Documentation on Product Marketing

8/14/2019 Documentation on Product Marketing

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CONTENTS

1. Product

2. Software product

3. Product management

3.1. Product planning

3.2. Product marketing

3.3. Product design process

3.3.1. Opportunity Identification

3.3.2. Consumer Measurement

3.3.3. Models of Consumers

3.3.4. Prediction of Market Behavior

3.3.5. Evaluation

3.3.6. Refinement

3.4. Key points of the design process

3.4.1. Pre-production design

3.4.2. Design during production

3.4.3. Post-production design feedback for future designs

3.4.4. Redesign

3.5. Product Engineering

3.5.1. Benefits by providing customized product to market

3.6. Product Development

3.6.1. The Product Development Process

3.6.2. Elements of the new product development

4. Marketing Management

4.1. Marketing4.2. Concept of Marketing

4.3. Levels of marketing

4.4. Marketing mix

4.5. Marketing communications

5. Marketing planning


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5.1. The marketing planning process

5.2. Content of the marketing plan

5.3. Detailed plans and programs

5.4. Measurement of Progress

5.5. Performance analysis

6. Software Product Marketing

6.1. Strategies to improve software product marketing

6.1.1. Expert websites

6.1.2. Web Promotion

6.2. Online Software Product Marketing

6.2.1. Basic online software marketing techniques

6.3. Steps to improve software product marketing

6.3.1. Portfolio Management:

6.3.2. Product Development:

6.3.3. Ideation:

6.4. Foundation

6.4.1. Collaboration

6.4.2. Business Intelligence

6.4.3. Requirements Management

6.5. Software Product Marketing At Non-Domestic Areas

6.5.1. Various benefits of Non-Domestic sales

6.5.2. The various drawbacks of non-domestic sales

7. Strategies for Maintaining and Improving Quality

7.1. Definitions of Quality

7.1.1. External Quality

7.1.2. Internal Quality

7.2. Strategies for improving internal and external quality

8. The Product Life Cycle


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1. Product:

In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a

want or need. In retailing, products are called merchandise. In manufacturing,products are purchased as raw materials and sold as finished goods. Commodities are

usually raw materials such as metals and agricultural products, but a commodity can

also be anything widely available in the open market.

2. Software Product

Software Product means Product consisting of a computer program that is offered

for sale.

Software product is typically a single application or suite of applications built by a

software company to be used by many customers, businesses or consumers. Themass-market notion differs from custom software built for the use of a single

customer by consulting firms like IBM Global Services or Accenture.

Examples of business software products include the Oracle 10g database by Oracle

Corporation, SAP R/3 ERP software by SAP AG, QuickBooks by Intuit, etc.

Examples of consumer software products include Microsoft Office by Microsoft,

TurboTax by Intuit.

3. Product management

When the company wants to provide a product to the market then company shouldtake care of following things.

3.1. Product planning

Defining new products

Gathering market requirements

Product Life Cycle considerations

Product differentiation

3.2. Product Design Process

The design process can be viewed as being made up of a managerial and consumer

component. The managerial sub process represents a categorization of the types ofmanagerial decisions made in new product development.
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3.2.1. Opportunity Identification

The managerial sub process begins with opportunity identification through market

definition as a proactive design strategy. Management examines the opportunities,

searches for new opportunities, and from these opportunities selects the market thathas the great potential to achieve managerial tools.

3.2.2. Consumer Measurement

Early in the design process the emphasis should be on gaining an understanding of the

consumer, thus the consumer response investigation begins with qualitative consumer

measurement. The qualitative measurement puts management in touch with marketby providing insight on what motivates consumers, how consumers see the market,

how consumer make their purchases, and so on.

3.2.3. Models of Consumers

The models, focused around the awareness, perception, preference, segmentation,availability and choice factors described earlier, help management diagnose the

market by providing a specific representation of each component in the consumer

response process.

They identify the design features and products characteristics that make the greatest

compact on consumer response and direct the design process to the product or service

strategy that is most likely to succeed in the marketplace.

Perceptionidentifies the key dimensions that are most relevant to consumer.Preference identifies how consumers use the perceived dimensions to evaluateproduct.

Segmentation determines whether the best strategy is to have one product for allconsumers or whether to have a multiplicity of products, each directed at a specificgroup consumers.

3.2.4. Prediction of Market Behavior

Management selects the characteristics for a new product and establishes an

advertising and promotional strategy. The perception model predicts how the new

product will be perceived by each consumer, how the new product will be comparedto existing ones, and determine the probability that any given consumer will actually

purchase the new product.

