Marketing in:
Tech & SaaS
Marketing in:
Engineering & Utilities
Tech companies can navigate vastly different commercial models depending on what they're selling and who they're selling to.
Legacy Systems can create complex replacement cycles where enterprise buyers often can't easily switch from decades-old systems. Migration projects can take years and cost millions, making sales cycles extremely long. Technical buyers often choose "good enough" solutions that integrate easily over "best in class" products that might cause compatibility issues.
Freemium Models let users try before they buy, but conversion often depends on genuine product engagement rather than marketing campaigns.
Deployment and Infrastructure shape entire business strategies across the sector. The market offers everything from off-the-shelf software to highly configurable installations requiring months of professional services. On-premise installations often need different sales processes than cloud-hosted solutions.
Partners and Cybersecurity determine market access and deal success throughout the sector. Partner ecosystems drive growth through integrations and co-selling relationships. Meanwhile, cybersecurity requirements can make or break deals, especially in regulated industries where compliance often determines what can actually be purchased.
UK tech sector: £150+ billion economic contribution, 2.9+ million jobs Ireland tech: 16% of GDP, 250,000+ employees
Global SaaS market: $195+ billion, growing 13% annually UK app economy: £31+ billion contribution Average SaaS sales cycle: 84 days (SMB) to 18+ months (enterprise) Developer tools market: $26+ billion globally, fastest-growing segment
ECONOMY
Importance of Marketing
Technical Buyers Think Differently
Tech buyers don't respond to normal sales pitches. They want to see proof that products actually work, read detailed documentation, and hear from other technical people who've used it. This means marketing has to focus on getting people to try and use products rather than just generating leads.
Many People Involved in Buying Decisions One person rarely decides to buy tech products. Marketing has to convince engineers (who care about how it works), finance teams (who care about cost), security teams (who care about risks), and executives (who care about business impact) - all at the same time.
Everything Changes Quickly
Tech moves fast. Marketing campaigns that worked last year might be useless this year because platforms change, security rules change, and what developers want changes. Marketing strategies have to adapt constantly.
Success Metrics Are Different
Tech companies live or die by different numbers than other businesses: how much it costs to get each customer, how long customers stay, whether the product actually solves problems people will pay for, and how many customers bring in their friends. Marketing drives all of these numbers.
Sector Nuances
The fundamentals of marketing are consistent across industries. However, here are some of the nuances specific to marketing in tech, if you're considering hiring or exploring a marketing opportunity in the sector.
Business Model Complexity Drives Specialisation
Enterprise SaaS marketing focuses on MQLs, sales enablement, and ROI demonstration for six-figure deals. Consumer apps emphasise App Store Optimisation, retention metrics, and viral growth loops. Developer tools rely on technical content, community building, and product-led growth where the product markets itself. Each requires completely different expertise and success metrics.
Technical Buyers Require Different Approaches -
Marketing to CTOs, DevOps engineers, and technical architects demands technical accuracy, detailed documentation, and peer validation. These audiences research extensively, test thoroughly, and make decisions based on technical merit rather than marketing messages. Traditional emotional appeals simply don't work.
Product-Led Growth Changes Marketing's Role
In PLG companies, marketing focuses on activation, feature adoption, and usage expansion rather than traditional lead generation. Success metrics shift from MQLs to product-qualified leads (PQLs) and user engagement rather than pipeline generation. The product itself becomes the primary marketing channel.
Developer Communities Create Competitive Advantages
Building authentic technical communities around APIs, open-source projects, and developer tools becomes a marketing strategy that creates switching costs and network effects. Community-driven adoption often outperforms traditional marketing campaigns and creates sustainable competitive moats.
Rapid Iteration Cycles Demand Marketing Agility
Product releases happen weekly or daily rather than quarterly. Marketing messaging, competitive positioning, and feature promotion must adapt continuously. Campaign optimisation happens in real-time based on user behaviour data and product analytics rather than traditional campaign calendars.
Platform Dependencies Create Strategic Risks
Consumer apps depend on App Store algorithms, social media platforms, and digital advertising channels that can change policies overnight. B2B SaaS faces integration risks with major platforms like Salesforce, Microsoft, or Google. Marketing strategies must account for platform risk and diversification to avoid single points of failure.
Overview
Overview
Tech companies can navigate vastly different commercial models depending on what they're selling and who they're selling to. Broad characteristics of the sector include:
Legacy Systems - creating complexity where enterprise buyers often can't easily switch from or integrate to decades-old systems. Migration projects can take years and cost millions, making sales cycles extremely long. Technical buyers often choose "good enough" solutions that integrate easily over "best in class" products that might cause compatibility issues.
