SensoryMetrics

The traditional view of “software as a product” is quickly being replaced by “software as a service” (or SaaS). Consumers are opting to pay monthly fees for a service rather than buying software outright and having to host and manage it. The poster child for this business model is Salesforce.com provider of a hosted Customer Relationship Management (CRM solution). Another example, Monster is evolving into an enterprise-class hosted HR solution. New players like Angel.com provider of hosted IVR are breaking down the boundaries of what was thought possible with SaaS.

The marketing of SaaS holds many opportunities and challenges. With SaaS, the web acts not only as a marketing channel but also the channel for service delivery. Consequently, the line between product and promotion is fuzzy! Also, because of the internet’s “long tail” phenomena, SaaS offerings can be targeted to very narrow niches how do we reach those niches? Finally, the SaaS model is subscription-based how do we protect against churn?

We’ll explore how marketing functionality can be designed into these products in ways that add value to the subscriber and encourage word of mouse. I’ll present a brief overview of a SaaS design project for mobile applications, and the lessons we’re beginning to learn.

Come on out to Ottawa first CaseCamp! Monday November 6th – 7-9pm at the ClockTower Pub (Bank and Catherine).

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