B2B SaaS is not sexy. Here’s how to dress it up

I hated B2B clients back when I worked in startup PR.

The bulk of my clients were B2C hardware products so I rarely received a B2B project. Every single time I did get one though, it did not go well.

Simply put, B2B is a hard sell for anyone without experience. What was worse was having to learn the product on-the-fly because I wasn’t able to attend the initial meeting. Only after I figured out what it did and how, could I move on to why the damned thing existed.

Fun stuff. Good times.

So once my time with startup PR was up, I went on-board with a B2B SaaS company (I’d say startup but we’re kind of grown past that now).

If you told me I’d end up here a year ago, I would’ve laughed in your face. “Hah. Me, a B2B PR, marketing, and sales guy? You out of your damn mind,” is what I would’ve replied—heavier profanity omitted.

But here I am. I’ve done all three in the past few weeks. Here’s what I’ve discovered after a year of hating B2B clients.

You’re not selling the tech

This hasn’t been stressed enough.

While I’ve seen this done with B2C companies, B2B SaaS should not open their pitch with a lecture on tech features and why their product is the most advanced around. This is the pitfall for many in the same situation.

My prime example for this is Nvidia’s graphics cards. Granted, Nvidia is not a B2B SaaS product. However, what I like about their marketing and packaging is that it’s never about what their product is, but rather what it can do.

High definition Nvidia logo. Photo credit: Mizter_x94.

You’ve never seen Nvidia prop up one of their graphics cards as if to say “come marvel at our invention, now buy it.”

Instead, what you get is a high definition image of something the graphics card is able of producing. This is a company that knows that the appeal is not what the consumer is physically buying, but what that product enables them to do.

The same should be applied to B2B SaaS. From my experience, the best client pitches aren’t led by an explanation of feature x,y, and z. It’s always led by what your company can do with my product.

Marketing for business innovation

PR for B2B SaaS

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