To Grow Your Top of Funnel, Start at the Bottom and Work Up

by | Sep 18, 2024

How are SaaS companies growing when top-of-funnel tactics that worked last year almost don’t work at all this year?

More content, outreach, and spending on sales and marketing have less effect in this year’s explosion of automation and AI.

More of More worked during the boom time. It doesn’t in today’s reality time.

  • Buyers are tired of the explosion of outreach and content.
  • Social algorithms can’t keep up with 100x more content and 2x more eyeballs.
  • There are more software solutions than markets can consume.

So, how are SaaS companies growing efficiently this year?

They are starting at the bottom of their revenue funnels and creating efficient and sustainable growth.

The fastest-growing SaaS companies I know are:

1) Tightening the screws in their ICP and segmentation. They should be clear about who they are great for and align the whole company around that.

Stop wasting time and effort on closing customers who aren’t a great fit and are unlikely to stay long and be happy.

Stop wasting time and money attracting and selling to potential customers who aren’t a good fit, won’t close, and won’t stay.

More of Less creates efficient growth, but it’s hard for More of More addicts to see this, especially if you have impatient investors.

2) Getting great at messaging, positioning, differentiation and storytelling. This stuff is really, really important again.

SaaS companies that are growing well are not just good at how they do marketing and sales; they are great at it. They have 2x or 5x the conversion to happy customers, so they need a lot less at the top of the funnel.

3) Choosing one or two main GTM tactics that work, then doing those far better than their competitors.

Great execution is noticeable and gets results. Mediocre execution doesn’t stand out or get the same results.

4) Drastically improving the value of their products to their ICPs.

This is the old tech magic of making your solution 10x better than competitors and alternatives. You can’t be great for everyone, but you can drastically improve the value of your product(s) to your best customers.

This helps retention, expansion, and referrals, the top 3 most efficient ways that SaaS companies generate revenue.

Tighten your focus and improve execution from the bottom of your funnel up to create healthy growth.

Greg Head posted this on LinkedIn on September 18, 2024.

Check out the comments and join the discussion on LinkedIn.

Related Posts

The Biggest Problem Startup Founders Don’t Know They Have

“Fix our positioning” doesn’t appear on many to-do lists or strategic annual priorities. But the symptoms of positioning problems create daily friction and reduce the impact of any business execution. Positioning is the clarity you have ...

Outcome-Based Pricing with AI for Vertical SaaS Companies

It's already clear that AI presents significant opportunities for vertical SaaS incumbents, regardless of their size. Experienced experts who understand the intricacies of deep industry workflows have an advantage in creating new and ...

Navigate the AI Frontier Every Month With Founder Peers

Three weeks ago at our Practical Founders Summit, I watched something powerful happen: A founder shared how their new AI feature, which is both cool and useful, helped them double their demo-to-close rate in one quarter. Another revealed ...
No results found.
Practical Founders eBook

FREE 60-PAGE EBOOK

Win the Startup Game Without VC Funding

Learn how all 75 founders on the Practical Founders Podcast created an average founder equity value of $50 million.