With the world cup ‘afoot’, many work monitors have been re-assigned to the stagnant duty of playing the live world-cup games. Lunch breaks have been longer, productivity has been reduced.
This article aims to compare the five main play styles of soccer teams in the World Cup this year to the marketing strategies commonly used in SaaS businesses.
There may not be any ‘right’ answers here, however, the key takeaway is how coaches use the players (or ‘assets’) at their disposal to create a winning strategy.
It is best practice for founders to do the same!
The Five Main World Cup Play Styles
Many business owners, like myself, are really only fans of soccer when the World Cup comes around. To them, this might be a brief introduction to the basics of soccer tactics.
If anything, this article will help you write off the time you’ve spent during work watching the WC.
To avid soccer fans, you may be able to skip this section and fast forward to the part where the article compares each style to a type of marketing channel strategy.
Direct Style
The direct play style is defined as consisting of very little passing. The passes that do occur are up the field (not horizontal) and long in distance.
Teams that utilize this style often consist of players who largely lack the ability to control the ball and distribute.
With less individual skill, the direct approach allows players to lean on athleticism with less responsibility on the ball.
Often the star players on these teams are defenders and forwards, not midfielders.
Example team: USA
Possession Style
Possession style is the opposite of direct style. It is often associated with some of the better teams in the world.
Playing with possession requires every player on the team to have great vision of the field and excellent control of the ball.
Often boring to watch, possession style consists of many short passes in all directions with slow build towards the opponent’s goal.
The attack in a possession style tactic waits for a gap to open and executes when the time comes rather than forcing.
A team with great possession has a great foundation of skill, starting with the defense and central midfielders.
Example Team: England
Counter Attacking
The counter attack strategy relies on a strong defense, which for the sake of this article will be referred to as the foundation.
Conceptually, this strategy admits that a team will not possess the ball. Instead, they will bunker down and wait for a mistake by the opposing team.
Ideally this mistake will come while the opposing team is shifted away from their own goal.
Upon a mistake or sudden interception, the counter attack team will launch a well placed ball or utilize a few long, piercing passes to attack while the opposing team struggles to get players back.
This approach is one of the most commonly used since it is relatively easy. It, like the direct strategy, largely relies on athleticism of the player, not skill.
With skill in the forwards and accurate distribution from the back, some of this year’s greatest teams and underdogs alike utilize this strategy.
Example Team: Belgium
Total Soccer
Total Soccer requires a team to be composed of very soccer-savvy players with both skill and innate feel for the flow of the game.
While there is a “formation” that the team lines up in, players are encouraged to follow the flow of the game.
This enables them to shift into other positions and requires teammates to fill the gaps left behind.
This play style, when executed correctly, allows for ultimate flexibility and can ideally face any in-game situation since it is built to flow with the play.
Each player relies heavily on their teammates to share an understanding of every unique situation the team may face in the game.
From the outside, this strategy will look like a possession play style, and it’s grounded in the same concept. It’s just the next evolution.
Example: Spain
Crossing Style
This style of play is defined by playing long, often aerial, balls into the center of the field (mostly into the goalie box) where players try to head, volley, or deflect the ball into the goal.
A team will utilize a crossing style tactic when they have fast outside midfielders and at least two forwards with good size.
This style can also be advantageous against teams with defenders who are worse with 50/50 balls.
Example: Croatia
Comparing Your B2B SaaS Marketing Strategies To World Cup Soccer Play Style
Now that you have the basics of each play style, time to figure out which reflects your B2B SaaS marketing style the most.
The point being conveyed in this nonsense blog is that using the assets you have and creating a strategy around them is the most important thing you can do to grow your SaaS B2B.
Direct Style & The ‘Flash Test’ SaaS B2B Startup
A SaaS B2B startup with fresh funding and not much time to prove their concept is going to need to learn fast from each channel and move on.
This means that time, not money, is the issue being addressed.
Commonly, these SaaSs will throw a big budget into one channel, let it ride for a month or two and move on (if it doesn’t work).
In the direct style of soccer, players play long vertical balls to the space around the strikers.
The hope is that the striker gets the ball and puts the team in a position where they outnumber the defense.
A hail mary.
You can see how the USA style of offense compares to the fast-moving startup world.
The lesson to take here is that B2b SaaS companies with money and no time should be willing to flash test one strategy at a time.
This allows any startup to give each channel a true and quality test before determining if it is the right tool for the time.
This SaaS cost calculator can help determine what a certain budget can get you.
Startups in this position should acknowledge that some channels can not be tested quickly, like SEO.
Similarly, in paid search, no matter how much money you have, quality traffic might not be at the volume you need.
Here’s a little tip on how to test efficacy in your first 120 days of Google Ads.
Understanding these factors, setting low bars for minimum return will allow you to realistically gauge which channels to further pursue.
Your team? USA.