3.2.5. Evaluation


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Management weights this prediction as well as production costs, political constraints,

technology constraints, material availability, firm image, complementary with product

line, and other aspects of new product introduction to arrive at GO/NO GO decision.

3.2.6. Refinement

The product is improved based on the diagnostic information from models of

the consumers

3.3. Key Points of the Design Process

1. A new product is both a physical product and a psychological positioning.2. The design process is interactive.

3. Both prediction and understanding are necessary.

4. The level of analysis should be appropriate to the strategic decision.

5. The design process blends managerial judgment with qualitative and quantitativetechniques.

A design process may include a series of steps followed by designers. Depending on

the product or service, some of these stages may be irrelevant, ignored in real-worldsituations in order to save time, reduce cost, or because they may be redundant in the

situation.

Typical stages of the design process include:

3.3.1. Pre-production design

o Design brief- a statement of design goals

o Analysis - analysis of current design goals

o Research - investigating similar design solutions in the field or related

topicso Specification - specifying requirements of a design solution for a

product (product design specification) or service.

o Problem solving - conceptualizing and documenting design solutions

o Presentation - presenting design solutions

3.3.2. Design during production

Development - continuation and improvement of a designed solution

Testing - testing a designed solution

3.3.3. Post-production design feedback for future designs

Implementation - introducing the designed solution into the environment
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Evaluation and conclusion - summary of process and results, including constructive

criticism and suggestions for future improvements

3.3.4. Redesign - any or all stages in the design process repeated (with correctionsmade) at any time before, during, or after production.

3.4. Software Product Engineering

Taking a software product from concept to reality is a complex and arduous

process. Company should assist in this respect by offering customized product design

services that best fit for business requirements.

3.4.1. Benefits by providing customized product to market

With the experience and expertise in Product Development company should bring a

number of advantages. The value propositions include:

Reduced time to market: With extensive capabilities and resources at our disposal,

company should offer a broad range of product design services at short notice,reducing time to market.

Enhanced Innovation: company should handle a large part of the well proven

product module, which can keep resources focused on enhanced high-end

innovations.

Product Support: company should provide ongoing product support by

understanding business focus and aligning product with customer expectations.

Product Quality: product design services apply stringent quality control measures,

which ensure high levels of quality in all product designs.

Maximum Returns: In bridging the gap between product conceptualization andproduct development, product design services should offer an unparalleled advantage

in maximizing returns.

Flexibility: product design services involve low-risk, low management methods,which have the flexibility to scale-up or scale-down the needs of capabilities, capacity

and innovation.

3.5. Product Development

Product development is the process of designing, creating, and marketing an idea or

product.
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3.5.1.The Product Development Process

Brainstorming and developing a concept is the first step in product development.Once an idea is generated, it is important to determine whether there is a market for

the product, what the target market is, and whether the idea will be profitable, as well

as whether it is feasible from an engineering and financial standpoint. Once theproduct is determined to be feasible, the idea or concept is tested on a small sample of

customers within the target market to see what their reactions are.

In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) is the term used to

describe the completeprocess of bringing a newproduct or service to market. Thereare two parallel paths involved in the NPD process: one involves the idea generation,

product design, and detail engineering; the other involves market research and

marketing analysis.

3.5.2. Elements of the new product development

When the NPD process getting started following elements should be considered.

Opportunity Identification, Opportunity Analysis, Idea Genesis, Idea Selection,

Concept and Technology Development

Opportunity Identification: In this element, large or incremental business and

technological chances are identified in a more or less structured way.

Opportunity Analysis: It is done to translate the identified opportunities into

implications for the business and technology specific context of the company. Here

extensive efforts may be made to align ideas to target customer groups and do marketstudies and/or technical trials and research.

Idea Genesis: Itis described as evolutionary and iterative process progressing from

birth to maturation of the opportunity into a tangible idea.

Idea selection: Its purpose is to choose whether to pursue an idea by analyzing its

potential business value.

Concept and Technology Development: During this, the business case is developed based on estimates of the total available market, customer needs, investment

requirements, and competition analysis and project uncertainty.

3.6. Product marketing

Product positioning

Promoting the product externally with press, customers, and partners

Bringing new products to market

Monitoring the competition
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4. Marketing Management

4.1. Marketing

Marketing is an ongoing process of planning and executing the marketing mix

(Product, Price, Place, Promotion often referred to as the 4 Ps) for products, servicesor ideas to create exchange between individuals and organizations.

Marketing is the process of creating or directing an organization to be successful

in selling a product or service that people not only desire, but are willing to buy.

