Chapter 6

Go-to-Market Best Practices

Even the best technology can fail if you don’t have a solid go-to-market plan.

You have embedded analytics within your application… now what? Here are some tips for getting the most out of your investment.

In this chapter, we will explore three key areas for bringing embedded analytics to your users:

  • External Promotion
    Generate excitement from your customers and prospects in thinking about embedded analytics and the value it brings.
  • Internal Enablement
    Equip internal stakeholders with the tools they need to successfully communicate the incredible value.
  • Pricing and Packaging
    For commercial application providers, create a shared value proposition. Show how you can make the most out of your embedded analytics offering.

The principles discussed here are helpful to those who are looking to promote and build a user base for their embedded analytics rollout. Commercial ISVs and SaaS providers will likely find this chapter most useful. Owners of internal IT applications will also find it valuable.

Remember: It’s a journey.

Like any software initiative, embedded analytics is not a straight-line path to a single stop. More often than not, once your customers see data in new and exciting ways, their thirst for more data and insights will only grow.

So be sure to a) monitor usage, b) actively acquire feedback from all stakeholders, and c) adapt your go-to-market tactics to lock in long-term success. Keep your eyes and ears on the market, learn the new stories that emerge from your customers, and share those with the team. Listen to your sales team and prospects, as their feedback will drive future product development plans. Consider building a phased project plan. Focus on building up the success of ever-larger groups of users, one at a time.

External Promotion

Let’s generate some excitement around embedded analytics for your customers and potential customers.

Seeing is Knowing

Because analytics are so visual, prospects need to see it for themselves. The best way to showcase your new capabilities is through compelling visualizations. Be sure to include images or screenshots in and around marketing collateral. Showcase these in your website and slide presentations. Employ videos and webinars to guide users through new features. Use in-depth show-and-tell. Consider creating a visual gallery of real-life examples.

Customers Tell a Story

When communicating the value of embedded analytics, nothing is more convincing than customer testimonials. Reach out to your customers and user community regularly to solicit feedback. Ask if you can quote them in a case study, webinar, or press release. Consider creating a testimonials section and/or customer success gallery on your website. Your customers are often the strongest sellers of your product.

Think Education

Be aware that today’s selling process has transformed into an educational one. Prospects must recognize your company as a thought leader with a compelling product. They will need to be convinced that this product addresses their frustrations and challenges before they agree to a sales pitch. Educate your prospects. This can be achieved through engaging content like white papers, solution briefs, and product demos. Each should be aligned with each stage in the buying process. Creative content will build interest and it will increase usage in your embedded analytics offering.

Internal Enablement

Give stakeholders the tools they need to communicate the value to customers.

Some companies will refer to this as “sales enablement,” but think beyond the sales team. Make sure that the training, professional services, and marketing teams understand the value proposition. Educate them on how to best utilize the tools that are made available.

Craft Core Messaging

As you roll out new capabilities, be sure that everyone knows what’s coming. Get the whole team on board to communicate it effectively. You’ll need to craft new messaging. Determine the value proposition for each of your user types, and tie in the business value for each product capability. Remember to share new use cases. Teach the sales reps to identify when and how to target new user types.

Create Demonstrations that Move

Create product demonstrations that highlight your product’s top capabilities. Showcase that which differentiates it in the marketplace. Prepare thought-provoking demo data that simulates a rich production environment. The goal is for everyone to experience how your product will work in “real life.” Use the application data and analytics to tell an end-to-end story. Show how users benefit from your product. Customer testimonials are a great way to share an experience in which people can relate. The bottom line is that you should connect the dots between each product capability and its business value.

Practice

So, how do you ensure that everyone is ready to go with embedded analytics? Practice, of course! Analytics has the power to transform your business. It can change the way your customers run theirs. Let’s make sure all your stakeholders are well-equipped to communicate this value. Set aside time so that everyone can deliver the same message. Review and certify on an ongoing basis.

