Of course there is good reason for this choice – it has been exactly what B2B SaaS needs users to do and the primary bottom of the funnel conversions. However, therein lies the problem with the Book a Demo CTA – the underlying assumption that a user intends to/wants to/is ready to make that commitment.
Today, users want different options that aren’t always built into the architecture of the website. Users are coming from a wider variety of channels than ever before, represent every part of the funnel (top to bottom) and trends are moving towards longer sales cycles with more stakeholders involved than in the past. Asking all of these users to book a demo? It doesn’t add up for them and its proof is that it’s not raking in lead forms for brands as it once did.
For visitors who are ready to book a demo, of course it’s important to ensure they can easily find that option. But what kind of form fill (beyond booking a demo) and best practices should you keep in mind for not only visitors to your B2B SaaS website but use in your ads driving engagement?
Use What You Have
Once upon a time (ok not that long ago) “Book a Demo” was a successful CTA with strong conversion rates. But now, for clients I work with – that number has dropped and marketing teams are being challenged with the question of what else to offer website visitors to make up for those leads.
So: What other resources do you have to offer? Look at your email offers. Root through your website’s resources section. In other words, dig in to what you have already put effort into that you might be able to trade for a form fill.
Take what you already have from resources to landing pages to ads to obtain more form fills from visitors. If you can’t get users to book a demo, get them to fill out a form in another way. Using a scorecard model can help you identify which form fills help move leads through the sale cycle, but regardless, a marketing team’s job is to capture leads wherever they are in the funnel and nudge them toward becoming MQLs.
Update ads – whether on LinkedIn or Google Ads as well to reflect the call-to-action that will match the landing page users will land on. I’ve found conversions increase over 400% by switching over Google Ads for B2B SaaS clients from strictly book a demo to download a resource and access an on-demand webinar.
The Whole Funnel
Most of all, to stay competitive, successful SaaS companies are thinking beyond the bottom of the funnel. As long as you’re paying for your traffic with Google search ads or driving organic users to your site, everyone you reach is not going to be at the bottom of the funnel. Search out other opportunities: those who are researching software, and those who are considering your brand as an option. It may take potential clients longer to commit to software because switching costs, the time needed to onboard or budgeting—but if you’re working towards capturing leads at each stage, you may be more successful when you do finally make the “book a demo” ask.
Consider what is useful and valuable to your ideal customer. For example, if you’re a fintech company—is there a quick, helpful video that gives an overview on a trending financial topic? Think about the persona in your target industry—what are they looking for? How can you help? Fulfill the need with forms and gated content. The more problems you help solve along the way, the more likely the user is to remember you, return, and use your services.
If your customer doesn’t know how your product works, how do they know whether it’s the solution they’re seeking? Placing product tours on your site effectively educates your website visitors without requiring them to book a full demo. This could look like a short video, highlighting features that’s available after users submit a name and email.
Best Practices for Form Fills
Competition in the SaaS industry has increased, and your organization may be competing with double or triple the number of companies offering similar services to yours (and appearing in ads, organic results and on aggregate review sites). To make the most of the visitors you do capture, test the resources you are offering and forms you’re asking website visitors to fill out.
Before purchasing anything (or before giving contact information) it’s natural for users to want to know “what’s included.” Create bullet points that tell website users exactly what they’ll get when they fill out the form. For example:
- What they’ll learn;
- Who the webinar speaker is (with a link to their bio);
- The challenge they’ll now be able to solve;
Now that there are more stakeholders than ever driving decisions for SaaS products, you have to walk alongside your prospects through each stage of the buying process. Create site architecture along with advertising that speaks to every level of the funnel and avoid users who don’t even click or who bounce because booking a demo is too strong of an ask. The more solutions you can offer, the less decision fatigue users have to face. Make it clear that you’re offering something valuable and stick with them – until they are ready to book a demo.
