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Two licensing models are taking the software industry by storm at present: one is Open Source, the other is SaaS (Software As A Service). From a marketing perspective, both share similar challenges, the most prominent of which is converting users of free software to paying customers. Many commercial open source… Read More
This Webinar invitation from IBrix, a developer of software-based file-serving solutions, arrived in my inbox recently. Alas, it reads more like an abstract for a thesis presentation than a compelling sales event. Here are the all-too-common pitfalls the invitation so painfully illustrates: 1. Don’t place speaker photos and gratuitous clip-art… Read More
Competition in the content syndication marketplace is becoming so fierce that, as a demand generation vehicle, white paper syndication is in danger of becoming a commodity, a program that advertisers evaluate on price alone. If I can buy a lead from this vendor for $40, the argument goes, why would… Read More
A client writes: “I’ve received e-mails in the last month from two vendors (online publishers) offering to post my white papers and other content on their site for free. What’s the catch? I can’t think of a legitimate reason to turn down the offer.” My response: “Have you heard the… Read More
Occasionally a good concept gets lost in the execution. Take this recent e-mail from Symantec as an example. What I like about this campaign, besides the eye-popping color scheme, is the overall concept. Symantec could very easily have prattled on about the merits of their product, but instead they’ve couched… Read More
Excuse me while I rant for a minute, but what is it about buying media that makes it seems so benign? Here’s what I mean: companies spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on media, often with little purpose or strategy behind it, because buying media – and media… Read More
It shouldn’t be easy to pick promotional e-mails out of one’s inbox and recite the litany of ways in which the authors missed the boat. But it is. One reason, I suspect, is that prominent media companies such as IDG, ZDNet, and others have started to provide “turnkey” campaigns to… Read More