS FROM EPISODE
The Peak of the Information Age
Prospects are continually learning about us and our products as platforms continue to evolve. When did you last optimize your About Us page in your software company?
That is where these prospects learn about you and decide whether you’re a good fit for their needs.
Paris advises software founders to maximize this aspect of reaching the user – they’ve seen your Facebook Ads, your YouTube Ads, your Google Ads, along with your landing page.
Paris continues to say that the more the user understands what you’re doing, the more they’re going to absorb the value that you’re putting out. It also allows you to stand out from the competition and gives your market a reason to work with your company.
Product-Market Fit
As a software founder, you started the company with the goal of solving people’s problems. You have to know if the market needs your product, and why they need it. That’s what the product-market fit is, according to Paris.
Paris stresses that the product that you put out should have a strong demand in the market, or else the product will simply be an expense and will not bring money to your pocket.
You have to know how to align your product to the market’s needs. That way, you’ll find marketing your software is easier than ever.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Just Do It
Matt says: “Just get started. It doesn’t have to be perfect right away.”
“You just get started and you figure out what needs to be done and you make it happen.”
Paris replies with: “Don’t hesitate, don’t wait until the moment is perfect. You gotta just charge ahead.”
“I believe the time to get serious with digital marketing is when a SaaS company believes that they’ve got a product-market fit pretty well established. If there’s still exploration around market fit, it’s gonna lead to a lot of money wasted.“
This discussion is important to the founders that are stuck on the fence, waiting if they should finally launch their product to show the world. Now is the best time to get up and launch your startup and then learn the ropes as you go.
No material or book can prepare you for what’s ahead, but it can give you a picture to aim for and reach for the stars as long as you’re pushing to get your product on the top.
You shouldn’t aim for perfection right off the bat. Instead, use the experiences you gather along the way to continually improve.
Marketing Evolved
Paris says: “Digital marketing is an evolutionary term that is previously called web marketing or online marketing. This is marketing in a digital environment, and now digital marketing especially in the context of SaaS, it is associated with performance marketing.”
“When it comes to SaaS, I think that paid searches are still king because of its ROI.”
“The combination when you put together Facebook and YouTube, which are mostly priming the funnel, that resulted in an increase of searches.”
“[Don’t think] about the marketing channels in silos and measure the returns just from paid search, just from Facebook and just from YouTube Ads. A lot of times people will take a journey and there will be multiple touch points across advertising and even organic types of touch points that are not paid.”
These strong points laid by Paris prove that marketing has evolved to a nonlinear journey unlike the old days.
Some of your leads may have heard of your software multiple times before they take action. This just goes to show the importance of an optimized sales process that compels leads to take action, much like the first point of the founders themselves taking action.
TOP QUOTES
Paris:
[04:22] “Don’t hesitate, don’t wait until the moment is perfect. You gotta just charge ahead.”
[06:23] “When it comes to SaaS, I think that paid searches are still king because of its ROI.”
[14:55] “Consumers have so much access to information now. They’re very empowered by that.”
Matt:
[04:01] “Just get started. It doesn’t have to be perfect right away.”
[04:13] “You just get started and you figure out what needs to be done and you make it happen.”
[19:26] “If your marketing is working well, and the sales are working well in conjunction, that’s the machine you can convince an investor with.”
LEARN MORE
Learn more about Paris Childress and his company Hop Online here: https://hop.online/
You can also find Paris on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parischildress/
For more about how host Matt Wolach helps software companies achieve maximum growth, visit https://mattwolach.com/.
As part of the founding team in his first SaaS product, Matt owned the sales & marketing processes. But he struggled to sell and gain traction for the company. It took years of learning and tweaking before Matt created The Perfect DEAL Process, an innovative yet easy to implement method for closing more software deals. To find out more, visit https://mattwolach.com/about-matt
