How To Create Test-Drive Solutions That Pique the Interest of Developers?

Nutanix’s CMO, Ben Gibson, discusses why marketers need to be thoughtful when communicating with developers who are the key stakeholders in the decision-making process of prospective and existing customers. Offering test-drive solutions is critical, he says. Here’s where you should start.

The COVID-19Opens a new window pandemic has changed the way leaders across every industry communicate with their customers. If they were anchored in the needs of customers before, they’re even more customer-obsessed today and constantly rethink strategies to offer solutions to new problems.

Part of this means considering how they communicate with developers, who are critical stakeholders in the decision-making process of prospective (and existing) customers. Although companies already offered test-drive solutions to developers before COVID-19, during a time when customers have to make hard decisions about budget and new technologies to enable remote work, test drives become even more critical. 

Here’s how leaders can create effective test-drive solutions that pique the interest of developers and provide them enough insight into your product to inform a decision about buying.

1. Assess Your Options

First, it’s important to take a step back and determine which model makes the most sense for your product: free trial, freemium, or sandbox? Freemium enables customers to try free elements of a product, for however long they’d like, and quantify value before making a decision, while free trial puts a time limit on the trial period. 

On the other hand, a “tailored” sandbox model (a shorter-lived trial than a standard sandbox) can show developers what is possible today while offering the full breadth of a solution.

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2. Consider the Appropriate Elements 

To implement a successful sandbox solution, you must ensure its fundamental characteristics align with what developers want from a test solution (so it will ultimately lead to sales).

To start, consider the timeframe of how long you’ll make it available to developers. This should be long enough to enable developers to use all sandbox features while still protecting your bottom line. Two weeks to 30 days is ideal for a software trial. For an active lab, access to a SaaS platform in two four-hour windows (where developers can renew it indefinitely) works well — even if you give them eight hours, everything is deleted after the trial, so you still protect your bottom line.

Next, consider how you’ll track developers’ status throughout the entire test drive. Tracking allows you to see where developers have given up during the test as well as identify those who made it all the way through. From there, feedback can be collected on what may have made them quit, and you can make changes based on this feedback to fuel a future version.

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3. Build the Right Team

The behind-the-scenes team that runs the logistics of the sandbox is as important as the characteristics of the sandbox itself. And while you may not have the resources to dedicate a full team to this endeavor, it’s critical to bring on at least one team member who has time and energy to devote to it. Whether you make this hire externally or tap someone internally, know that both communication and technical skills are critical. 

This position bridges the gap between three distinct functions at a company —  development, marketing, and product teams. So, this hire must be able to speak each “language” to ensure seamless collaboration and feedback loops. For example, you can find someone who used to be a developer, has the key technical knowledge and knows how to manage large-scale events.

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4. Personalize Communication 

A major component to the success of the sandboxes is compelling follow-up messages that gauge developers’ interest in learning more about your product, and eventually, buying. Research has shown that personalization goes a long way in keeping customers loyal. Ensure that developers who complete the full trial receive a call or email from your team to talk through feedback and answer questions. 

While a human touch is preferred in follow-ups, automating follow-up messages can help streamline and simplify operations if you’re short of team members. Consider sending automated emails that go to each developer who finished the trial with the next steps, or a feedback form that lets them judge and share thoughts about their experience.

Also, think about using personalized prizes to incentivize developers to complete labs all the way through. Ideally, you want the prize to serve both as a reward and a filter — you don’t want to give away a generic gift card, for example, because then anyone will want to test your product, and you’re more likely to get spammed by irrelevant leads. Instead, give away prizes that resonate with a specific developer audience, like a Gene Kim book for DevOps teams, or gift cards for SaaS products that work well with yours. The latter is also a useful way to work with alliances and partners, bringing them into the campaign too.

Before buying something, people want to try it out and know they can fully trust the solution. That’s why so many retail companies now offer free returns, like Casper’s 100-day sleep trial, or free trial periods, like Uber’s free first ride policy. Today’s technology leaders should consider this method a key component of their strategy to both retain and engage customers. 

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