It's a new year, so every B2B SaaS founder and marketer is asking themselves the same question: How do I find new customers this year and achieve my ambitious growth goals?
As CEO of Octolens, I'm in the same shoes. That’s why, at the start of the year, I drew up a long list of growth ideas I could try out in 2025. Below, you’ll find my 11 favorites—some of which are definitely unusual and go beyond the classic SaaS playbook (if such a thing even exists anymore).
1. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Generative AI is everywhere, and you will hear many people saying that tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity are “the end of SEO.” But in every risk lies an opportunity. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is a relatively new discipline that focuses on making your content easily accessible to AI search engines. The companies that pick up on this trend first will have a head start, so it should definitely be on your list of things to try in 2025.
We’ve already started to see some referral traffic from Perplexity and ChatGPT for Octolens. One customer confirmed to us in an interview that they found us via Perplexity!
Things to consider for GEO:
- Structure content around user intent and queries they’d likely ask ChatGPT (or other AI tools).
- Create content that is conversational and contextually rich to align with AI summaries and recommendations.
- Highlight and mention your brand strategically so that it’s likely to be included in AI-generated summaries.
2. Referral Program
Your satisfied customers are your greatest advocates. Incentivize them to refer colleagues or partners by offering rewards like account credits, discounts, or exclusive access to new features. Make it easy for them to share and track referrals through a dedicated referral portal.
At Octolens, we offer a 25% commission for every paid referral. We use Tolt to power our referral program, and it's been a breeze to set up.
3. Influencer Partnerships
This can go hand in hand with your referral program. Create a long list of influencers on YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), or LinkedIn who have an engaged audience that matches your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile). Reach out to them and offer a great commission (e.g., 50% referral). If they see an opportunity in your product, they might start creating content around it and referring it to their audience.
The best part? You have very little risk with this model and only need to pay influencers if you make money. It's a win-win.
4. Launch Free Tools
Free tools can act as a gateway to your core product. For instance, provide templates, calculators, or reports that solve common problems for your target audience. We used this strategy heavily in 2024 and launched:
- A Free Wall of Love
- A Social Share of Voice Calculator
- A Social Mentions Explore Page
- A Social Search
Some of these free tools worked well; some didn’t. Before you jump into creating a free tool, consider the effort and impact it might have. If it’s only loosely related to your product and ICP, you might be wasting your time. You either need a clear path for users to sign up for your main product afterward (i.e., they experience the pain your main product solves) or the tool must be well-tailored to your ICP.
Looking for long-tail keywords in your space is usually a great way to find ideas for free tools, which brings me to the next idea…
5. SEO for Long-Tail Keywords
As long as your website doesn’t have a domain authority of 70+, you usually won’t rank easily in top results for high-volume search queries (except maybe your own brand name). This means you have to find new ways to stand out in search by targeting long-tail keywords—very specific, low-competition search terms that align with your target audience.
Check out this blog by the CMO of Ahrefs to learn how to find long-tail keywords.
We found some low-hanging fruit last year, like “why Google Alerts doesn’t work,” which we then created content around. I will be looking to do more of the same this year. It will keep getting easier in combination with a growing domain authority.
6. Third-Party Review Sites
When it comes to being discoverable, remember that many B2B customers rely on platforms like G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot. While these sites might be on a slight downward trend, if you’re an early-stage startup with little initial trust, it can still be worth it.
Encourage your power users to leave reviews, respond to feedback promptly, and leverage these platforms to build trust and credibility. They also usually give you a strong backlink, so there’s no downside to creating a profile.
Pro tip: If you handle most of your own support, take advantage of positive support interactions. When you’ve resolved a customer issue quickly and they’re happy, that’s the perfect time to ask for a review on G2 or another site.
7. Directory Listings
Directory listings are in the same category as review sites. There are thousands of directories for every kind of software. Ensure your SaaS is listed in any directory relevant to your industry, and optimize your profiles with compelling descriptions, customer testimonials, and up-to-date screenshots if possible.
At Octolens, we sponsor the Open Source Alternative To directory, which sends tens of thousands of visitors to open source companies each month. If you’re working on an open source product, make sure to be listed there.
Other directories like Betalist or TAAFT still bring us traffic months after listing Octolens.
8. Niche Communities and Forums
Engage in niche communities on Reddit, industry-specific Slack groups, or online forums. Provide value by answering questions, sharing insights, and offering genuine advice—without aggressively promoting your product. Becoming a respected voice in these spaces can drive more leads than you might imagine.
We got many of our early users from Slack communities like the Developer Marketing Community.
Try to follow a “give first” approach: don’t spam forums with your product right after joining. Establish yourself as a helpful, knowledgeable participant first. It’s much easier (and more effective) to ask for something in return later!
9. Social Monitoring
If your audience is active on any social platform, make sure you stay on top of their conversations. Use a tool like Octolens to monitor X, LinkedIn, Reddit, etc., for keyword mentions. Respond to questions or comments where your SaaS provides a solution. This proactive engagement will lead to new customers for your B2B SaaS.
I use our own product extensively, and about 20% of all new customers come through posts we discovered with Octolens. And that’s not even counting referrals that these customers bring later on.
Side note: Every founder—and ideally every employee—should be using their own product! While this may not sound like a “growth tactic,” it’s the best way to truly understand your product’s value, communicate it effectively, and spot opportunities for improvement.
10. Support an Open Source Project
If you’re targeting developers, try showing your commitment to the industry by contributing to, sponsoring, or even launching open-source projects relevant to your audience. This builds credibility, demonstrates expertise, and can attract a highly technical, engaged user base.
Open source communities are notoriously supportive. If you win them over, you’ll likely see strong network effects as they share your tool with their peers.
11. Start an Interview Podcast
Podcasts remain a powerful and ever-growing content format. Start a podcast where you interview experts from your industry—ideally those who already have an audience. Their reach becomes your reach, and you’ll have a steady flow of content to post on LinkedIn, X, and elsewhere.
Additionally, an interview podcast is a great way to meet new people and expand your network. Who knows—your next enterprise deal might stem from a podcast interview.
Another benefit of long-form podcast content: you can chop it up into a ton of smaller pieces for social media. One episode every couple of weeks can help fill your social content calendar or inspire written content for the month.
I hope this blog has given you some food for thought. I’m going to try out many of these strategies myself in 2025. I’m sharing my B2B SaaS founder journey very openly on LinkedIn, so please make sure to add me on LinkedIn and let me know if you've used any of these ideas yourself.
Top comments (0)