How a Growth & Strategy Leader Launches SaaS Products: A Step-by-Step Guide for Marketers

✍️ Opinions

Sanvi Barjatya

22 May 2025 — 5 min read

Kinjal Vora, Founding Team & Growth Leader, Drona HQ, Growth Leader Saas Launch Strategy For Marketers

This article has been contributed by Kinjal Vora, Founding Team & Growth Leader, Drona HQ.

Launching a new SaaS product can be overwhelming, but with the right framework, messaging, and go-to-market (GTM) plan, marketers can set the stage for a successful rollout. In this guide, I’ll share a detailed blueprint to help you navigate your product launch, using real-life examples from how we approach launches at DronaHQ.

Launching a SaaS Product: A Step-by-Step Guide for Marketers

Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience & Stakeholders

Start by understanding your ecosystem. A product may have multiple stakeholders:

Users: Developers, backend engineers, business users
Influencers: Engineering managers, product managers
Decision-makers: Directors of engineering, CTOs
Sponsors: Procurement heads, CXOs

Also, study your indirect competition. Sometimes you're not just competing with other SaaS tools—you're competing with spreadsheets, outdated processes, or custom codebases built in React or Angular.

Example from DronaHQ: We discovered that many of our users were backend engineers who were struggling with frontend tasks. Instead of competing just with platforms like Retool or Salesforce Lightning, we also competed with Excel sheets and a homegrown UI built on React.

Step 2: Understand Pain Points and Craft Targeted Messaging

Every stakeholder feels pain differently:

Developers might struggle with React or frontend frameworks.
Engineering managers might be frustrated that backend engineers are being pulled into frontend grunt work.
CTOs might worry about scalability and tech debt.

Avoid focusing only on features. Instead, frame your messaging around emotional triggers and value outcomes, like saving time, avoiding burnout, or reducing tech debt.

Tip: Build separate messaging frameworks for each stakeholder.

Step 3: Choose Your Go-To-Market Strategy

Is your product suited for product-led growth (PLG)? Or do you need a sales-led motion? Often, a hybrid approach works best.

GTM Motions:

Freemium: No credit card required, limited features
Free Trial: Full access for a limited time (e.g. 15/30 days)
Demo-led: Request access after qualification
Hybrid: Free trial + sales/engineering-assisted onboarding

DronaHQ Example: We started with a 15-day trial, but learned it wasn’t enough for teams to build meaningful apps. We extended it to 30 days, coupled with engineering support to help backend developers quickly achieve their “aha” moment.

Step 4: Build a Thoughtful Inbound Motion

Key decisions to make:

Will you allow Gmail or only business email sign-ups?
Do users need to enter credit card details to try the product?
What qualifies a lead as high-intent?

Build journeys that help users self-discover the product. Support them with contextual nudges, in-product chat, or expert intervention when needed.

Step 5: Define Whether You’re Vertical or Horizontal

Understanding whether your product is vertical (industry-specific) or horizontal (function-specific) will guide your targeting, positioning, and channels.

Vertical SaaS: E.g. Clinic management, KYC automation
Horizontal SaaS: E.g. HRMS, CRM, support tools

DronaHQ’s Case: We’re industry and function-agnostic. Users build everything from HRMS to logistics tools on our platform. This means our content and outreach must cater to a wide variety of roles across industries.

Step 6: Create a Multi-Layered Content Strategy

Based on your stakeholder map, plan different types of content:

Developers: API docs, tutorials, how-to videos
EMs & CTOs: Thought leadership, use cases, ROI calculators
Business Users: Walkthroughs, solution explainers

Each content piece should:

Target a specific stakeholder
Be optimised for relevant channels (e.g. Reddit, LinkedIn, Discord, Product Hunt)
Align with search and AI trends (make it promptable + discoverable)

Step 7: Launch a Beta, Build a Waitlist

Don’t wait for GA to build momentum. Start early with a waitlist landing page. Tell people:

Why you're building this
Who it's for
What problem it solves

Promote your beta waitlist via:

Product Hunt, Hacker News
Developer communities
Existing user base

DronaHQ Example: Before launching DronaHQ AI, we created a separate site (dronahq.ai) and built a waitlist from our website and community. Early feedback helped us prioritise features and fine-tune messaging.

Step 8: Run Events and Community Activities

Create different types of engagement for different personas:

Live builds for developers (e.g. “Bring your own API”)
Hackathons and workshops with tech partners like MongoDB
Meetups for SaaS founders, engineering leaders, and business teams
Podcasts & PR featuring real customer stories
Referral programs to spread the word organically

Step 9: Set Up a Flexible Martech Stack

Avoid bloated setups early on. Start simple:

Visitor tracking
Lead scoring & CRM
Email automation (inbound + nurture)
Product usage insights
Performance marketing integrations

At DronaHQ: We built many tools ourselves using our platform—including CRM, lead scoring system, onboarding flow, ticketing, and even email automation. This helped us reduce tool overhead while customising the stack to our workflow. We might have started with other tools and slowly replaced them with our very own custom tool, but we still use some ready SaaS marketing products too.

Step 10: Performance Marketing (Start Lean, Then Scale)

Begin with low-hanging fruits:

High-intent competitor keywords (e.g. “Competitor alternative”)
Retargeting campaigns for website visitors
Small-budget experiments on Google Ads and Meta

Track:

Conversions to sign up
Sign up to “aha moment” funnel
Keyword performance by intent level

Gradually expand to:

LinkedIn for B2B
Reddit & Twitter for developer traction
AB testing across landing pages and CTAs

Step 11: Email Marketing—Segmented & Lifecycle-Based

Email is a high-leverage channel if used right. Segment your communication by journey stage:

Inbound leads: Educational sequences
Cold leads: Re-introduction and credibility-building
Customers: Feature launches, product updates
Churned users: Re-engagement and feedback

Final Thoughts

Launching a SaaS product is not a one-time campaign—it’s an evolving process. From identifying spreadsheet users as indirect competitors to building our own Martech stack, every step at DronaHQ has taught us to: