B2B SaaS founders and CEOs face immense pressure to deliver rapid growth and meet investor expectations. While funding brings opportunity, it also intensifies demands for high ARR, strict timelines, and measurable results.
But what is there to do when leadership teams urgently need sustainable, results-oriented marketing support but lack the bandwidth and confidence in traditional solutions to meet these high stakes effectively?
For early-stage SaaS startups, this means choosing between two paths: building an in-house team or outsourcing.
Unfortunately, assembling an in-house team for immediate and future needs is a tough job. That’s where specialized B2B SaaS marketing agencies come in. Lately, outsourcing marketing has become an increasingly strategic choice, and here’s why.
Thousands of marketing agencies exist, but a SaaS-focused agency understands the specific strategies to build a predictable marketing engine for software.
Here’s how working with the right agency can drive your growth from day one:
It’s hard to execute effective marketing. Companies invest their marketing dollars into the wrong places, people or strategy, and fail to drive the results and growth they’re hoping for.
Hiring an experienced SaaS marketing agency means gaining immediate access to strategies that have scaled numerous SaaS companies. You’re not experimenting or guessing—you’re following a tested playbook.
With detailed guides, templates, and examples, these playbooks provide a framework for scaling quickly, covering critical stages from initial launch to optimization.
Kalungi, for example, uses the T2D3 marketing playbook to scale its B2B SaaS clients.
In-house teams juggle multiple responsibilities and lack the depth of SaaS-specific expertise that SaaS-experienced agencies bring.
When you hire a SaaS marketing agency, you’re working with tenured specialists and managers knowledgeable in many different areas of marketing. From inbound content marketing and paid search, to outbound account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns.
A specialized SaaS marketing agency stays on the cutting edge, using insights from similar companies to create highly relevant, data-driven strategies for your target audience.
Simply put, marketing agencies are cheaper than hiring in-house.
Building and retaining an in-house marketing team grows more and more expensive each year. Your marketing team’s salary will increase anywhere from 10 to 40% each year, on top of the time and resources spent finding, onboarding, training, and compensating your marketing team.
Most SaaS startups don’t have the resources to afford a complete team of full-time marketing professionals.
Hiring an agency with a pay-for-performance model can lead to a measurable ROI tied directly to marketing goals and outcomes delivered. This means you’re paying for the results your software marketing agency produces, and not a fixed cost regardless of their impact on your overall business outcomes.
SaaS companies that have received recent investments or VC backings need to drive hockey-stick growth in a short period of time. With investors to please and stakeholders to satisfy, a SaaS marketing agency allows you to target low-hanging fruit in your marketing function while implementing and executing on a bigger-picture growth strategy.
Fractional CMOs and marketing specialists here at Kalungi have worked across many different SaaS companies, industries and verticals. They have the experience, data and resources to prove what campaigns and marketing efforts are most effective within the software and tech industries, and what’s not worth it.
At Kalungi, we prioritize high-impact, "quick-win" campaigns while executing long-term growth strategies—perfect for VC-backed SaaS startups needing to show early returns.
As your SaaS company evolves, so do your marketing needs.
In early stages, you need Big ‘M’ marketing for strategy, brand positioning, and GTM. Over time, day-to-day execution becomes the focus.
However, your marketing needs shift once you’ve hit 1 to 10 million in ARR.
At Kalungi, we call this your ‘start’ phase of growth because it means it’s time to kick off your marketing function and growth capability. The SaaS CMO in this stage of growth will need to:
In the final stage of SaaS growth, leaders can expect “triple, triple, double, double, double” annual revenue growth –or T2D3 growth, for short. In this stage of SaaS growth, you need a CMO with the skills to hone and optimize the tactical, execution-based areas of your marketing function (as opposed to strategy and planning).
A different type of CMO is needed in the next stage when you’re focused on optimizing what you’re doing (funnel optimization, churn reduction, and SaaS SEO), to make your marketing more sustainable in the long run. This can be cheaper than your big ‘M’ marketing leader. It’s not just that you need different capabilities –you need different amounts of money for your marketing leader.
This means you won’t need a chief marketing officer or VP of marketing forever –rather, it’s beneficial to have their experience as you’re laying the groundwork and then turn to your more junior roles for day-to-day execution.
Only outsourced B2B SaaS marketing agencies can scale their involvement based on your requirements, and provide strategic guidance when needed and easing off as your internal team grows.
Defining your ideal customer profile is often easier said than done. And in SaaS, you must nail down three critical personas for all future inbound and outbound efforts: your user, your manager, and your executive.
But identifying your software’s target audience is just the beginning. Once you’ve nailed down your ICP’s pain points, fears, and dreams, it’s time to build lists of contacts and craft your outbound messaging. Rather than cold calling and traditional outbound tactics, some B2B software marketing agencies are experienced at ABM and other outreach tactics.
Once you’ve built your contact lists, created outreach messaging and have an execution cadence in place, the fun is just beginning.
You need a SaaS marketing agency that consistently follows up with ABM efforts, responds to contacts, and most importantly, tracks progress.
Agencies come equipped with premium tools and technology stacks, from SEMrush and HubSpot to LinkedIn Sales Navigator, without the hefty cost of setting them up internally.
While there are freemiums or try/buy tools you can access for free, hiring a marketing agency gives you the power of premium-level software services and reporting already included within your package.
A single marketing tool can range anywhere from $50 to $200, and without utilizing the platform’s full potential, it doesn’t make sense to spend that across multiple marketing functions when you can access subject-matter experts AND this cutting-edge technology.
This tool access enables in-depth analytics, refined targeting, and process efficiency, amplifying the ROI of each marketing dollar spent.
As a SaaS company, your churn and retention rates are one of (if not the) most important metrics to your holistic business, from your product development team to your customer success, sales and marketing functions.