Introduction

A market-focused, or customer-focused, organization first determines what its

potential customers desire, and then builds the product or service. Marketing theoryand practice is justified in the belief that customers use a product or service becausethey have a need, or because it provides a perceived benefit.

Two major factors of marketing are the recruitment of new customers (acquisition)and the retention and expansion of relationships with existing customers (base

management).

"Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating,

communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer

relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.

4.2. Concept of Marketing

"Marketing" is an instructive business domain that serves to inform and educate targetmarkets about the value and competitive advantage of a company and its products.

Value is worth derived by the customer from owning and using the product.

Competitive Advantage is a description that the company or its products are eachdoing something better than their competition in a way that could benefit the

customer.

Marketing is focused on the task of conveying pertinent company and product related

information to specific customers, and there are a multitude of decisions (strategies)

to be made within the marketing domain regarding what information to deliver, how

much information to deliver, to whom to deliver, how to deliver, when to deliver, andwhere to deliver. Once the decisions are made, there are numerous ways (tactics) and

processes that could be employed in support of the selected strategies.


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Defined marketing as every strategy and decision made in the following areas:

Identifying and quantifying the need in the marketplace

Identifying and quantifying the target markets

Identifying the optimum cost effective media online and offline - to reachthe target markets

Reviewing the priorities of the product offering in your overall product mix

matrix

Identifying and developing the most effective distribution channels, be they

wholesaler networks, partnering alliances, franchising, or any number ofconduits to the market.

Testing different ways of packaging the concepts or products to find their

most 'easy-to-sell' form

Testing to find the optimum pricing strategies

Developing effective promotional strategies and effective advertising, offers,and launch strategies

Developing and documenting the sales process

Finding the optimum execution of the sales process through testing of

selling scripts, people selection, supporting collateral, skills and attitudinaltraining, tracking, measuring and refining

Ensuring that sales projections reflect realistic production capacities

Developing nurture programs to optimize the lifetime value of the customer

The goal of marketing is to build and maintain a preference for a company and itsproducts within the target markets. The goal of any business is to build mutually

profitable and sustainable relationships with its customers. While all businessdomains are responsible for accomplishing this goal, the marketing domain bears asignificant share of the responsibility.

Within the larger scope of its definition, marketing is performed through the actionsof three coordinated disciplines named: Product Marketing, Corporate Marketing,

and Marketing Communications.

4.3. Levels of marketing

To get success in market the company should take care of the following levels.

Strategic marketing: attempts to determine how an organization competes against its

competitors in a market place. In particular, it aims at generating a competitive

advantage relative to its competitors.

Operational marketing: executes marketing functions to attract and keep customers

and to maximize the value derived for them, as well as to satisfy the customer with


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prompt services and meeting the customer expectations. Operational Marketing

includes the determination of the porter's five forces

4.4. Marketing mix

Marketing Mix contained 11 elements: product, price, place, promotion, people,process, physical evidence, personalization, participation, Peer-To-Peer, predictive

modeling.

Those are:

Product: The product aspects of marketing deal with the specifications of the actual

goods or services, and how it relates to the end-user's needs and wants. The scope of aproduct generally includes supporting elements such as warranties, guarantees, and

support.

Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including

discounts. The price need not be monetary - it can simply be what is exchanged forthe product or services, e.g. time, energy, psychology or attention.

Promotion: This includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal

selling, branding and refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand,

or company.

Placement (or distribution): refers to how the product gets to the customer; for

example, point of sale placement or retailing. This fourth P has also sometimes been

called Place, referring to the channel by which a product or services is sold (e.g.online vs. retail), which geographic region or industry, to which segment (young

adults, families, business people), etc. also referring to how the environment in which

the product is sold in can affect sales.

People: Any person coming into contact with customers can have an impact on

overall satisfaction. Whether as part of a supporting service to a product or involvedin a total service, people are particularly important because, in the customer's eyes,

they are generally inseparable from the total service. As a result of this, they must be

appropriately trained, well motivated and the right type of person. Fellow customers

are also sometimes referred to under 'people', as they too can affect the customer'sservice experience, (e.g., at a sporting event).

Process: This is the process involved in providing a service and the behavior ofpeople, which can be crucial to customer satisfaction.

Physical evidence: Unlike a product, a service cannot be experienced before it isdelivered, which makes it intangible. This, therefore, means that potential customers

could perceive greater risk when deciding whether to use a service. To reduce the

feeling of risk, thus improving the chance for success, it is often vital to offer


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potential customers the chance to see what a service would be like. This is done by

providing physical evidence, such as case studies, testimonials or demonstrations.

