How To Get First Customers For SaaS – 8 Proven Strategies To Use

The euphoric feeling of securing the first paying customers for your SaaS business is second to none. 

Bringing in a customer validates your SaaS product concept — someone has seen the value in your idea and is willing to pay for it. 

This means your business begins generating revenue, setting the foundation for future growth. 

But it’s important to remember that your early adopters are more than just customers — they’re partners in your growth journey. 

Indeed, having a cohort of happy customers makes it possible to attract investors to grow your business further. 

They also provide essential feedback for improvements to your SaaS product and your sales and onboarding processes. 

You should also view your early adopters as marketing tools. If they’re willing to participate, you can ask them to serve as one of your first case studies or feature in testimonials for social media marketing. 

True brand advocates will leave five-star online reviews and recommend your product to others, raising brand awareness and making future customers feel more comfortable about working with a relatively new business. 

Ultimately, when you’re starting out, your early adopters are everything. In this guide, we’ll discuss eight proven strategies for securing your first customers. 

Understanding the Challenge: Why Getting First Customers is Tough for SaaS

If bringing in new customers was easy, everyone would start a business. 

In the saturated SaaS market, winning potential customers can be even more challenging. 

Here are four significant challenges every B2B SasS start-up has had to overcome:

1. Market Saturation

The global SaaS sector has seen colossal growth over the past decade, from huge industry players expanding further to niche unicorn start-ups exploding up the charts. 

And it will only continue to snowball: the global SaaS industry’s revenue is expected to grow from $197 billion in 2023 to $247 billion in 2024.

According to Fortune Business Insights, global SaaS market statistics show an expected CAGR growth rate of 18.4% from 2024 to 2032. 

This staggering growth is a double-edged sword for SaaS start-ups. 

On one hand, you’re hitching your wagon to a booming industry with huge potential. 

But conversely, it’s much harder to stand out from the crowd. 

Established players dominate market share while customer acquisition costs soar. 

SaaS start-ups must focus on differentiation, innovation, and targeting niche markets to succeed in this highly saturated market. 

2. Customer Trust Issues

SaaS start-ups typically grapple with several customer support issues. 

When you’re just starting out, you don’t have an established track record or existing customers advocating for you online. 

And this can make other potential customers nervous to invest in your product. 

In addition to handing over a significant amount of money, with SaaS products, customers often trust you with their data too, and the overall success of their business. 

Will my data be secure? 

How reliable is the product?

Will the start-up survive long-term?

How responsive will the customer support be?

Will there be hidden costs? 

These are just some of the questions potential customers will ask themselves before committing to your SaaS product. 

You must answer these questions through a strong content strategy, demos, and frequent communication to overcome these trust barriers. 

3. Limited Resources

At the start of your SaaS business journey, you’re unlikely to have a bottomless pit of cash you can tap into. 

Start-ups generally don’t have the money to hire a big staff team or splash on sales and marketing budgets.

To attract customers on a limited budget, SaaS businesses must prioritise agility, get creative with their marketing output, and focus on delivering quality. 

4. Convincing Customers to Adopt New Tech 

If the companies within your target demographic are thriving without your product — why should they add it to their tech stack? 

One of the biggest challenges B2B start-ups face is educating customers about their product and the problems within their business it can overcome. 

It’s crucial to create educational content and sales enablement materials to help your potential customer base see the need for investing in your tech. 

8 Proven Strategies and Tactics to Secure Your First SaaS Customers

Your SaaS business is ready for some clients — so where do you start when it comes to how to get first saas customers?

Read on for eight key strategies to help you start acquiring early adopters. 

Tactic 1: Tapping into Networks — How Personal and Professional Connections Can Be Your First Customers

When starting out, the most effective way to acquire customers is often to tap into your existing networks. 

Your networks may be friends and family who work at businesses that could benefit from your product, former colleagues or business connections from LinkedIn or industry events. 

There’s minimal financial investment involved, but this is a relatively high-effort strategy, with much of your time spent networking. 

This approach is highly beneficial for embryonic companies because it’s low cost, you’ve already established trust with your networks, there’s a quick feedback loop, and these customers should be willing participants in case studies and testimonials. 

However, that’s not to say that tapping into your existing networks is without risk. 

Of course, when you’re restricting your outreach only to people who already know and trust you, you’re limiting your reach. 

There’s also the potential for biased feedback — people who care about you may want to avoid upsetting you and focus only on the good. 

Tactic 2: Content is King — Using High-Quality Content to Attract Your First Customers

In 2024, content marketing is a key tactic if you’re wondering how to get your first SaaS customers.

This inbound marketing strategy can attract potential buyers’ attention through Google, social media platforms, and traditional media such as industry publications and newspapers. It can also be used on your website to convert visitors into customers.

