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Sales And Marketing

Overview

Data1Intel: STRATEGIC OVERVIEW

Data1Intel is in the business of collecting and selling data related to various technology business domains, or niches. Our initial strategy is to concentrate on the cyber security industry. After this is accomplished, we will point our data collection machine at other industries. We can do this in a solo fashion, or we can partner with others to form co-owned, independent business units designed to leverage off our technology.

Data and services that Data1Intel will sell include:

  • Custom data collection and analysis services for governments and varied industries
  • Vendor assessment-as-a-service and vendor management for varied industries
  • Country-specific data partnerships with targeted industry leaders

There is a vast, unquenchable demand for targeted data, and we are still defining specific ways to package and sell the data we will be collecting. Fortunately for us, our target markets are comprised of some of the most connected people on Earth, and our initial subject matter—cyber security—is one of the most concerning and vexing issues facing the world today.

There is plenty of information about cyber security, but it is often bewildering in its complexity, and the sheer volume can be overwhelming. How does one make sense of the noise? How does one make smart business decisions? The answer to both these questions is “information.” Full-disclosure, non-biased, third-party information that can only be achieved by sophisticated data collection and processing. This is where our flagship product, VAaaS, comes in.

VAaaS: STRATEGIC OVERVIEW

The VAaaS business model (global data subscription sales) requires a blended B2B marketing and sales process, meaning simply that we get the word out at the same time that we make subscription sales online.

We will be selling a SaaS data product to millions of business and IT personnel involved in the purchase and deployment of the full range of cyber security products. Cyber security products are keyword-rich and can be leveraged with automated Google Adword campaigns and other online marketing tactics to instantly build a monopoly name brand in vendor assessment, while at the same time, driving subscription trials and sales.

Fortunately, our business niche is, by its very nature, fully online and is typically identified as part of, or associated with, clearly identifiable and targetable interest groups and online gathering places such as LinkedIn groups, trade groups, specialty forums, blogs, and associations. These groups can be reached in various ways, including compensating leading group influencers who play primary roles in keeping an online group active, dynamic, and fresh. We will compensate these thought leaders for distributing information, starting dialogs, hosting demo events, and other activities.

Additionally, the newness, uniqueness, power, and obviousness of our business solution will help us immensely as we distribute our story into every possible online and offline channel. We will run an ongoing campaign to continuously work these channels with news about us, our solutions, and those we help. The campaign will include success stories, white papers, news releases, new feature releases, company progress reports, customer acquisitions, etc.

VAaaS MARKET VALIDATION SURVEY

We are in the process of conducting a market validation survey of the VAaaS tool by introducing it to a diverse group of approximately 2,800 business and IT professionals within our network. We have specifically asked for criticism of the software, as well as the overall concept, and are gathering opinions as to its usefulness in the marketplace, as well as its perceived monetary value to prospective users. So far, we have been gratified by the positive feedback—and by the sense of urgency that our respondents have expressed regarding access to the tool. Results of this survey will be posted on this site when complete in mid-March.

MARKETING TACTICS AND CHANNELS

Our pitch is simple. Our product is easy to understand and operate. Our marketing strategy is highly targeted. We will employ a number of methodologies, with emphasis on internet marketing in order to effectively engage our target market audience on their home turf. Specific tactics and channels are outlined below:

Internet Marketing

Website and Other Platforms

Of course, online marketing is anchored by a strong SEO (search engine optimized) website and by a robust company presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and other social media platforms. The VAaaS website will utilize all the SEO techniques our founder has developed over a decade in the business. The objective of SEO is to achieve page-one status on both Google and Bing for the keywords associated with searches. [For a partial list, see keywords in the “Markets and Competition” section of this plan.]

Blogs, Forums and LinkedIn Groups

Online initiatives will be aimed at developing a viral marketing campaign driven by early adopters and evangelists who will help spread the word through the use of blogs, forums, webcasts, and videos. We have collected detailed info on 3,548 blogs, forums, and groups dedicated to the subject of cyber security. This number, however, does not include any of the professional groups listed on LinkedIn. The LinkedIn number for cyber security interest groups totals 2,484, and of this number, 1,182 are designated as CTO, CIO, or CISO groups. Influencers within these channels will be targeted, courted, and compensated in a highly organized campaign designed to help us reach our markets.

