The B2B SaaS space has experienced astronomical growth in recent years. According to Zylo, it’s expanding at an annual rate of over 20% and future trends predict a market value of nearly $300 billion by year’s end.
The expansion demonstrates the SaaS industry’s pivotal role in business agility, as more companies depend on cloud-based software to scale. Software as a service has changed the way businesses operate, from team communication and video conferencing to automating processes, without the need for physical servers or significant upfront costs.
With SaaS software here to stay, and only getting bigger, the question is: what does this mean for growth in 2025 and beyond?
Future Trends Show Big SaaS Growth But Even Bigger Challenges
But… there’s a challenge behind the opportunity. HockeyStack reports that in 2024, closing the average B2B SaaS deal meant navigating 266 touchpoints and nearly 2,900 impressions, a climb of almost 20% from the year before. And for enterprise contracts valued at over $100K, the buyer journey swelled to an incredible 417 touchpoints.
As competition rises, the SaaS buying journey becomes more complex. Sales cycles are longer, looping in more stakeholders. It’s become more important than ever to align sales and marketing, personalise campaigns, and invest in channels that maximise monthly recurring revenue (MRR).
Of course, you probably already know that, after all, you’re here looking for a solution. Below, we’ll break down the top challenges faced in B2B SaaS growth in 2025 and show you exactly how paid media can help you reach your growth goals.
Why Paid Media Matters for Business-to-Business Software Growth?
Whether you’re a startup or an established player, success comes down to having a unique selling point, a strong brand identity, and a great user experience, and just as importantly, making sure your audience actually knows it.
Marketing SaaS can be uniquely complex. Thanks to the subscription model, SaaS companies need to continuously prove their value through updates, new features, and reliability. That means your messaging can’t just drive awareness once; it has to consistently reinforce why your solution matters.
Paid traffic gives SaaS businesses the ability to do just that. It delivers immediate, targeted visibility and quick results for launches, promotions, or lead generation. Organic traffic builds long-term authority and trust through SEO and content marketing; however, this takes time.
That’s why, instead of relying on general marketing agencies that spread themselves thin across industries, many successful companies prefer to partner with top SaaS marketing agencies that combine channel expertise with deep knowledge of the SaaS model.
Challenge 1: Gaining a Competitive Edge in a Saturated Market
Competition is a good thing in our eyes; it signals that there’s real demand for your product.
If there’s no competition, it usually means one of two things: you’re either a genius on the verge of becoming the next Steve Jobs (in which case, congrats, please send us your future stock options), or there’s simply no demand for what you’re building. The bottom line is, if your product genuinely solves users’ pain points, there’s most likely a market waiting for it.
The first step is building great SaaS software. The second (and often overlooked) step is reaching the right customers effectively. Too many SaaS providers pour time and money into perfecting their product, but not nearly enough into marketing it to the people who matter most. So how do you make your SaaS platforms stand out when buyers are already comparing options?
Leverage Competitive Ad Strategies
If a user is searching for your solution, chances are they’re already comparing products. Competitive ad strategies are about being seen, but more so about setting yourself apart from other SaaS options and showing why your product is the clear choice.
Here’s how you can differentiate yourself with paid media:
Google Ads to capture high-intent demand
Google is usually the first stop for SaaS buyers comparing solutions, and allows you to position your SaaS exactly where potential customers are weighing their options. That makes it perfect for capturing high-intent demand. By blending broad keywords for visibility, exact match for precision, and competitor bidding for differentiation.
Here’s how you can use keywords to attract prospects who are actively comparing solutions:
▸ Broad match keywords: Target general terms related to your business solution. These help you capture a wide interest and increase visibility among people exploring options. For instance, “customer relationship management platforms”.
▸ Exact match & negative keywords: Get more specific to connect with your ideal audience to ensure your ads are seen by prospects looking for a solution closely aligned to your offering. For example, “customer relationship management platforms for small businesses”.
- Negative keywords can also be used to filter out irrelevant searches. For example, if your software has an upfront cost, adding negative keywords like “free” or “cheap” helps exclude searchers who don’t fit your customer profile.
