How to properly market and sell software products
Many big enterprises, especially the startups, start off with the belief that if they develop a software and release it into the market, it will be instantly accepted by people. However, the reality is painful, and you cannot make a success of your product if you do not market it correctly.
This is probably because the tendency is to focus too much on refining the product and not fully on what the customers want. But you cannot blame the developers because they have been dedicating their life and energy into refining the seed of an idea into a full-fledged product by building the features of the product, designing a perfect UX going through the testing phase, and indulging in other demanding tasks, normally associated with the launch of a product.
Here are a couple of things that you ought to remember when you are in the market, trying to sell your product.
a. It is the people who buy the product, not the market
Market is a general term used for depicting people who buy your product. But it is important to think they are individuals and have their own particular tastes and likes that you have to consider.
b. Sell values, not features
It is important to build value into your product rather than having too many features that people can hardly use. If you are looking to crush competition, try the “feature war”, and incorporate all the missing, but useful features, and that will surely get people interested.
Here are some simple tips on how you can sell your product in the market without any issues:
Focus on buyers who will accept your solution
The market is full of people, the right buyers if you know how to search for them. Rather than spending time and effort convincing people who are not willing to believe what you sell, focus on people who are already searching for a solution. So before getting out into the market, do proper research on people who would be needing your product, and will be willing to buy. You can also create useful and educational content that would help the users through your product and even aid them in their decision making journey.
Submit your product to software download sites and directories
Collect information on all the prominent download sites and directories and submit your software by following their submission guidelines. You will need to create a good PAD (Portable Application Description) file to help with the submission part. Monitor the people that visit these sites, and check how many of them get converted. Invest time on people who you believe will turn into customers. There is another main advantage to submitting software to download sites. You get more backlinks and increased link popularity, leading to awareness among your target segment, and eventually enhanced page ranking for your website and a better search engine position.
Pay per click campaigns
One of the ways to attract people to your website is by the intelligent use of keywords. You can use these keywords to have a successful pay per click campaign, and to place your ad at the top of the page. You can make use of Yahoo! Search and Google AdWords to use the keywords related to the product that you are selling and place advertisements at the top of these pages. When people click on the ads and go to the concerned download page to download your app, the campaign becomes a success.
Online and offline newsletters/press releases
The best way to get in touch with your clients and prospects is through newsletters and press releases. Whenever you have a new product on the spring board, make sure you get the word across to them through the right channels. You might need to ask permission to contact your affiliates and prospects each time you are releasing something, and if you have set a frequency for contacting them, then respect them. After all, you don’t want them to feel irritated or bored. Similarly, you can go the classical route and publish information about software release on paper newsletters and software magazines. But time it correctly, and in the right frequencies, so people can actually get useful information about it.
Active participation in online forums and blogs
Getting yourself involved in all the major online forums and blogs because that’s where your target audience will hang out. In some forums, explicit advertising of your products are not allowed, but there are places where you can explain the benefits of your product and get the word across. Present relevant information in professional manner so it would be interesting to the people participating in the forum. You can publish your website’s address, PAD and product name so more people get to know about it.
Content creation
There are several online publications where you can spread word about your software release. Make sure the social media is also abuzz with information about your software and its many features. Make sure you follow the rules of the game while creating content – like having catchy headlines, creating quality content, using all the relevant keywords and so on. You are creating content so you can market your software, but make sure it isn’t patronizing or self-promoting. Add information about your website, so people with genuine interest will drop in to know more. Hence, creating the right teaser is so important. And while creating content it is worth mentioning here that you have to do put in enticing offers and promotions that will people find useful. People get frustrated with companies that come up with offers for which they have no real use. Having a personalized marketing strategy always helps because that would help you focus on what is more engaging to the audience.
Conclusion
The successful marketing of your software is a well planned combination of the above mentioned strategies. Use the right judgment to decide on the best strategy for marketing your software. Remember, when you have a quality product in hand, the right strategy can get you to places.
More Information’s Regarding Marketing
Flickr.com / Moses Wreh
About the author: Reema works as Thought Leader at PHPBabu.
