The first way in which technology marketing is different to other kinds of marketing is that technology businesses can usually expect long lead cycles before a sale comes to fruition. In our experience, it can take up to 18 months for customer to come to a decision. Where other industries can rely on a fast turnaround for making a sale, many technology businesses have to contend with the reality that there may be many people involved in the buying process and therefore need to be looking at the long-game and be prepared to have to sell their product to multiple people. A prospective client will have many concerns to consider before investing their money and a good technology marketeer needs to keep in contact with them and provide them with a regular stream of content which will aid them in their decision-making and showcase why your product/service is the one to choose!

When marketing for technology, it is likely you will have to pitch your solution to a variety of decision makers from a number of different departments, this makes for a complex sales process. Not only do you need to convince the tech guy that your product can meet their needs, but you need to show the finance guy that your product is a great investment for the company. In practice this requires a variety of different marketing and sales collateral which will support your pitch to each of these people. This will require a marketeer who understands how to promote your product from all angles, they need to understand the pain points you need to overcome.

Many other industries focus on business-to-consumer marketing meaning they are only required to convince an individual in order to make a sale. Marketing for technology typically comes in the form of business-to-business, so B2C strategies will not cut it. Where B2C marketing tries to appeal to a consumer’s emotions, B2B marketing must target their logic. When marketing a technology product, a marketeer must keep in mind that you are seeking a business investment and therefore the sales process must reflect that you are aware of all the boxes which will need to be ticked in order for the deal to be made. The collateral you provide should be slick, informative and professional and inspire trust from your prospective client so a comprehensive funnel offering lots of content which appeals to all the decision makers is required.

Many technology companies are targeting a niche market and therefore the marketing tools utilized will differ. Technology marketing should begin with a good understanding of exactly who you want to sell to and how you can reach them. Traditional marketing methods such as social media posting or TV advertising may not be appropriate, so research must be carried out in order to find a platform which allows you to hit the highest saturation of relevant people. Technology marketing can depend on different methods of advertising in order to be successful, where a beauty company may reach its target demographic with a TV ad, a technology company may be better off producing an informative infographic or inviting contacts for a free trial, to download a white paper or attend a webinar.

At RMA we pride ourselves on our knowledge of the technology industry and hope that this blog has helped inform you of why technology marketing is different to other kinds of marketing. If your marketing strategy needs a shake up, please feel free to get in touch with us today, we’d love to hear from you.