When your SaaS should be converting but isn’t, it might not be your audience—it might be your message.
You did the hard work. You identified the right ICP. You nailed the vertical. You built personas. You even ran some decent outbound. But nothing’s landing. No clicks. No replies. No pipeline.
You think: *”Maybe we picked the wrong market?”
Not necessarily.
We’ve seen this play out repeatedly across early and growth-stage SaaS companies: the audience is a fit, but the messaging falls flat.
The ICP is right. The messaging isn’t.
A Real Example: Messaging Miss in a Perfect Market
We worked with a vertical SaaS platform targeting operations leaders in mid-sized logistics companies. ICP? Spot on. The product saved 5+ hours per week and cut admin overhead by 30%. Everyone they spoke to should have said yes.
But the pipeline? Crickets.
After reviewing the GTM motion, one thing was clear: they were speaking like software developers, not like logistics operators.
- The homepage talked about “workflow orchestration” and “multi-tenant architecture”
- Cold emails referenced “process automation frameworks”
- Ads ran with the headline “Revolutionize Your Ops Stack”
Here’s the problem: none of their buyers used that language.
What We Changed
We worked with them to reshape the message around what their ICP actually cared about and said themselves:
- New copy: “Track deliveries, drivers, and delays in one simple view.”
- Email subject lines: “Stop chasing spreadsheets”
- CTA: “See how much time your ops team can save this week”
We stripped the jargon. We made it visual. We made it feel immediate. And we made it sound like the buyer, not the vendor.
The result?
- 2x email response rate
- 4x demo conversion rate from paid ads
- Pipeline velocity up 38% in 60 days
How to Know If Messaging Is Your Problem
You don’t need to A/B test every word. But here are three signs it’s your messaging that’s misfiring:
- You’re getting opens, but not clicks or replies.
- Buyers ask: “So what does it actually do?”
- You get compliments on your website… but no conversions.
Fixing It Fast
If you suspect this is happening, don’t rebuild your entire funnel. Start small:
- Interview your best-fit customers (or even lost deals) and capture their exact phrasing
- Rewrite your value prop in their language
- Update your outbound and website headlines to match
Then test it. Message/market resonance happens fast when it’s right.
Closing Thought
A perfect ICP with poor messaging is like aiming at the bullseye—with the safety on.
You might be closer to growth than you think. You just need to sound like the solution your ICP has been waiting for.
Want help fixing your messaging? We help SaaS companies reposition, reword, and relaunch messaging that speaks to the right buyers. Let’s talk.