In the 21st century Technology is the most demandable tool in business. As more businesses are coming online they are in need of tools to control their business. But many innovative software companies are failing to rise because they don’t know anything about software company marketing.
Every now and then, more and more software companies are being formed, but only a few are getting traffic and being recognized as a company.
As a software company if you ever feel that you’re not getting enough clients or traffic, then just recheck your marketing strategy. You can’t just open a company and wait for clients to come, you need to build a bridge, and that’s your marketing strategy.
Now let’s take a tour and see how you can design a software company marketing strategy. As examples I will talk about two of my previous clients, Southtech & Brainstation-23.
1. Pinpoint your goals & track goals
Before going all in, ask yourself, what do you want? Where do you want to see your company after 1/5/10 years?
People become successful entrepreneurs because they make short term and long-term goals. Short term goals are like checkpoints; you go through one after another to reach the final line.
“All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.” – Orison Swett Marden
Once you have set your goals, it’s time to track it down. Measure yourself after reaching your goal. Check how easily you did your task or how long it took you to come this far. This will help you to plan a better approach to set up your next marketing goals.
2. Lock on to a target group
In terms of software company marketing target group analysis is the very first thing you need to do. Who is going to buy your product? What’s their age? Where are they from? What do they think? Every small detail matters.
“I think a mistake a lot of people make is to identify a target audience and then work backwards into creating a product for them.” – Ricky Van Veen
You are going to plan your tactics based on your target audience to get more traffic to your website, which will sooner or later convert into customers.
Divide your audience into four groups.
• Geographic (Location, Language)
• Demographic (Age, gender, Income level)
• Psychographic (Personality, Interest, Values, Lifestyle, Beliefs)
• Behavioural (Purchasing Patterns, Loyalty, Usage Rate)
This segmentation will help you to make the right approach for each type of customer.
3. Software Company Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is a great way to start off because it not only advertises your company and its products but also fetches prospects to your website. This strategy gives your customers a reason to visit you, even for once.
3.1 Content marketing
Content marketing is a strategic approach that focuses on creating interactive contents that will attract and retain customers.
“It’s no longer about pitching the Today Show. It’s about creating Content that will attract the Today Show.” – David Meerman Scott
For a software company, content marketing works like a brand experience. The content that you’ll produce will work like an awareness and generator for our customers.
Every day thousands of people search for insights, and if you can put valuable information in your contents, it will work like a hook that will generate thousands of leads. Follow these Content Marketing Strategies to get a better outcome.
Now let’s see what type of content you can use for software company marketing.
3.1.1 Case Studies
Case studies are an excellent way to show your audience what kind of brand you are and which industry you belong to.
In case studies, you must always follow a particular niche so that your case study doesn’t look like a fuzzy content.
Try using case studies of some giant software companies such as Microsoft or Tencent.
Before inputting a case study, follow this structure.
Overview – Objective – Strategy – Method & Execution – Results
Once you start writing a case study, write an overview of the selected brand. Next, identify their objective that they want to achieve. Then give a detailed description of their strategy and how they are executing it. How long did it take, which tools they’ve used, how they’ve approached.
Once this is done, bring in the results and see if the brand was able to achieve its goals or not.
This is how you construct a case study that can make an impact on your audience’s mind.
3.1.2 Blog/Article
Did you know that blogs can help your website to reach higher on the search engine results? 79% of B2B marketers choose Blogs and articles to distribute content.
If your website doesn’t have a blog section, add one today and start adding contents to it.
Before you start adding irrelevant blog’s to your website, let me remind you that those blogs will also attract unwanted customers to your site.
Try to generate contents that are relevant to your business and services. Use keywords to get a better output.
3.1.3 How to guides
As a software company, you’ll provide a variety of products and services. Try making how to do guides for those services so that your customers can know more about your company, products and how they can use it.
People often search the internet for instructions on how they can do this, how they can do that. This is the gap you’ll fulfil with your guides.
Add hyperlinks of your services/products in your contents and drive traffic to your website from your guides.
Check SouthTech for example.
3.1.4 Infographic
Infographic is like a single piece of content where you can visualize a ton of information.
Infographics are best to showcase statistics, process, ranking, results. Use the right colour combination, fonts, icons to make it more attractive.
Using a software’s usability, ability, process and benefits you can easily make an infographic.
Take Fortune’s infographic on Kentico for an example-
Infographic contents can bring a good level of engagement, so try making one right away if you’re looking for a free tool to create infographics try using Canva.
3.1.5 Videos
Video content is a great way for software companies to present their services in front of their audience. Simply show your audience how your softwares work, how big companies are benefiting from them, tips and tricks,
People remember 70% of what they can see and hear, so when a brand posts a video, it reaches most of its audience.
You don’t need to shoot a movie, try to keep it short and simple. Align all your contents in one place, choose the right background music, texts, colours, transitions, and you’re good to go.
