|
||
|
|
DP Directory, Inc.
|
|
|
|
Subscribe Now to Al Harberg's Software Marketing Newsletter, the best way for software developers to get free, usable marketing information. We'll never use your email address for anything besides sending you this twice-monthly newsletter.
It's All About Marketing
Is it cost-effective for a software developer to rent a well-targeted opt-in email list of end-users, and email a sales message to the people on the list? While I don't know the answer, I have done some research. Here are some facts and opinions that will be useful when you decide if opt-in email lists should be part of your sales plan. Worldata, one of the premier mailing list compilers, had a full-page, four-color ad in the October 6, 2003 issue of DM News Magazine. According to DM News' published advertising and circulation information, Worldata paid $8,305(US) to tell 50,300 DM News subscribers why they should rent Ziff Davis' subscriber mailing lists. You can rent PC Magazine's 1,891,262 postal addresses for $170/M (per thousand), or their 348,287 email addresses for $200/M for a single use. Ziff Davis' eWeek's 700,353 postal mail subscribers are available for $250/M, and their 260,265 email addresses are yours for a one-use rental of $300/M. You can also rent lists from Interactive Week, CIO Insight, Baseline, Computer Gaming World, Xbox Nation, and seven other Ziff Davis computer publications. To my surprise, Jay Schwedelson, a vice president of Worldata, is quoted in an article in the same issue of the magazine, saying that the rate-card prices are "extremely negotiable". Business-to-business (BTB) lists that rent for $200/M to $400/M can be had for $100 to $250, and business-to-consumer e-lists are available at even deeper discounts. The money that you pay for a list rental is split among the list owner, the list manager, and the list broker. Because the list broker makes only a fraction of the rental price, you will have difficulty finding anybody who will rent you fewer than 5,000 names. Many lists have much higher minimum-quantity requirements. Another piece of advice from Mr. Schwedelson: Nearly a third of consumers change their email addresses each year. When you rent an email list, be sure that you're only paying for the actual names that are delivered. Before renting an opt-in email list, find out if the people on the list really know that they've opted in. If they have technically and legally opted in, but they don't know this in their heads or in their hearts, some people on the list are going to report your email as spam. You could spend days defending yourself from an accusation of spam, and getting your ISP and web host to restore your accounts. Many of the computer-related opt-in lists come from magazine subscribers in general, and "controlled circulation" magazine subscribers in particular. Controlled circulation magazines are free publications. To get a free subscription, you have to answer a questionnaire that proves that you're a qualified member of the trade. As part of the qualification for subscriptions to these free trade magazines, subscribers have to give contact information, and permission for the magazines to share their names. Some of the magazines are very honest about asking for permission to postal-mail and email infomation to their subscribers. Some magazines aren't. Last summer, I studied the sign-up cards from dozens of computer magazines, and I was amazed by the variety. For example: - e-Pro Magazine is perfectly upfront about their sign-ups. In the same size type as the rest of the form, they ask "Are you interested in receiving occasional mailings about key products and services from IT solution providers? We do the mailings; your e-mail address is not shared with the solution provider." - Electronic Publishing Magazine asks for phone, fax, and email. In the smallest print you can imagine, it says "You may receive renewal reminders via email. If you do not wish to receive other business-related, third party email offers from PennWell, please check here." This option is not just for Electronic Publishing Magazine, but for all PennWell publications - more than 40 of them, according to their web site. - Communications Convergence Magazine, in very readable type, asks you to "Please check the boxes below to let us know the types of information that may be of interest to you and that we may send you via e-mail:" The three choices are renewal forms, product and service offerings from other magazines from the same publisher, and product and service offerings from outside, relevant businesses and organizations. - Digital Imaging Magazine says, in the box where you fill in your name, title, postal address, phone, fax, and email address, "By providing your email address, you may receive annual electronic subscription renewals and industry related information from Cygnus Business Media. If you do not want to receive vital career information from our business partners via email please check here". That surely sounds like an opt-out system to me. - Technology & Learning Magazine has an email address box labelled "information required for processing". There's a yes/no checkbox that asks, "Other than subscription notices, would you like to receive special e-mail promotions for other CMP products?" And they ask, "Do you wish to receive Technology & Learning's FREE E-mail newsletter?" - Contingency Planning & Management Magazine, in small but readable type, asks you to opt-in: "Yes, I would like to receive e-mail from companies supplying business continuity products and services." They print this checkbox and sentence twice on the renewal form. - Network World uses an opt-out checkbox: "We would like to send you periodic information via email on 3rd party networking products/services. Check here if you DO NOT wish to receive this information." I subscribe to more than 150 computer magazines. Some magazines try hard to get you to make an opt-in decision. Some magazines try hard to trick you into opting into their email system. Before renting an opt-in list, find out if the people on the list know that they've solicited emails from software developers like you. Find out how often the list has been rented. If the list is rented several times each week, then the recipients are possibly already tired of receiving solicitations. Find a list that's fresh. Your success in using opt-in email lists will depend upon how clean the list is, how well-targeted it is, how compelling your offer is, how powerful your email subject line is, and how well you've written your presentation. It depends upon how popular your software category is, how many people's computers can run your program, and how strong your competition is. It depends upon whether your software is in a growing industry segment, or one that is in decline. It depends on whether your brand is the market leader, an also-ran, or a relatively unknown product. It depends if you use the opt-in emailing to generate sales, create downloads, or drive people to your web site. The bottom line: It costs a bunch. There are risks that you could be accused of spamming. And it's complicated. Marketing usually is complicated. If you get it right, though, the rewards can be outstanding. That's why marketing is so important to your business.
