Quick wins for SaaS growth in 2023, Part 1

Welcome to a SaaS-growth focussed "No Magic Beans" Wednesday. Today I talk about about a 2023 site refresh, a podcast summary and intro the Growth Tools guide. Thanks for reading. - EveD.

QUICK WIN

Audit your site for 2023 (part 1)

Now that we are well into January of the new year, it's time to audit your website. It's the little things that make the difference, and although users probably won't notice if your site is perfect, they will notice if you have errors, inaccuracies and inconsistencies. And that takes away from credibility, which affects conversion. I look at hundreds of home pages a month, and I rarely find one without some sort of error. Here are the most common ones to look out for:

• Inaccurate metrics. Your metrics (user count, for example) have undoubtedly changed since you wrote your copy, so update them as required. And update them everywhere for consistency...it's easy to miss references in deep pages or long paragraphs.

• Inaccurate time references. Find "relative" references to time, such as "later this year", "next quarter", or even "soon". If they appear in a dated blog post, it's ok to leave them as they are (for now), but if they appear on landing pages, or other marketing material you need to update them for accuracy to avoid confusion.

• Outdated feature descriptions and product roadmaps. It's easy to forget that we reference features on pages such as FAQs, tips, videos etc. As our product evolves, these become outdated or inaccurate. We change the obvious ones (features on a pricing page, for example), but sometimes there are references to features on other pages that we miss. Update them now.

• Inaccurate FAQs. Surprisingly, this is a very common place for inaccurate information. Teams tend to write their FAQs as they launch, and then don't update all the answers as product evolves. Read through every FAQ, and notice any inconsistencies.

• Outdated images, screenshots and testimonials. Your product probably looks different today than it did when you created your marketing screenshots. It might be worth your while to update, especially if the images show any (old) dates.

Note that this audit is different from a "content audit" that you should also do at least once a year, and that I will discuss in part 2, later this month.

PODCAST BRIEF

Calacanis, Rabois and 2023 outlook...

I'm going to try something both possibly fun and useful. I listen to a ton of tech podcasts, and will highlight some key points from the ones I find valuable. This is the first. Let me know what you think - Eve D. 

This (hand crafted! no AI!) summary is from "This week in Startups", episode 1650 featuring host Jason Calacanis and guest Keith Rabois. Keith is a general partner at Founders Fund and is known for his early-stage startup investments and his executive roles at PayPal, LinkedIn, Slide, and Square. (Wikipedia).

• Multiples are pretty normal if we take 40yr average. We are seeing a correction, not a downturn.

• VCs will continue to pass on many companies, especially if they don’t have PMF but do have a high valuation

• Developers now cost 400-600K, which doesn’t make a $5m raise go far

• Layoffs are driving down the entitlement factor. Employees can no longer use Google etc as a benchmark for an offer.

• To get top talent, startups need to continue to challenge engineers and give them the highest economic upside

• Startups shouldn’t hire people that large companies want (this was a lesson @rabois learnt from Pieter Thiel). It’s a “walking IQ test”: if a person wants to be the 7500th engineer at Facebook vs 3rd at your startup, they are not the right person for you.

Listen / Watch by clicking image below:

GROWTH TOOLS GUIDE

In about 3 weeks, the first edition of the Growth Tools guide is going live. All NMB subscribers get it in their inbox, free. The goal is for founders and growth teams to learn about new growth tools, new growth opportunities and alternatives to their existing stack. You can't lose out by reading it (on your phone, your desktop or...print it out!). Want to include your growth tool in the guide and be seen by 20,000 founders in 2023? Get in touch [email protected]

DATA, REPORTS AND STUDIES

• SaaS Benchmarks Report 2022, Openview 650+ businesses surveyed to better understand how to build a market-resilient startup able to withstand any economic volatility. Exclusive data along with guidance on how companies are approaching growth, costs, and profitability in this new landscape. Download here (free)

Up and to the Right

I wrote a book about SaaS growth! You can preview it on Amazon. It's a good read for any SaaS founder or growth team member, who wants to build sustainable growth for their VC- or self funded startup.

Themes: Acquisition. Retention. Monetization. Growth teams. Channels (looking at: social media, paid ads, sponsorships, events, webinars, community, SEO, personal brands, referrals, affiliates etc). And so much more. Best 10 bucks you'll ever spend.

See you tomorrow!

Thanks for reading. This is the first official edition, so you are clearly both an early adopter and a trendsetter. :-) . Of course, I'd appreciate if you shared with others...it's always difficult to get past that cold start problem when launching new things. Thanks for your support.

PS: If you have any questions re SaaS growth, DM me on Twitter or email me. @eved and [email protected]. I'll help if I can.