How SaaS Companies Can Quickly Obtain U.S. Market Share

SaaS growth is never a simple equation. Even for the most established SaaS companies, breaking into a new market—particularly North America—is a major uphill battle. In the US, many SaaS verticals have one or two major incumbents that own the vast majority of market share.

But viewed strategically, these verticals are also prime for disruption.

Here at AppSumo, our Partnerships team has spoken with dozens of SaaS leaders and C-level execs who tell me about the challenges they face trying to:

• Expand into international geographies
• Break into the US market
• Increase brand exposure and build native affiliate programs
• Launch new products or reposition older ones
• Become #1 in their vertical

To challenge major incumbents, international SaaS companies usually begin by building out their sales capabilities—either creating an international sales team or putting boots on the ground in a major US tech hub.

The other approach, of course, is building out a major ad campaign targeting the region. Depending on your cash position and creative team, results may vary. But the hundreds of thousands in USD in advertising expenditure? That’s guaranteed either way.

Then there’s just the question of speed. What’s the fastest way to acquire enough users to achieve these market penetration goals?

Expanding Into the US Market With AppSumo

To challenge the major players in your industry, one tactical approach is to establish a beachhead in the SMB market, and then move your way up through brand ambassadors, community-building, and word of mouth.

At AppSumo, our proposition is really simple: AppSumo Select will help you reach millions of SMBs and grab thousands of new global customers fast.

Over the past 11 years, we’ve helped partners expand their business while organically aggregating global US-focused SMB demand. Our distribution model is similar to Amazon’s model, but specific to software.

In 2013, we launched a deal with a little startup called Zapier. We’ve spent the last decade partnering with names like Intercom, Pipedrive, Audible, Shopify, Evernote, Udemy, Twilio, Weebly, Zendesk, Depositphotos, ClassPass, and Mailchimp to name a few.

Source: Crunchbase

By aggregating this SaaS SMB early adopter market since 2010, AppSumo has built a global distribution channel for SaaS marketers. Over a million entrepreneurs, SMBs, digital marketers, agencies, and fast-growing startups use our platform to find the products that are disrupting the world of SaaS. Many of these top customers are getting in on the action through our growing affiliate program and our brand new Marketplace.

Meet AppSumo Select

Today, AppSumo’s ecosystem consists of two main audiences for partners: AppSumo Marketplace and AppSumo Select.

AppSumo Marketplace is a new platform where entrepreneurs can self-list their products on our site. Marketplace is best suited for products with niche audiences or pre-Series A companies with less than a couple thousand paying users.

With the launch of AppSumo Marketplace, our team is now primed and ready to help larger SaaS companies reach global audiences, challenge large vertical incumbents, and rapidly scale—and that’s where AppSumo Select comes in.

AppSumo Select is a global distribution channel to reach a global SMB market. Many top companies in Singapore, India, and across Europe work with our expert teams at AppSumo Select to break into or expand market share, particularly in the US market.

While launching an AppSumo Select campaign to break into a new global market can feel intimidating at first, when our base loves you, they become the best promoters you could possibly imagine, introducing their ecosystem of North American clients, followers, and members to your product through word of mouth.

That’s not to mention the full-funnel campaign AppSumo’s team creates for your product, hundreds of detailed reviews, and targeted feedback you get. All of these extra benefits can help you find new user-centered ways of marketing your product to new markets and calibrating your roadmap for success long after your campaign comes to a close.

Large SaaS Companies Launching on AppSumo

1. Deskera

Based in Singapore, Deskera boasts 200+ employees, 300,000+ users, and over $100M in funding to date.

Why AppSumo? To go global and reach the U.S. SMB market quickly and effectively.

“As a newcomer to the North American market, we’re launching with AppSumo because we share a common ethos: ‘The tools you need to run your business shouldn’t put you out of business.’ That is just spot-on.” — Deskera CEO, Shashank Dixit

Outcome

• https://appsumo.com/deskera
• New customers: 3,390
• Total revenue: $659,089.61
• Time in store: 52 Days

2. Nimbus Note

Based in Cleveland, Ohio, Nimbus Note has over 1 million users.

Why AppSumo? To gain global market share and compete against global leaders like Notion and Evernote.

Outcome

• https://appsumo.com/nimbus-note
• New customers: 5,728
• Total revenue: $548,393.70
• Time in store: 25 Days

3. BIGVU 

Based in Israel, BIGVU has 21 employees and 2.5 million users worldwide.

Why AppSumo? To boost web traffic and connect with brand new audiences.

“It’s been a boost in terms of traffic, and a different source of users than we normally get through app stores. And I was right. They have very engaged users: People that buy and use a lot of tech. We started the campaign in early September, and it has been very good for us, especially the first 2-3 weeks.” — BIGVU Founder & CEO David Amselem

Outcome

• https://appsumo.com/bigvu
• New customers: 7,252
• Total revenue: $552,668.96
• Time in store: 87 Days

Grow Your SaaS Business With AppSumo Today

As we have grown, AppSumo has become the global distribution channel for software. If you’re an international SaaS company ready to target the U.S. market, we’d love to discuss how our priorities align to help you become the next unicorn in your vertical.

Find us at appsumo.com/partner-apply.