Let’s get real. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably been running in circles around the same “tried-and-true” GTM strategies that a thousand other SaaS companies are using—and guess what? That’s why you’re not standing out. Chances are, your GTM strategy isn’t bad; it’s just boring.
Everyone in SaaS is trying to be Salesforce / Adobe / Atlassian etc, but unless you’ve got billions in your marketing budget and a legion of fanboys camping outside your HQ, you need to drop the dream of world domination and focus on what’s actually going to make your product sell. I’m talking less about buzzwords and more about strategies that gets results—unapologetically.
Let’s flip the script on these “go-to” GTM rules everyone follows like gospel:
1. Buyer Personas are Dead, Move On
Buyer personas? Perlease. Every SaaS company has the same imaginary tech-bro or corporate Karen sitting behind a desk deciding whether your tool is worth their precious time. Stop wasting hours crafting personas that sound more like bad Tinder profiles than real-life decision-makers. The truth is, most customers don’t even know what they need until they see it. So instead of hand-holding them through their journey, why not punch them in the face with value?
Build a killer product that solves the problems that folks genuinely have, show them why their life sucks without it, and let your solution do the talking. Personas won’t buy your SaaS — solutions will.
2. Stop Worshipping Freemium — The Cost Is Too High
Sure, freemium models sound sexy. You’ve heard the fairy tale about Slack growing a $20 billion company on freemium, but guess what? You’re not Slack, and most freemium models turn into charity drives for entitled freeloaders… and damn(!) it feels like everyone’s a freeloader, amiright?
Here’s a hard truth: customers who refuse to pay for your product are probably the ones who will drain your customer support and ghost your upgrades. Or, as is the case with many SaaS platforms, those free accounts are abusing your offer with no intention of becoming paying customers and / or they’re using their account access to hack you – that’s just what happens.
Give people enough value in the trial to prove your worth, but stop giving everything away for free. SaaS is not a community garden.
3. Pricing Models: Just Because It’s Tiered Doesn’t Mean It Works
Here’s where things get spicy—tiered pricing is the fast food of SaaS strategies. It’s easy, everyone’s doing it, and it feels like a decent choice at 3 a.m. when you’re too tired to think. But does it really work for everyone? Hell no.
Instead of mindlessly offering “basic,” “premium,” and “enterprise” packages like a Subway sandwich menu, why not get radical? Customize your pricing based on what drives the most value for specific industries. Throw in dynamic pricing or usage-based models if it makes sense. The old-school tiered model is a one-size-fits-nobody approach, and it’s probably screwing you over.
4. Inbound Marketing is for Dinosaurs
Inbound marketing is like that super chill friend who always suggests you “just wait it out” when things get tough. It’s passive, slow, and often as effective as screaming into the void. By the time a lead fills out your form, they’ve already ghosted three other SaaS products.
It’s time to get aggressive. Push your product in people’s faces. Yes, you still need content, but ditch the 1,500-word blog posts on “The Top 5 SaaS Tools for Remote Teams.” No one’s reading that garbage. Instead, target decision-makers directly with ads, podcasts, LinkedIn videos, and anything that’ll grab their attention like a Black Friday deal. Cut the fluff—get direct, and get results.
5. Customer Success is Just Code for “Hand-Holding”
You’re not running a day-care centre, so stop treating your SaaS customers like toddlers. Yes, I said it. Customer success has become a crutch for companies who won’t admit that their product’s onboarding sucks. If you need a whole team to walk someone through using your product, you don’t have a customer success problem—you have a product design problem.
Focus on building an intuitive, self-service product that can onboard itself. The simpler your SaaS is, the less you’ll need to hand-hold. Customer success is necessary, but it shouldn’t be a stand-in for bad UX.
6. Churn is Your Fault, Not the Customer’s
Here’s a hard pill to swallow: churn isn’t the customer’s problem, it’s yours. If users are leaving, it’s because your product either doesn’t deliver enough value or your messaging sucks. Stop blaming churn on “poor fit” or “budget constraints.” Own it. If your users don’t see ROI, you failed to communicate why they need you in the first place.
Fix it by improving your onboarding, making sure your product stays sticky, and constantly demonstrating value. You want customers to stay? Give them no reason to leave.
7. Don’t Overhype, and Underdeliver
Most SaaS companies are selling unicorns but delivering donkeys. You overhype your product, promise the moon, and then watch your customers bounce when reality sets in. SaaS buyers are more cynical than ever, and if your product doesn’t live up to your slick marketing, you’re done.
Instead of puffing up your product with buzzwords, be brutally honest. Set real expectations and make sure your product consistently delivers.
Overdelivering on a modest promise will always beat underdelivering on a big one.
Conclusion: Forget What You Know—SaaS GTM Strategies Need to Evolve
Here’s the bottom line: stop following the same tired rules everyone else is. If your SaaS GTM strategy looks like everyone else’s, you’ve already lost. Be bold, be different, and above all, stop being boring. Success in SaaS doesn’t come from following the playbook—it comes from rewriting it.
So go ahead, break the rules. Your SaaS survival depends on it.
