5 Ways to generate more software leads on the web
Marketing isn’t getting any easier, especially in our highly competitive software and hi-tech market. That’s why I’m writing this blog post to help you find ways to solve your unique software marketing challenges. Let’s start right with the how:
1. Hit Your Prospect’s Biggest Problem
If you want quality, professional copy that gets more software business, you need a copywriter who knows the marketing challenges only software and high tech companies face.
Your copywriter should not just be an order-taker, but an advisor with an outsider’s perspective to your marketing efforts.
Beyond all that, you need a copywriter that can actually write. Sounds obvious, but it’s true. There is some terrible web and other software copy out there, littered with typos making you look unprofessional.
Then there is the copy that doesn’t do anything for anybody. It is full of corporate-speak and doesn’t address a need faced by your prospects or clients. It ends up being all about their business, instead of what their clients would get.
Of course, yet another contributing factor in actually generating more software leads is your choice in software and high tech copywriter. Your marketing writing needs to be written by a copywriter who understands the software and tech sales process. The software and high tech buyer has specific concerns unlike other business buyers.
He needs to address your prospects’ concerns over testing and the roll-out process.
When you talk to your prospects in a way that alleviates their concerns and they know you’re speaking their language, they will want to become clients.
Assuming your online and other software marketing materials are speaking their language, how do you find them?
2. Be Where Your Prospects Are
So your company has jumped into Social Media for part of your marketing plan. What happens next? Ten more up-and coming social media platforms spring up that you have to be on. How complicated right?
Not necessarily. For instance, let’s look at major social media sites:
Are your future clients on Facebook? According to a July 26 report on Mashable, there are reportedly over 955 Million people on Facebook, with 8.7 percent fake or duplicate accounts making up figure. But yes, your customers may be on Facebook in their personal lives.
However, are they actively looking for your software or other high tech products there?
If they are, you of course need to be there. But if nobody in your category is looking to buy on Facebook, don’t waste your valuable social marketing time there.
What about Twitter? Hey, now there’s a good chance your prospects are on Twitter and with Twitter search (search.twitter.com or found inside twitter.com itself) they could be looking for you. You can make connections with people in high tech and find out what people are saying about your company. On top of that, you get massive exposure in real-time while you run webinars. Are you on Twitter, maybe you found this blog post there?
Then there’s Google+. (plus.google.com) Much like anything new to the online social scene people took bets on how long it would last. No matter what people say about it, there is one thing for sure: while Google+ has a definite following among the high tech and software crowd. You need to be on Google+.
The point is to be efficient in being where you’ll actually be found and consistent in your approach. Here is another thing you need to be consistent in:
3. Make Your Competition Irrelevant
That one word would be your USP. Okay, it’s really an acronym for three words. Unique Selling Proposition. What is it that really sets your company completely apart from other software companies? Is it more comprehensive training or unmatched service quality after the sale, and included in the agreement? Do your clients just feel like your company cares about them more than your competitors?
When your company has a defining uniqueness as part of your brand, people will only think to use only your products, making your competitors irrelevant.
4. Make testimonials and case studies prominent on your website
Have you ever been looking around a software company’s website and become interested enough to want to find some information to remove your risk before you buy? Maybe you haven’t consciously. But throughout your travels of their website, you expect to see some testimonials without a click to look for them.
The same goes for Case Studies. They should be found on the first or have a link from every page, so your prospects and customers can learn how your happy customers enjoyed using your solution.
If it’s that hard for a software or IT buyer to find evidence of how happy your customers are with your software, they will go elsewhere for their software.
5. Use a benefit-oriented call to action to spur IT buyers to take action
Unless there is a good reason why somebody has to take action right away, people probably won’t take any. Your marketing copy needs to convey a sense of urgency tied to all those great benefits included in the new version. Beyond a certain date, the price will no longer be an introductory offer, but a higher price.
Then there’s the opportunity to buy the upgrade for a limited time as well. After that date, your customers will need to purchase the next full-version at a higher price.
Which of these five ways does your company use in software and high tech marketing?