Tag Archives: Software Marketing

Anticipation

Anticipation builds customer loyalty.

A few weeks back, I had a few “wow” experiences that demonstrated the power of anticipation. No matter that they were almost mundane: each experience improved my perception of the brand/company, service or location. And they offer great lessons for solution marketers.

Anticipated receipt

After filling up with gas at the nearby Hess Gas Station, I saw that the gas pump’s receipt printer was out of paper – which is a nuisance. But when I walked into the store to pick up a receipt, the cashier already had my receipt ready – before I could utter a single word. Wow! I’d say that I was actually more impressed with her anticipating my receipt needs than I would have been had the printer actually had paper. I’ve been filling up at this station because they had competitive gas prices. Now I’ll do it because they have great service as well. Continue reading →

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Filed under Case Studies, Software marketing, Solution, Solutions, User research

Tagged as anticipation, Case Studies, ConstantcContact, Customer needs, Customer research, FirstBest, Hess, Software Marketing, Solution Marketing, Solutions

Building Your Solution Marketing Strategy

By Steve Robins

Where Are You in the Solution Marketing Lifecycle?

The obvious part of solution marketing is what gets delivered at the end of the process in the go-to-market phase – materials, web content and more. But the heavy lifting begins well before. Following are highlights of the key phases required to build and implement a successful solution marketing strategy. Continue reading →

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Filed under ProductCamp, ProductCamp Boston, Solution Marketing, Solution Marketing Strategy, Solutions

Tagged as Building a Solution Marketing Strategy, Software Marketing, Solution Marketing

BMW Makes Joy. And You?

– By Steve Robins

Does Your Company Make and Sell a Solution? Or a Product?

Rather than focusing on feeds and speeds, competitive comparisons, or sexy features, BMW’s Joy campaign focuses on the benefit that the entire automotive solution provides to BMW drivers: Joy.

“We realized a long time ago that what you make people feel is as important as what you make, and at BMW we don’t just makes cars, we make joy.”

— BMWUSA.com

Continue reading →

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Filed under Case Studies, Message, Solution

Tagged as Auto, Automotive, BMW, Joy, Message, Microsite, Software Marketing, Solution Marketing, Video

The Second Chasm

– By Steve Robins

Prospects Need to Cross a Chasm Too

If you’re in software marketing, you’re aware of Geoffrey Moore’s book, Crossing the Chasm. The premise of the book, born out at companies like Oracle and Documentum (since acquired by EMC) is that companies must evolve and cross the “chasm” as they move from serving the early adopters to serving the larger and more lucrative early majority. That’s the “first chasm.”

The Second Chasm

But there’s actually a second, less-known chasm that relates to the first. The second chasm is crossed not by your company, but by your prospects. To be successful, your software company needs to help prospects to make that leap too. Failure to do so may prevent your company from crossing the first chasm. Continue reading →

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Filed under Case Studies, Software marketing, Solutions, The Solution Marketing Blog

Tagged as Crossing the Chasm, Geoffrey Moore, Marketing, Software, Software Marketing, Solution Marketing, Solutions

Arrogance Is Not a Solution

– By Steve Robins

Arrogance contributed to Apple iPhone antenna woes

Continued from Apple: Honey I Forgot the Customer!

Solutions are driven by user needs. Even innovative new offerings need to be based on the needs and habits of real users. Apple’s iPone 4 debacle, aka “Antennagate”, came about in part because they failed to include actual users in their development cycle.