This is the seventh chapter of the B2B SaaS Marketing Playbook
“If you receive a gift, a service or a favor from someone else, then you are more likely to give something back to that person.“
Action Items
1. Offer Free Resources
Shopify
Stock Photos
Shopify attracts potential customers by providing free stock photos to entrepreneurs. (Burst)
2. Make Free Tools
WordPress
Lean Domain Search
WordPress bought LeanDomainSearch and hired it’s sole developer. This domain generator acts as a funnel for WordPress by driving traffic to the blog engine and other Automattic tools. (LeanDomainSearch)
Shopify
Business Name Generator
Shopify provides a free business name generator. This gives Shopify a chance to capture mindshare and get in front of entrepreneurs, a subset of which will be interested in the e-commerce space. (Business Name Generator)
Shopify
Logo Maker
Shopify attracts potential customers by providing a logo maker. A free, yet valuable, service with many paid alternatives. (Logo Maker)
Lessons
Matching Intent
Tool marketing, like content marketing, is most effective when it matches customer intent.
Business name generators, logo makers and domain name generators are aimed at potential business owners who are beginning their journey.
These are important assets for B2B SaaS companies because their target audience will be seeking these tools around the same time that they are choosing vendors.
Reciprocity
Like content marketing, tool marketing helps companies to build trust and credibility.
Free tools provide potential customers with a sample of the larger user experience offered by B2B SaaS companies.
Positive experiences can trigger purchase decisions or cause users to switch vendors.
Logo generators and free stock photography services are perceived as valuable because they have paid alternatives. Our urge to reciprocate makes these tools effective.
The Book
This is the seventh chapter of the B2B SaaS Marketing Playbook