Content marketing requires moderate to high investment in content creation and search engine optimisation (SEO). 

You’ll need to experiment with a combination of the following content types:

• FAQs
• Podcasts 
• Blog posts
• Whitepapers 
• Press releases
• Articles and features 
• Product tutorials – video
• Case studies – written and video
• Customer testimonials – written and video
• Thought leadership content – written and video 

Content marketing is a science, and as a start-up, you’re unlikely to have the required expertise in-house. 

To fulfil your briefs, you may want to employ an expert marketing agency in your sector that promises ROI. 

To see the best results take on an agency that specialises in SaaS and truly understands the needs and pain points of your target audience.

For instance, SaaStorm is a revenue-focused B2B SaaS marketing agency that provides B2B SaaS content marketing and SEO services. We create compelling content that drives more traffic, boosts search rankings, and increases conversions for SaaS businesses. 

Meanwhile, our SEO strategies drive real results, with a focus on boosting search engine rankings, increasing traffic, and enhancing domain authority with a data-driven approach. 

Admittedly, content marketing is time-consuming, requires ongoing efforts, and results are not instantaneous. 

But in the long term, content marketing will become invaluable to your operation. 

It builds authority around your brand, website and social media presence, attracts organic and social media traffic, and is completely scalable depending on where you are in your growth journey. 

Ultimately, it delivers ROI — just wait and see. 

Tactic 3: Lowering the Barrier — How Free Trials and Freemium Models Can Win First Customers

Implementing free trials and freemium models is a popular path to success in the SaaS world — and this strategy can win you your very first customers. 

Why? 

Agreeing to a free trial or signing up for a freemium product is very low risk for customers — making them much more likely to take a chance on an emerging product. 

But for you, this tactic comes with high conversion potential. 

An example of this strategy might be a 30-day free trial or a freemium plan with limited features. 

In both instances, the user journey should be filled with well-placed and thoughtful calls to action that prompt free users to sign up for a paid version of your product. 

Of course, you must develop infrastructure to support free users and deliver ongoing customer support, often while generating little to no revenue. 

Perhaps the two biggest risks associated with free trials and freemium offerings are the cost of delivering this service and the potential for low conversion rates. 

But ensure you’re asking for customer feedback and tracking key metrics, and you’ll be able to make data-driven decisions to tweak your strategy and boost conversion. 

Tactic 4: Strategic Alliances — Partnering for Mutual Growth and Customer Acquisition

Partnering with another, more established business effectively grows your SaaS business without busting the budget. 

Whether you opt for co-marketing initiatives, joint webinars, mutual sponsorships, or integration partnerships, you’ll gain access to your partner’s customer base, while shared resources help to cut costs. 

Of course, when working with another company, there are risks. 

You may become too dependent on your partner or have to navigate your way through potential conflicts of interest. 

It can also be time-consuming—finding, securing, and nurturing partnerships all require significant effort that can distract from one’s core responsibilities. 

However, when starting out and having less to lose, the benefits can significantly outweigh these risks. 

Tactic 5: Getting Out There — The Role of Industry Events in Customer Acquisition

Some people are natural at networking, while others dread industry events. 

However, industry events like trade shows, conferences, and start-up competitions are incredibly important for growing a business. 

They raise brand awareness, give you invaluable networking opportunities, and put you in front of potential investors, partners, and — most importantly — your target audience.

Of course, such events do come with a price tag. 

They’re typically high-cost, and you only have the event duration to make an impact. 

This is why it’s vital to prepare thoroughly ahead of these events, have a high-impact social media strategy ready to go, and take plenty of sales enablement materials with you. 

This will help you get the most value for your money and ensure that people are still thinking and talking about you post-event. 

Tactic 6: Investing in Visibility — Maximising Customer Acquisition with Paid Advertising

A tried and true tactic for bringing in customers, paid advertising is famous for its quick results.

Paid advertising, such as Google Ads, social media ads, and retargeting campaigns, also has a very targeted reach, and your efforts are scalable depending on your budget. 

However, paid ads require significant financial investment and expertise in ad management, which you may need to outsource. 

You may also need to hire freelance creatives to help design your ad. 

However, when done right, this tactic can deliver significant ROI. 

Tactic 7: Nurturing Leads: How to Grow and Leverage an Email List for Early Customer Acquisition

From day one, all SaaS entrepreneurs should be working on building their email lists. 

This is essentially a list of email addresses you can use for sales and marketing purposes. 

First, you must ensure you’re up to date with data regulations like GDPR before building your email list. 

Then, you can start implementing lead magnets on your website and social media channels. 

These are typically products or services that are given away for free for the purpose of gathering contact details. 

