Dinesh Ramachandran In the SaaS era, CMOs must go beyond acquisition — loyalty now depends on daily user experience, not just buyer perception.
Customer loyalty in B2B tech is no longer a three-year commitment sealed with a handshake. As software-as-a-service (SaaS) becomes the norm, the barriers to switching are lower, and the stakes higher. For CMOs, that means loyalty must be earned continuously — not just at renewal time, but every time the product is used.
The traditional marketing funnel — awareness, acquisition, conversion — is being upended. Today’s CMO must influence not only the decision-maker but also the daily user, who can quietly erode brand equity or become a powerful advocate. “Retention is everyone’s job,” says one industry leader. “You win or lose customers through their everyday experience, not through the pitch deck.”
Strong brands bridge the gap between perception and reality across the customer journey. They don’t rely on legacy loyalty from the days of perpetual licenses. Instead, they build what some call ART—Awareness, Revenue, and Trust—with trust now a function of product experience, not just messaging.
In this new landscape, marketing can’t stop at the sale. It must thread through onboarding, customer support, community building, and renewal. The loop is always closing—or unraveling.
The implication is clear: B2B marketers need to align more tightly with product and customer success teams. Loyalty is no longer a lagging metric. It’s a leading indicator of growth—or churn.
