How to Validate Your SaaS Idea Before Spending on Marketing

You start running ads, posting on LinkedIn, maybe even investing in SEO. But there’s one question you might have forgotten to ask.

Does anyone actually want what you’ve built?

Here’s the thing. Just because you think your product solves a problem doesn’t mean your potential customers see it the same way. And spending more money on marketing won’t necessarily fix that.

Before you spend, talk to people

Not your friends. Not your family. People who actually experience the problem you’re trying to solve.

Notice what we’re not asking? Would you use my product?

Because people are generally quite nice. They’ll tell you your idea sounds interesting. They might even say they’d pay for it. But interest isn’t the same as intent to buy.

Look for behaviour, not compliments

Have people actively searched for a solution? Are they paying for an alternative? Have they built complicated workarounds just to deal with the problem?

Those are much stronger signals than someone saying, “That’s a cool idea.”

Next, test your value proposition. Show potential customers a simple prototype or landing page. Can they immediately understand what the product does and why it matters?

And if you’re considering different features or pricing plans, why guess which ones people value? Research their preferences and test real trade-offs.

So, when should you start marketing?

When you have enough evidence that a specific group of people has a meaningful problem, understands your solution, and is willing to take a concrete step towards buying it.

You don’t need perfect certainty. You need a reason to believe you’re solving something worth paying for.

Before asking how to get more customers, ask yourself: have I actually validated why someone would become one?