SaaS email marketing: 12 strategies to scale your growth in 2024

As of 2024, there are 4.5 billion email users worldwide, and 88% of these email users check their inboxes multiple times a day.

These statistics highlight just how crucial email marketing is for businesses. As consumers worldwide use email as a primary means of communication, this channel gives companies the opportunity to reach them more effectively.

However, email campaigns for software companies and SaaS brands need a unique approach. In this industry, the focus is on user onboarding and retention, subscription renewal and upselling, product announcements, and educational content.

Let’s explore key strategies and SaaS email marketing examples to take your software business to the next level.

What is a SaaS email marketing strategy?

60% of consumers prefer brands to contact them through email.

Doing so allows you to keep your SaaS company top of mind for both leads and active users.

You can send welcome emails, product tutorials, special offers for upgrades and add-ons, and educational content to build trust and keep your user base engaged with your product.

All of this requires an effective email marketing campaign that drives opens and clicks so that your emails get in front of the people you want to attract and keep‌ — ‌your users.

As we previously mentioned, SaaS email marketing differs significantly from other types of email marketing. One reason for this is that SaaS often focuses on a B2B audience. The target audience tends to be key stakeholders who come together to make a decision, which can lengthen the sales cycle.

In many cases, SaaS software can be complex, as it usually involves a rich selection of features, integration with existing systems, and a wide range of customization options. This makes the buying process a bit more complicated than that of other business models like B2C.

So, SaaS email campaigns are necessary to help guide buyers down the sales funnel, educate them, engage them, and guide their decision-making.

12 SaaS email marketing strategies to grow your business

Here are twelve tried-and-true email marketing strategies that can help you grow your SaaS business.

1. Segment and schedule

Segmenting your SaaS email list can help you deliver the right message to the right audience based on different customer profiles/personas. It’s a simple yet effective strategy for enhanced personalization.

You can segment your list based on demographic data, such as age, gender, location, job title, company size, or industry. Use this approach for potential buyers or users you currently don’t have a lot of interaction data on.

(Source: Flowium)

However, you can analyze how email subscribers and current users interact with your emails and SaaS platform. Use data such as previous purchases, frequency of usage, feature adoption, level of engagement with your emails or website, or stage in the customer lifecycle.

Using this data can help you personalize your messages and ensure they’re as relevant as possible. As a result, you can increase engagement and conversions.

(Source: Email on Acid)

Schedule your email campaigns to improve open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), and conversion rates. The key? Sending your emails at the right time.

(Source: Mailshake)

 How do you go about this?

• find out when your subscribers are most likely to check their inboxes;
• use scheduling features within an email marketing platform to schedule your campaigns in advance;
• set up email sequences to help you send personalized messages to customers at every stage of the journey.

Here’s an example of how segmentation can make a huge difference in your open rates. Groove decided to specifically target ‌subscribers who, at some point, had requested a specific feature. They kept track of every request, and when they released a requested feature, they sent an email to all users who had ever asked for it.

This strategy paid off in a big way — 68% of users replied to the email below (or similar). Prospects, users, and churned customers all made their way through the sales funnel and became paying customers.

(Source: CXL)

And don’t be afraid to invest in outsourced help. Consider partnering with a Klaviyo specialist to help you finetune your email campaigns. Or check out this Stripo whitepaper to help you measure the performance of your emails.

2. Personalize your emails

Users are always trying to find ways to get the most out of the software they’ve purchased.

Sending SaaS emails that feature personalized insights can help them do just that. How can you do this effectively?

Highlight the features and functionalities that are relevant to the user’s role, industry, or goals. Use timely, actionable, and relevant data segmentation and email personalization strategies.

Show key metrics, trends, and patterns that give them insights to:

• help them identify key areas for improvement;
• understand how their usage aligns with their goals;
• unlock new opportunities for success.

Another great way to personalize your emails is to include the recipient’s name. You can also tailor the content to their interests. For example, you could set up a lead capture form that asks leads about their main goals or pain points.

You can integrate that data with your email marketing campaign and tailor your content to address the specific needs and interests of your leads based on their responses to the form.

3. Write great subject lines

Write eye-catching email subject lines that encourage clicks. Personalize them using the recipient’s name and previous interactions with your software.

Be engaging and creative. Keep things short and simple. Use powerful words to instill a sense of urgency. Words and phrases like “last chance,” “today,” or “before it’s too late” are effective in compelling users to take action.

Avoid words and phrases so your emails don’t trigger spam filters and never make it to your subscribers’ inbox. These include:

• congratulations;
• guaranteed;
• cash prize;
• click here;
• act now;
• cash;
• free.

Be sure to test different power words to see how subscribers respond.

Dyte, a leader in video conference SDK, exemplifies this strategy flawlessly. Their newsletter entices recipients with the subject line “Integrations That Make Developers Smile.”

This line succeeds for several reasons:

• evokes positive emotions;
• promises value;
• it's catchy.

Dyte maximizes audience engagement by highlighting the ease of its product integration and using friendly language that resonates with its target customers.

By speaking directly to their customers from the beginning, Dyte succeeds in creating an email campaign that lands, entices, and converts.

(Source: Screenshot provided by author)

4. Promote annual billing

A key part of the SaaS business model is the need to generate recurring revenue. That’s why a subscription-based model is so common for SaaS products.

