Effective Marketing Strategies During Pandemic for Software Companies

Effective Marketing Strategies During Pandemic for Software Companies Times are really tough for the businesses and employers to make best during these Pandemic situations. Especially for a B2B business or software development companies. proceeding with marketing strategies under these uncertain times is highly difficult and challenging. To make your marketing strategies possible, one needs to use creative and useful ways apart from looking just at their profits. Being helpful to your customers will always work. Communicate with your audience and understand their concerns even though it may have nothing to do with your business or product. Try to help them in some way leading to the solution. Make them feel valued. This eventually increases your number of customers incredibly. Focus on making good relations with customers and offer discounts to those who have been suffering the loss in these bad times. Here in this article, few experts recommended significant marketing strategies to be implemented during the Pandemic period. Build relationship with Audience One of the effective marketing strategies is to build the best relationship with your targeted audience, whether you know them or not. Rather than thinking about the profits with business minds, it would be much better if we start thinking like a human. Because remember, every positive action you make will return you with positive results. The Client who had invested his dollars in your side could also have aimed the same and expected the results with fine relationships. Maintain good relation bonds, gain the trust of the clients, treat their requirements as a priority rather than just counting as a number for Leads. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an idea of incorporating the concerns of environmental and social good into the strategies of the corporate sector and take responsibility. To be socially responsible, first, the company should be accountable to itself and then its shareholders. Not just withstanding to financial responsibility, the company has to initiate and implement the CSR strategies as well to promote the social good in the enterprise. It is basically considered as the innovative strategy of large organizations in the world. Because they have grown their businesses to that certain level where they can give back something important to the society, environment, and nature.It indirectly benefits the company as well. Generally, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is classified into four types of strategies: Environmental Conversation Philanthropy Diversity and labor practices volunteerism Though it is difficult to follow in all the sectors still many of the esteemed organizations are doing what they are supposed to do for social good. Read More: Leading Marketing Platforms For Business Source In 2020 By Experts Collaborate with Influencers “Influencer marketing is very effective in promoting software brands online and it is on the rise with more confidence in trusted content, friends, and influencers than advertising. The world has been moving this way for years with people seeking their friends and influencer's opinions and advice online on what to buy, where to go, and what to do more than a paid ad or fancily packaged content. Customers are savvy today they are happy to buy what they want and need but they do not like to be sold things. Curated content and ideas from a trusted source beat paid content every time. Partnering and building relationships with the right influencers with content that is co-created helps brands scale and grow faster and amplify and boost their message. The key is to find appropriate influencers that require a lot of research online and offline. Instead of just focusing on the most popular/branded individual influencers, include internal experts, micro-influencers, niche experts’ prospects, and customers in your influencer marketing mix. Getting multiple perspectives and insights always enriches the discussion and generates more activity online. You want to be someone with a track record of success, stellar reputation, large social media following, who can authentically live your brand values, and who is not overexposed. Once you identify a shortlist of candidates it is best to test them with your target audience to see who is the most credible and in synch with your brand.” - Paige Arnof-Fenn, CEO and Founder at Mavens & Moguls Content Marketing “Content marketing is a great way of speaking to and building up an audience of businesses and decision-makers, who are thinking about engaging a software development firm. The key here is to think about who your target market is, what questions or pain points do they have, and creating content around these subjects. Once you've done that, you can then market the content by sharing on social media platforms, running paid ads, or by building links and following good SEO practice in order to drive traffic to the piece.” - Amit Raj, Founder at Amit Digital Marketing “Interactive content marketing is a different way to market your company. It involves and requires interaction from the audience. You can do this through videos or quizzes. It is fun and you can pass on information about your business through this way of marketing. This is hassle-free. You can even offer them a trial usage of your app which they can then buy.” - Carolyn Cairns, Marketing Manager at Creation BC Podcasting and Streaming audio “I believe one of the most effective new forms of marketing during the pandemic is via podcasting and streaming audio. Podcast listenership has skyrocketed since March. The growing listener base has created new opportunities for B2B companies to affordably target constituents. Here are a few steps B2B organizations can take to create an audio strategy via podcasting: Start small The basic equipment is very low cost (existing