Marketing plan for an IT company

Promotion and sale of IT-products requires a well-thought marketing plan, connected with the overall strategy of the company. The number of alternative, including free, versions of the software, the long transaction cycle, the easy copying of ideas – all this makes it difficult to win the market.

Marketing and promotion are corporate communication strategies aimed at increasing sales, creating a positive perception of the brand. Information technology is difficult to promote and advertise. If you don’t worry about what principles a device works on or what language an application is written in, focusing on the convenience and comfort it brings to life, it becomes much easier to talk to customers.

Marketing for an IT company

Marketing is a set of activities and tools designed to find possible consumers of products and services in order to turn them into real customers. Its task is to bring the product to the market and make a profit from the sale. This will require identifying customers, identifying their needs and ways to meet them, selling them what they need, organizing after-sales service.

In fact, marketing is supposed to connect manufacturers of IT solutions with consumers, solving problems of production, packaging, advertising, promotion, warranty service, etc. in a complex.

To simplify communication with potential buyers, a value proposition is defined – an explanation of the essence of the company and the benefits it brings. To create it, consumers’ tastes are studied in order to produce the products (solutions, services) in which the audience is most interested. If the product closes the customer’s pain, there is a chance to retain it and increase the company’s income.

Marketing strategy determines the mechanism of promotion, communication, business models, market selection, target audience, and pricing. The lack of strategy and tactics makes even a team of super-professionals, who created a unique solution capable of making life easier for hundreds of millions of users, helpless. This results from not knowing where, to whom, and how to market.

Creating a marketing strategy begins with answering two simple questions – where an IT company is now and where it wants to be. To assess effectiveness, you need criteria by which you can determine whether the plan has been implemented and whether the goals have been achieved.

Creating a portrait of the customer and describing the path the customer takes to purchase the product. Contact points of the potential customer and the company (product) are determined:

• what problems are solved in the acquisition;
• how the customer gets the information;
• how he/she chooses;
• how they buy;
• whether they want to buy again, etc.

The study of reliable information about the IT-company and the market. The information obtained in the course of research allows conclusions to be drawn about the strength and weaknesses, development opportunities, and possible external threats. Here the nuances are important:

• the sphere of business;
• list of products;
• market niches;
• the state of the IT market;
• sales volumes;
• reputation, brand awareness;
• the company’s goals for the next few years;
• use of innovation;
• presence of corporate culture;
• threatening market trends, etc.

Analysis of competitors. Knowing their strengths and weaknesses, the study of successful advertising and marketing moves, failures make it easier to determine the tactics of promotion in the market. The following are to be analyzed:

• already occupied niches and market shares;
• similarity of ideas for development and products;
• differences in product, sales and marketing channels;
• how you can get ahead of your competitors;
• what we should learn from them.

When drawing up a marketing plan, it is important to constantly assess how the current state of the IT-company differs from the planned one, in which issues there is progress and where there is a slump. It captures:

• volumes, prospects, market players;
• SWOT-analysis of the company;
• external challenges (economic, political, social, technological);
• target audience;
• competitors.

Based on these data the company’s goals are recorded and positioning is performed. It is necessary to make a statement in the market, so as to separate oneself from competitors, to have one’s own face. Positioning should be obvious at any touch of the client, reflected in corporate culture, associated with the IT-brand.

Having completed the analysis of the current situation, having a clear positioning, you can develop a marketing plan. It should reflect the channels and tools, timing and budget needed to achieve the company’s goals.

Evaluation of effectiveness of achieving a position of the marketing plan is based on control points and metrics, which are used to determine coverage of the target audience, growth of loyalty, recognition of the company, traffic, leads. By evaluating the actual and planned indicators, adjustments are made to the overall strategy, if this is required to achieve the goal.

Promotion for an IT company

When it is necessary to create a positive reputation, to raise awareness of the services and products offered by an IT company, to increase the demand for the goods and their sales, promotion is required.

To achieve the goal, the company creates an image and a brand and launches advertising campaigns, informing customers about the properties and features of the offered products. SERM is involved in the process, aimed at creating a good reputation and eliminating negativity. As a result, a positive opinion of the company and its product is formed in society.

Promotion is part of an overall marketing plan to conquer the market, with a description of the channels and tools.

The website is the alpha and omega of promotion, the place where traffic from all channels converges and visitors are converted into customers. Minimalist and visual information allows for faster sales of complex products.

The site accommodates:

• A clear description of the product;
• social proof of the company’s importance;
• tariffs;
• guarantees;
• useful content;
• contacts;
• call to action.

SEO – promotion in search engines, improving the ranking of the web page, generating the maximum number of leads. SEO promotion is designed for long-term results and includes:

• definition of goals, KPIs;
• the collection of semantics, queries;
• content marketing planning;
• link profile;
• technical optimization;
• performance evaluation.

Contextual advertising based on user search queries helps to get high positions in search results in the shortest possible time. It is based on the user’s interest in a particular IT product, solution or service, and works only with target users. To launch an advertising campaign you need:

• creatives;
• keywords;
• a large budget.

Targeted advertising used in social networks is designed for people with certain characteristics and is shown regardless of their search queries. It takes into account:

• demographics;
• geolocation;
• economic situation;
• area of employment;
• level of education;
• interests, lifestyle.

SMM is necessary to attract customers from social networks, increasing brand awareness, creating a positive reputation. It includes:

• creating a visual range and tone of communication;
• maintaining accounts, groups;
• setting up targeting;
• work with opinion leaders;
• seeding in thematic groups;
• communication with subscribers.
• affiliate networks.

Direct marketing works with customers directly, offering business software, for example, over the phone, through personal discounts and direct sales, organizing mailings to the base via:

• sms;
• email;
• messengers;
• push notifications.

Offline and online events to familiarize potential customers with IT solutions and products, to increase expertise. Most often this is done in the format of:

• conferences;
• seminars;
• webinars;
• mitaps.

PR, media presence:

• create a positive image of the company and its products;
• explain the purpose of IT solutions and services;
• breed loyal customers;
• attract an audience.

Unlike advertising, which forms the need to buy, PR creates an attitude towards the brand, working in the long term and increasing the value of the product in the eyes of the end consumer. The effectiveness of PR is evaluated by the growth of brand traffic, requires significant investment.

CPA-networks offer the product of the companies, working as intermediaries. Affiliate marketing is convenient due to:

• fixed payments;
• high conversion with the right choice of partner and targeting.

The main advertising platform for IT companies and products is the Internet. If advertising, despite the complexity and niche specifics, is clear, creative, competently targeted, based on rational arguments, meeting the needs of potential customers – the company has all chances to succeed.