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DP Directory, Inc.
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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
Whether you're writing a product description for your web site, or a press release about the latest version of your software, your sales message will be more effective if you put the most important information at the top of your sales pitch. When people visit your web site, the first thing that they should read is a clear description of the major benefit of your best-selling application. The second thing that they should read is why - in concrete, understandable terms - your software is different from and better than your competitors' programs. The words on your web site build the structure that readers need. It's their knowledge of the uniqueness of your application that will keep them interested enough to continue reading. - Don't present web site visitors with some fuzzy information about how your company is dedicated to providing business and home users with friendly software applications. Don't welcome them to your web site, or tell them about your mission statement. Instead, tell them immediately how your software can help them save time, save money, or make their lives better. - Don't make people search for price and platform information. While they're skimming the page to answer the questions "How much does this cost?" and "Will it run on my computer?", they're not reading your sales presentation. By giving them price and platform information immediately, you'll have a much easier time keeping their attention on how your application will benefit them. - Write in English. Unless you're offering programmers' tools, don't talk about targets, grids, radio dials, or other geeky things. Your press release must be structured even more carefully. The editors aren't surfing the web or goofing off on their hobbies. Reading your press release is part of their job. If you respect their time, they'll respect your press release. When an editor reads your press release, the first sentence should tell them the name of your product, the name of your company, the platform that your application requires, and a brief description of the major features and benefits. The second sentence should tell them why the editors' readers need to know about your program. Your program is different from the other applications out there, and this is where you tell the editors that yours is more powerful, less expensive, easier to use, or whatever it is that makes your app more attractive. - Don't tell editors that you've released a new application, that you're excited about it, and that you believe that their readers will be excited, too. Get immediately to the point. - Include a one-word platform description in the first sentence (for example, Windows). Give them the details at the end of the press release (for example, 95/98/Me/NT4/2000/XP/2003). - Write in English. The editors don't have time to rewrite your press release. Use common words to form simple, declarative sentences. If English isn't your first language, find a native English-speaking person, and ask them to ensure that your writing rolls off the American tongue. Make it easy for editors to cut and paste your information into their New Product Announcement columns. It's possible to write a truly awful description of your software that would earn you an "A" from your high school English teacher. While these descriptions of your software may get you good grades in academia, they might be totally ineffective as web site sales copy, or as press release text. By following the basic rules, you can sell more software. It's not about creating marketing hype that tricks prospects and editors into caring about your software. It's about understanding your target audience, and presenting your software in the most appealing way possible.
If you'd prefer to read an HTML version of this newsletter, please visit http://www.dpdirectory.com/3news029.htm If you're looking for ways to sell more software, my first 28 newsletters contain wall-to-wall marketing ideas. You'll find all 28 back-issues on http://www.dpdirectory.com/3newsltr.htm Subscribing to this newsletter is the only way to make sure you'll receive every issue. To subscribe, send me a note - al@dpdirectory.com. If you have software developer friends who would benefit from reading this newsletter, please tell them about it. Thank you!
Consider for a moment that one driver in five has held a meeting in their car. According to Office Solutions magazine, the International Carwash Association reported that 20 percent of car owners have held meetings in their car. Nineteen percent of automobile owners and leasers have relaxed on the roof of their car. I'm not sure if I was more surprised by the number of in-car and on-car get-togethers, or by the fact that there actually is an International Carwash Association. After doing a little research, I found that consumers spend more than $22.2 billion (US) each year to have their cars professionally cleaned. The estimated 75,000 carwashes in the US and Canada employ 625,000 people. The annual Car Care World Expo attracts 10,000 car cleaning professionals. What does any of this have to do with developing Windows popup blockers? When choosing the next application that you want to develop and market, don't just look at what's popular on CNET and Tucows. The world is full of un- and under-serviced industries that are crying out for automation. Talk to professionals and tradespeople, and find out how their lives could be easier and more productive. Define a software niche, and dominate it. What looks like a tiny marketplace might actually be a multi-billion dollar industry that needs computer help. It might not be practical to become the leading developer for people who spend leisure time on the roofs of their cars. But you don't have to create another me-too Windows utility. There are thousands of problems that are waiting for computer solutions. Find some fresh soil to till, and you can reap huge rewards.
