Your SaaS price tag dictates your GTM playbook. Enterprise platforms need long nurture cycles, trust-building, and sales-led outreach. Low-cost apps thrive on speed, simplicity, and self-serve signups. In SaaS, how you charge determines how you market.
Your SaaS price tag dictates your GTM playbook. Enterprise platforms need long nurture cycles, trust-building, and sales-led outreach. Low-cost apps thrive on speed, simplicity, and self-serve signups. In SaaS, how you charge determines how you market.
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Not all SaaS products play by the same rules. A platform selling to Fortune 500 companies for $250K a year needs a very different marketing approach than a $7.99/month productivity app. Why? Because your pricing model shapes everything – from how long your funnel takes to close, to which channels actually work, to how much education is needed before a customer commits to a “yes.”
Let’s look at two contrasting examples of SaaS companies – one selling high-ticket, enterprise-grade software and another offering a low-cost, self-serve tool. These represent what we’ll call Big Software and Small Software. Understanding where your product fits will help you invest in the right marketing strategy, one that avoids wasted ad spend, and achieves optimal performance – faster.
Both ends of the spectrum hold real power. “Big Software” often transforms entire organisations; “Small Software” spreads fast, scales naturally, and drives product-led growth. Neither is lesser – they simply grow through different paths.
Both are B2B SaaS products. However, their price, sales process, and marketing approach differ significantly. Or at least, they should.
You can be B2B and D2C
Quick definitions:
- Business to Business (B2B): Your customer is a business or team.
- D2C (Direct-to-Consumer): Customers buy online and self-serve – no sales call, no team approval required typically. A good example being Canva: one person might use it solo, even if the rest of the company doesn’t.
If small businesses or freelancers sign up instantly, you operate as B2B by audience, but D2C by sales model.
Example: DesignTask, a fictional company, creates B2B software but sells it instantly online, like a consumer product.
This B2B/D2C blend directly impacts which channels convert fastest, how you structure your funnel, and how much messaging depth you need to close.
Real-world examples of “big” and “small” software
Big Software: Workday
- Large enterprise contracts
- Multi-month sales process with several stakeholders
- No instant signup option
Small Software: Grammarly
- Freemium model encouraging individual adoption
- Quick self-serve signup, typically starting with solo users
- Often expands into team or company-wide use once trust and value are proven
Hybrid: Monday.com
- Self-serve for freelancers and small teams
- Can scale into large enterprise deals with sales involvement
- Flexible pricing across small businesses and enterprises
The funnel evolution across software types
The funnel shape, speed, and content requirements shift dramatically between Big and Small Software. In Big Software, the funnel is long and layered, with content needed at every stage to build trust with multiple stakeholders. You might spend weeks at the awareness stage before qualifying a lead.
In contrast, Small Software funnels are compressed, sometimes collapsing awareness, consideration, and conversion into a single visit. The CTA is often immediate, and friction must be minimal. Understanding the velocity of your funnel will help you prioritize whether you need depth (e.g., thought leadership) or speed (e.g., landing page optimizations and trials).
How pricing changes your marketing tactics
1. Paid Advertising tactics
Fictional examples
Our fictional Big Software company, GoliathSec, could run a multi-channel LinkedIn campaign over several months, promoting thought leadership content and targeted webinars, leading prospects to demo calls with a salesperson.
Our fictional Small Software company, DesignTask, could run highly targeted search and social ads (using intent data like factors.ai) directly to landing pages clearly highlighting features and signup info.
2. Content Marketing tactics
Fictional examples
Our fictional Big Software company, GoliathSec, invests in gated whitepapers and executive guides for senior IT stakeholders because its audience needs proof of credibility before engaging in sales. Each content piece deepens trust, educates multiple stakeholders, and positions the brand as a strategic partner rather than a vendor.
Our fictional Small Software company, DesignTask, focuses on SEO-driven blogs and downloadable templates because its audience searches for immediate solutions. Providing fast, actionable value builds product familiarity and accelerates trial signups without requiring contact with a sales team.
3. Social Media tactics
Fictional examples
Our fictional Big Software company, GoliathSec, shares thought leadership and analyst recognition on LinkedIn through exec-led posts that build brand trust over time. These posts help humanise the brand, give a face to expertise, and maintain steady visibility within long buying cycles.
Our fictional Small Software company, DesignTask, posts short TikToks and Reels showing real users getting results, designed to inspire action and drive free trial engagement. This style of social proof works because it reduces perceived risk, showing immediate outcomes that motivate individuals to try the product themselves.
Same marketing tools, different usage
The marketing tools (demos, case studies) remain similar, but their application changes significantly:
How to clearly classify your product
Classifying your product as Big or Small isn’t always obvious. As a rule of thumb:
- If your average contract value is over $10k and your sales cycle exceeds 30 days, you’re likely Big Software.
- If your users can sign up without speaking to sales, you’re in Small Software territory.
Use these examples to help anchor your strategic decisions, like whether to gate content, how to structure campaigns, and what success metrics to prioritize. Without this clarity, marketers often apply the wrong playbook, chasing leads that won’t convert or undernurturing enterprise buyers.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What’s your average contract value?
- Can someone buy immediately online without a sales call? And be realistic, this is not a UX journey question - it’s a buying committee Y or N situation
- How long is your typical sales cycle?
These answers show whether you’re marketing Big Software or Small Software.
The gray area is growing (but clarity still matters)
Most SaaS companies don’t fit neatly into “Big” or “Small.” Growth usually comes from a mix of self-serve and sales-led tactics.
You might attract individual users or small teams with a free trial or low-cost plan. Then expand into larger accounts through outbound reach or account-based marketing. This “land and expand” model means marketing has two jobs: make it easy for someone to start quickly, and build trust and credibility for when a larger buying team gets involved.
The challenge is timing. You need to know when to shift from lightweight, product-led content to deeper messaging aimed at decision-makers.
Success in hybrid motions means planning your marketing like a staircase. Every piece should lead upward to the next.
Bordeaux & Burgundy’s recommendation
Every SaaS product benefits from paid, content marketing, and social media. The differences:
At Bordeaux & Burgundy, we review the same metrics across our clients, but we interpret and optimize differently based on your offering size and sales model.
Plan with clarity, not labels
Most products evolve across stages. Use this framework to identify where you are today, then design a roadmap for where you want to go. The clearer your position, the smarter your marketing investments will be.
Whether you’re selling $250K platforms or $7.99 tools, your marketing has to match your sales model. If you want support making that match work harder, get in touch today.
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