Personalization: It is here referred customization of products and services through

the use of the Internet. Early examples include Dell on-line and Amazon.com, but this

concept is further extended with emerging social media and advanced algorithms.Emerging technologies will continue to push this idea forward.

Participation: This is to allow the customer to participate in what the brand shouldstand for; what should be the product directions and even which ads to run. This

concept is laying the foundation for disruptive change through democratization of

information.

Peer-to-Peer: This refers to customer networks and communities where advocacy

happens. P2P is now being referred as Social Computing and is likely to be the most

disruptive force in the future of marketing.

Predictive modeling: This refers to algorithms that are being successfully applied in

marketing problems (both a regression as well as a classification problem).

4.5. Marketing communications

Marketing communications breaks down the strategies involved with marketing

messages into categories based on the goals of each message. There are distinct stagesin converting strangers to customers that govern the communication medium that

should be used.

Advertising

Paid form of public presentation and expressive promotion of ideas

Functions and advantages of successful advertising

Task of the marketing department made easier

Protects and warns customers against false claims and inferior productsContinuous reminder

Uninterrupted production a possibility

Increases goodwill

Objectives for maintaining marketing communication

Maintain demand for well-known goods

Introduce new and unknown goodsIncrease demand for well-known goods/products/services

Requirements of a good advertisement

Attract attention (awareness)

Stimulate interest

Create a desire

Bring about action


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Steps in an advertising campaign

Market research

Setting out aimsBudgeting

Choice of media (television, newspaper, radio)

Marketing Public Relations (MPR)

Stimulation of demand through press release giving a favorable report to a product

Higher degree of credibility

Effectively newsBoosts enterprise's image

Customer focus

Many companies today have a customer focus (or customer orientation). This impliesthat the company focuses its activities and products on consumer demands. Generally

there are three ways of doing this: the customer-driven approach, the sense ofidentifying market changes and the product innovation approach.

In the consumer-driven approach, consumer wants are the drivers of all strategic

marketing decisions. No strategy is pursued until it passes the test of consumerresearch. Every aspect of a market offering, including the nature of the product itself,

is driven by the needs of potential consumers. The starting point is always the

consumer. The rationale for this approach is that there is no point spending R&Dfunds developing products that people will not buy. History attests to many products

that were commercial failures in spite of being technological breakthroughs.

A formal approach to this customer-focused marketing is known as SIVA (Solution,

Information, Value, Access). This system is basically the four Ps renamed and

reworded to provide a customer focus.

The SIVA Model provides a demand/customer centric version alternative to the well-

known 4Ps supply side model (product, price, place, promotion) of marketing

management.

Product Solution

Promotion InformationPrice Value

Place Access

The four elements of the SIVA model are:

Solution: How appropriate is the solution to the customer's problem/need?


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Information: Does the customer know about the solution? If so, how and from whom

do they know enough to let them make a buying decision?

Value: Does the customer know the value of the transaction, what it will cost, whatare the benefits, what might they have to sacrifice, what will be their reward?

Access: Where can the customer find the solution? How easily/locally/remotely can

they buy it and take delivery?

The model focuses heavily on the customer and how they view the transaction.

Product focus

In a product innovation approach, the company pursues product innovation, and then

tries to develop a market for the product. Product innovation drives the process and

marketing research is conducted primarily to ensure that a profitable marketsegment(s) exists for the innovation. When pursuing a product innovation approach,

marketers must ensure that they have a varied and multi-tiered approach to product

innovation. Many firms, such as research and development focused companies,

successfully focus on product innovation.

A relatively new form of marketing uses the Internet and is called Internet marketing

or more generally e-marketing, affiliate marketing, desktop advertising or online

marketing. It typically tries to perfect the segmentation strategy used in traditional

marketing. It targets its audience more precisely, and is sometimes called personalizedmarketing or one-to-one marketing.

5. Marketing Planning

5.1. The marketing planning process

In most organizations, "strategic planning" is an annual process, typically covering

just the year ahead. Occasionally, a few organizations may look at a practical planwhich stretches three or more years ahead.

A marketing plan outlines the specific actions intend to carry out to interest potential

customers and clients in product and/or service and persuade them to buy the product

and/or services we offer.

To be most effective, the plan has to be formalized, usually in written form, as aformal `marketing plan'. The essence of the process is that it moves from the generalto the specific

Marketing planning aims and objectives

Behind the corporate objectives, which in themselves offer the main context for the

marketing plan, will lay the 'corporate mission'; which in turn provides the context


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for these corporate objectives. This `corporate mission' can be thought of as a

definition of what the organization is; of what it does: 'Our business is '.

