I wrote previously about how dangerous it is in this day and age for Microsoft Dynamics ISVs to rely exclusively on well-worn marketing techniques–that is, an inclination to stay with the tried-and-true marketing approaches, even when they’ve stopped being very “true.”
Here are four ways to get out of your marketing rut:
1. Test, test, test. Before you dump existing marketing approaches, it’s helpful to know which of your alternatives offer the best chances of improvement on what you’ve been doing. The great thing about online marketing techniques is that you can usually more easily test options than you ever could before. You can test ads, do variations, etc.
2. Don’t be intimidated by new tools. On the Internet, especially, the available marketing tools are expanding at a rapid pace. Just in the social networking realm, it often takes a fair amount of practice to become familiar with the intricacies of the software. And among specialized information resources, there are now tools that can help ISVs collect data that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. For example, tools at virtual conferences enable exhibitors to automatically gather the names of every visitor to their booths, and to record chats and other interactions.
3. Become more agile and flexible. Sometimes, marketing team members differ in their marketing outlooks. One person favors focusing on their company web site and search-engine-optimization techniques to build traffic, while another prefers focusing on social networks, and so on. In today’s marketing world, there usually isn’t one “right” answer. Rather, it’s important to get your marketing and sales team thinking differently–being open to testing different approaches and having systems in place to compare results of all approaches.
4. Follow up on the leads you get. The beautiful thing about many of the new marketing techniques is that they identify real sales leads. Just collecting names of individuals who come to your booth at a virtual conference or who read your white papers on a targeted information site isn’t enough. You need to have your sales team organized to quickly capitalize on the leads your marketing team has produced, while the leads are most enthusiastic about buying.
In short, marketing opportunities for Dynamics ISVs have expanded significantly in a short time, especially for those marketers attuned to a rapidly developing new landscape.