This could be a free trial, an informative ebook, or a weekly newsletter that promises to keep readers updated on everything they need to know in your industry. 

Once you’ve got a decent-sized list, you can begin crafting engaging email campaigns, sending out newsletters, and personalising communication to recipients. 

Of course, list building and email marketing both require plenty of time and resources and require consistent effort to reap results. 

And if your email content isn’t good, there’s the potential for low engagement or people hitting the dreaded ‘unsubscribe’ button. 

But get it right, and you’ll have a direct line to your target customer base—all of whom are already aware of your brand and ripe for conversion. 

What’s more, email marketing can have high ROI as you grow your list, with just one email reaching an unlimited number of ideal customers’ inboxes.

Tactic 8: Word-of-Mouth Magic — Driving Customer Acquisition with Referral Programs

Word-of-mouth is the oldest customer acquisition tactic in the sales playbook. 

This strategy is so valuable thanks to the high trust factor that it instils in potential customers. 

The simple truth is that potential customers are much more likely to trust another customer — especially one they know — than they are an advertiser or a salesperson who works for your business. 

Not only is word-of-mouth hugely impactful, but it’s also cost-effective. 

You can achieve this by simply delivering a high-quality product and prompting customers to rate and review online and recommend you to their friends and colleagues. 

However, to boost word-of-mouth referrals, it’s worth investing in a referral programme offering attractive incentives, such as customer discounts. 

You can also partner with influencers in your industry by gifting them your SaaS product for free in exchange for online reviews to their network. 

These schemes do require active management, which means an investment in time. 

If the incentive isn’t attractive enough or people don’t truly believe in your brand, there is a risk of low participation.

But if you get your referral scheme right, you’ll see the rewards quickly. 

What to Prioritise: Bootstrapped vs. VC-Backed

When it comes to how to get your first 10 SaaS customers or so, it’s vital to consider your resources before ploughing ahead. 

Whether you’re a bootstrapped or VC-backed start-up makes all the difference. 

Here’s how.

VC-backed start-ups often pursue aggressive customer acquisition, allocating substantial funds to paid advertising, sales teams, and rapid market expansion. 

They have relatively high risk tolerance, prioritising rapid growth to meet investor expectations.

Furthermore, user base growth is often more important to VC-backed start-ups than immediate profitability — a luxury bootstrapped companies don’t have. 

Indeed, VC-backed companies can afford to experiment with diverse, potentially costly acquisition channels to accelerate growth.

Due to limited resources, bootstrapped B2B SaaS startups typically prioritise low-cost, sustainable customer acquisition strategies. 

Risk tolerance is low, and bootstrapped start-ups favour steady, predictable growth as they focus on profitability and customer retention. 

This is reflected in resource allocation, which is generally cautious and efficiency-driven.

Bootstrapped startups focus on organic growth, content marketing, and word-of-mouth referrals. 

But with the right tools in their arsenal, these companies can see exceptional growth. 

For example, B2B SaaS Affiliate Network company Reditus is a 100% bootstrapped start-up that has harnessed the power of content marketing and SEO to impressive effect. 

Reditus works with SaaStorm, and we handle content writing and SEO for the brand — and its growth is mostly driven by inbound marketing activities. 

Indeed, due to its strong content marketing strategy, most of Reditus’ MQLs and customers come from organic, cost-effective sources. 

Joran Hofman, Reditus Founder, said: 

What sets SaaStorm apart is their commitment to tailoring their approach to us as a client. As we are bootstrapped we don’t have the resources of some of the enterprise clients they have. What I personally like is their ability to provide simple yet powerful recommendations for enhancing the performance of our Reditus blog. With their expertise in SaaS SEO it allowed us to do some quick fixes that yielded impressive results. Furthermore, they established efficient workflows for content publishing and breathed new life into our older content through optimization techniques.

Joran Hofman, Founder at Reditus

Avoiding Pitfalls: Channels and Activities to Defer Initially

Several customer acquisition tactics—while useful in the long run—are often best avoided in the early stages of growing your SaaS brand.

1. TV and Radio Advertising can cost a lot and is also imprecise when targeting a niche B2B market.
2. Paid Influencer Marketing can significantly expand your reach, but without a thoughtful and well-defined brand identity, it may not deliver the ROI you need.
3. Expensive Trade Shows may not yield immediate returns and are costly. While you’ll need to attend many industry events in the early days of your company, consider which will get you the best return before buying tickets.

Bonus Tip: Creating an Early Adopter Community

Fostering an early adopter community for your SaaS product gives you a dedicated group of users who provide invaluable feedback, evangelise the product, and help shape its development.

