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My company sells a software-as-a-service. We're a business-to-business layout. SEO, press releases, Twitter, and Facebook aside, we're looking for other ways to get the word out. We're looking for other advertising means. As we're looking at affiliate marketing, we're told that that tactic doesn't work well for B2B set-ups. So what else is out there other than AdWords and Direct Media Advertising online? Or are these already the most effective ways to advertise? What worked for you?

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4 Answers

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It's going to be hard to beat AdWords for SAAS advertising. It does take some time to learn how to use it effectively.

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I'll give you a +1 because it's easy to test and set budgets, but I strongly disagree that AdWords is the most efficient form of advertising in the sense of $ spent compared to $ revenue. We found AdWords was squarely in the middle of the pack (of 30 different simultaneous ad campaigns), and that's INCLUDING expert consulting work to optimize the adwords. – Jason Dec 5 '09 at 20:09
Thanks for the comments Jason. We've had good success with AdWords but not run 30 simultaneous campaigns for comparison. I'm intrigued. Especially that that you didn't answer Jessica's question with what campaigns outperformed Google. Care to share some marketing insights? – Keith DeLong Dec 6 '09 at 0:09
up vote 1 down vote

Google is the 800 pound gorilla of the on-line advertising community, so you do need to continue to focus dollars there. To Expand on on olalonde's comment you may want to consider a PR campaign.

  1. Find Blogs and News Orgs (Check Alltop.com/technorati.com that may on your Niche (I'm thinking from your profile its small bus/consultant/freelancers).

  2. With those sites focus on the bloggers/reporters(People) That seem to deal with your area.

  3. On blogs start to regularly commenting to create a relationship with the blogger.

  4. Create a promotial kit with a press release, video, whitepaper, and fact sheet about your product.

  5. Send Pitches to the people you identified in step 2 that show how a story/review fits into their interest, the mediums focus, and current events

  6. Be Patient and don't follow up to much (you don't want to be annoying)

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up vote 1 down vote

Go to the places (virtual or real world) where your target audience hang out and talk about the issues they face (some of which your software solves)

Make relevant content that shows your customers you know their space and know the issues they have. This could be unrelated to your software.

Make videos for online demos.

Give away free versions. Run contests for people who write the best sob story or other essay and the winner(s) get free versions.

Find some evangelist user who is willing to talk about your product - encourage them. Give them the ability to give free trials or licenses.

There's no quick fix - you just have to keep at the business and "build your brand".

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up vote 0 down vote
  1. Create controversy.
  2. ...
  3. Profit.

On a more serious note, you should try to get coverage by TechCrunch.

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