Possession Style & The Low-Budget, Long-Term, Multi-Channel Approach
Not feeling the pressure of time in terms of your growth?
You may have reliable income and steady lead gen. Next, you want to set your SaaS up for long-term, balanced growth. This section is for you.
Building your base in multiple channels would be a smart way to spread your efforts and get all parts moving at the same time.
Dominating the search results with SEO and Paid Search ads would be a good start.
If your B2B SaaS isn’t already, using social media to engage relevant communities can be another slow burn that will pay off in the long run.
As with the possession style of soccer, it’s not flashy & it’s not exciting at first. However, it will get the job done in the long run.
With a lot of B2B SaaS startups, they are flying by the seat of their pants. First, they master one and are stuck wondering what their next tool for growth will be?
It takes time for each.
It is important to not choose too many channels to master at first. You won’t get far with a bunch of mediocre-ly run channels.
So many strategies take months to years to reap the benefits. So this is about planting multiple seeds for the future.
Your team? England. Notorious for winning with slow builds, lulling the opponent until they execute a deadly strike.
How SaaS B2Bs Use The ‘Counter Attacking’ Strategy
Maybe you’re not sure what users will search to reach and convert on your B2B SaaS page. Additionally, you don’t want to throw money at social ads that might not work.
However, your competitors have searches for their brand name.
Time to counter attack!
If you are in this position, there is nothing wrong with using a small budget to target your competitor’s keywords.
Caution, you want to make sure that your feature sets are relatively similar to the competition you target.
SaaSs can also target keywords like “[competitor] [feature that you offer]” to ensure that the traffic stays relevant.
Teams like Iceland, who became an underdog favorite in the 2018 WC, and Croatia who was the runner up that same year, utilize counter attacking strategies.
They sit back while their opponents do the work. When the timing is right, they counter their opponent’s hard work and reap the rewards.
In marketing terms, you let your competitors spend money building brand awareness. Then by search terms for their brand, you are ensured to show up for hyper-relevant audiences.
Tip: be sure to exclude searches that include “log in” or “portal” to avoid customers who have already purchased. You also don’t want to show up for competitor searches that mention features that you don’t offer.
Your team? Belgium!
Total Soccer & The Social SaaS Founder
B2B SaaS founders who utilize communities and strong networks to build leads organically and through recommendations fall in this category.
The social SaaS founder is one who has strong networks, whether it’s personal relationships, social media presence or a reputation in communities.
These founders, regardless of their title, whether technical, COO, or other, play versatile roles.
They each have public personalities which they use for effective lead gen. Rarely do these founders need to use paid ads.
However, they will often take on SEO, paid search, & social ads to expand their reach and create more efficient lead generation.
In total soccer, every player must be willing to read the flow of the game and adapt to each situation, relying on their teammates to fill in the gaps left behind.
Especially in multi-founder SaaS startups, this is the case too.
Despite each founder’s strengths, they each take ownership roles and become the faces of their SaaS in the public eye.
Your team? Spain (or 1974 Netherlands, World Cup Winners).
Crossing Style – The Avid Display Ad User
Finally the Crossing style. Founders in the crossing-style category love to take risks and look at things differently than other founders.
Is this a good thing? Not always.But it’s their vision!
Often these founders hire specialists but do not listen to them, only requiring implementation.
Despite conventional practice, these B2B SaaS founders are the type to spend their ad money on only display ads and social ads.
The allure of extremely cheap clicks and high volume are too much for them to pass up. Despite looser accuracy in the targeting.
In the Crossing Style of soccer play, it’s easier to work the ball up the sideline towards the opposing corner where the defense is less consolidated.
From there, wanting crosses are sent in with slim chances of hitting familiar team heads.
When does the crossing style work? With a well-hit cross.
This combined with the presence of large-bodied forwards in the center of the field.
Their goal is to jump and deflect the ball into the net.
In a startup, a well-hit cross would be the savvy to create good display and social target audiences. The advertiser must be very narrow with their target selection.
Furthering this not-so-clever metaphor, the forwards with stature happen to be the SaaS product.
The perfect B2B SaaS product for display and social advertising is one that is widely used [or useful] by many businesses. Not niche products.
It’s a bonus if the product is easy to understand.
Your team? Croatia!
What does this all mean?
Factors like amount of funding, flexibility in your founder core, pushing a widely needed product, time limitations, etc are all factors that should help you decide which style of marketing your SaaS can utilize.
In my opinion, everyone should strive to be the possession style B2B SaaS. But not every startup or business has the means to do so.
The best marketing strategy is one within your means. As long as you are able to actually invest time and attention into a channel, you will find a way to make that work for your business.
Of course, some channels work better than others, depending on the business, but that’s another article.
If you are going to run your own SaaS ads, here are some mistakes to avoid before you start.
Thanks for reading! GO USA!!