laptop and Internet connection) to modest cost (digital microphone and editing software). As you gain comfort and an audience, increase your investment by upgrading your mic, mixer, and editing software, as well as consider a dedicated studio space. Quality is important Even if you start with lower-cost equipment, invest the time and effort to ensure the recording quality is as good as it can be (clear vocals, no background noises, clean editing, etc.) Design matters Create a compelling logo and theme for your podcast and start building that brand. Ideally, create a branded template that can incorporate photos of guests, descriptions, and other visual identifiers that increase recognition and reduce confusion. Market aggressively In terms of promoting the podcast (outside of your own marketing channels and network) the techniques are similar to promoting YouTube video content: Enhance podcasts to rank in affiliated searches Syndicate across podcast channels like iTunes and SoundCloud. Buy targeted advertising on podcast networks, Google and social platforms Market aggressively Ask for feedback, monitor listeners and subscribers, review comments and track ratings. Identify which topics, guests, formats, and lengths perform best and do more of that. Never stop testing and refining.” - Kent Lewis, President & Founder at Anvil Invest in Digital Marketing “Innovate your idea with the current market situations. For example, many businesses were not fully utilizing digital marketing before the pandemic outbreak. I would suggest them to invest in digital marketing (both B2C or B2B vendors) because now is the time when every entity is shifting towards an online solution for everything and you must set foot on digital spaces before your competitors establish their significant presence on them. Digital marketing is quite challenging and will become more competitive with the passage of time, so make SEO, social media and influencer content marketing a significant part of your marketing strategy. First, list target websites and digital spaces where your targeted audience is available and also those where your indirect audience is. Second, start leaving your footprint on all platforms doesn't matter if you're not an influencer there, but it'll be beneficial for your SEO. Then, become an influencer and engage with the audience on social media and other platforms.” - Damien Martin, Marketing executive at Shufti Pro Planning to Hire Custom Software Development Company? Your Search ends here. See here Team Introduction and Present Client Testimony “Everyone can build an app or a website, you just need to show that you have character and that the people building the software are actual people. Show your prospective clients the people who work in your team, what type of work they do and how much they contribute to the overall success of their app. Make the client feel like they’re bringing on a part of their own team and not an external contractor. With everyone cutting development budgets, it’s time to focus on being up close and personal with your clients.” - Jane Kovalkova, CMO at Chanty Encourage Remote hiring & services “The most effective marketing strategy for a software development agency during the coronavirus pandemic is to focus on being affordable and on-demand. Most companies are firing their development teams because having a full-time eveloper onboard costs quite a lot. Instead, focus on offering contract work that costs considerably less than hiring someone in-house and the convenience of being on-demand. Once the pandemic dies down, those same clients will be more likely to increase your hours and bring you on for additional projects. Nowadays, clients are doing only the bare necessities to keep their businesses afloat, but full-time teams are just too expensive. For this reason, market yourself as a cheaper solution with the same reliability.” - Dennis Vu, CEO and Co-founder at Ringblaze Search Engine Optimization “The best strategy for software development agencies, or any small business during the COVID pandemic, is to have a professionally designed, SEO-optimized website, which is also mobile-friendly. Given the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, people are spending more time than ever online. The first impression is imperative, and have a superb website that appears on page one of a Google search is crucial for small businesses during the pandemic.” - Amine Rahal, Founder & CEO at Little Dragon Media Organize Live Events “All the successful companies are using every digital channel to market themselves and focus on attending live events. All of them use live events in branding and awareness, lead generation, customer engagement, and education. The live events are an opportunity to showcase the wow factors of your company or share the history behind yourself and the company. The goal of the event is to spread the word out, so whenever people are looking for solutions, you are on top of their list. For businesses in the more mature stage, you have a lot of things to discuss with your key prospects to drive the majority to your event. At the back, a proper system should be there for collecting contacts, qualifying leads, and setting up follow up sales appointments. Discuss the success of your current customers who used your solutions and pave the paths for potential up-sell opportunities. The live events are a great source of educating people on what challenges businesses are facing in the current market and the right solution for every problem. Please allow them to contact you for the training sessions and follow up with them to keep them on your list forever.” - Gintaras Steponkus, Blogger and Marketing Manager at Solid Guides Empathetic Marketing “This pandemic demands an empathetic marketing strategy for your business. It may include dropping your price, including free consultation services, or even offering your clients customized software creation services precisely according to their needs. Software companies should analyze the pain points of several industries separately and then come up with the solution addressing their needs. Such companies have to lower their profit margins to maintain or increase loyal clients' ratio.”