on

The How, What and Why of Creating Digital Marketing Strategies for Technology-Driven Companies

by Nehal Nagesh Boloor | Sep 23, 2021 | Blog, Digital marketing, SaaS Blog

The digital age with it brings merry tidings for technology-driven companies. The advent of the internet has brought to most organizations a way to connect with their customers on an omnipotent and ever-present platform. And as someone who head’s sales for a digital marketing company that is currently busy trying to shape bits and pieces of the internet to its client’s needs, it is my solemn duty to help as many people as possible to learn about how they can use the viles of the digital world to their advantage. In this article, I walk you past the how, what and why of creating marketing strategies for Technology driven companies. So put your light sabres and coding glasses away and put your thinking hats on.

How to Create Digital Marketing Strategies for Technology-driven Companies?

I think it’s only right that we start with the How. Almost all important discoveries and improvements were triggered by this question “How can we make this easier or better?”. And for us to know what kind of marketing strategies might work best for your SAAS or software development company it is absolutely essential to know how to come up with an ideal marketing plan for your team to follow. Below I have put down key pointers which will help you understand the steps we need to take before we chalk out a marketing approach.

Know Your Business Goals

Even before you can plan on spending a single cent on marketing, it is absolutely essential for you to know the goals towards which you are working. Each business is different and so is the audience that they cater to. The objective of a product based B2C company is very different from a B2B company that is working in the SAAS space. Understand what is a priority for you. Here are a few examples for you. Our goal is to-

increase our Revenue by ___ Percentage by 2022
Improve Employee Retention by ____ percentage by 2022
To make sure our visibility increases by ____ Percentage by 2022
To drum ___ Percentage of revenue from existing customers by 2022.

Each of these goals will lead you down a different path. Also, make sure that your business goals are SMART.

Specific – state clearly what you want to achieve
Measurable – set tangible measures so you can measure your results
Achievable – set objectives that are within your capacity and budget
Relevant – set objectives that will help you improve particular aspects of your business
Time-bound – set objectives you can achieve within the time you need them

State Your Marketing Goals

It is important for a company to understand how their marketing goals co-relate to the business goals that they have set. These marketing objectives that you have in place will spearhead all activities that you would have planned. It is always best to split your marketing objectives between long term and short term goals. I have put down below a couple of examples for your perusal

Short Term Goals:

Increase app downloads to ___ by 2022
Increase the number of leads too _____ by 2022

Long Term Goals:
Increase organic searches to ____ by 2022
Increase number of website visits by 2022

Research your Market and Profile your Potential Customers:

To have a great marketing model it is important that you get this part right. Understanding your market and who your potential customers are would help you decide on what type of marketing communication would work best for them. And the more specific your communication is the better the quality of the people you can connect with.

Now there are multiple ways of going about this, but the easiest way is to first understand what kind of a segment you want to cater to and then build a buyer’s persona for your ideal customers. At the same time, it is essential for you to list out the different kinds of products that would entice different customer bases. The products can be further classified into easy-to-buy products, primary products, and high value products. Also, if you are looking for a format for a buyer’s persona, we have you covered. You can find the same here.

Profile your Competitors

To make sure that you are able to leave a dent in the market, it is very important to learn from your competitors. Be it a differentiating factor or how price competitive you need to be. There is always something you can learn from the people who are catering to the same audience that you are trying to connect with. Learn about the platforms they are available on and how optimized their website is. All these insights will help you build a better marketing strategy for your company.

Develop your Strategy and Test your Ideas

Now comes the fun part, we get the chance to develop a marketing plan that you think would work best for your business and test it out. Below we will discuss in detail what kind of marketing strategies work best for technology driven businesses.

What Digital Marketing Strategies Work best for Technology Driven Companies

Marketing strategies are subjective and developing an effective plan takes time but it’s always best if you know what your long term and short term approaches are. In this part of the blog we will break down your plan so that you can clearly understand what kind of efforts drive what kind of results.

Short Term Approaches:

Here our primary focus is to get immediate results. These approaches are more aligned towards helping drive traffic to the website or your social media accounts using paid mediums. These activities will help us drum up attention quickly but will not be very effective in the long run. Below I have given a few examples of methodologies we can use to connect with our audiences.

Social Media Ads

Running ads on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn is definitely the way to go when it comes to connecting with your audience in the digital world. These avenues not only give us the opportunity to show a particular creative to an audience but they also help us understand who are the people that are interacting with our content. This also further helps us by giving us an option to remarket to people who are interested in our services or have visited our website, which in turn leads to better quantity and quality of leads.

