Growth & Strategy
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
Three months into working with a B2B SaaS client, we had a problem. Their product was solid, their team was talented, and their conversion rates were decent. Yet hardly anyone knew they existed.
Sound familiar? Most SaaS founders I've worked with face this exact challenge. They've built something valuable but can't seem to get it in front of the right people. The typical advice? "Run Facebook ads, optimize your SEO, post on LinkedIn." But here's what I learned from actually implementing awareness campaigns: awareness isn't a marketing problem—it's a distribution problem.
After working across multiple SaaS clients and testing everything from paid ads to content marketing, I discovered that most awareness strategies fail because they focus on the wrong thing. Instead of asking "How do I get more people to see my product?" the question should be "Where are my ideal customers already looking?"
In this playbook, you'll learn:
Why traditional SaaS awareness tactics fail (and what actually works)
The hidden growth engine I found that beats paid ads every time
How to build awareness through distribution channels your competitors ignore
A step-by-step system for turning awareness into qualified leads
The counterintuitive approach that helped my client go from unknown to industry-recognized
The Problem
What every SaaS founder gets wrong about awareness
Walk into any SaaS accelerator, read any growth blog, or talk to any marketing consultant, and you'll hear the same advice on raising awareness:
Content marketing: "Start a blog, post consistently, build thought leadership"
Paid advertising: "Facebook ads, Google ads, LinkedIn ads—just keep testing until something works"
Social media presence: "Be active on Twitter, post on LinkedIn, engage with your community"
PR and outreach: "Get featured in publications, speak at conferences, build relationships with journalists"
SEO and organic growth: "Optimize your website, target long-tail keywords, build backlinks"
This conventional wisdom exists because it's what worked for the SaaS companies that made it big. But here's what most people miss: these strategies worked for them because they had specific advantages—existing networks, substantial budgets, or they were early in markets that aren't saturated anymore.
The real problem with traditional awareness tactics is they treat awareness like a volume game. More content, more ads, more posts, more outreach. But for most SaaS startups, volume isn't the issue. Relevance is the issue. You're not trying to reach everyone—you're trying to reach the right people at the right time when they're actively looking for a solution like yours.
Most SaaS founders spend months creating content that nobody reads, running ads that convert poorly, and building social media followings that never translate to customers. They're optimizing for vanity metrics instead of business outcomes.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When I started working with this particular B2B SaaS client, they were facing the classic awareness problem. They had built a solid product for team collaboration, but their monthly traffic was barely hitting 500 visitors, and most of those were bouncing after a few seconds.
The founder was frustrated. They'd been "doing all the right things"—publishing blog posts twice a week, running Facebook and Google ads with a $2,000 monthly budget, posting daily on LinkedIn, and even got featured in a couple of industry publications. Yet their trial signups were stuck at around 20 per month, and only 3-4 of those were converting to paid plans.
My first instinct was to audit their existing efforts. The blog content was generic—topics like "10 Ways to Improve Team Productivity" that had been covered by hundreds of other companies. Their ads were getting clicks but attracting tire-kickers, not serious buyers. Their social media posts got a few likes but zero engagement from their target market.
But then I noticed something interesting in their Google Analytics. They had a small but consistent stream of "direct" traffic that was converting at nearly 15%—much higher than any other channel. When I dug deeper, I realized this wasn't actually direct traffic. These were people who had discovered the founder through his personal LinkedIn posts about the industry, then searched for the company by name.
The founder had been sharing his thoughts on team management challenges, posting about problems he was solving, and occasionally mentioning lessons learned from building the product. These weren't promotional posts—they were genuinely helpful insights from someone who understood the problem deeply.
That's when it clicked: the real awareness engine wasn't their marketing campaigns—it was the founder's authentic expertise sharing.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Once I identified that the founder's personal content was the hidden growth engine, we completely restructured their awareness strategy. Instead of trying to scale generic marketing tactics, we doubled down on what was already working and systematized it.
Step 1: Content Audit and Pivot
We killed the company blog and shifted all content creation to the founder's personal LinkedIn. But we weren't just posting random thoughts—we created a systematic approach:
Monday: Industry problem breakdown (specific challenges he saw clients facing)
Wednesday: Behind-the-scenes building lessons (what he learned while developing features)
Friday: Contrarian takes on popular team management advice
Each post followed the formula: Experience → Insight → Lesson. No promotional content, no product mentions, just valuable perspectives from someone solving real problems.
Step 2: Distribution Channel Mapping
We mapped out where their ideal customers were already consuming content:
Industry Slack communities where team leads discussed challenges
Specific LinkedIn groups focused on remote team management
Podcasts targeting startup founders and team leaders
Newsletter publications their customers already read
Instead of trying to pull people to our content, we pushed valuable insights to where they already were.
Step 3: The "Helpful Expert" System
We created a system where the founder would:
Share a genuine insight or lesson learned
Engage authentically in discussions (not self-promotional)
Provide specific, actionable advice when people asked questions
Build relationships before ever mentioning the product
The key was patience. We weren't optimizing for immediate conversions—we were building trust and positioning the founder as someone worth following.
Step 4: Content Multiplication Strategy
Every LinkedIn post became the seed for multiple pieces of content:
Twitter thread version for broader reach
Detailed newsletter issue for email subscribers
Podcast pitch for industry shows
Comment responses that added value to industry discussions
This wasn't about creating more content—it was about maximizing the reach of insights that were already resonating.
Positioning Strategy
Focus on being helpful first, promotional never. Build authority through expertise, not advertising.
Content Distribution
Multiply each insight across platforms where your audience already exists, don't try to pull them to you.
Relationship Building
Engage authentically in industry discussions. Trust converts better than any sales copy.
Measurement Focus
Track "direct" searches for your company name and mention-driven traffic, not just vanity metrics.
The results weren't immediate, but they were transformative. Within the first 90 days:
"Direct" traffic increased by 340% (people searching for the company by name)
Trial signups jumped from 20 to 95 per month, with conversion rates holding steady at 14%
Average customer acquisition cost dropped by 60% compared to paid advertising
Inbound demo requests increased by 280%, with much higher qualification rates
But the most interesting result was the quality of leads. People who discovered the company through the founder's content came pre-qualified. They understood the problem, trusted the solution, and were ready to buy faster.
Six months later, the founder was invited to speak at three industry conferences, got featured in major publications without pitching, and started receiving partnership inquiries from companies wanting to integrate.
The awareness problem had completely flipped. Instead of chasing potential customers, qualified prospects were finding them.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Here's what I learned about SaaS awareness that completely changed how I approach it:
Personal beats corporate every time. People follow people, not companies. Your founder's voice is your biggest competitive advantage.
Expertise trumps advertising. Being genuinely helpful builds more awareness than any ad budget can buy.
Distribution is everything. The best content is worthless if it's in the wrong place. Go where your audience already is.
Patience pays off. Awareness isn't a sprint—it's about building cumulative trust over time.
Quality beats quantity. One insightful post that resonates is worth more than ten generic ones that get ignored.
Indirect approaches work better. Don't try to sell—try to help. The sales will follow naturally.
Measure what matters. Brand searches and mention-driven traffic are better awareness metrics than impressions or reach.
The biggest mistake I see SaaS founders make is treating awareness like a marketing campaign instead of a relationship-building process. Campaigns end, but relationships compound.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS implementation:
Position your founder as the go-to expert in your niche
Share product development insights and lessons learned
Engage in industry Slack communities and LinkedIn groups
Create valuable content around the problems you solve
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce adaptation:
Focus on product education and usage tips
Share behind-the-scenes content and brand story
Build community around your product category
Partner with influencers who align with your values