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Frameworks, core principles and top case studies for SaaS pricing, learnt and refined over 28+ years of SaaS-monetization experience.
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In today's competitive SaaS landscape, your pricing and packaging strategy can make or break your marketing automation platform's success. According to OpenView Partners' 2022 SaaS Benchmarks report, companies that regularly optimize their pricing see 13% higher revenue growth compared to those that don't. Yet many marketing automation providers struggle with outdated pricing models that fail to capture their true value or align with evolving customer needs.
This guide will walk you through the key steps to execute a comprehensive pricing and packaging strategy project specifically tailored for marketing automation and platform SaaS businesses.
Why Pricing and Packaging Strategies Matter for Marketing Automation Platforms
Marketing automation platforms deliver value across multiple dimensions—from email marketing and lead scoring to campaign analytics and customer journey orchestration. This complexity creates both challenges and opportunities when structuring your pricing and packaging.
According to Profitwell research, SaaS companies that effectively align their pricing to customer value perception increase customer lifetime value by an average of 31%. For marketing automation platforms specifically, the right pricing strategy can:
- Reduce sales friction by clearly communicating value propositions
- Improve customer retention by aligning price with realized value
- Create natural upgrade paths as customer needs evolve
- Maximize revenue from different customer segments
- Position your platform competitively against alternatives
Step 1: Assemble Your Cross-Functional Team
Successful pricing projects require input from multiple perspectives. Your core team should include:
- Product management (to articulate feature value and roadmap implications)
- Sales leadership (to provide front-line customer feedback)
- Marketing (to develop positioning and messaging)
- Finance (to model revenue implications)
- Customer success (to identify retention drivers)
- Data/analytics (to provide usage insights)
Designate a project leader with clear authority to drive decisions and keep the project moving. According to KPMG's research on pricing transformations, leadership commitment is the #1 factor in successful pricing initiatives.
Step 2: Gather Market and Customer Intelligence
Before making pricing decisions, you need robust data on:
Customer Segmentation Analysis
- Identify meaningful segments based on company size, industry, use case complexity
- Map current customers across these segments
- Determine value drivers and willingness-to-pay for each segment
Competitive Landscape Review
- Document competitor pricing models (per-user, usage-based, tiered, etc.)
- Analyze feature packaging across competitor tiers
- Identify pricing gaps and opportunities in the market
Usage Pattern Analysis
- Examine actual platform utilization data
- Identify features that drive adoption and retention
- Determine natural usage breakpoints that could inform tier boundaries
According to a Salesforce study, 91% of high-performing SaaS companies use customer data to inform pricing decisions compared to only 54% of underperformers.
Step 3: Develop Value Metrics and Pricing Models
The core of your strategy revolves around identifying the right value metrics—how you measure and charge for value delivered.
Identify Potential Value Metrics
For marketing automation platforms, consider metrics such as:
- Active contacts/leads in database
- Email volume
- Campaign volume
- Automation workflows
- User seats
- API calls
- Advanced features access
Test Different Pricing Models
Evaluate how different models might work for your platform:
- Tiered packages (good/better/best)
- Base + add-ons
- Usage-based pricing
- Hybrid models (base subscription + usage components)
According to a 2022 OpenView Partners study, 45% of SaaS companies now employ some form of usage-based pricing, up from 34% in 2020—with hybrid models showing particular promise for complex platforms.
Step 4: Design Your Packaging Structure
With value metrics and pricing models defined, now structure your packages:
Define Feature Allocation
Determine which features belong in each tier by analyzing:
- Development cost
- Competitive differentiation value
- Customer willingness-to-pay
- Usage patterns across segments
Create Natural Upgrade Paths
Design packages that encourage customers to graduate to higher tiers as their needs evolve. According to Gainsight research, customers are 30% more likely to upgrade when clear value expansion paths are evident.
Special Considerations for Marketing Automation
For marketing automation specifically:
- Consider separating basic email marketing from advanced automation features
- Evaluate whether to include analytics in all tiers or as premium features
- Determine how to handle integration capabilities across tiers
- Assess whether customer journey features warrant their own packaging structure
Step 5: Build Financial Models and Test Scenarios
Before finalizing your strategy, model the financial implications:
Revenue Impact Analysis
- Model how new pricing affects existing customers
- Project new customer acquisition at different price points
- Calculate expected changes to LTV, CAC ratio, and ARPU
Grandfathering and Migration Strategy
- Determine how to handle existing customers
- Design migration incentives if moving customers to new structures
- Calculate revenue impact of different grandfathering approaches
According to Price Intelligently, a proper pricing strategy update typically results in a 10-40% increase in revenue when implemented correctly, but requires careful testing and modeling.
Step 6: Develop Rollout and Communication Plan
A pricing change is as much about communication as it is about the price itself:
Internal Rollout
- Create sales enablement materials explaining the value behind pricing
- Train customer success teams on handling questions and objections
- Update financial systems and reporting to accommodate new structure
External Communication
- Develop clear value messaging for each package
- Create comparison charts highlighting benefits of higher tiers
- Design transition plans for existing customers
- Prepare FAQs addressing common questions
A Gartner study found that companies that effectively communicate value during pricing changes see 25% less customer pushback than those focused primarily on pricing details.
Step 7: Measure, Learn, and Iterate
Pricing is never "set and forget":
Key Performance Indicators
Monitor these metrics after implementing new pricing:
- Conversion rates by package
- Average deal size
- Customer acquisition cost
- Retention rates by package
- Upgrade/downgrade frequency
- Feature utilization within tiers
Feedback Loop
Establish regular reviews of pricing performance:
- Monthly reviews during the first quarter post-launch
- Quarterly reviews thereafter
- Annual comprehensive strategy reassessment
Real-World Example: HubSpot's Evolution
HubSpot provides an instructive case study in marketing automation pricing evolution. Their journey from a simple marketing tool to a comprehensive CRM platform is reflected in their pricing strategy:
- Initial Phase: Simple tiered pricing based primarily on contacts
- Middle Phase: Addition of Marketing, Sales, and Service Hubs with separate packaging
- Current Phase: Sophisticated package structure with starter/professional/enterprise tiers across multiple hubs, plus usage components
This evolution allowed HubSpot to both expand revenue per customer and capture different segments of the market. According to their public earnings reports, this pricing evolution helped drive a 35% CAGR in average subscription revenue per customer over a five-year period.
Conclusion: The Ongoing Nature of Pricing Strategy
Pricing is never truly "done" for marketing automation platforms. Customer needs evolve, competitors shift positions, and new features continuously change your value proposition. The most successful marketing automation providers treat pricing as an ongoing strategic capability rather than a one-time project.
By following this framework and committing to regular optimization, you can develop a pricing and packaging strategy that not only maximizes current revenue but creates a foundation for sustainable growth. The effort invested in getting your pricing right will pay dividends across customer acquisition, retention, and lifetime value—the key drivers of SaaS success.
Remember that the right pricing strategy doesn't just capture value—it communicates it. When done correctly, your pricing structure itself becomes one of your most powerful marketing assets, clearly articulating why your marketing automation platform deserves a place in your customers' technology stack.