Choosing a marketing agency for a SaaS company
What to ask a marketing agency before hiring them for a SaaS company, and why understanding activation and retention matters more than campaign creativity.
4 min read
SaaS investors read a pitch deck looking for a specific set of metrics that predict durable growth, and they read past the growth chart straight to retention and efficiency numbers. A deck without these, or one that presents only the most flattering blended metric, gets picked apart quickly in the room.
The metrics investors check first
- Net revenue retention and logo retention, shown separately.
- CAC payback period, in months, not just a lifetime value ratio.
- Sales efficiency — revenue generated per dollar of sales and marketing spend.
- Cohort retention curves, showing behaviour months after signup, not just at 30 days.
Presenting an early-stage business honestly
At an early stage, some of these numbers will be thin on data. State that plainly rather than presenting a misleadingly precise number from a tiny sample — an investor who catches an inflated early-stage metric will distrust the rest of the deck.
A strong blended net revenue retention number can hide a real churn problem underneath a few large expanding accounts.
Design that supports scrutiny
Clear, labelled charts that an investor can screenshot and question later matter more than decorative slide design. A SaaS deck is a working document investors will return to during diligence, not just a presentation seen once.
The takeaway
Show net revenue retention and logo retention separately — a strong NRR can mask a churn problem if expansion revenue from a few large accounts is doing the work.
Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.
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