Here’s how to create an early adopter community in seven simple steps from your first customer:

1. Clearly define your target audience and their pain points
2. Engage potential users through social media, relevant online forums, and industry events
3. Offer exclusive access or features to early adopters
4. Consider launching a beta programme with regular feedback sessions
5. Create a dedicated community platform using tools such as Slack or LinkedIn, where users can engage with each other and share insights
6. Consistently communicate progress on your product’s development and highlight how user suggestions have been incorporated 
7. Encourage word-of-mouth promotion via referral incentives

Wrapping Up: Key Takeaways for Acquiring Your First SaaS Customers

So, ready to start acquiring your first customers for your SaaS business? 

First, consider your target audience and which combination of the tactics below will best engage them. 

• Go to key industry events
• Grow and leverage an email list
• Tap into your existing networks
• Create and share high-quality content
• Develop partnerships with other brands
• Harness the power of paid advertising online
• Introduce free trials and/or a freemium model
• Introduce referral programmes with attractive incentives

While some strategies can be expensive, it’s crucial to kick off your organic marketing efforts early in your growth journey. 

In fact, the importance of investing in organic marketing like content writing and SEO from day one cannot be understated. 

Why?

These vital tactics could help your B2B SaaS company land in Google’s top five rankings when potential customers search for products you offer. 

This is an incredibly coveted position. 

After all, if customers can find you easily, they’re significantly more likely to visit your website, book a demo, and — ultimately — convert. 

Ready to begin your content marketing journey? Reach out to SaaStorm today to find out how we can help your B2B SaaS business attract its first customers through powerful organic marketing. 

FAQs: Common Questions About Acquiring First SaaS Customers

1. What is the Most Cost-Effective Way to Get First Customers for a SaaS Product?

Ready to start reaching out to potential customers for your Sass business but don’t have a huge budget? 

In SaaS, how to get your first customers doesn’t have to be costly. 

To bring in initial customers for a SaaS product cost-effectively, consider implementing the following strategies:

• Leverage content marketing
• Offer free trials or freemium models
• Utilise social media marketing
• Engage in targeted email outreach
• Implement referral programmes
• Participate in relevant online communities
• Optimise for search engines
• Collaborate with complementary businesses

These methods can yield substantial results without putting a massive dent in your budget. 

2. How long does it typically take to acquire the first 100 customers for a SaaS start-up?

The timeline for acquiring the first 100 customers for a SaaS start-up varies significantly, depending on factors such as market demand, product-market fit, pricing strategy, the size of your organisation, and marketing effectiveness. 

But generally, you’re looking at 6 to 18 months.

A well-executed go-to-market strategy and robust value proposition can accelerate this process considerably.

3. Should I focus on inbound or outbound marketing initially?

When launching your SaaS venture, trying both inbound and outbound marketing is wise. 

Inbound is brilliant for building your brand and drawing quality leads over time. 

Outbound can help you land those crucial early customers more swiftly. 

It’s best to start with targeted outbound efforts to get the ball rolling while laying the groundwork for inbound strategies. 

This approach should set you up nicely for quick wins and long-term success.

4. How can I measure the success of my customer acquisition strategies?

To gauge your customer acquisition strategies’ success, keep an eye on these key metrics:

• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
• Conversion rates
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
• Churn rate
• Time to conversion
• Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI)

Don’t forget to track these over time to spot key trends in your data. 

5. What are some common mistakes to avoid when trying to get first customers for SaaS?

When seeking those first SaaS customers, steer clear of these common pitfalls:

• Neglecting market research
• Overlooking customer feedback
• Pricing incorrectly
• Promising features you can’t deliver
• Ignoring user experience
• Failing to define your target audience
• Underestimating the sales process
  

6. How important is customer feedback in the early stages of a SaaS start-up?

Customer feedback is absolutely crucial in the early stages of a SaaS startup. 

Here are five major reasons why:

• It helps refine your product-market fit
• Identifies bugs and usability issues quickly
• Guides feature prioritisation
• Improves customer retention
• Informs marketing strategies

Don’t just collect feedback – act on it. 

It’s your compass for growth and improvement. 

Remember, your early adopters can be your most valuable advisors, so make it easy for them to share their thoughts.

7. What role does customer support play in acquiring and retaining first customers?

When strategising around how to get first customers SaaS companies often overlook the importance of client support.

Customer support is pivotal in acquiring and retaining your first SaaS customers. Ultimately, clients need to feel like your brand cares about customer success.

Indeed, if you help clients achieve their goals with outstanding support, your first customers may well turn into loyal advocates. 

It’s not just about fixing issues – it’s about creating fans.

Here are six key benefits of strong customer support:

• It builds trust and credibility
• Helps overcome initial product hurdles
• Provides valuable product feedback
• Enhances user experience
• Boosts word-of-mouth referrals
• Reduces churn rates