Driving measurable growth in HR Software
HR Software market research
Accelerated by the pandemic and other factors, HR software is now rightly viewed as business-critical infrastructure. We’ve delivered measurable growth for HR Software brands through a deep understanding of their audience.
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Digital Marketing Services for HR Software
As well as market research, we also offer both organic and paid marketing strategies that are specifically tailored to the HR Software market.
The HR software market is growing
This isn’t just a matter of opinion. The figures back it up, too. The HR software industry is expected to be worth $69.6 billion (£52 billion) by 2033, making it one of the biggest sectors in the country.
And while this growth is exciting for HR SaaS businesses, it only acts as a signal that, whether new or established, brands need marketing strategies that stick.
Here’s how brands can secure the crucial visibility needed now and into the future.
Why the HR software market matters
The shift to remote work has put greater emphasis on HR software to help manage hybrid teams to the same standard as if they were in the office full-time.
Rather than just dealing with disputes, HR now encompasses so much of what a company is. Whether that’s compliance documents and ways to measure remote performance, or helping to shape the company’s culture.
The adoption of new software has also become a decision made at the board level, and solutions are evaluated based on efficiency of use and employee adoption.
This sector’s growth is proof that HR software matters more to business than ever, and this opportunity is being felt by global SaaS giants and niche vertical specialists.
At Hallam, we know that in a saturated space, you win by being visible and different.
Market trends to look out for
Businesses are looking for HR software that can centralise staff data as well as provide a platform for managers and department heads to allocate training and monitor performance.
HR directors and those in Ops teams also want software that will integrate into their existing tech stack, evidenced by an increase in search terms such as “HR software that integrates with X payroll system”.
It’s not just the household HR software companies that are having it all their own way, though. Demand for industry-specific platforms is on the rise, as demonstrated by a 150% year-on-year increase in searches for “HR software for schools” in the US.
Rather than attempting to compete with the catch-all brands like Sage, brands can find opportunity by showcasing their retail or manufacturing expertise to brands that want to feel like a potential HR software partner understands them and their industry.
As with many industries, data visibility is another key adoption driver. HR leaders want platforms that give them real-time visibility on staff retention, diversity & inclusion, and engagement metrics.
These trends point toward the idea that HR decision makers want software that is positioned around outcomes instead of shiny new features.
The competitive landscape
The HR software landscape is largely made up of two camps.
The giants such as Sage, Oracle, and Dayforce dominate the landscape in part because their services are so scalable and they offer a multitude of integrations, making it easy for small or enterprise businesses to benefit in the ways they want, immediately.
The second camp is made up of challengers who have successfully used content to build trust with decision makers. Deel, a US-based HR software company, has earned 7,000 backlinks (also known as referring domains) in the last five years.
This number can only be achieved through the creation of high-quality, useful content such as ‘PEO Vs In-House HR: How to Choose the Right Model’ or ‘11 Inspiring Individual Development Plan Examples’.
Highlighting product features has nowhere near the same effect.
Deel, as well as UK-based brands such as BrightHR and BreatheHR, prove that it isn’t the product’s complexities that drive an HR decision maker to pick a solution, but how visible that brand is to them and how authoritative they come across in their content.
We know that buyers compare, and at Hallam, we understand that we need to capture audiences who are in that discovery phase, typing long-tail, high-intent phrases into search engines.
What your buyer looks like
HR leaders are often those deciding which solution to choose, but those in finance and IT are also increasingly included, another indicator that this investment is far more centred on business transformation.
Those tasked with finding software almost always do their own research first. 85% of buyers have a selection of vendors in mind before they reach out to them, an indication that they don’t want to be sold over the phone.
They instead want to view content that imbues trust. Search behaviour reflects this, with many searching for long-tail, intent-driven terms centred around the pain points that led them to invest in HR software.
A typical buyer journey
- Awareness: An HR team is struggling to reduce onboarding time or is too reliant on manual processes, and is aware that they need a solution to solve it.
- Consideration: They then begin to consider solutions, which begins by reading useful content before further exploring features and integrations.
- Decision: After selecting vendors to be pitched to, they want to see clear onboarding processes and the level of support post-install that’s offered to them.
- Loyalty: Once everything is successfully implemented, the ongoing support and success turn new customers into advocates who influence future clients through peer recommendations.
The opportunity for vendors lies in meeting buyers early in this journey with content that solves the issues they’re experiencing.
Which channels should you activate?
Identifying where your audience’s attention is is the first step in selecting the marketing levers to pull.
The key is to identify the right channels and then create content that resonates with audiences wherever they are in their journey.
SEO (Organic Search)
Still, the backbone of many campaigns. SEO captures attention from those who are ready to be persuaded. Vendors need comparison content and sector pages that focus on education, think “best HR onboarding software” and “HR software for startups”.
YouTube
HR professionals are often time-poor, which has led to a rise in how-to videos and demos of product features, something Sage excels at. Brands should leverage niche searches from sector-specific HR leaders and serve them with useful, industry-specific content that bigger brands aren’t nimble enough to create.
There is no greater paid social media channel for targeting HR and C-suite decision makers than LinkedIn. Use this platform to promote thought leadership from HR SaaS leaders on industry topics. Showing up in a decision maker’s LinkedIn feed helps to make that human connection.
Podcasts and Communities
HR audiences regularly engage with podcasts that involve “future of work” discussions as their roles expand. More personable engagement hubs, such as Reddit’s HR feed or People Managing People, are both fantastic environments for brands to grow organic credibility.
Let’s take the first step. We’re ready.
Address their issues in your messaging strategy
The strongest HR software brands don’t focus on the features, but on how they can help eliminate pain points like:
- Onboarding
- Payroll Complexity
- Disengaged employees
Once explained, show how these issues can be measurably improved so that they no longer become a burden for under-pressure HR leaders.
Every audience responds to different messaging, and that’s no different here. HR leaders respond better to messaging that champions the team’s experience using the software, CFOs will look for predictable pricing structures, and IT will want to hear about consistent integration.
Each segment will need to be told a different story, but it’s all united by a single value proposition that focuses on how your software makes the reader’s business work smarter.
Everything mentioned here is only effective if there is consistency. Your brand’s message should stay unified across every channel so that no matter where a customer encounters you, they hear the same core story told in a way that’s relevant to them.
Hallam helps brands communicate why they matter to their audience, beyond just what they do, with every campaign connected to commercial aims and achieving them through human relevance.
It’s all about timing
Buying cycles broadly align with two periods:
- January to March: New budgets are being finalised, and planning for the upcoming year is taking place with businesses assessing their current tech stack.
- September to November: Businesses often go through strategic resets and will reassess their investments. New pain points may have surfaced which require an HR rethink.
From our experience, we see brands maximise their online visibility when they start their content/campaign production a quarter earlier than the peak of either of these peak periods.
