Question

Hey gang, I am looking to start a google ads agency for B2B SaaS but I'm not sure if it's not a waste of time to start doing cold outreach right now with the COVID. google ads for B2B is maybe not the priority right now. Thoughts on this?  

Answer 1

Do you have experience in this? You'll get eaten up alive in that industry if you don't.  

Comments

Yes I have good case studies and good experience, I'm a former head of PPC for several venture backed EU startups

---

@carolann8624 so what has your search research shown you?  

---

I'm doing this for years as a freelance, there is a need of course. Now I want to do prospecting ( I never did before) and switch to a model agency

---

@carolann8624 I can help with your prospecting To answer your initial question, my response rates have gone up for consultancy/ information type of hooks. The conversion rates have gone down dramatically 3 weeks ago for more direct sales sequences. Now they're slowly picking back up. Let me explain: I mainly use 2 approaches in my outreach for Soleadify, depending on the persona. - sales-oriented: the stage the company's at tells me they probably need my prospecting tool. e. g. early stage b2b startup that raised money 3 months ago. Shorter sales cycles, it basically comes down to a demo, and when they see my tool helping them do stuff they couldn't, they get hooked. This has been hit massively by COVID (meaning way fewer demo requests), and now it's slowly going back up. - consultancy-oriented: this is for companies that don't necessarily do cold email on a recurrent basis right now. Or that do, but on a small scale. So basically I help them out with some advice and ideas of what might be worth trying out, and when they do try stuff out they'll need my tool. This is going great at the moment.  The explanation I think is that people want to double down on sales right now (which I think might be the case for your services as well) but are afraid to commit money and resources to anything right now. So the need has gone up, but there's a lot of anxiety/risk around doing new things. So I ease them into it, and when they start seeing some results they come back and use my product. I think you can apply the same (2) approach. You'd need to add case studies and stuff because you're in a much more competitive niche, so apart from finding people in need you'd have to have strong answers for what sets you apart. Hope this is helpful.  

---

Thanks for all these details @romine!  

---

@valois one thing! How you get around around data protection. In some cases clients already have GAds account and are really funny about giving you access to GAds, analytics and website access where seo touches are needed? Do you all have a standard data protection contract they need to sign and feel safe about?  

Answer 2

Depends on the verticals. Some do better, some worse.  

Answer 3

I have a B2B SaaS, so might be able to answer this. I never respond to cold email (probable from years working for agencies), but I do see a lot of SaaS founders start looking for some marketing services, even in this time, but it really does depend on the vertical/industry they service. I've seen some that are doing well right now and some that are not. Going to be tough reaching early stage SaaS as most look for non-paid channels (SEO, cold outreach, etc. ), and then move into social, and then last into paid search.  

Comments

Great feedback, really helpful thank @rochkind5913

---

@carolann8624 Wrong @rochkind5913 tagged lol but np!  

---

Corrected lol  

Answer 4

You could ask a sample of them and publish the results as a "market study".  "Marketing challenges of B2B SaaS in times of Corona. A study by KamelCommunications".  

Comments

Interesting idea, thanks @rosebud. I was also thinking to offer free competitors analysis

---

Thanks for the feedback. "Competitors analysis": why for free?  

---

The idea is to provide value and show him my expertise with an irresistible offer ( in this case "free" analysis). Once I present the competitor's analysis on a video call, it would be easier to convince him to give a try to my services.  

---

@carolann8624 Could look try hard and desperate. "Short analysis" or "quick check" for free yes, more not. My take on it.  

---

Yes the wording is maybe important here. I will do the test.  

---

@carolann8624 I would just call/mail them, explain what you are able to do and ask for their opinion - if they could use you or if they know someone who could use you. To get a feeling for the market. Just be yourself. Say you are specialized in Google Ads for B2B SaaS. Which is one of my target groups too, by the way:-) In the german speaking part of the planet.  

---

Great feedback, will do the try! Thanks @rosebud. Could I ask you how do you find your clients for this vertical?  

---

Really cool, ahah advertising them with google ads :)

---

@carolann8624 The usual suspects are incredibly expensive to advertise, as "google ads agency". "google ads ads" or "adwords ads" isn't.  

Answer 5

I'd say its not the best time for SaaS. The ones that are thriving already have a marketing framework in place and the ones that are struggling are looking to reduce overhead costs auch as marketing budgets to wait for times to improve. If you are just getting started, maybe you can choose another vertical. I see many ecommerce parties now putting extra focus on their webshops.  

Comments

Thanks @wolsky327, the problem is that all my experience is exclusively for saas companies. Also I have proven results and case studies for this vertical. Ecommerce is really doing well right now but I don't have any experience or results for this vertical

---

When you know your Google Ads shit, you will always find work - at least for now on.  

---

I'd have to disagree with you here @wolsky327. We run a SaaS specific ppc agency and have seen a fairly significant increase in demand across multiple verticals. @carolann8624 - I'd advise against cold email, instead focus on building your brand and audience. You already have the credibility and the experience in SaaS as you mentioned, so just build that out. There's more than enough companies in this space that need the help of people like you and I

---

@drooff thank you very much for your feedback. Appreciate it!  

---

Right @drooff you're the expert in that. I have 2 SaaS clients that are both struggling atm.  

Answer 6

Very far from a waste of time. You can work on your brand, SEO, content marketing and email marketing all at once. Link to your high quality content in your emails. Create content thats addresses problems SaaS leaders are facing. Email marketing converts. Don’t listen to people saying they ignore cold outreach. Others will say they don’t click Google Ads. It’s a numbers game and cold email is highly effective. Its circumstantial how each company is Impacted right now but start the conversation on a 10-12 week sequence. Good luck!  

Comments

Make sense, will do. thank you @donor27 !  

Answer 7

@carolann8624 Ive consulted for a lot of SaaS products & looking to start an agency as well. I currently consult for B2B SaaS Growth Marketing agency as their Google Ads specialist. Maybe we should talk!  

Comments

@wily356 sure!