The SaaS Growth Blog

After commenting on a post by SaaSMetrics, I realized how much confusion and mixed definitions there are on the difference between ACV (Annual Contract Value) and ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue), which prompted me to think -- "I need to research this a bit more". I want to breakdown my explanation and findings, and define where confusion currently exits.

As an inbound marketer, you have the chance to put compelling content in front of the right eyes at the right time. The end result is a bit magical and effortless-seeming. We’re here to break the spell, however, and reveal our secrets to success. Read on to discover just how to become a successful inbound marketer.

In the early stages of a SaaS company, the dashboard will more than likely contain all relevant data in one place. As the company grows, a division of the KPIs will be necessary as different individuals within your SaaS company require different data to be analyzed. Without dashboard separation, things will become muddled, confusing, and superfluous.

Let’s go over some best practices for deciding how to showcase your SaaS metrics by building a KPI dashboard.

So you’ve invested your time, money, sweat, and tears into this business of yours. It helps people fulfill a need in their life and it’s starting to gain attention. In the beginning, you only had to worry about the software aspect to make sure that it was working properly.

Now, you also have to worry about growth, getting your product out there, engaging with your prospective and current clients, and most importantly - monitoring the performance of your SaaS and identifying what works and what doesn't.

Metrics are the magic beans to growing your SaaS business. But not just any numbers will get you from the ground to the clouds - it’s crucial to use formulas made especially for re-occurring revenue businesses since they take into account the facts that make your sales strategies and income situation unique. Here, we’ll examine the metrics needed to find the cost to acquire a new customer and the lifetime value of a customer.

It’s no secret that inbound marketing has spread like wildfire across B2C and B2B companies. For 2015, more than 5 times as many marketers report higher inbound marketing budgets than budget cuts, proof of inbound marketing successes in 2014. (source: https://library.hubspot.com/state-of-inbound-sales-2014-2015)

As a marketer, it’s imperative to be able to show the correlation between your efforts and the bottom line.

Is mastering inbound marketing on your 2015 to do list? That’s great news! You understand that buyer behavior has changed and the way people respond to traditional tactics isn’t what it used to be. Transitioning to inbound marketing can mend your marketing and sales strategies, ultimately producing more leads at a lower cost per lead (but you already know that). Here's what you don't know.

It's a new year with new goals! At Inturact, we take a cue from our HubSpot colleagues and make "SMART" goals for ourselves. I know, acrostics are so... elementary school? But, this one is a good reminder of what's really important in actionable goal setting. So what does SMART stand for?

What is Churn and why is it killing your business? If you’re hiring an inbound marketing company to stoke the fires of your SaaS product or subscription service, you’ll hear a lot about churn. It’s a metric that represents the number of customers who disappear off the face of the planet, get abducted by aliens, are swallowed by the earth, and are otherwise inactive for a given time period. 

Churn, simply put, sucks.

(Re-)introducing Google Trends

Markets are always moving.  Some market trends are easily recognized, such as growth or decline tied to a time of the year (consider, for example, the market trend for a costume retailer – October would certainly be a hot month).  Having knowledge of predictable market trends can help inbound marketing agencies and marketers stay insulated from risk, but what about trends without obvious origins?  A clever explanation about how an unusually cold winter (that affected buyer confidence in a related market) might actually be true, but it’s only as true as your ability to persuade your client (and arguably, yourself).  Having data is a good start.