I’ve had several emails from bloggers asking why Crownwood have teamed up with us to give away $399 of software for a mere mention on a .NET development blog. What’s in it for them?
Actually this is a very simple piece of marketing what would usually be called product placement. So how does it work?
The vast majority of sales for component software are made to companies and not individual developers. There maybe the odd sale to a lone hobbyist from time to time but basically it is businesses that buy component libraries and especially the multi-developer licences that generate the big bucks.
The vast majority of blogs about .NET are written by individual developers. How many of those bloggers would have bought a copy had they not been given one? The answer will be close to zero because either they would never have paid for the software at all or they would have already bought it anyway (or the company they work for would have bought it).
So the actual lost revenue to Crownwood is virtually, and might actually be, zero. Remember that the cost of giving away a $399 copy of software to someone that would never have paid for it anyway is actually $0. There is no CD to burn or postage to pay. The cost of letting someone download an installation file is essentially zero.
So in return for almost zero cost they get their company and product name in front of hundreds and probably thousands of .NET developers. And if they get really lucky maybe someone like Scoble will put a mention on his blog and suddenly they have 10 times the normal traffic to check out their website. How much would you normally pay for that kind of marketing?
It’s just simple product placement. If your a Radio DJ you get heaps of free stuff sent to you. Why? Because the company in question is just hoping you mention their product once on a popular radion station. I think more of this will happen in the future for popular bloggers.
