Technology Options for Online Software Demos

In-House Demos
There is a lot of debate internally and with customers as to the best technology to use to host software demos. Most companies have switched to a Virtual Machine system for internal demos as they are easy to carry around on laptops and simple to reset and update. VMware still seems to be the most popular with their Workstation product or in some cases the free player. We are seeing more customers using Microsoft Virtual PC. These demos work well until you want to let the prospect use the demo themselves, then you have to mail DVDs or USB hard drives with the virtual machines or they have to download gigabytes of Virtual Machine – not to mention the grey areas around licensing of operating systems for demo use in Virtual Machines.

Online Demos
Online demos are the solution that most ISVs are looking at or already use whether an internally built system or one hosted by Runaware.
There are two main ways to deliver these hosted systems; the first is really a hosted extension of the Virtual Machines carried on laptops that I talked about above, the second is to host the applications in a Citrix XenApp / Microsoft Terminal Server Environment.

Virtual Machine Hosted Demos
Virtual Machines, hosted on servers, using the server versions of the virtualization software (Hyper-V from Microsoft , ESX or Virtual Server from VMware and XenServer from Citrix) is the quickest and easiest way to do it.
These virtualization technologies all make it easy to put a demo up on your servers, connection into the demo can be with one of a few screen scraping technologies and data reset is as simple as reverting back to an instance / snapshot of the virtual machine. Obviously it gets more complicated if you want to add lead capture, tutorials, sample data provisioning and have multiple virtual machines the user needs to interact with, but a really straight forward demo isn’t too difficult.
The fun starts though when you want to get users to go through the process of registering, convincing them to install a plug-in and getting the performance of the system up to scratch over the internet (no small task). Drop off rates at each of these stages can be scary and have a negative effect overall – it’s possible a bad or badly setup demo could be worse than none at all and this is the area that most of our customers who have tried to do this in house of struggled with.

Citrix XenApp / Microsoft Terminal Server
This is our preferred core technology. For customers who don’t need to give users administrative level access or whose applications don’t give access to system level services (network and system management applications and security software often fall in these categories), this is the solution we use. There is a lot more work involved in configuring the environment as the reset isn’t as simple as reverting to a saves state in a virtual machine, but with the tool set we have developed over the last 6 or so years, it’s not as hard as it was.
Installing most applications into a Citrix / Terminal Server environment isn’t that hard, but understanding how the applications work, where they store all their settings and data can be. Once you know where it all goes, there are many challenges to resetting them after each user and to isolating each user so the demo experience is never tainted.
Although the work effort in this platform is much more in setup, the dividends in scalability and performance are significant. Often we can get 10 or 20 times more users on a server than we could if each user had their own virtual machine and the performance is better.
I’ll talk more about the different virtualization technologies and how we handle different challenges some of the more complex applications pose in a later blog…

Using PPC customer profiling in your online marketing to increase leads and sales

One of our strategic partners, magnify360, recently had a case study published about some amazing success they had with a client of theirs, Continental Warranty.  Continental sells after-market auto warranties so this isn't a software company - but I think software marketing professionals can learn some good lessons and expect some very similar results.

Continental used magnify360 to optimize the landing pages they send their PPC traffic to create customer profiles that speak to different user types and to increase conversion rates.  They started with 700 web leads per week from 20,000 key words.  Magnify360 used about 30 data points collected without the user even knowing - browser type, time of day, operating system, etc to create profiles for different users.  Even as the prospect responds to questions the microsite changes to fit the visitor - matching content with the visitor's profile and needs.

The end result of this customization and testing is that Continental increased their lead volume by 90% in four months and created an additional $1.5 million in annual revenue.  That's amazing!  If we could all increase our lead volume and revenue by these rates, I think we would be in heaven.

I highly encourage all software marketers to look at the magnify360 Continental Warranty case study to read more of the details.  The lesson I've learned by listening to presentations by magnify360 is to start small - create a handful of profiles for your audience - such as new customers, upgraders, competitive users - and build from there.  Even just conducting minor A/B testing like changing colors, copy, question order will give you insight as to what works for different profiles.