Subscribers are always looking for ways to save on their subscriptions, and offering annual billings is one way to help them do that.

Look at the example below.

Grammarly offers 40% off their Premium plan. This is incentive enough, but Grammarly takes things a step further by building a sense of urgency by saying the offer is only available for 24 hours.

It uses the compelling call to action “Secure your offer” to seal the deal.

(Source: Email from Grammarly)

There is also a great subject line for this email to complement the copy — “Your weekly writing stats + 40% off Premium.”

5. Share customer success stories

Customer success stories can be valuable content to share in your emails during the consideration stage. They act as social proof, showing leads who are on the fence about your product that real people are already getting value from it.

6. Mix promotional and educational emails

Mix promotional and education emails in your SaaS email campaigns to provide value while at the same time guiding users toward action.

Remember that promotional emails can help improve conversions. Educational emails build authority.

So, how you balance it all depends on your goals. But as a general rule of thumb, a good educational promotional — email ratio is 3:1.

In your emails, offer detailed information about your product or service, its benefits and features, and how it can help your target audience solve pain points.

But don’t go overboard with selling. Let educational resources and guides do the talking for you.

These can include whitepapers, eBooks, webinars, or FAQs that help educate potential buyers and help them make informed decisions.

Wordvice, an AI-powered platform that provides tools like an online proofreader and paraphraser, offers perfect examples of this in its email campaigns. Its promotional email highlights the benefits of its tool (and premium upgrade) and features a CTA button prompting the reader to start a free trial.

(Source: Screenshot provided by author)

The educational email, with the same style and branding, still praises Wordvice’s benefits. However, the CTA leads to an FAQ page rather than guiding the reader toward a trial. Here, the reader can learn more about the product, how it works, and why it’s worth investing in.

(Source: Screenshot provided by author)

7. A/B test your emails to identify engagement factors

Conduct email A/B tests to determine which elements work best in boosting engagement and conversions.

(Source: Zapier)

This process involves sending two versions of the same message with a single-factor difference. Elements to test include:

• preheader text;
• CTA buttons;
• subject line;
• email copy;
• visuals.

Then, create multiple versions of the email, each with a single variable changed. For example, if you’re A/B testing the email copy, you’d create two different variations of the copy for the same email subject. Divide your email list into two test segments, and send each segment one version of your email.

(Source: Litmus)

Monitor the performance of each email variation by looking at open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Looking at these KPIs will help you determine which email variations performed better and why.

(Source: Mailerlite)

Pro tip: Explore Stripo’s email creation tools to make sure your emails always hit the mark.

8. Get customer feedback

Always seek feedback from your current users. Periodically send out questionnaires or surveys asking recipients how you can improve.

Analyze this feedback to understand user experiences and preferences. Use customer journeys to map out touchpoints, identify areas for improvement, and implement fixes based on the insights you gathered.

To streamline the process of crafting feedback-themed SaaS emails, choose from Stripo's survey templates.

Here’s an example:

9. Review email data regularly

Study your email list closely to better understand the customer journey.

Make a note of:

• what channels new subscribers come from;
• new subscriber motivations for signing up;
• characteristics of current and subscribers.

Using this information, create additional audience segments and prioritize your marketing activities.

Track crucial email marketing metrics to make necessary adjustments for successful email campaigns.

Stripo offers email analytics tools, including an open rate calculator, conversion rate calculator, and an ROI calculator to help you measure the effectiveness of your email campaigns.

10. Work on reducing the churn rate

Reduce churn rates by delivering personalized and relevant content, gathering feedback, and offering targeted retention offers.

Be sure to segment your subscriber list and create targeted campaigns to reach at-risk customers.

The key is to create tailored emails for each stage of the customer journey, nurturing leads and current customers.

After onboarding, make sure customers don’t lose interest in your product with regular communication, such as:

• product updates;
• tips and tricks;
• best practices.

Send personalized usage insights and data to help users get the most out of your product.

Show appreciation to loyal users by offering exclusive rewards, discounts, or special offers. Encourage ongoing engagement and loyalty by incentivizing customers to recommend your product to others.

11. Analyze customers’ feedback to improve your business strategy

Gathering customer feedback is key to understanding your customers’ needs and improving your SaaS product.

Use Stripo’s survey and feedback email templates to design beautiful and user-friendly surveys and feedback emails.

You can customize these templates to include:

• relevant questions about your SaaS product;
• suggestions for improvement;
• customer experience;
• feature preferences;
• satisfaction levels.

Make sure you’re tailoring your feedback emails based on a customer’s level of interaction with your product.

For example, your data may show that a user doesn’t use your software often. You can send personalized emails asking why they haven’t engaged with your solution and what you can do to improve it.

12. Reactivate inactive users

Engage inactive users. Create a separate segment for these users so that you can tailor your emails accordingly.

Send targeted re-engagement email sequences that include limited-time discounts and offers that incentivize them to continue using your software.

Continue to analyze activity and send email surveys to gather ‌feedback.

Wrapping up

To ensure SaaS email marketing success, always strive to provide recipients with value, personalize your message, and tailor your content to the specific stages of the buyer’s journey.

It’s all about alleviating doubt and getting potential buyers to take that first leap: subscribing to your product. From there, focus on the different ways to engage users.

By following these strategies, you can propel your SaaS company towards fast, sustainable growth.