Five models of the B2B SaaS Market
So, I’ve been immersing myself in the subject of B2B SaaS Marketing, hoping to evolve from a newsletter writer to a marketing guru for the age of AI. And the question I keep coming back to is: What are the levers that actually impact how teams identify, evaluate and select software? After writing the last two posts about the buying cycle, I started to think what I need is a better mental model. But then I realized I actually need at least five mental models. And in this post, I’m going to outline what they are. Then I’ll explore them individually in upcoming posts.
Each of these mental models looks at the B2B SaaS market from a different angle and a different time scale:
The Market Evolution Model - Models the typical evolution of a market from an emerging, unmet need to a well understood and commoditized product category. I wrote about this previously on my other newsletter but I want to revisit it here.
The Software Cycle Model - Models how teams decide they need to replace part of their software platform, then identify a replacement. That’s what I wrote about the last two weeks.
The Buyer Awareness Model - Models the different stages that a decision maker goes through as they better understand their problems and the available solutions. I wrote about this last October, but I want to try to reconcile it with the more standard five stages of customer awareness.
The Funnel Model - Models how a decision maker interacts with your marketing content, sales team, etc. on their journey to buying your product. Closely related to the Buyer Awareness Model, but more focused on their actions than on their internal state of mind.
The ICP Narrative - Models the buyer’s context, motivations, outcomes, etc. I’ve previously called it a Core Story, but I think ICP Narrative is more descriptive, at least for folks who know what an ICP is. Probably worth revisiting too.
So, as I’m getting a better understanding of both how these models fit together and how they fit into the existing theory and practice of marketing, I want to try and synthesize them into a more coherent approach. I also reserve the right to add to the list as I notice any gaps.
If you want to follow along as I figure this out, stay tuned.
Thanks for reading Viral Esoterica! Through my company, Merelogic, I help clients build trust and credibility for the age of AI. To learn how I turn B2B SaaS companies into authoritative sources of industry knowledge and solutions, check out merelogic.net.