A little while ago, I interviewed for a demand generation role with a company called Social News Desk — a SaaS platform that helps organizations manage social media communication at scale.
They’ve built something solid. They serve government agencies, schools, and newsrooms — teams that live in the public eye and can’t afford mistakes when they communicate. Think crisis alerts, emergency updates, or public statements. That kind of customer base requires precision, reliability, and trust.
And they’ve nailed it.
But as I looked deeper into the company, I couldn’t stop thinking about what happens next. Once you’ve built credibility in tough-to-earn sectors, the next growth chapter isn’t just about “more leads.” It’s about identifying the patterns that made your first audience loyal — and finding where those same patterns exist in new industries.
So, after our conversation, I did what I always do when I can see a growth path clearly: I wrote it down. I built a conceptual plan — not as a pitch, but as a reflection of how I think. They ultimately chose another direction, but that doesn’t make the plan less valuable.
It’s a framework I’ve used many times to help companies move from “trusted niche player” to “category leader.” And it’s one worth sharing.
Strengthen the Core Before Expanding
Every company wants to grow fast. But speed without focus is chaos.
The first step in real expansion is reinforcing what already works. For Social News Desk, that means optimizing what’s already built for government, education, and media — but going deeper.
Government agencies respond to risk and compliance. Schools care about communication transparency and community trust. Newsrooms care about immediacy, speed, and control. Each of these segments deserves its own messaging, its own funnel, its own proof stories.
You don’t scale by shouting louder — you scale by talking smarter.
I’d start by creating tailored landing pages and campaigns for each vertical. Rewrite email sequences so each speaks the right language. Highlight outcomes that matter most to that audience — like faster response times for agencies, or time saved for educators managing multiple campuses.
When you segment your story correctly, your conversion rate rises because the message finally feels personal. And when that happens, every marketing dollar you spend multiplies in impact.
(Related reading: ABA Growth Audit Roadmap | Urgent Care Growth Audit Roadmap)
Find the Adjacent Markets with Shared DNA
Once the core is optimized, the next step is identifying who else shares your customer’s pain.
For Social News Desk, the magic isn’t just in social media management — it’s in managing high-stakes communication.
That’s where the real growth lives.
Think about utilities and energy companies during power outages.
Think about airports and metro systems pushing out real-time updates.
Think about franchise brands trying to coordinate hundreds of local social pages.
Think about healthcare systems during public health announcements.
These organizations deal with the same problems: too many channels, too many people touching content, no visibility, and no audit trail.
They’re not looking for another “social media tool.” They’re looking for order in chaos.
If you position the product as a communication reliability platform rather than a “social media manager,” you immediately broaden your reach without diluting your brand. It’s the same product — but the promise gets bigger.
And here’s the important part: none of these moves require huge pivots. They only require a shift in who you’re speaking to, not what you’ve built.
Test Small, Prove Fast
Growth isn’t about guessing. It’s about testing.
The most efficient way to validate new verticals is to run short, controlled experiments — 30-day sprints focused on one audience at a time.
Create one simple landing page, one ad set, and one email follow-up series tailored to that industry. Measure response, lead quality, and conversion interest.
If it works, scale it. If not, kill it fast and move on.
That’s how you discover which audiences are truly ready for your solution. You learn in real time, and the insights pay for themselves.
This approach has saved me months of wasted spend and revealed multimillion-dollar opportunities in places most marketers overlook — because I don’t bet on ideas, I bet on data.
Build a Predictable Growth Engine
Once those early experiments identify new traction points, the next step is creating a repeatable system.
That means aligning inbound and outbound efforts around one unified metric: cost per qualified lead.
It means marketing and sales actually talk — weekly, briefly, and focused on what’s converting, not just what’s coming in.
And it means building a content pipeline that supports every stage of the buyer journey. Awareness for new markets, validation for prospects, and education for users.
Over time, the machine builds itself. Campaigns stop living in silos, and the entire funnel starts behaving like one connected organism.
You can predict your pipeline, forecast revenue, and scale with confidence — because you’ve finally got visibility into what’s driving results, not just impressions.
(You can see how I approach this same structure in Go-to-Market Planning: The Blueprint for Launching (and Actually Scaling) and Demand Generation: Turning Interest Into a Predictable Growth Engine )
Define the Category You Actually Belong To
Every successful SaaS company eventually outgrows the category it started in.
For SND, that shift would be from “social media management” to “communication reliability.”
That’s the real story. They’re not just helping teams post on social media — they’re helping organizations communicate responsibly, securely, and consistently when it matters most.
And that story scales everywhere.
Public agencies. Utilities. Universities. Hospitals. Enterprises.
Any team that says, “We can’t afford to get this wrong.”
That’s a brand position no generic social media tool could ever claim.
And when you start owning that space, demand generation becomes more than marketing. It becomes leadership.
The Real Takeaway
Sometimes a company says no, and it stings for a minute. But the truth is, the opportunity doesn’t disappear just because the role does.
If you see a better way forward for a brand, you write it down. You share it. You keep thinking like the person who’s already inside the building — because that’s exactly how you attract the next door that opens.
That’s what growth is, both for companies and for careers.
You show up, you see the path clearly, and you move first.
Even when you’re not hired yet — you act like the person who would be.
About the Author
Charles Lange is a growth strategist and marketing operator with two decades of experience leading global teams and scaling performance marketing systems across healthcare, SaaS, and e-commerce.
He writes at charleslange.blog about practical growth, data-driven strategy, and building marketing that actually converts — not just reports.
If you’d like to explore how to scale your own vertical SaaS brand beyond its current audience, start with a Growth Audit Roadmap or connect directly on LinkedIn.
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