Some Recent Software Marketing Articles

March 31, 2010

Here’s a quick summary of a few recent articles and blog posts worth reading, covering topics from influencing the B2B buy cycle, SaaS sales compensation, and what works in online marketing:

Selling B2B software? Even if you sell to the enterprise, the fact is that B2B purchasers gather a lot of their initial research on potential solutions online. That’s why having an internet marketing strategy (inbound marketing) is so key. Take a look at this recent article on ChiefMarketer.com about “Adjusting to the Web-Influenced Buy Cycle.”

If you’re moving to an enterprise SaaS model, then how to update your sales compensation plan might be on your mind. In that case, this recent blog post by Joel York at Chaotic Flow on “SaaS Sales Compensation Made Easy” may come in handy. Just remember that for SaaS you really need to focus on keeping customer acquisition costs (including costly sales comp) as low as possible – only use direct sales force when you really need it.

You can check out this recent survey by Go-to-Market Strategies on what worked & what didn’t in online marketing in 2009, in their report “Online Marketing Trends: What Worked in 2009 and What to Expect in 2010″. They found the best bets were email marketing and optimized websites, followed by social media tools.

3 Comments | saas, software marketing | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by jlc

How to Make Sense of Web Analytics

November 10, 2009

web analytics, marketing data, charts
If you’re wondering how to make more effective use of web analytics data (aren’t we all?), then this upcoming free webinar looks like it could be a useful one to check out.

Avinash Kaushik is presenting on “Actionable Web Analytics: Five Tips for Insightful Analysis”. In today’s tough economic climate it is not the lack of data on the web that is a problem, it is our ability to make sense of it all that is the challenge. In this deeply practical webinar Avinash shares his favorite tips for taking reams of data from your website and finding the nuggets of actionable insights in it. Bounce rates, segmentation, pan-session behavior analysis, key non-ecommerce success metrics and more strategies will be covered. You’ll walk away knowing how to improve marketing efficiency, drive insights into consumer behavior, and generate greater returns on your online investments.

Avinash Kaushik is the Analytics Evangelist for Google, and has published a couple of books on web analytics. It looks to be a worthwhile webinar, so check it out.

1 Comment | software marketing, technology marketing | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by jlc

What are the Best Digital Marketing Activities for Software Companies?

July 8, 2009

marketing-onlineThe Question of the Week over at Software-Marketing-Advisor.com is about identifying the best digital marketing activities that could be adopted for software enterprises.

It’s a good question, even though a very general one, because there are many web software marketing options available for software companies, and most are very affordable choices especially for smaller software firms and those that sell primarily online.

I also find that many software companies just don’t make the most of their web software marketing efforts. The most important thing to remember is that having a website is no guarantee that your target customers will find you… it is too easy to get lost as just one of the hundreds of millions of sites out there. Your website needs a marketing plan, just as any brick-and-mortar business does too.

First, think about your target customer. Where do they go online to find information about the problem your software product or service is addressing? That is where your digital marketing efforts should focus:

  • the search engines (Google is by far the most important),
  • relevant online forums and blogs,
  • relevant directories,
  • industry websites, etc.

So, getting your website visible in those places is your goal. Make a list of the most important sites where you would like your website to be highlighted.

In general, these are my main recommended areas to focus on for internet marketing of software products and solutions:

  1. SEO – make sure you’re following proper use of keywords, meta tags, and building inbound links to your website.
  2. Blog – you should have a blog on your website that is updated regularly, and participate in other blog discussions and comments.
  3. Participate in forums & discussion groups, including links to your website where appropriate (don’t spam!)
  4. Write articles and publish white papers online
  5. Issue online press releases
  6. Advertising: PPC or online classified advertising relevant to your niche.
  7. Webinars and virtual trade shows
  8. Get listed in directories – both general ones, and online software directories relevant to your niche
  9. Newsletter & email marketing (always opt-in)

You can find more detail in this article on building your web software marketing plan.

Leave a Comment » | marketing strategy, software, software marketing, technology marketing | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by jlc

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.