Google Ads

Google Ads are a great way to connect with a high intent audience that is looking for your products or services. Running ads for specific keywords is a great way to drive a lot of paid traffic on to your website, where you can further convert them into leads. There are multiple other ways of using Google Ads like the Google Display Network which is an exceptional tool for remarketing.

Content Syndication and Third Party Content Network Ads

Content Syndication is a great way to connect with industry experts and create viable backlinks for your website. Your content has the power to influence people. It would be a crime to limit this content to channels that are only owned by you. Have constant outreach with the shakers and movers in the industry. Use this outreach to get your blogs on as many websites as possible.

Another thing to remember is that the world doesn’t end with Facebook, Google or LinkedIn; there are multiple third party websites that will help you promote your content to a specific audience. These websites specialize in specific niches and have spent years building specific audience bases.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is a key method of capitalizing on the platforms and audience bases built up by others. If you have a blogger who already has a grasp of the segment that you are trying to target then incentivize them to divert more traffic to you by using Affiliate Marketing.

Long Term Approaches:

When it comes to digital marketing for Technology Driven Companies, long term approaches are the real money makers. This is where you will be able to use content to your advantage to create multiple channels for lead generation. Here, more than anywhere else it is important to clearly understand what your niche is and to start creating content along similar lines. This will not only provide value to your audience but will also help you in increasing your organic ranking.

Search Engine Optimization

Speaking of organic ranking of your website, one of the best ways to improve it is to deep dive into the expanse of SEO. For search engine optimization to be effective we need to understand that work needs to be put into both the on-page and off-page part of it. Backlinks can only get you so far. Good content with high keyword density and great value is what your customers are looking for.

Content Marketing

Content Marketing sets the base to all your marketing activities. The strategy here is to align the needs, desires and problems of your customers to the content that you are creating. It is also important to remember that content marketing is not specific to blogs but it’s also about video content and even a podcast for that matter. The objective is in lay terms to get your material to every possible channel that your audience is on.

Social Media Management

Social Media is a very important tool for SAAS companies. This is because it caters to 2 segments. One is to a customer that is evaluating you and the other is to potential talent that is looking to work with you. An active and engaging social media page will not only increase closing rate by helping with credibility but it will also help in improving company culture and getting in the right people. One thing you do need to keep in mind is to understand which platform may work best for you.

Why Digital Marketing Strategies Work best for Technology-Driven Companies

The question “why” is always the deal closer. It is completely true here too. Why use digital marketing for your Tech company? The simple answer is that it works. There are proven case studies with facts and figures that say just that. But if you want me to summarize the reasons in a neat little bullet point format then you will find the same below.

It’s a scalable marketing method
It is ROI Driven and tracking of spends is very tangible
Targeting can be super specific to your niche. So only the people relevant to you will be your audience.
And it helps in building trust and credibility.
It drives results and helps you nurture people who are not just yet ready to buy

So there you have it, the how, what and why of digital marketing for Technology-driven companies. If you would have any questions or If you would just want to chat with us about digital marketing in general. Then feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]

Digital Marketing for Technology Companies: 5 Top Tactics That Really Work!

by Aravinda S Shetty | Sep 13, 2021 | Blog, Digital marketing

Technology is the great growling engine of change, and it’s everywhere. The companies that make and roll out tech-based products and software into the market — the IT companies and businesses offering Software as a Services (SaaS) — need to build brand awareness and make themselves stand out. Because tech shoppers spend 74% of their time researching online versus 26% offline. It is key to make their customers — existing or potential — realize the real value they provide. Marketing for enterprise technology and software companies has changed over the years — and it now leverages the power of digital!

You’re probably here because you’re wondering how to market your software product. While digital marketing for technology companies brings plenty of scope for improving brand visibility and ensuring your services can be easily found through search — there is increased competition for attention on digital channels, and also the growing need to reach the right decision-makers on the right channels. You may be following the best marketing strategies for IT companies, but you will need some digital marketing tactics that will produce real results more easily. So, what are they? Let’s find out 5 of them that actually work!

Consolidate Your Content Experience

To start with, no matter what types of content you produce, centralize the experiences. Individual pieces of content — such as blogs, e-mailers, social media posts — should be personalized for your audience and the channel. But they should all come together in one centralized digital experience that’s connected to your brand. This will help them remember your brand.
Even before you start with your marketing, having a detailed brand manual and abiding by it for your content creation can help. You can also have a “Resources” page on your website to drive visitors into one experience, while still being able to find the information that’s most useful or relevant to them.