The definition should cover three dimensions: 'customer groups' to be served,'customer needs' to be served, and 'technologies' to be utilized.

Some of the things should be observed in a business:

Who are the customers?

What are their key characteristics?

What differentiates them from other members of the population?

What are their needs and wants?

What do they expect the `product' to do?

What are their special requirements and perceptions?

What do they think of the organization and its products or services?

What are their attitudes?

What are their buying intentions?

When we are thinking for a product following things should be taking into

consideration.

1. Financial data --Facts for this section will come from managementaccounting, costing and finance sections.

2. Product data --From research and development.

3. Advertising, sales promotion, merchandising data - Information from these

departments.

Marketing plan should splits into 3 groups.

1. 'Review of the marketing environment'. A study of the organization's markets,

customers, competitors and the overall economic, political, cultural and

technical environment; covering developing trends, as well as the currentsituation.

2. 'Review of the detailed marketing activity'. A study of the company's

marketing mix; in terms of Product, Price, Place and Promotion, PhysicalEnvironment, People, Process.

3. 'Review of the marketing system'. A study of the marketing organization,

marketing research systems and the current marketing objectives and

strategies.

One more aspect of strategy which is often overlooked is that of 'timing'. Exactly

when it is the best time for each element of the strategy to be implemented is often

critical. Taking right decision at right time will help for a business.
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Having completed this crucial stage of the planning process, we need to re-check the

feasibility of company objectives and strategies in terms of the sales, costs, profits

and so on which these demand in practice.

5.2. Content of the marketing plan

1. Description of the product or service, including special features

2. Marketingbudget, including the advertising and promotional plan

3. Description of the business location, including advantages and disadvantagesfor marketing

4. Pricing strategy

5. SWOT Analysis

6. Financial Forecast

5.3. Detailed plans and programs

When we are preparing plans and programs we should consider followingthings.

Clear They should be clear and should know exactly what is to be done.

Quantified - The predicted outcome of each activity should be, as far as possible,quantified; so that its performance can be monitored.

Focused - The temptation to proliferate activities beyond the numbers which can be

realistically controlled should be avoided.

Realistic - They should be achievable.

Agreed - Those who are to implement them should be committed to them, and agreethat they are achievable.

5.4. Measurement of Progress

The final stage of any marketing planning process is to establish targets so that

progress can be monitored. Accordingly, it is important to put both quantities andtimescales into the marketing objective.

Continuous monitoring of performance, against predetermined targets, represents amost important aspect of this. However, perhaps even more important is the enforced

discipline of a regular formal review. Again, as with forecasts, in many cases the best(most realistic) planning cycle will revolve around a quarterly review.
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5.5. Performance analysis

The most important elements of marketing performance, which are normally tracked,

are:

Sales analysis

Company should review the sales of the company and then investigating detailed

problems, then investigates the individual elements (individual products, salesterritories, customers and so on) which are failing to meet targets.

Expense analysis

The key ratio to watch in this area is usually the `marketing expense to sales ratio;

although this may be broken down into other elements (advertising to sales, sales

administration to sales, and so on).

Financial Analysis

The `bottom line' of marketing activities should at least in theory, be the net profit (for

all except non-profit organizations, where the comparable emphasis may be on

remaining within budgeted costs). There are a number of separate performancefigures and key ratios which need to be tracked:

gross contributionnet profit

gross profitreturn on investment

net contributionprofit on sales

The above performance analyses concentrate on the quantitative measures which aredirectly related to short-term performance. But there are a number of indirect

measures, essentially tracking customer attitudes, which can also indicate the

organization's performance in terms of its longer-term marketing strengths and mayaccordingly be even more important indicators. Some useful measures are:

market research - including customer panels (which are used to track changesover time)

lost business - the projects which were given before and taken back

customer complaints - how many customers complain about the products or

services

So when the organization goes with a certain marketing plan then it would be better to

check out the profits and the performance of the company as well as employees.


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6. Software Product Marketing

In todays competitive software markets it is of utmost interest to have winningproducts. The success of any IT product depends on competent and effective product

managers. IT product management includes product requirements, release definition,

product release lifecycles, creating an effective multifunctional product introductionteam and above all assuring a winning business case.

Software Product Marketing specializes in website design, internet marketing,graphic design, and advertising strategies.

6.1. Strategies to improve software product marketing

6.1.1. Expert websites

Website is the most important piece of marketing that have to develop. It should be

distinctive should reflect professional image. Website should be like to build brandand create a customer-focused website - one that keeps visitors coming back! And it

should be simple and fully functional ecommerce site.

