Hi Greetings!:

Welcome to the first issue of my newsletter intended to share information and positioning advice that I hope you will find interesting and useful. It’s also a way for me to seek feedback from B2B software marketers like you about what’s really happening on the battlefront. Here’s what in this newsletter:

What do you do? Make it obvious but is that enough?

Maybe I’m just dense….but it seems like at least one-third of the websites I visit I can’t figure out what the company does. However, many B2B software companies go overboard and only explain what they do which is less than half of what is required to entice a website visitor to learn more about your product.

Ideally website visitors to your home page should quickly understand what you do and why they should care enough to want to know more. They care about solving their pressing problem. Express a benefit that solves the pressing problem and they will explore your website in more detail.

Guess who is busier than normal during the crisis?

Hackers aren’t showing much compassion says Mark Taylor who manages my website: “Hackers and people that send out phishing scams use times of crisis to their advantage. They exploit our fears and compassion, so this has been a busy time for me making sure my clients’ sites and my servers are secure.”

Because so much hacking traffic comes from outside the US, Mark uses CloudFlare’s firewall feature to block all non-US traffic.

“Since the Coronavirus outbreak, there has been a 350% increase in phishing scams/websites that has emerged,” Mark says. “Cyber attacks have grown 37% as well. Just because there’s a worldwide pandemic going on, it doesn’t mean that hackers have the same empathy. Quite the opposite. They are increasing their efforts to scam people and break into systems.

“Even the World Health Organization has reported an increase of 5x’s the amount of cyberattacks against their organization. In fact, they were able to get a hold of 450 emails and passwords. The point being, be safe, use common sense when reading email by recognizing the ‘from’ address.”

What impact has the Coronavirus had on your business?

I’m writing about the impact of the Coronavirus on B2B software companies and would appreciate your perspective. What are customers and prospects telling you and your sales team? Are buyers still buying?

So far I’ve received several responses to my inquiry, and surprisingly there seems to be more buyer interest than you might expect. A VP of product marketing said his FP&A company just closed a big deal and webinars are well attended – 600 sign ups and 300 attendees at the last one.

I’m working with an AI startup that hasn’t seen a drop off in interest, and just landed a pilot. Plus existing customers are expanding their use. In Germany, the CEO of a PIM (product information management) software vendor said his company is focused on selling to existing customers and doesn’t expect new business to materialize for several months.

If willing to share the impact of the Coronavirus on your business, drop me a note () and we can talk or exchange email.

You get to be the critic

If you have time to check out Vettd’s new website home page, I welcome your input and feedback. It’s a work in progress. The copy is based on a message strategy I worked with the Vettd team to create.

Is the position clear? Do you easily know what Vettd does and why a buyer should care enough to stay on the site and learn more? Let me know what you think; send email to .

If you like the writing on the Vettd website

I’ve worked with two world-class copywriters. One has retired and the other one wrote the Vettd home page copy. If you need a copywriter, I will introduce you to Denis Dubois, who does all of my clients’ copywriting and edited my book. He has extensive B2B software knowledge and experience.

Are B2B software marketing budgets really weathering the crisis?

Based on results of a recent survey about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on B2B marketing budgets, feel fortunate that you are in B2B software marketing.

It may come as a surprise that B2B marketers in some industries – such as software – expect their budgets to remain unchanged or increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s one of the conclusions from a recent survey of 450 B2B marketers conducted by B2B Marketing Zone. “By industry segment,” according to survey results, “more software and healthcare companies anticipate stable or even increased marketing budgets, and plan to reallocate unused live event dollars to other marketing channels and tactics.”

How is your marketing budget holding up? Please share if willing.

Stay safe!

Best, Lawson

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