▸ Competitor keyword bidding: Target branded keywords from competitors, often paired with terms like “alternatives.” This lets you capture high-intent prospects while highlighting your advantages over the competitor’s offering. As an example, a customer relationship management provider could bid on phrases like “Zoho alternative” or “best Freshdesk alternative”.
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Keywords are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to standing out with paid search. Google Ads has a massive toolkit, but not every feature makes sense for software companies. Partnering with a SaaS Google Ads agency ensures you’re using the right keywords and the most relevant tools in Google’s toolkit, while getting the most for your ad spend.
Check out our SaaS Google Ads series, where we break down search strategies step by step:
LinkedIn Ads to Reach Decision Makers Directly
For SaaS businesses, LinkedIn Ads deliver precision B2B targeting, allowing you to target decision-makers directly through advanced filters such as role, industry, and company size.
Here’s how you can use LinkedIn to stand out:
▸ Engaging ad content: Highlight the problems your SaaS solves with clear, compelling language and visuals. Use formats like video, carousels, or GIFs to capture attention in a text-heavy feed. LinkedIn recommends testing 4–5 variations per campaign for best results.
▸ Precision targeting: Leverage LinkedIn’s advanced filters, industry, company size, role, or location to reach the exact decision-makers at high-value accounts most likely to influence or approve buying decisions.
▸ Comparative advertising: Position your SaaS against competitors to show how you serve their business needs better than the competition. For example, “Switching from X? Get faster onboarding, seamless integration, and 24/7 support.” Carousel ads can make side-by-side comparisons visual and easy to grasp.
The effectiveness of a comparative ad lives or dies on its creativity. The key is to focus on the users’ benefits of your solution, while making the benefits of your offer impossible to ignore. Partnering with a paid media agency that also specialises in creative ensures you can highlight the differentiators that truly set your offer apart.
Challenge 2: Long & Complex Sales Cycles
SaaS cycles look different from traditional one-off purchases, as they only have to prove value at the point of sale, whereas SaaS has to prove value throughout the sales cycle, through to retention. This means that SaaS solutions require specialised marketing strategies.
Self-serve SaaS tools with simple pricing and intuitive interfaces are designed for quick conversions, often requiring little to no involvement from a sales consultant. For example, a Canva subscription can be acquired almost instantly due to its reputation and strong social proof. A newer language platform, however, might take slightly longer as prospects compare it against established players like Duolingo.
At the other end of the spectrum, sales and marketing processes for business-to-business software are much more complex, especially for enterprise companies. These pricing models come with higher price tags and typically require tailored solutions, integration, and the involvement of multiple stakeholders. As a result, enterprise sales cycles can stretch out for months, taking around 6-12 months to close.
So, how do you keep prospects engaged through a 6–12 month cycle?
Implement Retargeting Campaigns
Due to the nature of the SaaS sales cycle, SaaS buyers are unlikely to purchase on the first interaction with your brand and will likely explore the competition before making a decision. Retargeting is a strategy used to re-engage your prospects by delivering valuable information at the right time.
There are several ways you can implement retargeting to make the most out of your touchpoints:
▸ Retarget Website Visitors, for example, re-engage users who viewed your product pages with case studies, testimonials of customer satisfaction, or limited-time offers.
▸ Retarget freemium users, for instance, by offering sign-up discounts and sharing more information about the features of your product.
▸ Retarget previous subscription users. In this case, it’s important to know why your users left. Tailor messaging based on why they left. For instance, promote new features if functionality was the issue, or offer flexible cost-effective solutions if price point was the blocker.
For current and new customers, encouraging users to explore advanced features or move to higher-tier plans.
Optimised Landing Pages
Landing pages are arguably one of the most important aspects of any paid advertising strategy.
It’s where you’ll be driving traffic from your ads, and often where you’ll be making the first impression you make on prospective buyers. Think of your funnel as a pipeline; every disconnect between ad and landing page is a leak. Patch the leaks, and more of your traffic turns into conversions.
A well-optimised landing page should align directly with your campaign, with every element focused on your campaign objective, whether that’s generating leads or encouraging signups.
