Software Marketing Glossary
by Al Harberg, the press release guy from DP Directory

on this Glossary page, you'll find these words and phrases

value added reseller, value-based pricing,
VAR - value added reseller, vertical market,
viral conversion rate, viral marketing, virality,
virtual domain, vision, voice

value added reseller value added reseller - Computer professionals who call on local businesses and sell them business-oriented application software. In addition, value added resellers (VARs) sell hardware, peripherals, training, and support. While many VARs are one-person companies, the top 50 US VARs in 2003 each had revenues in excess of one billion US dollars. IBM Global Services topped the list with more than 36 billion in revenues. CMP's magazines "VAR Business" and "Computer Reseller News" are great sources for information about the value-added reseller business. value-based pricing value-based pricing - Basing the price of your software on the value that it brings to your customer. Alternatively, cost-based pricing is based upon adding a markup or profit margin to your estimate of your development and marketing expenses. Value-based pricing is smarter software marketing. Philip Kotler, author of "Kotler on Marketing," talks about designing and delivering customer value. He notes that people will pay more for a brand that they like. You have to differentiate your software, and convince prospects that your brand makes a difference. Don't sell a product, Kotler tells us. Sell a benefit package. And don't emphasize "purchase" value. Don't say how little it costs per day or per month to buy your software. Instead, emphasize "use" value. Talk about how much money - and time - they'll save if you use your application. Always look for additional ways to benefit your software customers. microISVs have a number of strategies that they can follow: Perhaps you can customize their software if they buy a multi-user or site license. Make it more convenient to buy software from you. Increase the speed and quality of your service. Provide software training or consulting at attractive prices. Offer them a guarantee. Provide a "frequent flyer" or member benefits program - perhaps discounts on software upgrades or on other applications that you offer. Bundle your software with something else that your customers will value. No matter what benefit package you design for your software users, describe the price of your software in terms of the value that it brings to your customers. VAR - value added reseller VAR - value added reseller - see "value added reseller" above. vertical market vertical market - From the perspective of a software developer, vertical markets are areas like insurance, banking, and photography. Many developers have found success by creating separate products for these various identifiable groups of consumers. Be sure to send your press releases to the vertical market editors. While sending your news releases to computer editors is the most cost-effective way to market most software, it's also important to reach vertical market editors. For example, If you're selling a business application You want the editors of business, banking, insurance, and financial publications to tell their readers about your program. If you're marketing game or entertainment software Be sure to reach the computer game-playing editors, as well as non-computer editors who reach your target audience - for example, women's interests editors, lifestyle editors, and parenting editors. If you offer a multimedia application Email your press releases to the music, movie, and entertainment editors and bloggers, as well as to the lifestyle editors. Don't send your press releases to editors and publications who are off-platform or off-target. It makes no sense to send a news release about a game to the editors of telecommunications magazines, programming journals, or network administration publications. You don't want to annoy the bloggers and editors. viral conversion rate viral conversion rate - The rate at which people who hear your marketing message take the desired action. The action may be to purchase your application, download a trial version of your software, tell others about your programs, sign up for your newsletter, or subscribe to your blog. See "viral marketing" below. viral marketing viral marketing - Internet marketing that allows new ideas to spread very quickly. Viral marketing is a method of selling products or services that inspires individuals to tell their family, friends, or colleagues about your offerings. Viral marketing is a fancy name for buzz or word-of-mouth advertising. virality virality - The rate at which new customers are attracted to your viral marketing project. Virality is a measurement of how fast your new product or service is catching on with its target market. virtual domain virtual domain - A website domain name that matches your company name, personal name, or product name. A virtual domain name may be some other description that will impress your prospects. When a website visitor sees a non-virtual domain name such as http://your-ISP-name/~users/john/index.html/, they are not impressed by the site's professionalism. Getting a virtual domain name is required for any software developer who wants to look like a serious player in the marketplace. vision vision - The art of seeing things invisible, according to Jonathan Swift. voice voice - See active voice and passive voice. Software Marketing Glossary Quick Links: Lists: computer, business , education, multimedia, game, programming, others Ordering: place an order, prices and time frames, sample news releases, about us Information: free newsletters, press release FAQ, software marketing glossary Copyright © 1997-2011 DP Directory, Inc.

.

.

Glossary Index A - B - C - D - E - F - G H - I - J - K - L - M N - O - P - Q - R - S - T U - V - W - X - Y - Z Table of Contents of the - V - pages: value added reseller value-based pricing VAR - value added reseller vertical market viral conversion rate viral marketing virality virtual domain vision voice Sell more software and SaaS with press releases. The news release that you send to the English-language computer magazines and bloggers has to yell, "English is my first language." The editors and bloggers won't do the work required to fix your grammar, spelling, sense, agreement, or vocabulary. Hire a professional who will write a news release that the editors can use. Learn to make more software sales with Al's free monthly newsletter. In Al Harberg's free monthly Software Marketing Newsletter, you'll read tips about writing newsletters, news releases, and PAD files. Subscribe now to the newsletter, or read more than 100 articles in the newsletter's marketing archive.