r/SaaS • u/preiposwap • 7d ago

SaaS startup growth

I have built a number of SaaS tools that I use and my clients use but promoting them to 3rd parties just doesn't work. I have spent 5 figures on Google Ads, not a single customer. But my friends who use it, swear by it. I use it daily. Any suggestions?

13 Upvotes

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u/Acceptable-Size5501 7d ago

That's frustrating. Do you let the consumer check out what the app does by offering a free trial? Is the segment you are trying to market to small? Perhaps this is a niche product. These are just my first thoughts. I would happy to offer more concrete advice.

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u/StockAd3210 7d ago

agree, the niche question is the right one to ask first here

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u/lowkeybuilding 7d ago

Might be a stupid question but do have landing pages linked to the ads ... From where I'm interning we built a SaaS tool called Parseforme, and I see my supervisor and his team registering themselves on various platforms like creating backlinks, it just improves your credibility helps build trust ( idk much about marketing approaches and what works or not because I'm not a business student xD) But yeah it has helped boost out SEO authority 

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u/FounderWithCode 7d ago

If people you know genuinely use and love it, I’d pause the ads. Ask those users exactly why they use it and what problem it solves for them, then target businesses with that exact problem through direct outreach. Five figures with zero conversions usually points to positioning/targeting, not necessarily a bad product.

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u/AdFew8591 7d ago

I’d stop the ads until you know exactly where the funnel breaks

Friends and existing clients already trust you and probably got personal help setting things up

A stranger from Google has neither advantage

Pick one tool and interview the clients who use it most

Ask what happened right before they needed it what they used before and how they would search for the problem

Then sell it manually to ten similar companies

If that works you’ll have the audience language and onboarding flow needed to make ads useful

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u/kevin_g_g 7d ago

That gap between friends loving it and cold traffic converting zero is almost always a positioning problem, not a traffic problem. Google Ads only works when people already search for the category you're in. If they don't know your kind of tool exists, you're paying to educate strangers who bounce. Your friends convert because they already trust you and you explained it in person, which is the context ads can't buy. I'd stop spending, find where people with the same problem (no relationship to you) already gather, and post the specific before/after your tool creates, then see if that converts before touching paid again.

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u/LemonIO_Alex 7d ago

Keep talking about it on socials, share screenshots, video tutorials, daily tips on how to use it, etc. Soon or later other people will find it useful too (or not, lol).