As marketers look to both drive more traffic online and to squeeze more value out of the visitors they do have - customer profiling is the next logical step.  I recommend that all software marketing professionals take a look at their qualification processes and see where they could incorporate customer profiling.

Integrate Web 2.0 into Your Marketing Strategy

Simple but not effortless: Unlike popular belief, Web 2.0 marketing needs continuous energy and creativity to remain ahead of competitors and keep your audience engaged. The content on your website needs to be continuously maintained and updated to make it interesting for the target market. Sufficient time to run multiple projects needs to be scheduled. Long term strategic planning is ideal in such a situation.

Captivating content: Adding fresh and captivating content should be the priority as news becomes outdated very fast. In such a scenario, experimenting with podcasts, news about upcoming events as well as unusual background information can be helpful. If your company is an authority in your market or industry, create articles and white papers to add valuable and educational content.

Be ready to handle criticism: Negative reports about your business are common occurrence. The method in which you deal with criticism plays an important role in proving your strengths under demanding situations. In many cases, if handled well, negative comments can be turned into positives – especially if you respond quickly.

Remain involved: By enabling a buyer to interact with your business, Web 2.0 marketing acts as a two-way street. Participation is facilitated by the inclusion of wikis, videocasts, social networking and blogs on your website. You also need to participate in other online communities that are equally active.

Web 2.0 technologies and communities are still maturing, but it’s been proven that this is a major movement in today’s world and one marketers should take note of. Welcome to the new world of marketing with Web 2.0!

Online Marketing Summit Atlanta - The educational conference that can benefit software marketers

Last week I attended the Online Marketing Summit Regional Tour in Atlanta.  I first attended OMS in February of this year at the annual main event in San Diego.  The San Diego event was a 3 day conference with presentations from professionals and experts on specific topics related to online marketing - SEM, SEO, email, social media, etc.   The Atlanta conference (and the summer tour) is a slimmed down version of the main conference but is no less valuable.

OMS is put on by a marketing company called Business Online, but  this is "not your daddy's conferece" as Aaron Kahlow, Founder of OMS says at the beginning of every conference.  There are no sales pitches, and attendees are encouraged to boo speakers if they start promoting themselves or their companies too much.  OMS has done a great job gathering experts from all aspects of marketing to teach us marketers how best to leverage online venues for marketing and also discuss whats next for us to look forward to.

The Atlanta conference was packed with over 300 attendees.  Most of the sessions had standing room only.  Sessions included Complete Website Strategy (Usability), Search Engine Marketing, Behavioral Targeting, Email Marketing, Social Media and a lot more!  It's impossible to make it to all the sessions, so I recommend bringing along at least one other person from your marketing department and splitting up!  The best presentations in my view were the Behavioral Targeting session done by Olivier Chaine at magnify360 and Social Media Strategies by Barry Tallis at Jive Software.

At the end of the day there is always a Keynote Panel, where we get to ask industry experts whatever we want about online marketing.  This conference had a panel comprising such people as Lesli Smith, Interactive Marketing Manager from IBM and Joe Pulizzi, CEO of Junta42.  These panelists are engaging and provided valuable feedback from the questions asked.

All day we are encouraged to network and meet other marketers - the backgrounds are diverse! I love to bounce ideas off my fellow attendees and also learn about their challenges.  It gives me some perspective.

If you are looking for an educational conference, I recommend putting OMS on your calendar.  The summer tour is almost over, but the main conference comes around again in February.  I know I am going to try my best to be there.  In the 6 months since my first OMS conference, we have implemented many of the lessons and tactics learned and seen a tremendous increase in our marketing quality and effectiveness.

Check out http://www.onlinemarketingsummit.com for more information.  OMS has a Facebook group and a blog with contributors from all over the marketing world at http://blog.onlinemarketingconnect.com/.

Trying to navigate the Web 2.0 movement?

Web 2.0 and is having a bigger effect on 21st-century businesses than many could have imagined. Some have found the principles life-altering; others still think it’s a lot of hype. Whichever team you are on, you can't ignore the fact that business is changing online. Traditional marketing is having less of an effect even for b-to-b marketers and many have turned to web 2.0 technologies to increase marketing effectiveness.

