This week marked the launch of the third video in our Road to the AppExchange series. CodeScience CRO Sean Hogan was joined again by Ron Kiker on our Expert Services team to breakdown what it takes to turn your AppExchange listing into a lead-driving machine.
We’re sharing a few key insights here, but if you want to see the session in full, you’ll have to register here. As an added bonus, by registering once, you’ll gain full access to every video in the series as they release.
Your Product Strategy Shapes Your Listing
There are two major groups that applications on the AppExchange fall into:
- Revenue driver
- Part of a product suite or subscription
While there are best practices to be applied across all applications, when it comes down to messaging and strategy, there are a couple of key differences to keep in mind.
Applications as a Revenue Driver
- Because the application is a sole revenue stream, it is important to test your messaging and track it against your analytics. Salesforce has recently overhauled their analytics capabilities to provide a more in-depth look at users’ activity on your page as well as how they found you.
- Pro tip: run only one test at a time. By changing too many things at once, you won’t be able to evaluate what impact is driving change accurately.
- Consider the Salesforce AppExchange Marketing Program (AMP). AMP is a paid program that helps you reach both customers on the AppExchange and/or employees at Salesforce. From a variety of additional premium placements on Salesforce content to specific demo jams for the Salesforce Sales Enablement team, you’ll have the opportunity to capture mindshare and drive leads.
Applications as Part of a Product Suite or Subscription
- Other companies use the AppExchange as an additional offering to a larger product suite or part of a subscription service. For those companies, it is essential to create a unified message across all your marketing materials and have clear messaging around your application. It can be easy to let your application get lost in the noise, and for some customers, a Salesforce application can make the difference.
- For those who come across your AppExchange listing, make sure you have clear next steps — where should they go to learn more and how do they get in touch with your team. A well-optimized AppExchange listing can be a major lead driver.
Search Best Practices and Ranking Influence
As more and more companies join the AppExchange and list, having your application show up becomes more and more important. While Salesforce doesn’t explicitly state how their ranking algorithms work, we do know there are a few pieces to keep in mind.
Keywords
- Using the right keywords makes a difference. A couple of strategies recommended are leveraging the keyword data you already have. Take a look at your website analytics and uncover the terms people search on Google to find you. Likely those searching on the AppExchange are using the same terms.
- Additionally, talk to your sales team and understand how they position your product. You may discover additional keywords to use throughout your listing.
- Don’t overuse keywords. Ranking algorithms are advanced and know when you’re “stuffing” keywords into your copy. Always prioritize clarity over putting an additional keyword into your copy.
Activity Influences Ranking
- While we don’t know the exact impact, we do know the more activity the page has, the higher the ranking tends to be. Activity is defined as clicks into screenshots, demos, resources, or the learn more sections of your listing. Be sure to build out each of these sections to give users a chance to engage.
- Include clear calls-to-action within your listing for users to engage with your content. If your message is unclear or your information is confusing, users will leave. If you outline what you want the next steps they should take, your chances of driving engagement increases.
These are just a few insights from our session. If you’d like to learn how to leverage Test Drive to curate leads or discover the one feature we recommend every customer include to keep their reviews positive, you’ll have to register here.
CodeScience specializes in bringing commercial applications to life on the Salesforce AppExchange. With over 11 years and 220 applications launched, it is our goal to help you thrive. Contact us today to discover how we can help!
