Events

My Take on Manchester DM #4: What B2B SaaS Can Learn

I went to Manchester DM #4 last night, and it got me thinking—how does all of this apply to B2B SaaS? We hear a lot about growth tactics, funnels, and demand gen, but what really moves the needle in today’s market?

This is my breakdown—what stood out, what’s relevant for SaaS founders and marketers, and what you should actually do with this info.

Artur Grzybowski

Jan 16, 2025

The Setup

The event was at Feel Good Club—solid venue, great crowd, and free pizza (always a win). Speakers covered key areas of digital marketing, and their insights got me thinking about how SaaS companies should be executing better.

B2B Marketing is Human to Human (Abi Bellion-Carey)

Abi hit on something I see in SaaS all the time:

"I just feel like a lot of the messages miss the mark and it's not engaging and it's very dry because we're thinking about it as business to business, but actually business to business doesn't exist. Everything we do is human to human, right?"

Key takeaways for SaaS:

Your actual audience isn’t a ‘business’—it’s individuals making decisions.
Senior decision-makers aren’t the only ones that matter—target users influence the sale.
Gated lead-gen content is often ignored—interactive, useful content works better.

✅ Action: Look at your messaging—does it sound like a human talking to another human, or does it read like corporate fluff?

SEO Isn’t PPC—Stop Selling It Like It Is (Henry Smith)

Henry called out a common SaaS mistake:

"PPC is renting. SEO is owning. But ownership isn’t just about ranking—it’s about compounding returns over time."

SaaS teams often:

Treat SEO like PPC, expecting instant results.
Chase high-intent, competitive keywords too soon.
Ignore authority-building, which limits long-term impact.

What SaaS Companies Should Do Differently:

Build authority first—if your domain has no credibility, you won’t rank for competitive terms.
Use content to create demand, not just capture it.
Fix technical SEO early—site structure and internal linking matter.

✅ Action: Think of SEO as a long-term play. Build content clusters, optimize structure, and let authority grow over time.

Final Thoughts + What SaaS Companies Should Do Next

A few things were obvious from this event—B2B SaaS companies need to:

Humanize their marketing—stop making everything sound corporate.
Stop expecting SEO to behave like PPC—invest in long-term organic growth.
Improve management skills—scaling isn’t just about hiring, it’s about leading.