It hasn’t exactly been cold per se in D.C. so far, but it seems like a good bet that it’s going to get colder. There’s nothing wrong with things cooling down outside (it’s what makes hot chocolate so absolutely delightful), but if leads are getting cold and your marketing funnel is frozen, it’s time to focus on warming things up.
Here are four ways to stay hot in the software industry (and they aren’t bad ways to fight the ferocious winter cold, either):
1. Use a multi-layered approach.
Making big decisions takes time, so you can’t expect to convert prospects to leads in one fell swoop. Instead, focus on a drip campaign or a similar method for building a prospect’s confidence in your product. Building this confidence takes place over time, but it also takes place across a number of layers that combine to show a complete picture of your company and product. Testimonials from pleased customers show that people like you, appropriate messaging and responsiveness from company representatives shows that you are attentive to the customers needs, and demos and consistency show that your product is reliable.
Combined, all of these layers turn a lukewarm prospect into a hot lead.
2. Start with your head, not your wallet.
Just as wearing a hat is a great start to staying warm (and a wallet is relatively useless), starting with your head is the best route to good marketing. Market research, split testing, satisfaction surveys, and customer input give you data to analyze and something to go on when you make choices. Use data to inform your decisions, and you can figure out the most effective approach or the best touch point to turn up the heat in your marketing campaigns.
3. Cover (or at least consider) everything.
Make sure that, wherever a prospect is in the buying cycle, you’ve got their questions covered with relevant marketing materials. If they don’t see messaging that applies to them, they won’t see your offering as a good match.
Also, remember that you shouldn’t be afraid to cover a greater portion of your target market by trying different channels. You don’t need to try every one of the following, but it’s wise to at least consider social platforms, conferences, email campaigns, pay-per-click, and other avenues for promoting your product. Ignoring a potentially lucrative channel is like not considering pants when you’re getting dressed for the cold. And that’s just silly.
4. Check the weather report.
No one knows what’s going on outside like the weather man! (Or my father who reads meteorology blogs, but that’s neither here nor there). The point is that staying plugged into industry trends and buzz can be a great way to find out what’s working and what isn’t. Seeing what other people are doing can also kick-start your imagination and help you brainstorm your own ideas. Don’t be afraid to tap into different sources for information like community forums, blogs and whitepapers to get different perspectives on what the days ahead might bring.
The above advice will help you keep your product hot in the software market, and will warm up leads to the idea of choosing to work with your company. To stay even warmer outside, try fuzzy socks.