Scaling a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business requires a strategic and methodical approach to demand generation. While many founders rush to invest in paid advertising, Bradley de Wet, an expert in digital marketing and operations, advocates for a more structured process that prioritizes non-paid tactics before transitioning into paid strategies.
His hands-on expertise in scaling businesses from the ground up demonstrates his expertise in demand generation strategies that actually work. As Chief Operations Officer at iExcel, de Wet has successfully scaled a digital marketing agency by building robust operational infrastructure, securing a $100,000 loan to fuel business growth, streamlining contractor hiring and onboarding processes, and overseeing financial management.
“At the early stage, you should be measuring success by how many conversations you’re having, not just conversions,” says de Wet. “The more you learn about what resonates, the more efficiently you can scale.”
Laying the Foundation: Non-Paid Tactics First
For early-stage SaaS companies, de Wet emphasizes the importance of non-paid strategies. Before investing in paid advertising, startups should focus on tactics that generate organic engagement and build credibility. Search engine optimization (SEO) remains the cornerstone of non-paid demand generation. “The way you want to think about actually developing content is, first and foremost, go and do your keyword research,” de Wet advises. “Rather than just doing it based on vibes, look at what people are searching for, quantify it, and then start making choices.”
Content marketing is another key pillar; de Wet recommends categorizing content into three stages of the buyer journey:
- Top-of-Funnel (101-level content): Educational material that introduces users to a problem and establishes brand visibility.
- Middle-of-Funnel (201-level content): More in-depth resources that guide potential buyers through possible solutions.
- Bottom-of-Funnel (301-level content): Content that directly positions the SaaS product as the best solution, leading to conversion.
Organic social media is also an essential component. “Start putting that organic content out there, building that following, so that when you post about what you’re doing, people engage with it,” says de Wet. “It’s all about systematically testing different approaches to see what catches and what doesn’t.”
Cold Outreach and the Role of Data-Driven Engagement
Another non-paid strategy that de Wet highlights is cold outreach, particularly for B2B SaaS businesses. This can include personalized email campaigns and direct messaging on platforms like LinkedIn. “Cold outreach is still one of the most effective ways to start conversations early on,” he explains. “You might not be making sales yet, but you should be measuring how many conversations you can generate. It’s about learning what resonates with potential customers.”
Tools such as Apollo.io and Lemlist facilitate multi-channel outreach, allowing companies to automate personalized engagement at scale. The key, de Wet notes, is to leverage data intelligently—ensuring outreach is highly targeted to the right prospects rather than engaging in broad, ineffective email blasts.
Account-Based Marketing for B2B SaaS Growth
For SaaS companies targeting enterprise clients, de Wet advocates for an account-based marketing (ABM) approach. This involves identifying a total addressable market (TAM), compiling a list of high-value target companies and individuals, and focusing marketing efforts on these specific prospects. “Ideally, you want to have a CSV of all the emails of your target audience,” says de Wet. “Upload that into LinkedIn or Meta and focus your ad spend only on those exact people. That’s how you get really efficient ad spend.”
Platforms like ZoomInfo provide extensive contact databases, but they come at a cost. For early-stage companies with limited budgets, de Wet suggests a more scrappy approach—manually building lists using publicly available data or hiring affordable virtual assistants to compile target prospect lists. “If you don’t have the budget for ZoomInfo, pay someone $10 an hour to scrape lists for you. You can still build a highly effective ABM strategy without breaking the bank.”
The Future of SaaS Marketing: Hyper-Personalization and AI
Looking ahead, de Wet predicts that hyper-customization will be the next frontier in SaaS demand generation. AI-driven personalization will enable websites and ad experiences to dynamically adapt to individual users, creating an experience that feels less like traditional marketing and more like organic content consumption. “Imagine a world where every website you visit is hyper-tailored just for you,” says de Wet. “Instead of a generic landing page, the site already knows who you are and adjusts content accordingly. It’s going to make advertising and marketing feel much more like organic engagement.”
Emerging technologies now allow businesses to generate real-time, AI-driven video messages tailored to individual prospects. “You’ll start seeing AI-generated videos that look completely real, speaking directly to you in a way that feels personalized,” he adds. “Companies that figure out how to do this are going to win big.”
The Demand Generation Framework for Scaling SaaS
“At the early stages, companies should focus on cost-effective, high-ROI non-paid channels,” says de Wet. “Once you have traction, you can start investing in paid strategies. But even then, make sure you have the right data to measure ROI.” To structure an effective demand generation strategy, de Wet proposes a three-part framework:
- Funnel Stages: Categorizing content into top, middle, and bottom-of-funnel to align with different stages of the buyer journey.
- Channel Types: Differentiating between non-paid (SEO, content marketing, cold outreach) and paid (PPC, ABM advertising, sponsorships) strategies.
- Company Stages: Tailoring tactics based on whether the company is in pre-seed, seed, Series A, or enterprise scale-up mode.
Scaling a SaaS business is not about blindly spending on advertising but about strategically layering demand generation tactics based on a company’s maturity and available resources. “The key to demand generation is understanding what works at each stage,” says de Wet. “Don’t try to skip ahead. Build your foundation first, then scale smartly.”
For more insights from Bradley de Wet, connect with him on LinkedIn.