Freemium Models let users try before they buy, but conversion often depends on genuine product engagement rather than marketing campaigns.
Deployment and Infrastructure shape entire business strategies across the sector. The market offers everything from off-the-shelf software to highly configurable installations requiring months of professional services. On-premise installations often need different sales processes than cloud-hosted solutions.
Partners and Cybersecurity determine market access and deal success throughout the sector. Partner ecosystems drive growth through integrations and co-selling relationships. Meanwhile, cybersecurity requirements can make or break deals, especially in regulated industries where compliance often determines what can actually be purchased.
Economy
UK tech sector: £150+ billion economic contribution, 2.9+ million jobs Ireland tech: 16% of GDP, 250,000+ employees
Global SaaS market: $195+ billion, growing 13% annually UK app economy: £31+ billion contribution Average SaaS sales cycle: 84 days (SMB) to 18+ months (enterprise) Developer tools market: $26+ billion globally, fastest-growing segment
The Importance of Marketing
Technical Buyers Think Differently Tech buyers don't respond to normal sales pitches. They want to see proof that products actually work, read detailed documentation, and hear from other technical people who've used it. This means marketing has to focus on getting people to try and use products rather than just generating leads.
Many People Involved in Buying Decisions One person rarely decides to buy tech products. Marketing has to convince engineers (who care about how it works), finance teams (who care about cost), security teams (who care about risks), and executives (who care about business impact) - all at the same time.
Everything Changes Quickly Tech moves fast. Marketing campaigns that worked last year might be useless this year because platforms change, security rules change, and what developers want changes. Marketing strategies have to adapt constantly.
Success Metrics Are Different Tech companies live or die by different numbers than other businesses: how much it costs to get each customer, how long customers stay, whether the product actually solves problems people will pay for, and how many customers bring in their friends. Marketing drives all of these numbers.
Diverse commercial models require different expertise
B2B SaaS focuses on MQLs, sales enablement, and enterprise decision-makers. Consumer electronics emphasizes emotional storytelling, retail partnerships, and influencer marketing. Developer tools rely on community building and technical content.
Product-market dynamics drive agility
Fast-scaling businesses pivot quickly based on user feedback and market changes. Marketing teams adapt campaigns in real-time, testing new messaging, audiences, and channels as products evolve.
Multiple revenue channels create varied opportunities
Companies may sell direct-to-consumer, through enterprise sales teams, via app stores, or through retail partnerships. Each channel demands different marketing skills and stakeholder relationships.
Global reach with platform complexity
International expansion involves app store optimization, localization, retail partnerships, and compliance with regional regulations. Technical products often require cultural adaptation beyond translation.
Innovation cycles create launch opportunities
From annual iPhone events to continuous SaaS feature releases, tech marketing involves high-profile launches, beta programs, and early adopter engagement across different product categories.
Data-driven optimization across touchpoints
Analytics capabilities enable sophisticated testing, personalization, and attribution across customer journeys - from awareness through adoption and retention.
Marketing in the
sector
Product Marketing
Sits between marketing and sales teams rather than functioning as traditional marketing.
Serves as the strategic bridge between product development and revenue generation,
translating technical capabilities into sales-ready materials. In enterprise SaaS, develops competitive battlecards, sales enablement materials, and ROI calculators that help sales teams close complex deals.
In consumer tech, focuses on feature positioning, app store optimisation, and lifecycle campaigns that drive adoption. Creates messaging frameworks that sales teams can actually use while ensuring product adoption metrics align with business goals.
Growth Marketing
Owns the full-funnel optimisation from awareness through retention and expansion. In B2B SaaS, manages lead scoring models, marketing-sales handoffs, and account-based marketing campaigns.
In consumer apps, drives user acquisition, onboarding optimisation, and viral growth mechanics. Uses experimentation frameworks to optimise conversion rates across every stage of the customer journey.
Developer Relations & COMMUNITY Marketing
Builds and nurtures technical communities around APIs, developer tools, and open-source projects. Creates technical content, manages hackathons and conferences, and engages with developer communities on GitHub, Stack Overflow, and technical forums.
Measures success through API adoption, community engagement, and developer satisfaction rather than traditional marketing metrics.
Brand & Communications
Shapes company positioning and thought leadership in fast-moving technical markets.
