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A growing number of companies use the software-as-a-service model for their technology. Whether aimed at consumers or businesses, SaaS firms are taking over the industry, revolutionizing the way people work.

A study from Cisco estimated that by 2019, more than 86 percent of workloads will be processed by cloud data centers, and 60 percent of these will be SaaS platforms, up from 45 percent in 2014.

It's clear these businesses are the feature of the IT world, but just riding the wave of SaaS doesn't guarantee success. However, there are strategies cloud-based software businesses can use to maximize their growth potential.

Here are a few tips SaaS companies can use to achieve growth:

Qualify leads
Not all subscribers are created equal. After being in business for a while, you may begin to notice you gain more revenue from certain types of companies or consumers. Put this knowledge to good use by using it to target and qualify leads for new businesses. Here are a few different criteria you can use to determine your target audience:

• Demographics: Age and gender and other background information may play a role in how likely a consumer is to use your platform.
• Region: Often, companies find more of their long-term customers come from a specific region, whether that means a country, such as the U.S., or a location within it, like the South.
• Business size and industry: If you offer B2B solutions, you will want to look at the businesses' size as well as what industry they are in. A large manufacturer may be a better fit for your services than a small financial services firm.

Once you have developed a few customer personas from reviewing your current customers, you can use this data to more effectively target new clients.

Dynamic offers
Highlighting your best customers is a useful first step toward the next goal: personalizing offers to unique groups. In this day and age, customers expect an experience geared toward their interests and needs. In fact, it's one of the reasons SaaS platforms have taken off the way they have. According to a study from Adobe, 69 percent of marketers believe to succeed in the future they need to embrace "hyper-personalization," or the ability to provide the right products, services and content at the right time. Cater to this interest by investing in methods to personalize offers to unique Web visitors. Here are a few examples of how to do this:

• Automatically convert currencies when international customers visit a page.
• Display content based on region, so visitors from New York City see articles catered to them.
• Include CTAs catered to specific visitors.

Customers are more likely to be interested in an offer specific to their needs than a general solution, so investing in personalization tools will pay off in the long run.

"Companies need a high-quality subscription billing platform for success."

Multiple subscription billing options
SaaS businesses are also taking advantage of subscription billing platforms to achieve growth and offer flexible options for customers. The "consumerization of the enterprise" has changed the way organizations purchase equipment in numerous ways. Companies can purchase tools by the person rather than implementing a business-wide system. In addition, individual departments can seek software solutions rather than going through a central buying department.

To take advantage of this new environment, companies need to make sure they have an adequate subscription billing platform in place that allows many different payment options, from credit and debit cards to PayPal and other alternative methods.

At the same time, SaaS businesses should be able to change their pricing options to fit the current marketplace. Unique types of buyer groups will be more attracted to specific pricing options. Be sure there is a right solution for every target customer.

SaaS businesses are poised for success, but by implementing a few smart strategies, they are even more likely to take their operations to the next level.