- CJ Xia, VP of Marketing & Sales at Boster Biological Technology Multiple Marketing Trends “The marketing strategy I would recommend for software development agencies during COVID-19 is to minimize or defer all upfront costs and play more of a partner role so that the agency is only successful if the client is successful. The agency might be building something for free and getting a good piece of the upside as opposed to a big upfront cost.” - Jason Davis, CEO at Inspire360 “During this time many businesses' budgets are compact than ever, so it is best for software companies to focus on lead nurturing. One way to do that is by extending free trial offers that allow businesses to get better acquainted with their program and keep the brand at the top of the list once they are ready to convert. If possible, software companies should consider providing additional discounts or running various promotions for conversion incentives. Marketing campaigns should also shift to focus on competitive advantages, like saving money, easier UX, long term savings, etc.” - Manish Dudharejia, Founder & President of E2M Solutions Inc “COVID badly hurt the world of sales and marketing as deal creation rates are still roughly 16% below their pre-COVID rates. Furthermore, conferences were canceled and froze marketing budgets. Fortunately, offline engagement software provides an opportunity to create such interactions in the real world. With email, social media, and paid ad response rates coming in around 1%, there's only so much traction you can get as a software development agency. Leveraging direct mail and gifting in each stage of the sales funnel creates a sense of authenticity that is impossible to accomplish in digital channels. By using direct mail and gifting, we've seen response rates up to 9 times higher and our overall pipeline has doubled. People are tired of seeing the same cookie-cutter email template, no matter how aesthetically pleasing it appears.” - Richie Pusateri, Marketing Associate at Postal “A software company looking to thrive during the pandemic, and beyond, needs to focus on giving away massive value before asking for the sale. What I mean is, truly dig deep on what your target audience needs not what your company desires or thinks is cool in a way they can conveniently use it to better their lives. The way you market this is with a punchy, concise, and benefits-driven video explaining the problem, how your software fixes it, and how it benefits its customer. Then promote this video using Facebook Ads and YouTube Ads to drive traffic to your landing page. Once this is set up, be sure to use a retargeting pixel to advertise a separate and maybe a customer testimonial video to drive warm traffic back to your site for another opportunity to buy. When this is executed, you'll have a flock of new customers lined up.” - Brian Robben, CEO at Robben Media “People are a lot more cautious because of the pandemic which makes them less likely to spend. This should not be the case for marketing though. If you pay to get ads on search engines and websites, you could earn a lot more back than what you put in. Also, try to market for the average person. Try to avoid as much jargon as possible. The average person may feel daunted and unwilling to use your service. This doesn't mean to leave these aspects out however, just to phrase them in such a way that everyone should understand. If you have to use jargon, try to concisely explain what it means. Try to accompany each point with a positive or advantage, so people can see what benefits they would get from using your services. Also, animated ads go a long way as they attract the eye.” - Christopher Prasad, Marketing Manager at JookSMS “I believe that the best marketing is to show off your product to the world, if it's relevant and helps the society, people will see it, back it, and help you develop it. Social media is the perfect example of how to market globally within seconds. All it takes is the right way to send that message on the right platform, for example, Twitter is perfect for short and snappy descriptions of your product, Facebook can be a quick introduction video to what you offer and YouTube can have an in-depth review of what you are developing. It's all there, we just need the right attitude and ideas to implement this further.” - Jase Rodley, Founder & CEO at Jase Rodley “In the age of digital technology and the Coronavirus pandemic, we as marketers should think of innovative marketing strategies that will make our businesses thrive during the present crisis. There are a lot of things you can do to make an innovative change to your marketing strategy. Here are 2 others: Being active on social media pages can help you as software developers design software that is more personalized and targeted to the person buying your product or your service. Brands can reach out to customers to ask for suggestions on how they can improve on the product or the service.” - John Howard, CEO at Coupon Lawn Shareware Software developers should give out free versions of applications initially that they are creating. This gives them a chance to interact with customers and ask for their feedback. Brands can tweak the products or services according to their customer’s preferences. Online Presence

Kapil Panchal

A passionate Technical writer and an SEO freak working as a Content Development Manager at iFour Technolab, USA. With extensive experience in IT, Services, and Product sectors, I relish writing about technology and love sharing exceptional insights on various platforms. I believe in constant learning and am passionate about being better every day.