There’s a lot that goes into an effective landing page, but these are the core elements every SaaS page should include:
▸ Hero section: This is the first thing users will see, so it needs to grab attention and immediately communicate the main benefit of your SaaS product.
▸ Compelling copy: Apply the timeless copywriting principle of focusing on the key benefits of your SaaS rather than features. For example, instead of saying “Our project management tools include task assignment and deadline tracking” (feature), say “Our project management tools enable seamless collaboration, keep your team aligned and finish projects faster with less stress” (benefit).
▸ High-quality visuals: Include product demos, videos, or diagrams to clearly show how your SaaS works and the benefits it delivers.
▸ Social proof: Include testimonials, case studies, and user counts. People are more likely to trust your brand if they see that your brand is trusted by others.
▸ Actionable CTA: Include a prominent call-to-action button with action-oriented text that tells users exactly what happens next. Examples include: ‘Start Your Free Trial,’ ‘Download Whitepaper,’ or ‘Sign Up for Free.’
(We created a checklist for creating a high-converting landing page for SaaS businesses. You can download the checklist here!)
Challenge 3: High CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the price tag for turning a prospect into a paying customer. In the SaaS space, that price tag matters a lot, because you’re often spending big to win leads long before they’ve spent a cent. The smaller the price tag, the bigger your profit margin.
Lowering CAC is all about bringing in more qualified customers without increasing spend. The smartest strategies improve efficiency across the entire acquisition journey, from sharper targeting to higher conversion rates to stronger retention
So how can your SaaS business do this?
Refine your Audience
The sharper your audience segmentation, the more efficient your customer acquisition becomes. It starts with defining your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). By focusing on leads that truly match your business solutions, you boost conversion rates while avoiding wasted spend on unqualified prospects.
By focusing on leads that are the right fit for your software products, users who actually need your product and will stick around, you boost conversion rates and avoid wasting budget on sign-ups that churn quickly. Just like you wouldn’t try to market sunscreen in the Arctic, your SaaS shouldn’t be marketed to customers who don’t have a need for it.
Here are the key characteristics you can use to define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP):
▸ Firmographics: Industry, company size, revenue, and location.
▸ Demographics: The age range, gender mix, and educational background of key decision-makers.
▸ Technographics: Insights into the company’s current tech stack and software tools.
▸ Psychographics: The values, interests, and attitudes that influence how they buy.
▸ Pain points: The specific problems your SaaS solves, and as an example, needing more website traffic, a lack of cohesion and collaboration, or dealing with slow customer service.
Test Optimise Repeat
Your sales funnel shows every step your customer takes from first impression to closing the sale. Understanding your customer journey and continuously optimising your campaigns ensures reduced wasted ad spend and a lower CAC. User experience starts from the moment the audience sees your ad until the moment they complete the purchase. You can track potential leaks in your funnel by continuous testing, monitoring campaign analytics, and landing page analytics.
Here are some ways to ensure an optimised campaign, from first impression to landing page:
▸ A/b test everything: Continuously A/B test creative elements, ad formats, and landing page elements can give you valuable insight into what resonates with your audience. Even something as simple as changing the shade of your CTA button can make a positive difference on your conversion rate.
▸ Continuous monitoring: Continuously tracking data at every stage of the customer journey is key to understanding your customer on a deeper level well as for spotting leaks in your funnel, and allows you to patch them before they drain your budget.
▸ Increase your quality score: There’s nothing Google loves more than relevance (and your prospects agree). When your ad copy, keywords, and landing page content all line up, Google rewards you with a higher Quality Score, which means cheaper clicks and better ad placements.
Key Takeaways
Long-term success in a growing market requires the right balance between paid and organic advertising. The combination of immediate visibility and long-term trust is the recipe for scalable growth.
Facing it alone often means an expensive learning curve and the risk of wasting your ad budget. Partnering with an experienced SaaS-focused paid media agency that understands the complexities of long sales cycles, the importance of lowering CAC, and how to stand out in a saturated market gives you the advantage to scale with less risk. If that sounds like something you’re interested in, book a call or pop us an email to company@snowballcreations.com
(And who knows, maybe with the right mix of strategy and execution, you really will be the next Steve Jobs after all.)