The two best times of the day to send press releases to the editors are: (1) Overnight. Many editors are "morning people". They come to work, clean their inboxes, and want to begin the day by identifying hot new software applications. Like yours. If you believe that editors are morning people, then make sure your press release is in the editors' inboxes when they come to work. (2) During the day. Wait until the editors have come to work, emptied their inboxes, and had a cup of caffeine. While most people ask me to email their press releases during the afternoon (east coast US time - GMT-5), more and more developers want their press releases sent overnight or over the weekend. I'm happy to send them any mid-day or evening.
(1) Add my email address to your anti-spam filter's whitelist, so my newsletters will always arrive. (2) Forward this newsletter to your friends and colleagues who market software. (3) Write yourself a note so that the next time you send a newsletter to your customers, you ask them to add your email address to their whitelist, and send your newsletter to their friends.
Sins that only Marketers Could Make
Ten Deadly Marketing Sins Signs and Solutions by Philip Kotler (published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) The Big Picture - Kotler believes that traditional marketing no longer works, and that new products, and the companies that produce them, are failing at a very high rate. Most products are commoditized, and are almost impossible to distinguish from their competitors. Kotler identifies problems that are destroying companies: Firms aren't market-focused or customer-driven. They don't keep track of their competitors, customers, or stakeholders. They're not planning, not looking for new opportunities, and not keeping their own sales and marketing processes under control. What it Means for Software Developers - Many of Kotler's marketing sins are running rampant in the software development community: - Developers need to determine why sales are soft. Is it because the economy is soft? Has there been a shift in expectations by the software-buying public? Are your competitors offering better software? Is your pricing out of kilter with buyers' expectations? - Developers could do a better job of identifying and targeting market segments with their applications. Instead of believing that customers will be attracted to the best products and lowest costs, developers need to find out what customers really want, and target the needs of each market segment. - Developers aren't building bridges with their stakeholders. Download sites and eCommerce companies are seen by some developers as the enemy. Developers could sell a lot more software if they treated vendors in the software industry as colleagues and partners. - Developers need to keep track of the applications that they're offering, and determine which ones are making profits today, and will continue to bring in profits in the future. - Developers need to stop giving away important services for free. - Developers need to cross-sell and up-sell their software. See my March 18, 2004 newsletter - http://www.dpdirectory.com/3news011.htm - for more information on cross-selling, up-selling, after-selling, and just plain selling your software. - Developers need to concentrate on brand-building, and on targeting profits rather than sales or downloads or web site visits. The Bottom Line - The book provides an excellent checklist of all of the marketing tasks that you have to do to sell software successfully. The book is not specifically about selling software, so you'll have to translate everything from general terms to the day-to-day realities of the software industry. It's a quick read, and a good way to ensure that there are no major holes in your marketing plan. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this newsletter, send me a note. I'll remove your name immediately and permanently. To SUBSCRIBE to the email version of this newsletter, send me your name and email address. I'll only use your name and email address for this newsletter. I'll never spam you, or let other people have your name or email address. al@dpdirectory.com To REFER a FRIEND to this newsletter, click your email client's "forward" button. I thank you very much. And your developer friends will thank you, too. To SELL MORE SOFTWARE, bookmark this web site, and visit often. There's a lot of free, useful software marketing information on http://www.dpdirectory.com/.
|
|||||||||||||||||
