Hi, I've built a software that I intend to sell. What do you think would be the best way to approach: 1. Offer a free download with a 7-day trial. or 2. Charge for the software and offer an X day full refund. Any other ideas are appreciated Thanks
Can you provide a bit more information to help us help you: 1. What is the price point for the software? 2. What is the target market(s) for the software? 3. Is it an app for PC's or mobile devices or is it a SaaS offering? 4. Is it easy to learn and use or is it complex and requires a learning curve? 5. Are there competitive products to the software? If so, how do they market their product? FYI, I have been leading sales and marketing teams offering a wide array of B2B software to a long list of different markets for a few decades. Happy to help if you can provide a bit more information.
A tutorial video content that discusses the awesome benefits that they can receive if the people uses your software in the field.
Feedback from the app community is that being able to embed an ad will bring better revenue thank selling the app. If you can charge a subscription fee for the software you'll earn more than charging a one-off fee. You could also consider freemium - where it's pretty much free until the user needs a particular feature, has X records, etc Then you have to consider what billing systems your competitors are using. You probably need to fit in with their ways - subscriptions, one off fee, freemium, ads FWIW I use 99% freeware - the one program I do pay for is expensive but absolutely worth every penny.
I think it will really depend on how long it will take for the user to realize the full potential and value of your software. If you have something that they may only use for a short period of time but is very useful for a quick job, then I would set the trial to a shorter time. If its something that they continuously use for some time, then you could go for a longer trial period to let users get used to your software. Once the trial runs out you've created a new pain point that they know how to fix (purchasing your software)
1. Free version must be available, otherwise users won't buy your application. Free version should be limited by time (14 days for example) or by functionality. You can combine this two approaches. It depends on your software. I prefer limitation by functionality. In this case users can use my free application and not to look for something else. 2. 30 days refund is the most common case. It is enought to test the application and decide. Free version also should be available to avoid a lot of refunds.
I was promoting a recruitment Software which has Applicant Tracking System which is aimed at promoting to the recruiters in places like Mnnesota, New York , New Jersey through google ads but the pricing is quite high for USA compared with India. The cost is somewhere around $16 per click for search campaign and $5 per viewable CPM. Just wanna know if there are any economical ways to promote our product in ad networks with constant pricing.
What @sarahk said is the best option. Give a free download, keep the software free until user needs a specific feature activated, then charge according to competition. Personally, I will not download and install a 7 day trial software. Its not enough time to get used to the software GUI and functionality.
You should use both of them, and then add more value like documentation or customer support. You can use incentive to encourage users to refer their friends to use the software