The importance of marketing to open-source projects
In the midst of Ars Technica's review of the utility of free online music, the tech site notes something of critical importance to open source, too:
As free music becomes common, though, the real battle will shift to marketing/press/PR. When a few acts are releasing free albums, it's easy for listeners to sample them; when everyone does it, artists are suddenly competing for people's time and attention, and even free downloads won't be enough to attract listeners without building some buzz.
Exactly. At one time it was enough to be the "open source Exchange" or the "open source Siebel" or whatever. No longer. There's simply too much open-source software out there to stand out as the "open-source XXXX." You have to market the "XXXX" if you want to have a hope of success.
Yes, open source remains a viable development methodology, one that can deliver exceptional software. But it's not enough. To be disruptive, open source also requires viral distribution. The hidden requirement in all of this is that someone has to care enough about the project in the first place to download it, and then talk about it and spur further distribution.
The "caring" aspect? That's marketing.
Open-source companies and community projects that don't invest in marketing will fail. This may not mean traditional marketing (e.g., print advertising, email campaigns, etc.) and, in fact, probably does not. But it must involve some element of getting the word out.
Otherwise, who will know to download and try it out?
Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
From the article: "A good lover respects and trusts us. A good lover takes a shower and puts on a clean shirt. In other words, maybe we should stop assuming that marketing means lying, and start treating our customers/users as people we value and care about enough to make their life a bit more enjoyable."
- by fred2baro September 11, 2008 1:42 PM PDT
- I think you're totally wrong and completely mistaken about how works the opensource. The core of opensource developpment is community. In this community the word of mouth took a huge space. And today most of the social Network are working by a way or an other with the word of mouth to monetize their investments.
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(3 Comments)Conversation is become the main to advertize a product and to differiencate it from an other product.