📖 This post is part of a blog series overview of The Digital Marketer's Almanac 2021, an essential guide for every marketing professional. We will cover critical topics from this resource to help SaaS, eCommerce, and Lead Generation marketers think strategically about the year ahead.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of organizations across the globe. People were juggling family and work at home, figuring out how Zoom works, and exploring ways to digitize their workspace without the help of on-site office admins and IT support.
This resulted in greater-than-ever reliance on digital technology as businesses responded to evolving conditions. 30.4% of companies disclosed a rise in their SaaS spending, with 4.5% reporting a more than 20% increase.
But despite those promising numbers, some facets of the SaaS industry, including SaaS marketing, were negatively affected by the lockdown. As offices closed across the world and companies began feeling the financial crunch, their IT spending took a significant hit. Many software solutions subscriptions were canceled or put on hold as SaaS spending fell by more than 20% for nearly 11% of respondents in a survey by IDC.
In 2020 we witnessed businesses large and small become dependent on cloud-based SaaS solutions to help them weather the pandemic. And it was all for good reason. It’s easy to see the attraction of SaaS—these products can be deployed instantaneously without shipping and handling. They're accessible, convenient, and (when done right) they make life easier.
The popularity of SaaS in the B2B space has been on the rise. A 2018 forecast of US-based small- to mid-size businesses found that 39% of respondents use SaaS solutions for file sharing purposes. Online backup, payroll & HR, and online accounting services were used by 30% of the companies, while VDI was the leading need for 10% of these SMEs. Help desk, support, and online CRM also emerged as a popular use of SaaS among businesses. These services are quickly gaining popularity and will emerge as clear winners in 2021.
As long as SaaS brands can continue to shape their offers based on market needs and advertise the effortless adaptability of their solutions to meet the changing requirements, there’s infinite potential for business growth.
The flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency of SaaS are also bringing more service providers to the market. The good news is that more businesses are turning to AI in search of ways to enhance their productivity and make their processes more efficient (which, coincidentally, also makes up a piece of the B2B SaaS niche).
Some key takeaways for SaaS marketers looking to grow in 2021:
There’s more where that came from. We present to you the one good thing to come out of 2020 (😉): The Digital Marketers’ Almanac 2021.
Grab your copy below 👇
Whether you’re a SaaS marketing newbie or a total digital marketing pro, you’ll find critical information about new strategies and trends for 2021.