Have you found yourself paying for SaaS programs that are not customized to your local business needs? Not even sure what a SaaS program could be?

Keep reading to learn all about these programs, their positives and negatives for local businesses and how your particular business should approach using them.

What Is SaaS?

So, what is SaaS? We get it; marketing terms can seem daunting to understand, but trust us, this one is pretty straightforward.

SaaS stands for software as a service. This software is typically exclusive to the company that provides it, and it gives users capabilities to services that they would not have otherwise.

Still confused?

Take a program like MailChimp, for example. MailChimp is an email marketing service that helps create email layouts and designs. They created their exclusive email software service, and they offer it to users like local businesses for a fee, thus giving businesses a program to make their email marketing.

Are you interested in learning more important marketing terms? Check out our 2020 buzzword blog for some of the top words to know this year! 

The Benefits and Problems With Saas

For local businesses, having SaaS programs means that they can keep their business costs low by cutting out the large salary expenses that come with hiring employees.

On top of this, SaaS also provides businesses with direct control over the functions that these programs serve. They have personal access to the SaaS programs they've purchased, and they can use them in the office, at home or wherever they see fit.

These benefits, however, do not come without some pitfalls.

The "plug-and-play" feature of SaaS has garnered praise for the fact that it makes starting a project both fast and simple, but it has also been met with distaste because of this simplicity. When a SaaS program is set to input only basic user information, it is then limited in its customization to each business and its protection of the business information it has received through plug-and-play.

LSA Insider recently addressed the issue behind SaaS programs for local businesses, and it appears that their utilization is going into decline.

Research has found that 62 percent of SMBs that have SaaS programs do not utilize their full capabilities.

Subjects were then surveyed as to why they don’t fully engage with SaaS programs, and responders mostly cited a need to implement further technology to use the software service or a need for extensive training or education to help with properly utilizing all of the software’s features.

It should be clear at this point that this is a huge issue!

Local businesses are using large portions of their budgets to buy into different Saas programs, and they are not getting their return on them.

It appears that many local businesses feel unequipped either technology or training-wise to take on these programs. Ultimately, it leads to them wasting a budget that could be going toward more efficient ways to market or manage their business.

So, while businesses may initially be saving by avoiding hiring costs, they are unfortunately making up for it by spending money on programs that aren't being utilized fully.

When problems arise, SaaS programs can only offer you help through call centers which are another obstacle in getting direct resolutions in a timely manner.

Consider what you are buying into before you dive into the deep end. There are a lot of complexities that come with SaaS programs, so consider evaluating a program’s usefulness and applicability to your business and your current capabilities.

Final Thoughts

Don’t get us wrong. SaaS programs have a lot to offer local businesses, but sometimes you need a middleman to help manage it all.

Local business owners, RevLocal is at your rescue!

There are many SaaS marketing programs out there, but at RevLocal, we want you to feel supported throughout and connected to the marketing process.

With industry experts at your service, we can handle the technicalities of our exclusive marketing programs while still giving you input into the different strategies and offers that are possible for your business.

Click here to request a demo from one of our consultants in your industry!