Create Original & Engaging Video Content

Decision-makers may not have the time to go through a product datasheet, but they could surely have the time to watch an engaging video of two or three minutes, about a product or solution that might interest them or offer their business some value. If you want to introduce your solution or talk about the benefits of your product, use original, high-quality video content as a marketing tactic. Make a video about how your company started. Or what made you develop a specific feature. Or how your product solves a common customer problem. Promoting video content on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, or even just featuring it on a website can work wonders while marketing for SaaS startups.

Storytelling is key — while using a video to market your solution, you need to focus on telling a compelling story. Marketing in the B2B enterprise space doesn’t mean you should restrict yourself to technical and jargon-filled videos. While your technology solution or product might be robust or complex, the video shouldn’t be! It can be fun and easy to understand. Engaging videos that can inform, educate and entertain at the same time are the ones that capture the most attention and brand recall. As for the product specifics, don’t go too overboard with them in the video either, leave some suspense for other content offers as well as your sales calls and meetings!

Utilize Client Testimonials

If your clients are your unpaid endorsers, that’s the best endorsement you could get! Request them for testimonials. Client testimonials serve as a reliable endorsement and are considered as a peer-to-peer endorsement by your potential customers. They make your target customer think that if your solution worked for another company just like theirs, it will work for them too. That’s how they get interested in your product, and that’s what takes them up the conversion ladder faster.
You could have client testimonial quotes on the Home Page of your website, or on the Landing Page dedicated to a product. You could also turn client testimonials into powerful videos where the clients themselves talk about your solution. Walk the viewers through how your solution helped a specific customer get from point A to point B, what pain points it solved along the way, and how.

Give Your Audience Real Value

Any killer strategy of digital marketing for IT companies or any great marketing strategies for technology companies fall flat if your audience is not getting any value from your marketing materials! By using various methods without providing them with real value, you may be able to reach them but may not be able to convert them. They won’t be led to the next stage of the buyer’s journey. They won’t hit that ‘Sign up’ or ‘Buy now’ button, they won’t ‘Swipe up’ or ‘Subscribe’, and they won’t download your brochure or datasheet.

“But what do you mean by ‘real value’?” On the surface, it is a good brand impression — which is important. On a deeper level, it is you being a trusted source of information and a subject matter expert in your domain. This is what gives you a good brand impression in the first place.

If the information and content you put out through your marketing efforts are valuable to your audience, and if you are giving out some of your coveted secrets because they can help your audience — your audience is more likely to further engage with you. Your brand name and product will pop up in their head when they want to solve a particular business problem or meet a relevant need the next time. Your website will be where they go to seek answers. Your sales representative is whom they will reach out to when they have queries. When they trust you, they will move to the next stage of the conversion process with confidence in you. And that’s a win for you!

Remarket to Existing Customers

Unless you’re entirely new in the market, you are bound to have some existing customers. How about increasing revenue through marketing efforts that are targeted to your current customers? You will most likely have a database with some required details about them, and you can build campaigns and systems that enable you to retain these customers along with upselling and cross-selling your products, services, solutions and features to them.

Customer remarketing also makes you stay top-of-mind with them and this also increases their brand recall and retention. Moreover, as they’ve already done business with you earlier, they will be more likely to trust you again if you’ve provided them with value the last time. You can also run remarketing ads via platforms like Google or Facebook for those who have visited your website to know more about you or your clients. This can also push people towards conversion and bring you more sales.

Some Frequently Asked Questions:

Q. How do you digitally market a software product?

A. To start with, have proper and well-planned digital marketing strategies in place and follow some tactics that work. Create a comprehensive knowledge base to support your customers with your content offers. Also, consider offering free demos or free trial versions of the product.

Q. How do software companies get clients?

The first step is to identify a specific niche to target and have a content marketing strategy. The content you promote should be targeted to a particular audience and provide them with real value — to convert them into clients. Establish yourself as a subject matter expert and reliable resource for information to gain your potential clients’ trust. Getting referrals from previous clients is also a good way of getting new clients.

Q. How do I market my software house?

Invest in getting a dynamic, fast-loading and mobile responsive website design. Implement Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your content offers and opt for Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising to generate leads. Social media marketing is also a great way of marketing your software house or company to increase brand visibility.

The competition in the B2B Tech industry is fierce. So take advantage of what the online world and the social media platforms have to offer. You may find an untapped source of clients looking for your services. No matter how new or old, big or small your company is, you can outrun your competitors with the right approach to digital media. And if you’re an IT company or a SaaS company looking to buff up your marketing strategies and tactics to make more profits, reach out to Alter Marketing Solutions at 099864 60086 or email us at [email protected].