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You may be an expert at creating software but how much do you know about marketing it? Similarly, you may not be great at creating software but may want to wet your feet in the software marketing domain. The big question is though, how do you go about marketing software?
You are the King of Your Domain
The best chance of you in marketing software to a vast audience is via the use of social media. Social media is the great leveler in the market. It costs little or no money yet ensures access to a market of billions. Consequently, the best opportunity for software to go viral is via social media. However, that is easier said than done.
To succeed in social media marketing you must select the platform or platforms most appropriate to the software you wish to market. Similarly, you must set up a blog or website with quality content so as to get your product in the market as a “must have” product. Content on other blogs helps your SEO and help forge your reputation which is all good for marketing purposes.
Break it Up to Build it Up
Software must be designed in different versions. This is as much a marketing convention as anything else. Different features in each version appeal to a different level of user ensuring that there is an opportunity to catch every potential user from the basic to the enterprise and everyone in between. This maximizes downloads and revenue opportunities.
Also different versions can either be given away as a free trial to induce users or a basic version may even be given away as a free download so as to whet the appetite of users and encourage them to pay up for a more fully featured version.
Get Dynamic
The best form of marketing is word of mouth and that is achieved by having a great product as well as excellent customer service.
Dynamic installers are easy to integrate into software and make the download and upgrade procedure much easier. When clients see that they have not been forgotten once they have downloaded software it leaves a good feeling – and that is good marketing. The better dynamic installers also give access to the cloud with all its inherent benefits, which is an additional marketing benefit.
Two Heads are Better than One
Sometimes you are better off sticking with the experts and piggybacking on their expertise and the market that they have already developed for quick and easy market penetration.
There are a number of companies, many of them software developers themselves, that have developed a market and marketing nice. As they have developed a market for their products they have also created their own communities that are eager to try any new product with which they are associated. Many of these companies work on a revenue share basis, however sometimes it is much better having a smaller share of a much larger cake than 100% of a very small cake. Also, you are absolved of many of the marketing headaches and that is definitely worth something. These companies can often pave the way for other revenue opportunities such as advertising that either you did not think of, or do not have the expertise to pursue and execute.
Software marketing is a specialized field. You can either try to go it alone and negotiate your way around the minefield or enact the help of others at a cost. The decision is wholly yours.
Written by Sharon Robinson on behalf of Somoto, for more information visit one of the Somoto websites.
