Why YouTube Is the SaaS Video Marketing System for SaaS Growth
Right now, you’re probably thinking “how do I get more people to our site and try/buy our product?” You’re putting more money behind ads, you’re doing socials, you might even be doing the blog thing – but it’s not working. You’re not seeing the ROI.
Most SaaS companies double down on ads at this moment. It’s a “quick fix” – but the problem with ads is that you're continuously adding more money into them. The moment you stop spending, they stop working.
Why is YouTube the SaaS video marketing system recommended for growth? The YouTube video you publish today compounds over time. The visibility scales organically to reach a new audience – no ad spend necessary.
A video you post today will still be attracting the right audience into your world six months from now. YouTube does the selling, the educating, and the nurturing for you – without you having to keep upping your spend.
And, unlike ads, the investment you make upfront keeps paying off long after you hit publish.
How YouTube Video Marketing Serves Your SaaS’s Full Customer Life Cycle
Most SaaS companies think of YouTube as just for visibility or top-of-funnel awareness, but YouTube marketing touches your entire customer journey – from problem-aware prospects at the top of the funnel all the way through to retention and renewal of existing customers.
When you think about YouTube helping with the entire customer life cycle, you get to reduce the cost to acquire each and every customer because your YouTube content ends up doing the selling, educating, and nurturing for you.
The same content that helps prospects decide to purchase your SaaS software also helps your existing customer get more value from your product — so they end up sticking around way longer, which stabilizes and grows your MRR.
The beauty of YouTube video marketing is that it requires no ad spend. You invest in developing your YouTube strategy and getting it live, then the video is working for you every single day. It’s going to automatically start attracting people to your business without you having to add ad spend.
3 Ways You Can Utilize YouTube in Your SaaS Growth
The strategy is to build a YouTube video marketing system that covers all three stages of your customer journey. For example, if someone found your app through a top-of-funnel video, they can binge your channel all the way down to making a purchase, staying, and becoming a customer.
When it comes to a successful YouTube funnel, there are three key ways you need to utilize your channel as an SaaS company:
#1. YouTube SEO
This is the core of your strategy – you’re targeting the searchers. A common mistake that most SaaS marketing executives make is that you’re trying to focus all of your marketing energy towards people who are trying to buy right now.
Those people are solution-aware. They’re people who are just ready to buy, but aren’t sold on who to buy from or what to invest in. They’re price shopping, comparing, and you’re in full competition with every other option they come across.
But with YouTube SEO, you’re able to meet them when they’re problem-aware, before anyone else has entered into their world – because you’ve built the trust and connection before they even started shopping.
With YouTube SEO, you’re researching what your audience is actively searching for and creating videos to meet them where they’re at (and where they’re searching) all the way through when they become solution-aware.
These videos are the core of your YouTube funnel.
#2. YouTube Lives
Another way that YouTube can be used for SaaS growth is by building connections through live streaming. With livestreams, you’re creating connections back into the brand and with your customers. Your live strategy should still map out your customer journey and aligns with your business goals, and there are a few ways to do this:
The product update. When you release a new feature or update, you can go live and walk through it in real time and let users ask questions. You’re generating excitement around product development – people feel like they’re a part of the launch – and there’s less confusion and support tickets. For example, Descript did a recent live showcasing of their new updates.
The user workshop. Bring your customers onto the live stream to show how they’re using your product – it’s social proof and education at the same time. A prospect watching someone in their same industry walk through their workflow is so much more convincing than some polished demo. Riverside did this not too long ago! Watch it here.
The case study. Similar to the workshop, but a little bit more structured. Walk through a specific result: what a customer was dealing with before, what they implemented, and what changed. And you’re able to reuse it as an actual case study to add to your website. For example, when the CEO of Dubsado invited me to talk about how their app supported my business, it would have been a great opportunity to do a live case study (watch it here).
The core values or theme. Essentially, sharing the theme you have for your SaaS platform. For example, Dubsado’s rally call is betting on yourself. So one of the things they could do is build a live around the theme, featuring conversations with entrepreneurs that aren’t necessarily about the app, but builds massive relatability.
#3. Customer Support
One way that YouTube can really support your SaaS, especially if it’s a complex SaaS tool, is customer support. When your YouTube channel expands to customer support, you’re able to accommodate people who are not just trying to read the steps, but also to visualize the steps.
In this sense you’re supporting a range of customers, the ones who consume content through text and video.
When a customer has a question right now, they end up digging through your help center or submitting a support ticket (and probably waiting 24hrs for the answer).
But if what they needed is up on YouTube, and they find a clear, friendly video from an actual person on your team walking them through exactly what they need? The problem gets solved faster and they feel more connected to your brand.
For example, Descript goes live every Tuesday at PST for Support Q&As.
Bonus! YouTube for Brand Advocacy
Whether you’re utilizing lives or leaning on YouTube for customer support, you’re creating brand advocacy. While bigger companies have a formal ambassador or evangelist program with applications, tiers, and incentives, it’s not available for all SaaS brands.
When you consistently show up, engage with your community, feature your users, and make them feel seen and heard on YouTube, they naturally start telling other people about you. They start recommending you in conversations and become advocates because they genuinely want to feel like part of something – your brand – and not just because you gave them a referral code.
This is great for your SaaS company, especially if you’re in the growth stage where every single dollar matters.
Your Next Step: Creating a YouTube Video Marketing System for Your SaaS
Most SaaS companies make content for just one stage of their funnel – having a YouTube video system covers your entire customer journey.
With YouTube, someone who finds you through a top-of-funnel video can watch videos through your funnel down to making a purchase, staying, and becoming a customer – a customer who watches your support videos, shares your brand, and connects with others in their industry.
Ready to get your SaaS on YouTube and start building your funnel? Book a consultation for your SaaS here.
