Offer a Freemium Model Strategically
Giving your SaaS product away for free isn’t a growth hack on its own. The real power of freemium comes from what happens after the user signs up. Your job is to guide them fast from casual curiosity to real value. That journey needs to be designed, not left to chance.
Smart freemium starts with clarity. What features are genuinely useful, and what’s gated behind the paywall? You need a clear value ladder: basic features draw them in, but the serious perks sit on the next tier. Make sure the upgrade gap is obvious, not subtle.
Conversion doesn’t happen by accident. In app nudges, behavior driven prompts, and emails triggered by real usage patterns all help turn free users into paying ones. If someone engages with a feature that’s locked, show them immediately what they’re missing and why it’s worth a few bucks.
Most important: don’t be too generous too early. If the free version does too much, there’s no urgency to upgrade. Keep it useful, but incomplete. Make them want more and then meet that desire with a well timed pitch.
Take Viral Loops Seriously
You can spend big on ads, or you can get your users to bring in more users for you. The latter is cheaper and often more effective if built right. Viral loops aren’t magic. They’re built into the product experience itself. Think referral rewards that actually matter. Invite only features that create scarcity. Collaborative tools that make people pull their team in without overthinking it.
One example: Notion added simple share and invite features early on. Users building docs or workflows naturally wanted teammates involved. The result? Steady user growth without marketing bloat. Another case: Superhuman limited access through invites, making people hungry to get in. That exclusivity created buzz before the product was even public.
If you want people to spread your SaaS, give them a reason. Not with gimmicks through personal gain, status boost, or practical value. And as always, track the loop. Know who shares, how often, and what type of users they bring. Optimizing off that data is where the real lift kicks in.
For more examples like these, see Leveraging Viral Loops to Accelerate Tech Product Adoption.
Use Waitlists to Build FOMO
Waitlists can do more than capture early interest they can engineer demand, spark curiosity, and give you valuable user data before launch. When done right, they become one of the most efficient pre launch growth levers for SaaS startups.
Build a Narrative of Exclusivity
Creating FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) starts with the story you tell around access:
Present your product as something in high demand or limited supply
Use messaging that suggests spots are scarce or time sensitive
Frame early adopters as part of an insider or beta group
This creates psychological pressure and a sense of privilege tied to getting in early.
Use Public Metrics to Show Momentum
Transparency builds urgency. When people see others signing up, they’re more likely to act. Leverage social proof:
Display real time sign up counts or a “number in line” indicator
Share daily or weekly updates on sign up milestones via email or social media
Showcase testimonials or feedback from early preview users
Let potential users know they’re not alone and might miss out if they wait.
Bonus: Capture Actionable Lead Data Early
Waitlists aren’t just about email addresses. They’re a chance to:
Tag leads by interest level, industry, or use case
Ask quick, optional questions to learn what matters most to your users
Test messaging segments early by tailoring confirmation emails and follow ups
A thoughtful waitlist strategy focuses not only on growth, but also on gathering intel to shape smarter launch decisions.
Make Onboarding Freakishly Smooth
First impressions kill or convert. When a new user lands inside your product, they either get value quickly or leave quietly. Great onboarding doesn’t mean more features; it means less friction. Cut the fluff. Reduce steps. Guide users to a meaningful result fast. Ideally in under two minutes.
A/B tested walkthroughs and smart tooltips? Non negotiable. These help new users move through your product without confusion or guesswork. One bad moment in the flow one screen that asks too much or says too little and that user’s gone. Run tests, study behavior, fix what’s clunky.
This isn’t just a UX job. It’s a growth lever. The smoother your onboarding, the faster you convert trial users into loyal ones. And loyal users invite others.
Leverage Product Led Growth
If your product doesn’t sell itself, all the paid ads in the world won’t save you. The SaaS startups winning in 2024 are building experiences that convert users just by being used. It starts with delivering value quickly get people to their “aha” moment fast. That moment should be sticky. If they’re logging in daily, customizing their dashboard, or setting up integrations, you’re on the right track.
But product led growth isn’t just about one user. It’s about unlocking viral expansion by frictionless team invites, shared documents, collaborative settings whatever makes your app more useful when others join in. Make it seamless, not salesy.
