No matter what stage your SaaS startup is in, landing a whale–a big client that will account for a majority of your revenue–will help you generate the ARR required to keep growing. At this year’s SaaStr, the team at SaaSMQL showed hundreds of SaaS leaders an effective way to do just that.
An estimated 15,000 SaaS executives come to San Francisco every year for SaaStr to network, learn, share and visit with hundreds of sponsors. This year, we signed up as a Gold sponsor and quickly started thinking through how to make the most of this huge opportunity.
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The SaaSMQL team landed on the whale theme to highlight the strong focus on generating large enterprise deals. We drew attendees' attention using a fun backdrop that included a playful headline with a colorful seascape complete with blue sky, fluffy clouds, ocean waves, and big whales. Each of our team members wore a goggle mask and snorkel (conversation starter=win).
The main attraction was a giant, inflatable whale followed by our giveaways: mini blueberry whale gummies packaged in a sleek, clear cube. Goal number one was to stand out. Goal number one ✔️
Our second challenge was to develop a pitch that effectively communicated what, exactly, we do and how, exactly, we help our SaaS clients land their biggest whales. Using our website, blogs and case studies, our marketing team drafted a 45-second elevator pitch and distributed it to the team in advance of the show.
On-site, it was amazing to see how each team member customized their pitch based on their own experience. With less than two months at SaaSMQL, I tried to stick to the script as much as possible, pulling our Head of Client Success, Jeff, in for specific questions. Our account executive, Taylor, going on her third week with SaaSMQL, kept her pitch short and focused on booking demos. Isaac, our marketing automation specialist and one of our most tenured employees, gave specific details as to how we are able to achieve results with our custom ABM campaigns.
In summary, writing and distributing the elevator pitch in advance is a requirement to allow your booth staff to customize and personalize their pitch delivering the story of your company with both accuracy and personality.
We knew going into SaaStr that many (if not all) attending companies were looking for solutions to drive revenue, reduce costs, and work smarter. But not all of them were qualified for our program. Even if an individual wasn’t qualified, we still took the time to educate them about our program and the services we offer. In some cases, we developed potential partnerships and, in others, we are planting the seed so our company can grow by reputation and word of mouth.
At SaaSMQL, the heart of our account-based marketing program is in our Integrated Direct Mail Campaigns. If your company is targeting mid-market or enterprise accounts, relying on cold emails and digital ads simply is not enough to fill your pipeline and secure meetings. Direct mail in B2B and SaaS is still a largely unexplored channel in this space and has huge potential to get through to decision makers and get demos booked.
One of the most striking components of our program is the direct mail gift boxes themselves. Our marketing team helps our SaaS clients choose thoughtful gifts and packages them in colorful, branded boxes with effective marketing collateral. Recipients feel surprise and joy when they open your company’s box and whether they book a demo immediately or not, your brand leaves a lasting impression.
The boxes we’ve created for our clients that have generated meetings and resulted in big whales were important to show visitors to our booth. We put several examples together in a slide deck and displayed them both on our monitor and on an iPad for one-to-one conversations (below an example of one of our internal boxes).
The Braindates are a fantastic addition to the SaaStr conference. A Braindate is basically a one-to-one or a one-to-many meeting (“Super Braindate”) where the host shares his/her knowledge about a specific topic with the attendees, and starts a discussion. They are a great way to meet with people with common interests, ask questions, learn new strategies etc.
Our founder, Franco Caporale, hosted 15 Braindates during SaaStr Annual 2022. These were a few of the topics:
Overall, our team at SaaSMQL scanned a total of 216 badges over three days and hosted 15 braindates. We already have meetings booked with qualified prospects and we look forward to sharing those results with you.
For SaaSMQL, SaaStr was not only about lead generation, it was about building trust among our team. As a remote company, the event was the first opportunity we had to meet one another in person. We saw (and heard) each of our unique talents, skills, and experience in action and we looked out for each other. After only three days, it was clear that we’re not simply about helping clients land their biggest whales–we’re about being a solid, reliable, and trusted partner that helps our clients achieve their goals through collaboration and a passionate focus on getting results.
Bring sunscreen, a hat, water bottle, and shades! Plus, an extra bag for all the swag! And, don’t forget to stop by our booth⎻we’ll have even more whales!
SaaSMQL is an Account-Based Marketing agency that helps SaaS companies scale recurring revenue with high-impact multichannel campaigns.
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