Manages crisis communications around security incidents, product outages, or competitive challenges.
Builds executive thought leadership through conference speaking, industry publications, and analyst relations that establish market credibility and influence.
TECHNICAL WRITING & CONTENT
Creates educational content and documentation that demonstrates product value through tutorials, case studies, and technical guides.
Balances technical accuracy with accessibility, working closely with engineering teams to translate complex features into user benefits.
Manages content across multiple technical audiences from beginners to experts, including API documentation and developer resources.
Partnership Marketing Manager
Develops co-marketing strategies with technology partners, integration partners, and channel resellers.
Creates joint go-to-market strategies, manages marketplace presence (Salesforce AppExchange, Microsoft Marketplace), and coordinates partner enablement programs.
Builds relationships that expand market reach through strategic partnerships and co-selling arrangements.
Marketing jobs in Tech & SaaS
An internal perspective
Internal Stakeholders
Marketing collaborates intensively with product managers on roadmap prioritisation and feature messaging, with engineering teams on technical accuracy and feasibility, and with customer success on user feedback and retention insights.
In enterprise companies, also works closely with solutions engineering, implementation teams, and customer advisory boards.
Working Dynamics
Planning cycles balance long-term strategic positioning with rapid tactical responses to product changes, competitive moves, and market feedback.
Marketing teams operate with high autonomy but frequent collaboration, using data dashboards and experimentation frameworks to make decisions quickly without extensive approval processes.
Communication Style
Varies dramatically by audience - technical precision for developer communities, business impact focus for enterprise buyers, emotional resonance for consumer audiences.
Successful marketers maintain authenticity across different technical literacy levels while avoiding over-simplification that loses credibility with expert audiences.
Perception of Marketing
Generally valued as growth driver, especially in product-led organizations where marketing directly impacts user acquisition and retention metrics.
Respect increases when marketing demonstrates clear impact on key business metrics like ARR growth, user engagement, and customer lifetime value rather than traditional marketing vanity metrics.
Hiring Considerations
Technical curiosity, desire to engage with customers where possible, learning ability essential - marketers must understand complex products well enough to create credible content and messaging.
B2B roles value enterprise sales understanding and consultative selling experience. Consumer roles require mobile marketing expertise and app store optimisation skills. Developer-focused roles need genuine technical interest and community building experience.
Typical Culture
Intellectual agility to rapidly understand complex technical products and comfort with experimentation and data-driven decision making.
Ability to translate technical features into business value across different audiences, plus resilience in fast-changing environments where strategies must evolve continuously based on product development and market feedback.
Sits between marketing and sales teams rather than functioning as traditional marketing.
Serves as the strategic bridge between product development and revenue generation,
translating technical capabilities into sales-ready materials. In enterprise SaaS, develops competitive battlecards, sales enablement materials, and ROI calculators that help sales teams close complex deals.
In consumer tech, focuses on feature positioning, app store optimisation, and lifecycle campaigns that drive adoption. Creates messaging frameworks that sales teams can actually use while ensuring product adoption metrics align with business goals.
Owns the full-funnel optimisation from awareness through retention and expansion. In B2B SaaS, manages lead scoring models, marketing-sales handoffs, and account-based marketing campaigns.
In consumer apps, drives user acquisition, onboarding optimisation, and viral growth mechanics. Uses experimentation frameworks to optimise conversion rates across every stage of the customer journey.
Builds and nurtures technical communities around APIs, developer tools, and open-source projects. Creates technical content, manages hackathons and conferences, and engages with developer communities on GitHub, Stack Overflow, and technical forums.
Measures success through API adoption, community engagement, and developer satisfaction rather than traditional marketing metrics.
Shapes company positioning and thought leadership in fast-moving technical markets.
Manages crisis communications around security incidents, product outages, or competitive challenges.
Builds executive thought leadership through conference speaking, industry publications, and analyst relations that establish market credibility and influence.
Creates educational content and documentation that demonstrates product value through tutorials, case studies, and technical guides.
Balances technical accuracy with accessibility, working closely with engineering teams to translate complex features into user benefits.
Manages content across multiple technical audiences from beginners to experts, including API documentation and developer resources.
Develops co-marketing strategies with technology partners, integration partners, and channel resellers.
Creates joint go-to-market strategies, manages marketplace presence (Salesforce AppExchange, Microsoft Marketplace), and coordinates partner enablement programs.
Builds relationships that expand market reach through strategic partnerships and co-selling arrangements.
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