Finally, treat behavioral data like a growth map. If someone’s hitting feature ceilings or using a premium only tool on repeat, that’s a signal. Don’t guess track patterns and upsell at the right time, with the right message. Done right, your product becomes the growth engine. And the sales team? They shift from cold calls to warm closes.
Launch on Product Hunt (Strategically)
A Product Hunt launch isn’t magic it’s strategy, timing, and legwork.
First, nail your pitch. Keep it sharp, simple, and painfully clear. In one sentence, people should know what your product does and why it matters. No buzzwords. No fluff. Just value. A good headline wins the scroll war.
Second, don’t cold launch. Start warming up your community weeks ahead. This means building an email list, surfacing sneak peeks, collecting beta feedback, and engaging early adopters who will rally on launch day. The Product Hunt crowd doesn’t buy hype they respond to early validation.
Third, stay active in the comments. Showing up on launch day and ghosting your own post is a rookie mistake. If people ask questions, answer fast. Thank folks. Expand on features. Build conversations. This isn’t just for visibility it’s where some of your first true users are hiding. You want to meet them.
A strong Product Hunt push won’t fix a weak product, but it will amplify a good one. Time it right, prep like it’s a campaign, and don’t underestimate the power of showing up when it counts.
Build a Micro Influencer Army
You don’t need a Kardashian to get traction. What you need are the right voices in the right rooms. Focus your outreach on niche tech leaders, indie hackers, and newsletter writers with loyal, engaged followings people whose audiences actually care what tools they’re using.
The move here isn’t a loud sponsorship. It’s subtle: offer them free access to your product, early features, or behind the scenes input that gives them a stake. Make it something they’d actually use and talk about, not something they’re paid to name drop.
This isn’t about exposure for the masses it’s about whisper campaigns in the right circles. You want your SaaS to come up in email threads, Slack chats, and Twitter replies. Real recommendations from people who build, write, and ship for a living.
Nail that, and you’ll get word of mouth that feels natural, not manufactured. And the best part? It scales on trust, not ad spend.
Create Epic Educational Content
Webinars, teardown videos, and how to blog guides might not be flashy, but they deliver where it counts: trust, authority, and long term visibility. In a market where software is everywhere, what stands out is the expertise behind the tool. Educational content turns your SaaS brand from a utility into a voice people listen to.
Host live sessions. Break down industry use cases. Show exactly how your startup solves specific problems, and don’t be afraid to get granular. This kind of content isn’t just nice to have it’s a lead magnet. It plays well with SEO, drives newsletter signups, and fuels sales conversations. Plus, it stays useful long after the first publish date.
Smart SaaS teams treat educational content as a system, not a side project. Repurpose webinar clips into YouTube videos, chop blog posts into LinkedIn threads, and tie everything back to landing pages that convert. Let your knowledge do the selling, over and over again.
Retarget, But Smarter
Shotgun retargeting is a thing of the past. In 2024, SaaS startups are winning by being brutally efficient with how (and to whom) they spend. That starts with behavior based personalization tracking what users actually do, not just what pages they visit. If someone abandoned a key feature mid onboarding, send them a no fluff email that picks up right where they left off. Make it feel like you remember.
Timing matters just as much. Hit drop off users with the right message at the right stage don’t hit them with the same “come back” ad everyone else sees. A targeted nudge based on recent behavior has a much higher chance of converting than a generic brand reminder.
Finally, cut waste. Smart exclusions stop you from retargeting active users, new signups, or irrelevant cold traffic. You’re not just trying to spend less you’re trying to earn more per click. Efficient retargeting isn’t loud, but it works overtime behind the scenes.
Community = Compounding Growth
Forget spray and pray marketing. In 2024, SaaS growth is tribal and that’s a good thing.
If your startup isn’t present in tightly focused Slack channels, active Reddit threads, or niche Discord servers, you’re missing out. The key isn’t just being there, but actually adding value. Answer questions, drop smart takes, share tools. Become a regular, not a billboard.
Once you gain trust, it compounds. That’s when your most loyal users start pitching your product for you. They know the space, they use your tool, and they carry more weight than any paid ad. Your job is to spot these folks, reward their energy, and invite them closer early feature access, branded swag, maybe even profit sharing for referrals.
This is a long game. You don’t measure it in CPMs or CTRs. You measure it in trust earned over time. That kind of growth isn’t just sustainable it’s defensible.