6.1.2. Web Promotion

Put business on the fast track using web promotion products and services.

6.2. Online Software Product Marketing

Web Developer that sells software online, here are the basic software marketing

methods that will help to boost the sales.

6.2.1. Basic online software marketing techniques

6.2.1. A. Continuous Search Website Optimization

Maintaining a high ranking in the most important search websites is a never ending

struggle, as we need to follow certain rules and continuously update and optimize the

website.

Focus on:

Improving link popularityAdding fresh content

Monitoring website results

Spending time in improving the design and the usability of website.

6.2.1. B. Submit shareware to software download sites and directories


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Promote software by submitting it to as many download sites and directories as

possible. Create a good PAD (Portable Application Description) file, as this will ease

the entire submission process and webmasters will appreciate it, too.

Pay attention to where we get from these sites and invest time in those who really

bring us customers. One of the main advantages of submitting software to downloadsites is obtaining more back-links and increased link popularity, which enhance your

website's page ranking. It is one of the most important software marketing techniques.

6.2.1. C. Affiliates marketing

There is a vast network of affiliates on the internet. Affiliates are people who

will promote and sell software products from their websites, in return of a smallcommission for every sale. So if we choose those who have websites that have been

specially designed to sell software products then our sales will be increased.

6.2.1. D. Pay per Click campaigns

Important search place ads near search results in return of a small amount. It is calledpay per click advertising. The idea behind this marketing technique is to bid for

relevant "keywords" that bring pertinent results related to the product you're selling,

and place your advertisement on the top of the page. The most important players on

this market are Google AdWords and Yahoo!Search.

6.2.1. E. Write newsletters and press releases

A newsletter is an easy way to stay in touch with your clients, prospects and affiliates.

The success of an e-mail newsletter distribution system depends on our database: we

need to keep it up to date and accurate.

Always should ask permission to stay in touch with clients and affiliates. Let

them know what to expect from our newsletters regarding content and frequency and

respect the standards that we have established. Keep focused on the substance of theemail - make it original and appealing. We can also take advantage of many websites

that offer public relation services including free publishing of press releases.

6.2.1. F. Get involved in online forums and blogs

It is basically free publicity. Invest time in subscribing to forums or discussions

groups that deal with software related themes.

Many people visit forums and blogs in search of information. A blog post that deals

with the theme under discussion, contains relevant information and is presented in a

professional way could be of real interest to the participants.

Give the website's address, the product's name and possibly file location.

6.2.1. G. Write and submit articles


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There are many e-zines and online publications on the internet where we can publish

software related articles. This is an easy way to get free exposure and consolidate the

image as a professional in domain.

A good article has to look professional. The golden rule is to come up with a catchy

headline and pay special attention to the content. Avoid duplicating information foundon the internet. Article must be simple, meaningful and original. Keep a professional

tone and avoid self-promotion.

Sign articles; add contact information and a copyright note at the end of the editorial.

Also include a line with website's address for those who might be interested in the

subject that we presented and would like to find out more about work.

6.2.1. H. Social Media

Online communities may help us to increase brand awareness, traffic, gain good back

links. We can start by creating bookmarklets to insert into articles, whitepapers, pressreleases and any other page that visitors might catalog as useful information. Visitors

will have the chance to recommend, telling others about us and in the end this willlead to increasing popularity.

6.3. Steps to improve software product marketing

Deliver what market wants and needs by capturing the voice of the market on an

ongoing, iterative basis, evaluating and scoring ideas, and translating them into

actionable plans.

Improve productivity and time-to-market by better aligning resources and budgets

with plan of record and improving collaboration by having all information in a singlesystem of record.


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6.3.1. Portfolio Management:

Align Strategies, Plans, Requirements and Resources

The Accept Portfolio Management module improves visibility and control throughout

the innovation process, empowering to manage R&D investments more effectively.Powerful market-driven strategy planning and analytics help ensure maximum

portfolio value and strategic alignment. With Accept Portfolio Management, we can:

Capture strategic goals and objectives

1. Maximize R&D investments by aligning strategies, products, and resourceswith the needs of the market

2. Balance product investments between short-term objectives and long-term

growth

3. Model product offerings and supporting market, technology and product

roadmaps4. Monitor real-time portfolio performance and attractiveness to strategy and

plan5. Gain true understanding of how company and products will differentiate from

the competition

6.3.2. Product Development


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Create detailed product plans that ensure top-down and bottom-up alignment from

strategy through product requirements.Manage requirements and roadmaps in the context of customers, markets, and

competitors.