3.1.6 Webinars
Webinars are also like video contents, but it happens live. It’s like an online session where you bring in experts of your niche who share their knowledge over a product or service.
Since software companies mostly focus on tools, one can easily arrange webinars such as reviews, how to use, hacks, importance, growth, etc. of those particular tools.
If you bring qualified experts, the webinars will get a large amount of engagement which will turn into leads. Zoom, Steamyard, Facebook Live are some good channels to launch a webinar.
3.2 SEO
When you search for content on Google, there’s a 90% chance that you won’t visit the second page. It’s not just you; most people do the same.
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is responsible for the ranking of the contents that you see on google. If your content doesn’t rank high enough, you won’t get much traffic on your website.
If you want your website to be SEO friendly and want to rank on top, then you need to invest your time on keywords.
Here when I searched for “Software Companies in Bangladesh”, SouthTech came first on the list because their website is SEO Optimized.
Find the right keywords for your website, align them with your contents, optimize your website with keywords and wait to get more traffic. For software company marketing try using tools such as Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, etc.
3.3 Social Media
Social media is an excellent way to get traffic to your website. From small to big, all types of companies now use social media to gain customers for their service.
Posting about your service and sharing your website link on each post will help in driving customers to your site.
3.3.1 Facebook
Do you know that more than 2.36 billion people use Facebook every day, which allows marketers to promote their brand and services on a larger scale?
Facebook is known as the largest social media platform and one of the finest place for software company marketing. A place where everyone connects without any barriers. Which is a plus point for brands.
Companies are using different Facebook Marketing Strategies to interact with their customers and getting organic traffic to their website.
Post your contents, videos, anything you want that goes with your brand.
Utilizing information and posting relevant contents from time to time is a great way to advertise your brand on Facebook.
3.3.2 LinkedIn
LinkedIn is known as a platform for professionals. Everyday LinkedIn is getting more and more users. A place where people talk about companies, strategies, products and experiences.
In terms of software company marketing, LinkedIn is a great place to share contents and strategies. Using hashtags and website links in the caption will help the brand to get more reach. To be more visible try to post one content every day on LinkedIn.
Many small tech companies fail to understand the value of LinkedIn, whereas 93% of B2B marketers say that LinkedIn is THE best place to win leads for its dominant strategies.
3.4 Email Marketing
If you want your customers to know more about your brand and products and up to date services, then start doing email marketing.
Email marketing is an excellent way to let your customers know about your service. Gather all your subscriptions and contacts and put them in the database and whenever you think it’s time to start sending emails.
When a new customer subscribes to you, send them a welcome email. Tell them who you are and what you offer and then after some days start pitching them about your services.
Work on existing customers and prospects both at the same time to get results.
3.5 Marketing Automation
Marketing automation is the bridge of a successful inbound marketing strategy because it nurtures your potential customers all the way.
By setting up a marketing automation tool, it will help you to engage with customers, nurture your prospects and guide them along their journey.
Marketing automation will help you to manage your company’s marketing tasks, from email marketing, lead nurturing to measuring ROI.
Find the right tool for your business and start your automated journey right away.
3.6 Determine your KPI
After you’ve done implementing all those strategies and also automated your tasks with a marketing automation tool, its time to measure your progress.
Did you get enough clicks? Likes? Or views on your website? How many new customers did you gain? Ask yourself questions and see if your expectations were met or not.
If you don’t measure your progress with KPI, you won’t know what you lack.Then all your software company marketing plans will go in vain. So always determine your KPI after you’re done with your tasks.
4. Software Company Outbound Marketing
Outbound marketing is a set of actions that targets a massive number of audience at the same time.
The core benefit of Outbound marketing is that your message will be spread out and reach most of your prospects. That is exactly what you want from your software company marketing.
4.1 Account-Based marketing
ABM is a strategic approach that focuses on getting higher revenues in a small period. It not only aligns the marketing and sales department together but also produces a strategy to turn a prospect into a consumer.
In terms of software company marketing, ABM will help your company to engage your customers earlier, getting the best value from marketing, getting a better hold of your target audience and receiving higher ROI from marketing campaigns.
4.2 List your prospects
After following all those software company inbound marketing strategies, you will have a handful of prospects that are just waiting to be your consumer.
List them out, divide them into different sections by their buying behaviour so you can start a bold approach.
4.3 Outbound sales calls
Once you have the list of prospects now you can start doing outbound sales calls. But what is this?
The outbound sales call is a strategy where you keep a clear idea about your target and then call them to pitch your product trying to convince them to buy your product.
In software company marketing, outbound sales calls are like doing gambling. Just call your potential clients that might be in need of your service.
If you can follow the right structure with the word flows, you can easily make a sale.
4.4 Outbound email marketing
If you have a good number of emails of your prospects, then start sending them emails right away. Send them offers, discounts and coupons. Lure them into your website to make a sale.
4.5 Boosting Social Media
You can’t earn everything for free; sometimes you need to spend money to get what you want.
