Exposing SaaS Marketing Mistakes Part 2: Awards, Imitation & Chaos

It’s one of my favorite times of year  - Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards season. Tech companies are buzzing with anticipation as they prepare submissions for one of the most competitive and high-impact recognition programs in the industry.

As I draft award case studies for one of our Partner clients, I can’t help but reflect on the companies that choose not to participate. Recognition like this can enhance credibility, drive sales conversations, and open doors with enterprise buyers, so why do some tech companies opt out?

That question sent me down a rabbit hole of common SaaS marketing missteps - mistakes I’ve seen repeatedly over 15 years working with the world’s top tech brands. In Part 2 of this ongoing series (you can find Part 1 here), I’m exploring three more major mistakes and what your company can do to avoid them.

1. Skipping Industry Awards

Problem: Plenty of SaaS companies overlook industry awards, often because they’re intimidated by the submission process, think they don’t have the criteria to compete, or are just too busy to devote the time. But avoiding awards means passing up rare moments to seize the kind of third-party validation that’s meaningful to customers, partners, stakeholders, and investors. 

There’s dozens of awards to target: INC 5000; Deloitte Technology Fast 500; AWS Partner Awards; Salesforce Partner Innovation Awards; Google Cloud Partner of the Year Awards; and SaaS Awards, among numerous others. 

I’ve seen leading tech firms sit out award opportunities despite being market leaders with deep partnerships and innovative work. Similarly, smaller organizations tend to skip out on awards because they assume larger competitors have a greater chance of securing winning positions. 

The reasons are universal and usually come down to assuming you don’t have the “right story,” believing you haven’t prepared well enough in advance, don’t have the time or resources to devote towards developing submission, or aren’t sure what’s even involved in the process. However, organizations in any industry have a stronger chance to win than they might think - it just depends on your strategy.

Tips, advice and tricks:

• Don’t wait to be 100% ready: You’re likely more qualified than you think. Strong impact, innovation, or customer outcomes matter more than perfection. Also, we always recommend prepping your strategy months before you think you should - it makes a significant difference.
• Mine your year for milestones: Start with a single customer success story, a major product pivot, or a strong partnership motion. One solid thread can often carry an entire submission.
• Think of it as high-ROI content marketing: Award submissions can double as case studies, PR angles, sales enablement material, and web copy - even if you don’t win. If you understand how to strategically repurpose content, then it’s never a wasted effort. 
• Pull in marketing early: Awards aren’t just a sales or product team activity. Marketers and content developers are uniquely positioned to connect the dots and shape your story. Many (like us!) cut our teeth on industry awards and have an insider perspective of what it takes to win.
• Use it as a forcing function: Award deadlines push internal teams to finally document and align around the year’s key achievements. That clarity can power your whole GTM strategy.

Key takeaway:
If you skip awards season, you’re skipping a marketing opportunity money can’t buy.

2. Copying Competitors with Bigger Budgets

Problem: Just because your competitor or an industry leader leverages Gartner quotes, edgy social media strategies, or thought leadership in the style of McKinsey doesn’t mean it will work for your organization. However, I’ve seen this pattern repeatedly - highly innovative SaaS firms with strong products but uninspired, derivative marketing and brand positioning. 

These organizations tend to look sideways instead of inward, mimicking the brand voice, visual style, and even blog structure of firms like Deloitte, Accenture, or EY, thinking that following industry leaders will confer credibility. But without the budget, brand equity, or built-in audience those firms have, efforts usually fall flat.

One client once requested us to “make an article in McKinsey’s style,” without considering that McKinsey’s content works because it’s backed by proprietary data, a deep bench of researchers, and decades of thought leadership positioning. You can’t emulate that just by using the same format and tone.

Tips, advice and tricks:

• Evaluate the why: It’s smart to benchmark, but don’t just copy a successful format. If you admire a particular firm’s marketing style then ask why this approach works for that brand and what strategic pillars support it.

• Build your own POV: Avoid sounding like a budget version of another firm. Instead, use your product strengths, workforce insights, case studies, and customer success stories to craft an authentic voice. 
• Right-size your ambition: Aim for influence in the niche you can own. If you're a startup, don’t try to be Gartner, try to be the sharpest voice in your vertical. We helped a once small start-up become the 12th fastest growing company in the U.S. in 2022 because we leveraged their brand’s quirky, casual, and frenetic personality to advantage when creating their marketing assets. 
• Use competitors for contrast: Demonstrate how your approach or product is different from your competitors, because they’re not templates - they’re benchmarks. Study their messaging to identify how your solution is unique. For example, if they lean into complexity and technical depth, highlight your ease of use. If they rely on partner ecosystems, emphasize your product’s out-of-the-box strength. Contrast forces clarity and gives your audience a compelling reason to choose you.

Key takeaway: Don’t mimic category leaders - out-message them. 

3. Ignoring Internal Friction that Kills Marketing Momentum

Problem: Great SaaS marketing doesn’t just fail because of weak messaging - it often dies in the meeting room. Internal misalignment between product, sales, legal, and marketing teams is one of the biggest killers of momentum. 

I’ve worked with companies sitting on powerful content ideas that never saw daylight because legal shut it down, product didn’t approve the messaging, or sales believed it wasn’t what customers are asking for. When internal friction becomes acceptable, marketing turns reactive instead of strategic. Brands end up with safe, vague content that may check some boxes but never really moves the needle.

One of the Big 4 firms we regularly work with routinely rejects strong content proposals from their internal marketing teams because it might be missing one word of legal nuance or because a senior stakeholder “doesn’t like the tone.” This inevitably leads to campaign delays or abandonment and missed opportunities to lead the market conversation on emerging trends.

Advice, Tips & Tricks:

• Designate a content quarterback: Many companies are in a position to assign a single person to manage alignment and feedback across teams. This approach streamlines communication, reduces conflicting feedback, and keeps content from getting stuck in an endless revision cycle.
• Build pre-approved narratives: Develop 2 or 3 core messaging frameworks with legal, sales, and product before campaign development. It gives your team a foundation they can run with and minimizes late-stage redlines or outright vetoes.
• Loop in stakeholders early, but not constantly: Engage key teams or stakeholders during the strategy phase to align on goals, messaging guardrails, and red flags. After that, only involve them at milestone moments because over-collaboration leads to watered-down content and lost momentum.
• Track delay patterns: If your marketing campaigns are consistently held up by the same team or department, address it at the operational level as a process issue. Identifying repeat roadblocks helps you create streamlined workflows, escalation paths, or role clarifications to resolve the problem long-term. 

Key takeaway: It’s not just what you say, it’s what you can get out the door.

Marketing Substance Starts with Smarter Strategy

The best SaaS marketing isn’t about following trends or checking boxes, it’s about building a customized strategy that reflects your company’s unique strengths, voice, and vision. Bold, aligned marketing strategies set industry leaders apart, so take the time to challenge your established habits and lead with intention.

Orange Bridge enables SaaS and tech firms to transition from reactive content to strategic storytelling. We leverage over a decade of proven experience to help companies achieve industry recognition and differentiate from competitors. Our team can empower your company with the clarity, creativity, and execution power to reimagine your brand positioning.

Let’s discuss how we can help your organization achieve its marketing goals.