It helps to have an idea of how Web 2.0 principles actually impact online businesses right now so you know how to address and communicate with your customers and how to direct your approach to incorporating these new online principles.

For this reason, I've found 5 targeted categories that managers should consider now to keep in step with Web 2.0 changes.

1. Strategy
Review your online strategy
Many companies dismiss a top-down review as difficult, costly and time-consuming. It can be just as costly as having a web site with a diminishing revenue track as it is to review your online strategy. I'm not saying go back to the drawing board and start over. What I do recommend is take to look at your web site and see whether the strategy matches what you are trying to achieve now.

2. Target Markets
Narrow and multiply your target markets even more
Narrowing target markets and customizing sales packages are the only way to ensure continued growth. Users of Web 2.0 will expect more personalized sales packages and targeted content. Spend time developing personas that really reflect the customers you are selling to. Narrowly defined demographics and psychographics are a must.

3. Content Substance
Examine your online content like a direct marketer
Start thinking like a direct marketing copywriter. Web sites are full of boring, distant content that no one wants to read; generally, dull web text is surrounded by good-looking graphics that are there to "add interest," but no value. The text amount increases, and the revenues continue to decrease.

Get a professional copywriter to re-do your content so that it has significance and impact. This is typically an area where managers fail to spend any money. In-house staffers with no copywriting experience generally get the assignment, and it can show.

4. Customer Relationships
Cultivate your customer relationship with a detailed sales process
This means crafting a sales process that is unique to your company and can't be copied by competitors but still is easily understood by all.

Businesses need to sit down with the marketing and sales teams and create a process that steadily brings the customer into the fold and develops a relationship with your company that your competitors won't have. Normally, your competitors will dismiss this process as not worth the effort, so you will be rewarded.

An online lead followed up with a phone call just isn't enough anymore. Start with a monthly newsletter or case study to gather an opt-in email address. Invite the customer to a webinar. Ask for opinions, etc. Build a dialog using a relationship process with your prospects/customers by engaging them with service and advice-oriented blogs, podcasts, webinars and video.

5. Product/Services
Consider how to make your products or services more social points of interest
Social networking is NOW and you should not or will not be able to ignore it. From the small town dot.com entrepreneur to the big boys at corporations like Microsoft, businesses are looking to create their own online community and following through social networking sites.

Begin thinking about how you can offer your support to your customers online. Offering advice or useful tips regarding your products or services is usually a great place to start. Let your customers know that your company cares about what their needs are. Creating a forum where you can openly respond to customers and at the same time encourage customer interaction with each other can perpetuate a loyal consumer base and indirectly present new business services and/or product ideas.

Welcome to the Software Marketing & Tech Blog

And.... we're off! Our inaugural post!

I wanted to welcome our future readers and explain why we started the Software Marketing & Technology Blog in the first place.

If you are a marketing professional in the software industry, you know that there are unique challenges that we are faced with - whether your company sells software to consumers or businesses.  There doesn't seem to be many, if any places for software marketers to gather and converse about the issues we face and new and innovative ways to overcome them.

As social media and Web 2.0 has become more popular, at Runaware we have been trying to figure out how to get involved, how to create a community out of the specialized marketers we work with every day.  Since we work with marketers in the software industry and help them find ways of improving their marketing as new tools like online demos, technologies like customer profiling and tactics such as integrated marketing come into play, we realized we are in a unique position to learn, evolve and apply this knowledge.

Having worked with some of the best marketers in the industry, and learning as much from them as we have provided, Runaware felt that a great forum for sharing and discussing this knowledge and these ideas would be through our new blog.

We plan to continually post new information, tips, tactics, events and always the lessons we have learned so that you can also learn something to take back to your company and get involved in the discussion - engage members of the industry and at Runaware to help you!

Runaware itself is constantly evolving - our core business has been and will continue to be providing the best online demos possible, but we've grown into more than that - we are a marketing services company dedicated to helping our clients improve all aspects of their marketing.

We hope that you find this blog useful and are compelled to contribute through comments about our posts.