While Software as a Service (SaaS) has traditionally been used by brands to automate and optimize marketing processes, marketing leaders are reporting that their tech stacks are weighing them down. One report by MarketingProfs found that 52% of sales leaders say their customer relationship management software costs them potential revenue opportunities.
Consultants at McKinsey & Company understand that the way marketers approach their tech stack is shifting. They suggest that marketers must “continually be able to demonstrate the value of marketing.”
How, you might ask? The answer is clear, tangible revenue. Every tech solution must prove its worth. This is where Revenue as a Service (RaaS) comes in.
The history of the tech stack: Software as a Service
Where to begin? Most people think of Salesforce when they think of SaaS. Pioneered in 1999, it was the first of its kind to create customer relationship management software and marketing automation solutions. Soon after, it became ubiquitous as more and more tech companies started popping up to solve marketers’ challenges along with the rise of the internet.
However, in the 24 years—yes, really!—since Salesforce launched, a lot has changed. Technological advancements have moved at lightning speed, and not all SaaS has been able to keep up. In fact, many marketers find themselves weighed down by the software solutions they locked into years ago. Wunderkind research shows that only 9% of company leaders believe that their tech stack greatly enables marketing performance.
Source: CMO State of the Union Report
Richard Jones, Chief Revenue Officer at Wunderkind, recalls that, ‘‘75% of SaaS costs were upfront, then 25% was up for renewal each year. There was really no way out of this first-generation software, as many marketers felt trapped in these payments without knowing if the software was really driving their revenue.”
He makes a good point. How does a marketer know if their tech is actually contributing to revenue? Now, in a time when marketers can’t afford to spend precious dollars that aren’t bringing a return on investment, legacy SaaS brings excess costs without the results. Enter RaaS.
The great supplantation: The birth of Revenue as a Service
The future of MarTech is RaaS—software that guarantees revenue.
Sounds too good to be true, right? Why haven’t retailers been using this all along? The answer is that RaaS is a new technology that allows retailers to unlock revenue through performance marketing.
Jones explains why RaaS is so disruptive to the industry: “In the twenty-odd years I’ve worked in MarTech, we’ve gone through this great transformation in my career with the way technology and services are consumed by customers. It’s almost anarchic how disruptive [RaaS] is.”
Global factors such as the recession, the cost of living crisis, and the war in Ukraine have brought about uncertainty and taken their toll on companies. Marketers are being forced back to the drawing board to evaluate what’s really working and what’s not. Not a dollar can be wasted during these volatile times, so old tech stacks aren’t cutting it anymore.
Brands must optimize their technology, marketing channels, and marketing spend in order to make it through this downturn unscathed. Money in must equal money out.
Out with the old, in with the new: Defining RaaS vs SaaS
So what’s the difference between SaaS and RaaS?
What is SaaS?
SaaS is first-generation, older, and more traditional marketing software, usually accessed through subscription models. Marketers can log into these platforms to view statistics, manage campaigns, and understand their customers.
The benefits of SaaS include that it’s easy to set up and operate, and it gives marketers control over their campaigns. However, many software developers are looking at how they can integrate AI into their legacy SaaS due to performance issues, security concerns, or outdated software solutions.
What is RaaS?
Revenue as a Service is a performance marketing channel that produces the revenue you need in one automated system. It can serve as a one-stop-shop solution that includes everything from an identity network to a robust database, to personalized, automated, one-to-one emails and texts that engage and convert prospects.
The benefits of Revenue as a Service are that you can see exactly how much revenue it’s generating for your company, it acts as a plug-in to your current marketing team’s capabilities, and serves as a performance marketing channel without the rising costs of acquisition and diminishing returns seen across Meta platforms. Plus, it’s scalable. As your business grows, so do your returns.
Jones notes, “The legacy SaaS industry is worth $173 billion annually, so think of all of this revenue locked up in SaaS. RaaS is ready to disrupt the industry, not just offering software as a service, but actual revenue as a return on investment. This is huge news for the industry.”
Disrupt your industry with Revenue as a Service
Wunderkind is known for pioneering the concept of Revenue as a Service, through expertly tailoring, automating, and scaling one-to-one experiences that guarantee revenue for retailers and brands. We help eCommerce marketers acquire new customers at scale and keep them loyal for life. The revenue we’ve driven for our clients speaks for itself.
We do this by using first-party data at scale. Powered by the most advanced identity management and permission technology in the industry, Wunderkind identifies more of your site traffic to unlock a new, scalable revenue channel. Wunderkind isn’t just your software—it’s your revenue. Get an estimate today.