Software Lead Generation Tips – Paying their Way VS Playing their Way

You’ve heard of gamification before right? And most likely, you’ve already read one or two articles on how it can apply to marketing processes like software lead generation.

As a gamer myself, I easily saw the logic behind the trend. I personally vouch that the businesses who have tried it on me have gotten me to engage up to a relatively successful degree. With that said, here’s one aspect of gamified marketing that I’d like to relate with my play experience.

I call it paying your way versus playing your way in a game.

For other gamers, another well-known name for this concept is Pay-to-Play versus Free-to-Play. And yeah, it’s one of the most popular debates within the gaming community with no sign of a clear resolution. What’s interesting is that it’s simply because gamers are just like any other customer in this regard. They have their own unique preferences for things like payment models.

It’s easy to see how this can apply to software lead generation. These different models can represent how some prospects think more along the lines of P2P players versus F2P ones.

• Playing-their-way – Prospects who opt to play their way are the ones you see downloading your material, asking a lot of questions, and trying to apply the knowledge without having to pay so much. It seems disadvantageous from a sales perspective but here’s the rub: In gaming or real life, there are other costs to doing something yourself (even if it seems ‘free’). Knowing how to do something can be one thing, actually applying it and investing in the tools required can be another.


• Paying-their-way – On the other hand, there are those who can’t afford the time but can afford the money. These are the ones who, while still willing to hear your lectures, would rather pay you to apply the knowledge. On the other hand, this is where you need to be cautious. Those who play their way are at least making an effort to learn on their own. Your lead generation process should still add to the paying customer’s experience with necessary prospect education.

So there you have it, another way to apply game concepts to your B2B marketing strategy. It’s not just about giving prospects incentive. It’s also about balancing between those who want to play their way to the benefits and those willing to pay their way. One half may be more sales ready (as is now always the case) but the other half demonstrates what is needed to pull their own weight.

via Business 2 Community http://ift.tt/1j2vt1k