Effective SaaS marketing extends beyond acquisition. A great B2B SaaS marketing agency will craft customer-centered onboarding and retention strategies to reduce churn and improve ARPU (Average Revenue Per User).
Lowering churn directly impacts growth, as long-term customer relationships drive profitability.
A great SaaS marketing agency should also focus on lowering your CAC in the first six to nine months of working together. Over time, trimming the fat and reducing friction across your marketing funnel will deliver thousands of dollars in ROI.
You want to see a return on investment from marketing. The best SaaS marketing agencies quantify the results of their marketing efforts and are transparent about what you’re driving. By measuring and tracking marketing results, you can see what’s working (and what’s not) to divert and direct resources toward the most effective strategies.
Additionally, if you hire a pay-for-performance marketing agency like Kalungi, your payments will be contingent on the marketing OKRs you set and the level of completion achieved. You can pick how much of your payment will be variable and fixed, and the variable pay will be based on the completion of your OKRs.
If your Fractional CMO achieved 80% of OKRs with a 90% fixed, 10% variable compensation plan, this is what you can expect to pay:
Your website and content play critical roles in SaaS. After all, if your software product isn’t communicated in a user-friendly and intuitive way, your users won’t realize the benefits of adopting your product or service.
SaaS marketing agencies optimize every touchpoint to ensure a smooth, intuitive experience that resonates with target users. From resource libraries to product, feature, and solution pages, content is tailored to engage and convert at each funnel stage.
Kalungi has built its own website theme in HubSpot. The Atlas Hubspot Theme is custom-built for SaaS companies, from start-up to enterprise. You can easily drag-and-drop interactive modules, already optimized for mobile, and cut out the coding and guesswork when developing a website theme in-house.
You can download your free version of the Atlas Theme here.
Hiring full-time talent is a commitment, and finding the right marketing experts for SaaS is complex.
With an agency, you avoid the risks of costly, time-consuming hiring mistakes, gaining an established team with a track record of success in SaaS marketing.
For early-stage SaaS companies, scaling quickly is vital.
A SaaS-focused agency is adept at driving T2D3 growth by implementing scalable campaigns, refining product positioning, and executing high-impact ABM strategies. By leveraging proven playbooks, you’re equipped to scale confidently and sustainably.
There are multiple ways to integrate an outsourced B2B SaaS marketing agency into your operations.
Here are two popular models:
If you have an in-house team but need experienced leadership to guide them, a Fractional CMO could be the perfect fit. In this model, the Fractional CMO brings seasoned expertise to define high-level strategy, build GTM plans, and provide targeted direction. Your in-house team can handle day-to-day tasks, while the Fractional CMO ensures alignment, continuity, and goal-focused progress.
This model is ideal for companies that want to retain an in-house team but need experienced leadership to maximize their marketing investments.
For fast-growing SaaS companies needing immediate results,this model combines strategic oversight with an agency team that manages everything from strategy to implementation, perfect for rapidly growing companies needing immediate impact.
The Fractional CMO develops and oversees the marketing strategy while a skilled agency team manages the execution—from content creation to demand generation, campaign optimization, and reporting.
This setup is designed to rapidly scale marketing efforts without the long hiring process, giving your company access to a full suite of marketing capabilities from day one.
This model provides a turnkey approach to marketing, allowing you to focus on product and sales growth while knowing your marketing function is in expert hands.
Outsourcing marketing can be an efficient and effective way to scale, but B2B SaaS founders face specific concerns that may make them hesitant to commit.
Here are the top concerns we hear at Kalungi, and how the right SaaS-focused marketing partner addresses them.
It’s a common worry—how could anyone outside the company truly “get” the brand you’ve carefully crafted? Brand authenticity is essential, and the last thing you want is for your message to come across as generic.
A specialized SaaS marketing agency will begin by fully immersing itself in your brand. At Kalungi, for example, our onboarding process includes:
This process helps us speak your brand’s language, keeping your unique value at the forefront of every campaign.
SaaS startups move at a rapid pace, iterating quickly and expecting the same from partners. It’s understandable to worry that an agency might slow you down or not deliver on time.
Agencies familiar with SaaS know how to match this speed and quality. For instance, a dedicated account manager at Kalungi acts as your single point of contact, ensuring streamlined communication. We also:
Our team works as an extension of yours, keeping up with your pace while ensuring top-tier quality.
Your product has unique nuances, and an in-depth understanding of the SaaS space is essential. A generalist agency may not be familiar with the technical, market-specific, or regulatory aspects that matter to your audience.
A strong SaaS-focused agency will immerse itself in your product, market, and audience. At Kalungi, this process includes:
This deep dive ensures we’re not just talking the talk—we understand your product as well as your own team does.
It’s a valid worry—after all, you’ve poured yourself into creating this brand, and giving up control feels risky.
With the right agency, you remain in control every step of the way. Here’s how we ensure this at Kalungi:
This way, your vision remains front and center, and we’re here to help bring it to life—not change it.
You want a partner that’s as committed to your growth as you are, not just another vendor completing tasks. Can an agency truly care as much as your in-house team would?
Kalungi, like many performance-driven agencies, ties part of our compensation to your results. We also:
Our structure is built to align our interests with yours, so when you succeed, we succeed.
With clear expectations, strong communication, and regular alignment, you maintain control and feel assured that the agency is an invested partner in your success.
Kalungi has partnered with over 100 SaaS companies to deliver meaningful growth—achieving big increases in qualified leads and organic traffic.
Discover how our team of SaaS marketing experts can help you reach your goals, overcome scaling challenges, and achieve sustainable T2D3 growth.
Book a strategy meeting with our experts today and join 100+ SaaS companies who have scaled with Kalungi.
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