Visually evaluate alternate plans based on comprehensive market and product data not inference or intuition and adjust product investments to maximize value and

minimize risk

Easily produce market and product requirements documentsManage project schedules, resources, budgets, and risks through product planning,

development, and launch.

6.3.3. Ideation

Engage everyone

Prioritize with certainty

Transform ideas into winning products

6.4. Foundation

The Accept Innovation Foundation links the capabilities of Accepts three modules Ideation, Portfolio Management, and Product Development. It provides three core

capabilities that improve team and individual productivity and deliver visibility for all

participants.

Collaboration

Business Intelligence

Requirements Management

Now everyone from executives to the entire product team can benefit from a single

system of record that captures all market, competitive, and requirements data in one

place, giving you visibility at every stage of the innovation process.

6.4.1. CollaborationBreak down organizational silos, so you can mobilize resources around innovationand foster collaboration and knowledge sharing. Youre also empowered to

proactively collaborate beyond the enterprise with customers, partners, and suppliers.

Build a common, readily-accessible knowledge base

Foster collaboration within and across product teams

Share critical market and product data


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Receive real-time alerts and notifications

Keep abreast of plan changes and cross-departmental product impacts

6.4.2. Business Intelligence

Accept enables you to leverage analytics so you can evaluate alternatives, optimizeplans, and prioritize investments.

Generate reports to communicate priorities and status

View real-time red-light/yellow-light/green-light status updates at any level of

detail

Create real-time living Product Requirements and Market Requirements

documents that provide up-to-date information to all key stakeholders

6.4.3. Requirements Management

Create a single, current repository of all relevant customer, market,competitor, cost, and resource data

Rank requirement, product, and portfolio priorities based on strategic goals,

customer commitments, costs, resources, and benefits

Distribute task and status ownership while centralizing data and visibility

Ensure youre investing resources and budget in the right product capabilities

6.5. Software Product Marketing At Non-Domestic Areas

6.5.1. Various benefits of Non-Domestic sales

There are many benefits by going into non-domestic sales

Increasing sales

Non-domestic sales is one way of increasing sales potential; it expands the "pie" thatcan earn money from, otherwise we will stuck trying to make money only out of the

local market. While the local market may represent enough sales potential for smaller

firms, for medium and larger companies the local market is just too small and theonly way to expand sales is to go for non-domestic sales.

It should be said, however, if we are not yet selling regionally and nationally,then we should first aiming at expanding market share within the local market. Once

we saturated the national market, then we look beyond the borders of country. It has

been said that there are no sales barrier that automatically begins where border ends.

Increased sales also impact upon profitability (although not always positively),productivity by lowering unit costs, and may increase firm's perceived size and

stature, thereby affecting its competitive position compared with other similar-sized

organizations.


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6.5.2. The various drawbacks of non-domestic sales

Of course, there are also potential pitfalls in non-domestic sales. They include thefollowing:

Management may need to devote a considerable amount of time to the start-upprocedures and decisions involved in non-domestic sales

Key personnel or other critical resources may have to be diverted from domestic

responsibilities to help with the company's non-domestic activitiesAdditional facilities may be needed to cope with increased sales through non-

domestics

Catalogues, brochures and other sales promotion material, as well as packaging and

labeling, may need to be translated into a foreign languageCredit terms may need to be extended because of competition, local custom or transit

time

Non-domestic sales, although rewarding, is generally an expensive activity and will

require additional financial resources

7. Strategies for Maintaining and Improving Quality

Delivering high quality software is a stated goal of many development teams and it is

a very admirable goal. To reach this goal we need to decide what "high quality" reallymeans and we need to have some clue about how to achieve it?

7.1. Definitions of Quality

Quality is often defined as the level of conformance to agreed requirements. Therequirements of the developers working on a piece of software are different from the

requirements of those that use it. These two perspectives provide a useful approach todiscussing quality. Users are concerned with "external quality" and developers are

concerned with "internal quality".

7.1.1. External Quality

We can define external quality as the level a software product achieves for thefollowing factors:

Functional correctness, completeness and reliability - how often does itproduce the right results under normal circumstances?

Speed - does it produce results fast enough under normal circumstances?

Robustness - does it handle abnormal circumstances sensibly?

User friendliness - is it easy and intuitive to use?

7.1.2. Internal Quality


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Developers are as interested in the quality of the design and the quality of the source

code as they are in the external quality of the software. Just as with external quality,

the relative importance of the different internal quality factors of a piece of softwaredepends on the type of software and kind of developers involved.

