HN Explorer

Ask HN: Marketing to non-techie professionals

5 points by hansef ↗ HN
Does anyone have advice for marketing web applications targeted to non-techie professionals? For example, suppose my brother-in-law is an insurance agent, and after talking to him I realize there are no nice insurance-specific CRMs and decide to build one, with his input. Where should I focus my marketing efforts? Obviously most insurance agents aren't reading TechCrunch, and AdWords seem pretty useless these days. Has anyone dealt with this type of marketing problem?

6 comments

[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 19.7 ms ] thread
cgherb911
It seems you're focusing on tactics to reach these prospective customers. I suggest you focus on your product's positioning and your current marketing strategy. You'll have to shape these first before you can begin using the correct tactic.
hansef
Let's say, for example, we have "brokers with 2-4 person offices doing less than $500k a year in sales, who would be willing to pay up to $150/mo for a good web-based CRM"

How do you go about reaching these peeps, in this case? :) The insurance broker thing is just an example, but I'm curious what strategies people have more generically employed for similar types of situations.

cgherb911
I do not have experience in this exact market. My b2b sales have been made mainly through networking at events and conferences. Maybe someone with some experience could chime in with some help?
JayNeely
Search for online communities for, or even web 1.0 news sites specifically targeted at, people within your target market. Doing a search for "insurance agent forum" instantly yields good results. Try similar searches with keywords like 'community', 'news', 'social network', 'blog'(s), etc. instead of 'forum'.

Use Google Adwords Keyword Tool ( https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal ) to research both keywords that would lead to your product, and keywords for searches members of your target market would be making. Find out which terms are most popular (and most competed for). Then use Compete.com's Keyword Destination tool ( http://searchanalytics.compete.com/ ) both to find additional communities of your target market, and to evaluate the actual relevancy of the keywords.

E-mail me if you'd like some detailed help; I'm happy to provide advice on any more specific questions you might have.

hansef
Any suggestions for approaching communities, once I've identified the ones that exist for my target market? Signing up for forum accounts just to post "Try the great thing I made for people like you!" messages seems a bit spammy...
CyberFonic
There is a whole world out there that is not dependent upon the internet and web sites. A few suggestions :

Advertise in insurance trade specific publications.

Attend insurance industry specific conventions / exhibitions.

Bulk mail (yes, snail mail) using rented industry specific lists.

Cold call using yellow pages.