Marketing Strategy for Software Companies

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Marketing Strategy for Software Companies

"Marketing for software? No Thanks! I'm tired of wasting money on marketing."

All software sectors are highly competitive. There is a low barrier to market entry for new software vendors. If you are not happy with your current marketing activity and sales pipeline, what are you doing about it?

As the principal of a software company, Managing Director, CEO or Sales Manager, is this you?

"We can't generate enough interest."

"We have great software but our demos are not converting enough customers."

"Our price is questioned because we lack credibility with prospects who have never heard of us before."

"I get asked for marketing tools, brochures and presentations, but nothing seems to help."

"How do I know which marketing strategies and tools will help us close more sales?"

"There has to be a more systematic way we can market our software."

"There are so many new ways to reach buyers these days; should we be using content marketing, social media, blogs, podcasts, sponsorship, PR, video?"

Multi-faceted software sales strategies

When software vendors don't know the answers to these questions, their products may lack sales punch and could risk being invisible. If your direct sales or sales channels and referrals are ineffective, it's time to explore smarter marketing tactics.

Attend any exhibition and you will find aisles of software vendors demonstrating their wares. After you've visited a few stands and watched a few demos, it's often the case that the GUIs, drop down menus, features and functions tend to blur and it's hard to remember one from another.

Can you tell one software product from another?

Go online and explore comparable software and, if you remove the company name and logo, do they look and sound similar or does one stand out from the crowd with messages and materials that speak to your issues?

Software marketing starts with 'what the software can do for you'

Software sells best when the vendor focuses on client relationships and asks NOT 'what can our software do for you?' but 'what can you do with our software?'

Allround Creative software customers benefit from sales-focused strategies

The Allround Creative Agency's software customers have seen up to 100% growth in the past 3 years; for example, Access Recruitment, Document Logistix, MYOB Accounting and Countersoft.
marketing fir software companies

The challenge for software vendors

A strong marketing strategy for software companies isn’t as easy as it is for hardware products. Most software functions in the same way – dropdown menus, clicks, folders – and prospects cannot differentiate.

Software is also notoriously hard to demonstrate. Only the best presenters hold audience interest for long.

Technology marketers have to convey the complexities of their products clearly, while fighting in a saturated software market. To stand out and convince prospects you need to (1) ensure brand marketing strategy is spot on and (2) show you know as much your customer’s businesses as they do.

Key steps for developing an effective marketing strategy for software companies

An effective marketing strategy for software companies requires a multi-platform approach backed by an experienced team that capture attention for your company and products.

Tell your brand’s unique, personal story. Avoid too much technical jargon in communications and personalise marketing communications. Provide evidence of how your software has changed businesses for the better.
Understand who is buying your product. When it comes to software, the buyer journey isn’t always obvious because the user isn’t always the person making purchasing decisions. Create appropriate journeys for different buyer types.