B2B Software Marketing Agency
A software marketing company for businesses that sell software to other businesses. We market enterprise platforms, vertical software and the firms that implement them, measured in meetings and pipeline.
Marketing for software companies with long sales cycles
Software sold to businesses rarely sells on a free trial. Enterprise platforms, vertical software and implementation services sell through demos, pilots and procurement reviews that can run for months. Marketing has to keep the right people engaged through all of it.
The buyer is several people. A finance leader signs, IT checks the integration, security reviews the vendor, and the team that will use the software has its own questions. Each needs different material. Holland Parker, an enterprise software consultancy, needed meetings with financial executives, so every campaign was written for that one audience.
Software companies also sell into narrow markets. A platform built for one industry may have a few thousand possible customers, which makes list quality and account research worth more than reach. For Knack, verified lists of the titles that decide on tutoring platforms gave the sales team a dependable base for outbound.
How our software marketing firm runs a program
Senior consultants lead the plan. Specialists run each channel, and you keep one point of contact.
Audit
Plan
Launch
Grow
Software marketing services we include
Eight services, combined around your buyers and your sales cycle.
Account-based marketing
Outbound and appointment setting
Lead lists and data
Search and content for software
Software advertising
Marketing operations
Email nurture
Sales content
Software, SaaS and technology marketing
Three related practices, for companies whose model or buyer calls for a different plan.
SaaS marketing
IT marketing
B2B marketing
B2B software marketing, by type of company
Software companies sell in different ways, and the marketing follows how they sell.
Enterprise software marketing
Enterprise software sells to large organizations through long evaluations. Marketing starts with a list of target accounts and the people inside them, then runs research, outreach and content aimed at that list.
Success is measured in meetings with the right titles and opportunities created. Website traffic counts when it comes from the target accounts.
Enterprise buyers also need answers a procurement review will ask for: security, integration, support and total cost. Having that material ready keeps a deal moving after a good first meeting.
Marketing for software implementation partners
Consultancies that implement platforms such as OneStream, Salesforce or NetSuite sell expertise and trust. Their buyers are the finance, operations or IT leaders who own the system.
For Holland Parker we sourced and validated decision-makers at target companies, then built and launched several email campaigns written for financial executives, each tracked so the team could see what was working.
Holland Parker case study →Vertical software marketing
Software built for one industry sells to a defined list of organizations: schools, hospitals, insurers or manufacturers. The market is small enough to research one account at a time.
That makes data quality the first job. Knack sells to colleges, where the people who decide sit behind several layers, so the work started with verified lists of the titles that choose tutoring platforms.
Knack case study →Software company marketing on a small team
Many software companies have one marketer, or none, and a founder doing the selling. The program has to start with the channel closest to revenue, usually outbound to a tight list or the searches buyers make when they are ready.
Channels are added once the first one is producing meetings and the team can handle the follow-up.
Software advertising on LinkedIn and Google
LinkedIn Ads reach buyers by company, job title and seniority, which suits software with a defined target list. Google Ads reach buyers searching for a category or a competitor right now. Most software programs need both, with a different message on each.
Campaigns are judged on the cost of a qualified meeting. A click from someone outside your target market costs money and never turns into pipeline.
Choosing a software marketing company
Look for a software marketing company that asks about your sales cycle, your average contract value and who signs. Those answers decide the channels. Ask to see work for software companies with a similar sales motion, and ask what the reports measure.
Our reports cover meetings, opportunities and pipeline, and our case studies name the clients.
Software marketing work we can name
Three software companies, and what each program delivered.
Software marketing agency questions
Six questions, specific to marketing software companies.
How much does a software marketing agency cost?
Most of our retainers start between $2,500 and $7,500 a month, set by how much of the work sits with us. A one-off project can be less, and a larger program more.
Ad spend is on top of the retainer. It depends on the channels you run and the goals you set, and it is agreed in the plan before any campaign launches.
There is no minimum term. Engagements run month to month, and it starts with a call.
What does a software marketing agency do?
A software marketing agency plans and runs the programs that bring software companies qualified meetings and pipeline. For B2B software that usually means account research, outbound, search, content and the sales material a buying committee needs.
The plan is built around long evaluations, technical reviewers and narrow target markets.
How is software marketing different from SaaS marketing?
SaaS marketing plans around trials, self-serve signups, activation and renewal. B2B software marketing more often plans around demos, pilots, procurement reviews and large contracts.
Many companies run both motions, and the plan follows the one that brings in most of the revenue.
Do you work with software implementation partners?
Yes. Holland Parker, an enterprise software consultancy specializing in OneStream implementations, is a named client. We sourced decision-makers at target companies and ran email campaigns written for financial executives.
Partners sell expertise in a platform their buyers have already chosen, so the marketing leads with implementation results and the people who do the work.
Can you work with our CRM data?
Yes. For ModelOp we cleaned and enriched the marketing database, so outreach campaigns ran on accurate contacts. Clean data is usually the first job before an outbound program starts.
Enrichment adds job title, company size and industry to each record. Those fields are what let a campaign reach the buyers a software company sells to.
Which marketing channels work best for B2B software?
For most B2B software companies, outbound to a researched account list and search on problem and comparison terms produce meetings first. LinkedIn advertising and email nurture support both.
We pick the channels from your sales cycle, your contract size and the data you already have.