7 Ways of Bootstrapping Your SaaS Startup in 2022

SaaS startup

According to Forbes, 90% of startups fail or go bankrupt a few years after the launch. Software as a service startup also suffers from this tragedy. A study by McKinsey and Company revealed that SaaS startups need over 20% growth every year to thrive.

In the SaaS sector, there is a framework called T2D3. According to the framework, a SaaS startup must triple its ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) for two years straight and then double the ARR over the next three years. The framework ensures the startup grows at a rate that makes it sustainable over the long term.

So, if you plan everything right, your ARR can rise from $0 to $100 in 6 years. However, T2D3 is easier said but hard to implement. So, learn how to bootstrap your SaaS startup in 2022, and this post will help you with that.

1. Identify the Product/Market Fit

You have already had an idea and have pre-sold it to your prospective customers. We assume that you have already found a market and a product at this stage. However, for those just beginning, let us go through product/market fit.

So, what is it? Product/Market fit means that you have a product whose target market will use and pay for. The product should live at the intersection of viability, desirability, and feasibility.

A viable product is one that you can tackle realistically using your experience, skills, and bootstrapped project funds. Viability means that your SaaS product solves a problem and is useful. Finally, a desirable SaaS product means a large enough market wants it.

After identifying the ideal customers for your SaaS product and creating a product the customers need, it becomes easier to move on with a well-defined strategy.

2. Create the Content Marketing Strategy for Your SaaS Product

You can cost-effectively bootstrap your SaaS startup using SEO marketing. Compared to outbound marketing, content marketing costs about 62% less. It also has six times higher conversion rates compared to other marketing methods. If you start, find keywords with low competition that can generate enough traffic for your gap.

Use free tools like Ubersuggest and AnswerThePublic to learn your audience’s keywords and the number of searches. Then, identify the keyword intent by focusing on the bottom-of-the-funnel keywords where clients want to buy your product.

It ensures that you use less time convincing leads; instead, you will be converting. However, content marketing may be time-consuming if you do not use the right strategy. To rank well, ensure your content is in-depth, backed by case studies and research, and targets search intent.

3. Use Facebook and Google Retargeting to bootstrap the SaaS Startup

After spending all the time to create a perfect marketing strategy, very few visitors will convert on their first visit to a website. If the people visiting the website are from the middle and the top of the funnel. Fortunately, you can use various ways to reach the customers again using Facebook and Google retargeting.

You need to reach these people again because studies indicate it may take up to nine times of visiting a website for the customers to convert or decide to buy. Your offers need to be highly specific to your leads for the retargeting campaign to be successful. You can offer the customers a product demo, video testimonial, free trial, or a discount.

4. A/B Testing Your Pricing Page

The magic happens on your pricing page to ensure it is optimized perfectly for conversions. A/B test the various ways to explain your payment structure, like offers, plans, CTA buttons, and copy.

While exploring the pricing plans for your SaaS product, prospective customers may get confused. Therefore, ensure you offer as few plans as you can. Ensure that the customers clearly understand what they will get with each offer. For instance, an A/B test was done by HubSpot that revealed that compared to a green “get started now” button, a red one made 21% more conversions.

5. Creating Your Strategy for Customer Feedback

Being a SaaS startup, you should always pay close attention to what the customers say. The best strategy for customer feedback encompasses a collection of feedback at several levels. You can use in-application feedback, exit surveys, 1-on-1 interviews, and periodical surveys.

In the beginning, you may even do the one thing that will not scale; getting in touch with all new customers, asking them how they will use your SaaS product, and in what ways you can help them. People like being a part of an exclusive group like VIPs or beta-testers, according to Appcues’s research. Even setting up a Facebook Group is a good way to show the customers that you care. By building a community, you will get lots of priceless feedback.

6. Improving your SaaS Product based on Your Customer Feedback

Upon obtaining the feedback from the customers, you should now act on it. Improving your SaaS product based on your customer’s feedback is the best way of bootstrapping the startup according to the product/market fit. For the success of your startup, ensure you create a feedback-first startup culture.

If many customers want a feature change in your SaaS product or plan on improving your SaaS Product, customer feedback should be a priority. Also, analyze all the feedback that your customers give. Ask yourself, why do the customers want a product to improve? How can the SaaS product be improved in the short and long term? Do not leave the feedback sitting back in a spreadsheet. Instead, go the extra mile and follow up with your customers to inform them you have improved the product. Also, ensure to thank them for all their feedback that set the ball rolling.

7. Ensure You Have a Win-Back Strategy

It is normal for customers to be dissatisfied and get churned out in a business. However, that does not mean they are gone. Ensure that you are in touch with your customers who have churned. Keep a list of customer emails on a file and send them occasional offers for free trials and discounts. Alternatively, you can re-target them using social media and Google.

Next, understand why your customers churn. Identify the common or main reasons they churn to improve the product and stop the customers from churning again. Customer feedback comes in handy, particularly in this case.

Conclusion

If you were wondering how to Bootstrap your SaaS startup in 2022, follow the seven steps above. It will be a lot easier to bootstrap your startup. However, there are constant changes in digital marketing. It is upon you to study more to stay on top of things.

Because bootstrapping does not pressure the SaaS startup entrepreneurs, they can try various approaches in promoting their brand. Ensure you follow the steps above to successfully bootstrap your SaaS startup in 2022.

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