If you enjoy reading this newsletter, you'll want to read the Educational Software Cooperative's (ESC's) blog on http://educationalsoftware.blogspot.com/. You don't have to sell educational software to get a lot of great marketing ideas from ESC's blog - ideas that you can use in your software business. Here's a revised version of a posting that I made when the ESC blog began last November; it's typical of the blog entries that you can read every week: When selling educational software - or any software - into the home, be sure that your sales message is targeted at all of the important decision-makers. In Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel's "Essentials of Marketing 2", the authors describe five family decision-makers: (1) Initiators suggest or plant the seeds for the purchase process - usually the child or parent who will see the immediate benefit (for example, playing a neat computer game) or the long-term benefit (for example, giving their kids an advantage in school and in life). (2) Influencers are family members whose opinions are varied (perhaps the teenager who can tell whether your software runs on the family's computer). (3) Decision-makers make the actual buying decision (usually, this would be the parent whose name is on the credit card). (4) Purchasers are the people who will take the time to go through the order process. (5) Consumers are the actual software users. Your sales message has to catch the attention, develop the interest, and close the sale with the entire audience. When selling educational software into the school, there are multiple decision-makers, too: Teachers, administrators, and support staff all have a say in what site licenses are purchased. Similarly, when offering business software, you have to sell to the end user, convince the support staff that your applications are solid and stable, and make the accountants comfortable with your pricing and payment terms. It's complicated. That's one reason software marketing is such fun. The other reason, of course, is that if you do it well, the financial results can be very rewarding.
PR is UP, Ads are Down
The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR by Al Ries and Laura Ries (published by HarperBusiness) The Big Picture - Al Ries is one of the world's most respected marketing strategists. He coauthored the best-selling book "Positioning" as well as several volumes of Immutable Laws of marketing and branding. Public Relations (PR) has credibility. Advertising doesn't. In the past, companies relied on advertising to tell their target audience about new products and services. More and more, these advertising campaigns fail because advertising lacks credibility. Advertising is the noise of a company tooting its own horn. By contrast, PR lets the news media tell your story. By sending press releases to magazine and newspaper editors, and having your story printed by the experts who work for these publications, your story gains credibility with your prospects. Don't limit yourself to the traditional press. The authors report, "When Tony Soprano told his psychiatrist, on the HBO series The Sopranos, that he liked Sun Tzu's The Art of War, the book jumped to No. 6 on USA Today's best-seller list. The publisher had to print another 25,000 copies of the twenty-four-hundred-year-old book." In the world of software, you have to get the attention of bloggers and newsletter publishers, too. Be careful of software portals. While there are some high-traffic software portals that could attract serious software buyers, many portals are run by kids who are looking for free copies of your software, or by bulk emailers who harvest and sell email addresses. What it Means for Software Developers - This book is not particularly about the software industry. You have to translate their principles into your day-to-day business practices. The authors believe that advertising can be used effectively to defend your brand. But ads won't let you build your brand. You need third-party endorsements to effectively launch a new application. Public relations is not without its flaws: When you send press releases, you can't control the content or the timing of your message. In addition to contrasting the effectiveness of advertising and PR, the book also deals with choosing product and company names, line extensions, creating new product categories, doing brand maintenance, and dozens of other marketing topics. The Bottom Line - Many consumers find out what software is best by asking what other people are using. They pay attention to what they read in magazines and newspapers, and they listen to what their friends and colleagues tell them. People know that if newspaper and magazine editors devote valuable space to a product, it must be special. Advertising lacks credibility. You have to create buzz in the press to get noticed. The authors believe that advertising no longer gets the job done. Instead, use PR to engage your prospects emotionally and intellectually, and let them understand how your product will make their lives better. This 300-page book is an easy read, and full of useful information about launching new products. 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. Please add al@dpdirectory.com to your anti-spam filter's friends-list. 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/.
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