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Really Desperate for some marketing advise...!!

by h4rvans
11 replies
Hi, marketing masters.

background, we developed very good UTM (unified threat management) software using open source and our own code, we installed in two companies and it's running great for last 2 years. We don't know why we could not sale more copies (may be we did not try hard enough). Now after two years I would like to start marketing campaign again (of course we are upgrading software to do so), what would be my best stretegy for mass marketing.

1. let users download software for free and ask them donation if they like it
2. let them use for free for one or two months and than ask little license fee
3. try to sale in first try ?

if I give them as free software, would it be possible that my customer think software is not worth it ? or cheap ?

please advise, I am really desperate to make some $$ out of our hard work.

PS: we are working on making good website and stuff but just want to know best strategy to sale in mass.

Thanks for your time and some real pointers to get it going.
h4rvans
#advise #desperate #marketing
  • Profile picture of the author Rick Johansson
    I would give them a 14-60 day trial to the software so they can try it out (most offer 30 days).

    Rick
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    • Profile picture of the author Tyler Pratt
      Collect an email, send out an ebook that educates them on the software. Once they understand how it works then they will want to buy. You then have a customer for life.
      Signature

      Get the Top 11 Millionaire Tools and 7 Of them are FREE
      >> Yes Get Instant Access <<

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  • Profile picture of the author richjerk321
    If your product is TRULY good, then you will BELIEVE in it 100%. It is this BELIEF that will skyrocket your company and its product.

    I recommend that you go with your gut feeling. Maybe give a 7 day free trial, and then a small fee per month.
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    • Profile picture of the author h4rvans
      Thank you all,
      I will try one by one ideas and see how it goes, first day on the forum and I got good ideas of mass marketing.....I will surely post my success story here. I would love to give a link to my software site, but not having enough postings so I can not post product link here....I will do it after enough postings and than get review about the product from you guys.

      thanks to everyone for ideas.
      Himmat
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  • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
    30 day trial is fine. People just want to see that it works ok. Open source will be a pain in the butt. Opening up your code to the world creates many security vulnerabilities.
    Signature

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  • Profile picture of the author Russ Reynolds
    Before doing any of this you need to be clear in your mind what your Unique Selling Proposition is.

    That is what promise does your product make that no other does on the market? What makes yours unique?

    Once you figure that out and can articulate it, you have something to market.

    Russ
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  • Profile picture of the author optimizer
    Originally Posted by h4rvans View Post

    Hi, marketing masters.

    background, we developed very good UTM (unified threat management) software using open source and our own code, we installed in two companies and it's running great for last 2 years. We don't know why we could not sale more copies (may be we did not try hard enough). Now after two years I would like to start marketing campaign again (of course we are upgrading software to do so), what would be my best stretegy for mass marketing.

    1. let users download software for free and ask them donation if they like it
    2. let them use for free for one or two months and than ask little license fee
    3. try to sale in first try ?

    if I give them as free software, would it be possible that my customer think software is not worth it ? or cheap ?

    please advise, I am really desperate to make some $$ out of our hard work.

    PS: we are working on making good website and stuff but just want to know best strategy to sale in mass.

    Thanks for your time and some real pointers to get it going.
    h4rvans
    Release two versions
    1.Full Version - Paid
    2.Free Version (no time limit to expire) - roughly 30% less features

    Free Version users will evaluate your software and if they find useful they will buy..Forcing them to buy with trialware is not working now or also giving them for free will not make much sense.

    You should try to intensify your marketing campaign via search engine keywords..

    Download.com
    P2P with full version+crack like file name
    Directly from google
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    • Profile picture of the author Adriaan
      Hi h4rvans

      1. Determine who your ideal customer is, and search for them on Google, Twitter and Facebook. Market to them directly via email, even the customer's name, and offer a 10% discount, with video tutorials on how to use the software
      2. Make it a membership site, where people pay you monthly and in return they get a licence for the coming month. On this membership site you could also have a blog and a forum, Q&A section etc. Get people to subscribe to your mailing list.
      3. Visit Giveaway of the Day - free licensed software daily. Today: Wondershare Photo Recovery - Wondershare Photo Recovery is a smart recovery utility used to recover lost and deleted pictures from computer, camera, USB stick, ... and see if you want to take part.
      4. Develop a "mini" version and give it away for free on freeware sites. The people who download it, are really interested in your product, so you should build a mailing list wit their contact details.
      5. Write press releases, one a week, where each release focuses on one of the benefits of your software.
      6. Ask your two current customers to write testimonials for you, that you can use for marketing.
      7. Search for blogs and forums on UTM, join them and take part, have a link in your signature back to your site. I got this on Google South Africa: utm unified threat management forum - Google Search
      Signature

      Get good stuff at adriaanlouw.com. The others do.

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      • Profile picture of the author h4rvans
        Dear Adriaan-

        Thanks for your real in-site on how to sale and market on internet. I think this forum will get me up and running.

        Again, thanks.
        Himmat
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    • Profile picture of the author h4rvans
      Dear Optimizer

      I think I will agree with you guys about getting micro (free version) to give away without any strings attached.

      Getting back to basics to modify our software to create micro version.

      Thanks guys...for such a valuable advise and ideas.
      Himmat
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    h4rvans, when you say you want to reach a mass market, are you talking about consumer software or enterprise-level software?

    It sounds like you've developed something corporations might be interested in, in which case putting it on giveaway sites and such will destroy your credibility at that level.

    Going open source or donation-ware is also going to be hard to generate a return.

    At a corporate level, education plus a timed trial version would seem to be your best bet at making money with your work. Once the trial is over and the product accepted, go with either a monthly or annual license with an upgraded support option available.

    Set your initial pricing based on how your work stacks up against other similar solutions.

    If you want to distribute your software on the consumer level, skip this and go back to what the others have suggested.
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