How to launch new software products

Marketing Articles | April 22, 2009

The real issue is that it doesn't matter how your software is technologically advanced, how many great features it offers and how much it's more usable compared to competitors. Those are necessary conditions, even though if alone they will let you be far away from your software spreading (that is its success).

OK! Everything's fine as far as this stage, or rather bad...

How to launch new software items (maybe with fee!) among a lot of tools, many of them for free, available via web downloading and periodically updated.

Three tricks that must be used as boosts to find the right asset to launch your great software solution:

LAUNCHING SW LIKE a SIMPLE tool

The sw launching is not the end of its development process, but it's just the beginning!
Try to launch your product just with its basic features, the core of your idea to be clear, nothing else... it would be easier to understand its critical factor of success.

You will decide the rest together with its first users, by watching and interacting with them... speaking of first users, don't forget that you are part of them, if you don't use it and you don't think it's necessary and convenient, start to worry about it!

LAUNCHING SW LIKE a WEB-BASED tool

Forget about launching a SW for desktop, with no ASP (application service provider) version, you should better think about a web tool and then (if it's necessary) to a desktop version. It will straight allow you to be compatible with all software (Win, Mac, Linux... etc.).

There won't be any kind of sw to download, any installation to do, but it will allow you to monitor closely your tool employment by its first users, through a simple statistics sw (such as google analytics) getting a lot of suggestions about how and where to improve.

Moreover almost all (Google, Adobe...etc) are going to crank out systems able to remove the last barrier in order to use just systems completely online: access with no connection...

LAUNCHING SW LIKE an ADD-ON tool

The problem is always the same: reaching the critical mass. No customers, no breaks even, no investments for the up-dates.

Ok! Here's a trick: try to integrate yourself IMMEDIATELY with popular tools (www.salesforce.com, www.37signals.com, etc...), they have always API libraries available for the interface, and they are absolutely interested in giving you visibility if you support them (because they can extend their solutions to new functionalities), but they have above all thousands customers looking forward originality.

Some examples: - as examples of access with no connection give a glance to Google Calendar with off-line access or to the new Adobe Air platform.

- A couple of weeks ago I meant to buy a new cardio-GPS for my running training and I chose the Garmin Forerunner 405,not just for its characteristics, but above all because it was compatible with MAC (I use just Apple!) thanks to the fantastic Garmin Connect sw web-based.

- I tested and sometimes purchased a lot of new tools as ADD-ON to
items I was already using. It has been straight the Apple strategy with
iTunes Apps Store that I cannot help quoting it.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Simone Lovati
Marketing consultant, Managing director and co-founder of ADVBOUCLE & PARTNERS Marketing consultants