Evangelists and Testimonials

The opportunity to interact directly with our target market audience is immense. To build and maintain effective contact with this community, we intend to hire and train professional writers who will build our own blogs, as well as participate in those of others. We plan to attract and compensate popular bloggers, tech writers, and influencers from all media who can act as evangelists and spread the word via “brand journalism.” We will collect testimonials from well-known technology professionals. These will be utilized—some in the form of text, some as video—to post online wherever deemed useful.

Media Outlets

In addition to blogs, forums, and LinkedIn groups, we have identified 137 professional associations and organizations with newsletters, as well as technology-oriented magazines and news sites. All of these will be targeted with “What’s New” stories by our writers, and each will be written specifically to fit a particular venue’s specs. We have built lists of writers who are already accepted by these outlets, and we intend to work with them to get our message out.

Email Marketing

We will purchase membership lists of professional organizations and associations relating to technology management and vendor acquisition. Email marketing will, of course, become an integral part of our communication with our subscriber base as we continuously communicate new ways to use the tool and its features—and offer new incentives for membership.

Publications

We will produce several types of subscription publications: newsletters, daily update bulletins, and customized industry-specific reports, all of which will be offered concurrently with the launch of the VAaaS tool. These publications will be aimed at individual sectors of our target market audience—such as C-suite executives, IT professionals, financial services, and cyber insurance industry executives. [See “Technology Plan” and the “Confidential Documents” sections of this business plan.]

Subscriber Engagement

Following the model of sites such as Glassdoor.com that collect data about company sentiment from current and past employees, we will build a website designed to collect data related to the cyber security readiness of firms that subscriber employees or contractors are currently (or previously) associated with, while verifying and protecting the identities of these contributors. In addition to driving targeted traffic to VAaaS and encouraging engagement, this will become another valuable data collection source for us.

Publicity

Our marketing and public relations firm will generate speaking engagements, TV and radio interviews, and the placement of articles in major periodicals. In addition, we intend to fully utilize our lists of writers and publications that are focused on our target markets. We will provide the media with an ever-changing story angle with the intent of reaching a tipping point with editors so that they feel comfortable reporting on us as we continually expand our product offerings.

Advertising

Our plan is to dominate Google search for our targeted keywords via a robust PPC (pay-per-click) campaign, which will begin post-launch with a $120,000 budget. We may also experiment with geo-targeted Facebook ads and other innovative tech and cyber security-oriented web properties with high traffic volumes.

SUMMARY

By launching a robust, persistent marketing effort aimed at our defined target markets, we anticipate spending $150,000 in the 8 months prior to launch on marketing, public relations, SEO, affiliate/partner programs, and video/media production. We will spend an additional $420,000 on these line items within the first post-launch year. [See the pro-forma in the “Confidential Documents” section of this business plan.]

SALES METHODOLOGY

VAaaS will be sold on a subscription basis, with pricing based on the number of seats and length of utilization required by a user. Additionally, a separate vendor management software product will be developed to accompany the VAaaS platform. This will also be offered on a similar subscription basis. [See the pro-forma in the “Confidential Documents” section of this business plan.]

Product Pricing

In addition to subscription revenue from VAaaS software users, we will derive income from various related publications, such as newsletters, reports, and daily bulletins. These will be aimed at both a general cyber security market audience and at specific sub-sets, such as investment, financial audit, insurance, C-suite, and government agencies (to name a few). [See the pro-forma in the “Confidential Documents” section of this business plan.]

Affiliate and Partner Programs

As a part of our initial reach-out, we will pursue compatible affiliates and partners by offering a compelling revenue sharing program that is easy to understand and operate. For this program, we intend to spend $15,000 during the 8-month pre-launch period, with an additional $48,000 allocated for the 12 months following product launch. [See the pro-forma in the “Confidential Documents” section of this business plan.]

Promotions and Offers

In order to introduce VAaaS, we plan to vigorously promote attractive pre-launch sale packages that include limited free trials, “grandfathered” pricing, a low price structure designed to allow users to enroll without the necessity of any upper-management spending-level approvals, and multiple user/seat group discount plans designed to encourage widespread, cross-departmental usage.

SERVICE AND WARRANTY POLICIES

VAaaS will have an intuitive administrative back-end that makes managing user access, permissions, and previous assessments easy and fast. We will provide 24/7 support, and our customer relations philosophy is simple: “The customer is always right.” This will be reflected in our End-User License Agreement. While this agreement will thoroughly protect the legal and financial interests of the company, the inherent cost of our digital products is such that if there is a dispute with a customer, our policy will be to promptly refund their money if they cannot be satisfied otherwise.

Correct Cyber Security Decisions Start Here