In social media, you can try all you want, but you can’t reach your goal with the organic approach. So in software company marketing, sometimes boosting is the best option.
4.5.1 Facebook Advertising
Being the largest social media platform, Facebook has given companies many opportunities to promote their products and engage with their audience.
On Facebook, companies mostly want customers to know about them. A place to show everyone that you exist.
So to do Software company marketing in the best way use premium and branded contents that will attract your customers, offer discounts, videos that will show your customers how your services can help them.
Once you’re done making content target the right audience and start advertising. See how impactful your contents are. Measure them and see if people are liking it or not. Take feedback and improve quality.
The cycle will keep ongoing as long as you don’t reach your target.
4.5.2 LinkedIn Lead Generation
LinkedIn is a place where only the brands that can make an impact gets more leads.
Start your journey with LinkedIn by creating your company profile.
Create quality contents, post regularly, use hashtags and links in your caption, and you’re good to go.
Use short videos, infographics, insights to get more attention from your audience. Not just that if your content is qualified enough, you will get noticed by more than your target audience.
So why fall behind? Be a part of LinkedIn Lead Generation.
4.6 Video Advertisement
In 2023, videos are the most impactful content right now. It’s all over the place.
According to CISCO, 80% of people spent their time online watching videos which makes videos the most valuable content on the internet. Brands are now adapting themselves to Video Marketing Strategies.
To do software company marketing you need to have details and quality in your videos. If you already have some video contents ready, you can use these platforms to get the best outcome.
4.6.1 Youtube
Youtube was founded in 2005, and till this day it is the most impactful platform for video content creators. Over time companies started to adapt themselves with the platform as well.
Just like SouthTech, you’ll see thousands of software companies marketing their products on youtube with quality contents.
Start by creating a youtube channel and publishing your videos there. Once that’s done, take your video URL and bring engagements from other platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn by posting your video URL with a catchy caption.
You’ll start getting views from your followers in no time.
4.6 2 Social Media Stories for Software Company marketing
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatsapp, etc. all these platforms have their own story section with a particular name where you can quickly post small videos of 15 to 30 seconds.
Using this feature to advertise your brand is also a great way to reach your customers because if a customer fails to see your post on their feed, they will definitely see your story.
4.7 Pay Per Click Advertising
PPC is the process of advertising your brand on other websites, but every time a prospect clicks your advertisement, you will have to pay for that.
Your prospects are most likely to click on your ad if the ad contains the information they’re looking for. So make sure to do a little research before setting up your ads.
Combine your PPC strategy with inbound marketing to get the best outcome.
4.8 Direct Mail
In direct mail marketing, you tell your audience what you want in a straightforward approach.
You might ask them to subscribe to your website, like your Facebook page, visit your site. Also, you can tell them to buy your product.
For software company marketing use relevant contents along with discounts, and send them to your customers to get more leads.
4.9 SMS Marketing
SMS marketing is a promotional campaign strategy to keep customers informed about seasonal offers, discounts and alerts that might interest them.
This is more like a seasonal strategy that you need to implement based on the situation. No one likes to get texts from brands now and then. But the good thing is, it works.
Customers are more likely to access your website through your text, so choose what to notify.
4.10 Live Seminars
Live seminars will help you to create brand awareness and engagement at the same time in the same room. The session allows you to create a human to human interaction which also helps to build a relationship between a customer and a brand.
Live seminars grab the attention of a vast number of audience, but it will also cost a good amount of money. But trust me, once you measure your ROI after the seminar, you won’t be upset.
4.11 Trade Shows
Trade Shows are another good way to create brand awareness in front of a huge audience, not just that you can also know more about your audience with a closer look at them.
You can try and collect information from your customers to use them for later email marketing or outbound sales calls.
5. Calls to Action
After doing inbound and outbound marketing if you want to take your customers further into the funnel then add Call of action in as many places as possible.
CTA or Call to action is a page where a person needs to take action.
You put CTA on your website, at the end of your blogs, videos or any contents. The interested customers will click that, and it will take them to the registration or subscription menu.
If you don’t put CTA in your content or website then all your software company marketing strategy is worthless because no one is taking the action that will convert them to your consumer.
This is how you get more customers, leading them towards you step by step.
6. Re-targeting
There will be plenty of customers that you’ll reach but won’t be connected. They are your earned leads that are waiting to be your consumers.
Form a re-targeting strategy that will work on your visited customers. Combine your content and email marketing to notify them more about you to make them but a ticket for your bus.
7. Track Your Success
“Measurements that don’t lead to meaningful action aren’t just useless, they’re wasteless” – Jim Clemmer
To make sure your software company marketing strategies are going as planned use a time tracking tool. This will help you to know if you’re failing to meet deadlines.
If you don’t keep track of your work, all your sweat will go down the drain. So keep a record of your working hours, measure your workflows and see where you lack so you can restructure and fix your mistakes.
