According to Investopedia, only 80% of startups survived after one year, with reasons for failure ranging from money running out, being in the wrong market, lack of research, bad partnerships, ineffective marketing, and not being an expert in the industry.  As a counterpoint, they cite activities such as setting goals, accurate research, loving the work, and not quitting as ways a small business can avoid failing.

Is it really that simple?  Maybe not, but here at Cascade Strategies we believe it’s at least reducible to a clear step-by-step process. Here are our ideas — 5 steps on how to market your software company effectively.

1. Identify brand, goals and what makes your company unique

The first step in marketing a software (or company in general) is to determine your strategy by identifying and building around your goals. In addition to generating revenue, are you planning to establish a niche in your market? Is it also in your plans to continually develop your software through organic user feedback? You will also need to come up with a brand that not only aligns with the goals you come up with, but also helps you stand out from the competition. With thousands of software companies in the market, you’ll need to highlight what makes your software unique and what new or different property you bring to the table.  A clear identity not only makes your brand more recognizable, but also makes it more strongly connected to the values you represent, leading to the formation and promotion of your reputation.

2. Identify target audience, especially the decision maker

Part of a marketing strategy is recognizing not only who you should be selling to but also who will most likely convert to a loyal customer. Through demographics, psychographics and segmentation, you’ll be able to form or identify your ideal customer and thus focus your marketing efforts on this particular client type.  However, it works a little differently with Software as a Service (SaaS), since you will often need to appeal to a specific decision maker at a company (i.e., a specific title) who will have the strongest hand in choosing your particular software over competitors.  You can confront this problem by not only flaunting what your software does best but also extolling the benefits it brings to the workplace in terms of productivity and efficiency.

3. Create a strong online presence (website, social media, SEO, email marketing, influencer marketing, video marketing)

As a software company, it’s vital that online marketing be part of your strategy. You can utilize traditional marketing, but online marketing offers more advantages when it comes to product promotion and customer engagement.  For starters, it’s more cost effective and gets faster results.  Webfx.com goes into detail regarding the advantages online or digital marketing possesses over traditional channels here.

Your website will need to be optimized for both SEO (so you rank in search pages) and function (so you effectively represent the quality of your brand).  A slow or glitchy software company website won’t bode well for the performance of the product you’re selling. Keep your websites and social media pages up-to-date and active as much as possible to make them welcoming and inviting for customer interaction and feedback. Try to maintain your online presence on more than one social media page. Teamdeck said it best on the importance of social media: If a company doesn’t exist on social media, it looks suspicious.

Collaborate with influencers with similar values who have a following matching your intended audience. Reputable influencers can greatly help boost product sales and trust by lending their credibility to your offering.  And don’t forget coming up with relevant and appealing videos: the essential message of lengthy prose literature can be delivered just as effectively and in lesser time with a well-made video.

4. Personalize or be relatable (origin story, client success stories, face-to-face meetings, events or interactions, what common problem you want to solve and how your product solves it)

Software companies can run the risk of employing too much technical jargon in their marketing, so why not try the more personable, relatable approach?   Develop a simple but well-written account of how your company started or an entertaining retelling of the original question or dilemma that you sought to resolve through the development of your software.  Even better if this question or dilemma can be framed in a common or everyday situation that most people can relate to.

Client success stories are just as effective as direct customer testimonials might be in similar situations.  Potential customers might be encouraged to use or continue to use your product knowing it can be instrumental in the resolution of the problems they’re facing.  But these are not the only places where you can be relatable. Face-to-face meetings or events to promote your product or engage with your customers can bring your company out of any cold, impersonal impression they might otherwise have.

5. Let prospective clients experience your product (demos, Freemium, free trial/limited time offers)

And to tie into the last point, personal events also present the opportunity for demos. Just imagine all those prospects you can convert by giving them firsthand experience with your product while offering them real-time assistance with any questions or problems they might have. Live demos are one of the best ways to show off what your software does best while forming a connection to a prospective client.  Of course, you’re not only limited to demos, as you can also let customers experience your product with free trial/limited time offers and Freemium subscriptions. The latter allows prospects to enjoy some basic features of your software without the time pressure of the former. This way, they’re able to get a good feel for how they can benefit from your software and perhaps edge closer to a Premium subscription to unlock more features.

Copyright Mohamed_hassan (Pixabay)

These 5 steps should help get you out the door in creating a good marketing strategy for your software company. But as pointed out by feedough.com, once people start using your software, you need to keep them engaged so they renew their subscription and recommend it to others. Maintain the relationships you form with your customers by continually following these outlined steps, making reasonable adjustments every now and then as the market and trends shift.

Some further reading:

https://www.webfx.com/industries/tech/software/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-effective-marketing-strategies-software-companies-shahmeer-khan

https://teamdeck.io/toolbox/marketing-strategy-for-a-software-house-what-should-it-include/

https://www.feedough.com/software-marketing-strategy/

https://blog.tmetric.com/7-marketing-strategies-for-software-development-companies/

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