Therefore, we can define the internal quality of a piece of software as its level of andrelative balance between the following factors:

Elegance - is the design and code as simple as possible but not so simple that

it does not do the job well?

Efficiency - does it avoid unnecessary overuse of resources?

Comprehensibility - is the design and code easy to understand?

Flexibility - can it be easily adapted to do things differently?

Compliance - does it conform to documented, agreed standards, patterns and

best practices?

Initially a piece of software with low internal quality may exhibit high externalquality. However, unless the internal quality is improved, the external quality isbound to eventually suffer as developers try to fix bugs and add new features over

time. This is where restructuring becomes truly useful.

Restructuring is about making improvements to the internal structure of a piece of

code without changing its external behavior.

7.2. Strategies for improving internal and external quality

Some of the reasons for this are obvious:

The later a problem is identified then the higher the likelihood that work based

on it has been added. That work will need to be rechecked and maybe redone.

The later a problem is identified, the more groups of people involved and the

more administrative process required to have it fixed. The longer the distance between introducing a defect and identifying it, the

higher the level of frustration, irritation and resistance of developers. They

have to go back to designs and source code they thought was finished long

ago and rework it.

The following are some proven strategies for the early detection of problems in

internal and external quality.

Strategy 1: Use a highly iterative process.

A highly iterative development process breaks down the deliverables of a software

project into small pieces and applies the development process to each of those smallpieces. A highly iterative process means that the analysis, design and coding of each

piece reaches testing much quicker.


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Strategy 2: Use collaborative analysis and design sessions

For collaborative design sessions to be more productive than individuals working

separately requires discipline and management. Facilitating team design sessions andknowing when to work together and when to work separately is a highly valuable

skill in a development team lead or chief programmer.

Strategy 3: Use design and code inspections/reviews/walkthroughs

The use of peer reviews, walkthroughs or inspections can significantly shorten the

distance between the introduction of defects and their detection. When done well,inspections find more defects than testing and also find different defects than testing.

In contrast to testing, inspections improve the internal quality of software by

examining the analysis, design and source code.

Strategy 5: Communicate design clearly at all levels of abstraction

Communicate design clearly at all levels of abstraction using the most appropriate

means of communication: text, lists, tables and/or pictures.

Miscommunication and misunderstanding are behind many significant defect in the

analysis and design of software components and systems. Reducing these problemscan make a significant improvement in a systems internal and external quality.

8. The Product Life Cycle

A new product progresses through a sequence of stages from introduction to

growth, maturity, and decline. This sequence is known as the product life cycle and isassociated with changes in the marketing situation, thus impacting the marketing

strategy and the marketing mix.

The product revenue and profits can be plotted as a function of the life-cycle stages as

shown in the graph below:

Product Life Cycle Diagram


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Introduction Stage

In the introduction stage, the firm seeks to build product awareness and develop a

market for the product. The impact on the marketing mix is as follows:

Product branding and quality level is established, and intellectual property protection

such as patents and trademarks are obtained.Pricing may be low penetration pricing to build market share rapidly, or high skim

pricing to recover development costs.

Distribution is selective until consumers show acceptance of the product.Promotion is aimed at innovators and early adopters. Marketing communications

seeks to build product awareness and to educate potential consumers about the

product.

Growth Stage

In the growth stage, the firm seeks to build brand preference and increase marketshare.

Product quality is maintained and additional features and support services may beadded.

Pricing is maintained as the firm enjoys increasing demand with little competition.

Distribution channels are added as demand increases and customers accept theproduct.

Promotion is aimed at a broader audience.

Maturity Stage

At maturity, the strong growth in sales diminishes. Competition may appear withsimilar products. The primary objective at this point is to defend market share whilemaximizing profit.

Product features may be enhanced to differentiate the product from that of

competitors.Pricing may be lower because of the new competition.

Distribution becomes more intensive and incentives may be offered to encourage

preference over competing products.


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Promotion emphasizes product differentiation.

Decline Stage

As sales decline, the firm has several options:Maintain the product, possibly rejuvenating it by adding new features and finding

new uses.

Harvest the product - reduce costs and continue to offer it, possibly to a loyal nichesegment.

Discontinue the product, liquidating remaining inventory or selling it to another firm

that is willing to continue the product.

The marketing mix decisions in the decline phase will depend on the selectedstrategy. For example, the product may be changed if it is being rejuvenated, or left

unchanged if it is being harvested or liquidated. The price may be maintained if the

product is harvested, or reduced drastically if liquidated.

Date post:	30-May-2018
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