The *business* of software
Promotion of a software in its pre launch stage
Hi,
How would you all suggest to go about promoting a software when it is still building up...and about to be launched??
How would you all suggest to go about promoting a software when it is still building up...and about to be launched??
Views: 16
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John E. Abram on -
Hi John
If you have chosen to adopt 'Agile development methodology' your team should have already developed strong relationships with your target users. Continued interaction with the users throughout development will have helped validate requirements and gather feedback on key features. This collaboration ensures that the solution being prepared for release and part of a pre-launch activities should not come as a complete surprise to many.
If the team have adopted a more traditional plan-based development methodology, then the importance of the pre-launch activity is high, e.g. making a beta release. In this scenario, I would encourage the team to clearly set out a small list of objectives, which the pre-release shall validate, e.g. "does the new feature XYZ works satisfactory?" It is also important to describe what the pre-release is not cover, e.g, documentation, install scripts etc. Otherwise, the solution may be poorly received by the user base.
Regards
John
www.monetical.com
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Permalink Reply by taylor campbell on -
It's a good idea to start a blog and post relevant articles around the niche your software is targeted toward.
That said, I've found more than once, as a one-man part-time dev, that blogging takes too much time away from development. YMMV, but if forced to do product and marketing in sequence, marketing should come after product.
~ taylor
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Permalink Reply by Rachel Clements on -
Hi John,
It's an interesting question...
I agree with Elian, a CTP is a good idea. Previously we released our software as full retail versions, and they went out with bugs in them. It does not make a good impression on your customers, especially if you are just starting up. Many will be put off and not to return.
Our approach now is to release a beta version with extended demo time (60 days rather than 30). This way, you can create a buzz, get customers downloading it and testing it and fix any show-stopping bugs before releasing your final retail version.
If it's labeled as a beta, customers will expect bugs and won't mind as much as if it is a retail version. If you don't have much of a customer base yet, then a press release could be a good way to generate some publicity for it. You could do a press release to announce your beta is available, then follow up with another release to say the retail version is launched.
Hope this helps!
Rachel :)
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Permalink Reply by John on -
Thank you all. I am sure it will help. I am coming up with an Invoicing and money management software and thus needed suggestions to launch it with a lot of pomp and show. Apart from the existing giants like Freshbooks, K-billing etc, one of my competitors is Invoicera (www.invoicera.com), a similar software in its pre-launch stage.
Since, the launch date of my software is scheduled after Invoicera, I have to aggressively work on its pre-launch marketing and gain more attention.
Surely, the above mentioned suggestions will be of great help. will come back if need more.
Thanks!
Regards
John
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Permalink Reply by Andrey on -
Rachel, where do you post your press release? on your website? anywhere else? I am wondering how to make press release go to many different places to get some buzz. Thanks!
Rachel Clements said:Hi John,
It's an interesting question...
I agree with Elian, a CTP is a good idea. Previously we released our software as full retail versions, and they went out with bugs in them. It does not make a good impression on your customers, especially if you are just starting up. Many will be put off and not to return.
Our approach now is to release a beta version with extended demo time (60 days rather than 30). This way, you can create a buzz, get customers downloading it and testing it and fix any show-stopping bugs before releasing your final retail version.
If it's labeled as a beta, customers will expect bugs and won't mind as much as if it is a retail version. If you don't have much of a customer base yet, then a press release could be a good way to generate some publicity for it. You could do a press release to announce your beta is available, then follow up with another release to say the retail version is launched.
Hope this helps!
Rachel :)
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Permalink Reply by Rachel Clements on
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Hi Andrey,
Gosh, what a question! Last time I did a press release, most my submissions went to trade magazines (print and online). I have a list of targets which covers our niche market.
I am planning a couple more campaigns over the next few months and am considering trying out some of the free press release submission sites, as there are a lot out there. I have no idea if this will bring success or not.
There's a whole list of places on this web page which I am thinking of targeting:
http://www.freepressreleases.co.uk/Products/eBooks/Press_Release_Su...
If you try any of these general PR sites out soon, Andrey, please post back and let me know how you got on and if it generated any buzz for you.
And yes I will put it on my web site too.
Rachel
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Permalink Reply by Julian Reed on
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Hi John
Well John I don't have a specific answer to your question. But all I can say is when any product is in the development stage the best one can do is increase its awareness amongst people. And there is no one way of doing that. Writing Blog, press releases, syndicating articles and social bookmarking are some of the proven activities. This will not only make people aware of your product but also increase traffic on the website. Don't just depend on one activity, it is important to perform all the activities in the right mix. Of course, as lot of people have mentioned CTP release does help a lot...
I have actually come across invoicera at many places. Seems their marketing strategy is very aggressive. One of my friend who is a freelancer has also signed up for the trial version. It was just a piece of information. May be you can also step up your activities and carpet bomb the internet with your product. All the Best...
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Permalink Reply by David Locke on
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When you enter a vertical or horizontal market, there will be lag where you are waiting for uptake. Start marketing as soon as possible. Market your technology once your technology platform is working. Market a product as soon as possible. Market each iteration or release. Market each minimal marketable feature as it becomes available. Get the developers to prototype. Get participants for that prototyping. Get beta testers. You market long before you go to market.
If you got a client to fund your development effort, do a social network map on them, and have them evangelize the application.
Then, you have search engine marketing, press releases, blogs, viral functionality, viral messaging, direct marketing, whitepapers. This list gets endless.
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