Pricing Embedded Analytics

Showcasing the value of embedded analytics is the key to making the most of your offering.

Front and foremost, you want to relate the value that your customers receive to the price. We’ve already spent so much time discussing strategic value in this guide, so let’s get right down to the numbers. Software providers revealed these insights when it comes to embedded analytics:

ESG found that analytics products accounted for up to 75% of total data product revenue for one customer.

Businesses charge an additional offering for analytics, up from 15%.

Embedded analytics adds so much value to an app. It helps commercial software providers to increase revenue and how much they can charge. The median value charged for embedded analytics is 25% on top of the core product.

Note that you wouldn’t want to incur an additional charge that is equal to the value brought about by embedded analytics. Meaning, even if analytics represent 43% of the total value, the charge should remain at 25%. This is because your customers expect you to have some amount of functionality included in the product package which is not priced as an add-on.

Also, as the solution’s value to customers increases over time, so too will the demands. The minimum value and functionality they come to expect from your app will only grow with time. For anyone still on the fence about investing in analytics, there is real danger of being left behind.

With regard to the pricing structure, we have so far focused on the percentage of overall value. But charging a percentage of the core product is certainly not the only approach. Analytics pricing can be based on the number of users, overall system usage, or a fixed dollar amount. There are multiple factors that go into determining pricing metrics. One is how the pricing fits into your existing pricing structure.

How to measure the value. Start your pricing exploration with a question such as, “what is the value of embedded analytics to your customers in contrast to the total value of your application?”

Packaging Embedded Analytics

For the packaging to be effective, it needs to check off the boxes for value, price, and market expectations.

There are three common packaging models for embedded analytics: All-inclusive, a separate module, and tiered. Let’s compare them.

All-inclusive
Separate Module
Tiered Model

All embedded analytics functionality is a standard part of the product, rather than charged separately.

Analytics are packaged into an offering that is separate from the core application. Note that this add-on could be an advanced capability that comes with an added fee or a basic capability. All customers have access. Example: A SaaS application is priced based on the number of users or on system usage. The analytics add-on is priced at 20% on top of the core product.

If you already have a tiered cost structure for your product, then you must package analytics functionality into each level.
Salesforce, like many Saas apps, packages reporting and analytics functions into each of its plans, even the most basic.

Pros

  • You are making crystal clear the value of analytics in your product.
  • Customers won’t feel “nickel-and-dimed” for functionality.

Pros

  • A price-package model that is easy for customers to follow.
  • You have a path to upsell customers and make the most out of analytics.

Pros

  • You map capabilities to value. Just make sure everyone knows how to communicate this value.
  • The path to upsell is clear.

Cons

  • Customers who do not use analytics may not feel good about “paying” for it.
  • It is difficult for you to account for the revenue impact that your analytics offers. Your sales team won’t have a future “upsell” opportunity.
  • It may be difficult to come up with the “one price” for everything. (Note that there may still be a variable metric, such as the number of users, that scales with usage).

Cons

  • Customers may feel as if they are always being asked for more money. It’s important to set expectations.

Cons

  • It is not clear how to measure the revenue impact of the analytics offering.
  • Some customers may still feel nickel-and-dimed, especially if they think that the price of the higher tier is not aligned with the value.

Keep in mind that how you package the offering can be used as a competitive tool, as well. Be sure to take into account your own positioning in the marketplace. For example, your competitors may already have some level of embedded analytics. Customers will expect that you deliver that level at a minimum and at the same or lower price. Another scenario could be that everyone in your industry charges for analytics through add-ons. In order to stand out in the marketplace, you can decide to bundle your capabilities in an all-inclusive offering.

Want to learn more?

We have laid out the pricing and packaging trends that pertain to embedded analytics. To learn more about taking a disciplined approach to pricing and all the considerations that shape your go-to-market strategy, download this e-book. It is titled “The Art of Pricing Software Features”, written in partnership with Software Pricing Partners.

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