How to increase your success of your VST or Plugin Effect

[noise_2015]

Include a link to an audio file and include a short tutorial on how to use your plugin so people will understand how to use it.

You'll get much more buy-in, especially with the Free->Premium funnel.

- a marketing guy

[Aleksey Vaneev]

too long, didn't watch

[Aleksey Vaneev]

I mean, only for the top companies videos may be effective. Users of such companies have a larger attention budget. If you are second- or lower -tier company, videos attract little interest (we have statistics for Video tabs on the product pages - i.e. users pressed the Video tab before even seeing its cover image).

[noise_2015]

Not video tutorials - that would be too much work.

Simply a 5 or 6 step read-me document that walks the user through the general use. (or perhaps a little popup on the plugin that reads "quickly learn how to use me!")

Such as"

Thanks for trying out the VST Potato-er Dynamic Poop-Maker. Here's a quick rundown on how to use it

1. Download this short audio file
2. Load it into your DAW and add the Potato-er onto your channel
3. Move the Delflagenator slider down to "4"
4. Notice how the top end is enhanced and sounds like a potato
5. Now, move the Thingmawhatizit slider to 50 - this works with the bottom end and will make it sound less like a potato

When I work with clients they will often assume that their target customer understands their product as much as they do. That is never the case.

Clarity = sales.

[Tj Shredder]

+1
I need technical information and hate all that marketing blah. I need to have an idea what the DSP does to the sound and how I control it.
Unless its repeating just features of the competition (then I am likely not interested at all) point to what is different than what other plug-ins do. Videos take usually too much time to get to the point... Video marketing loves blah, but me, the potential customer, not...

[Ranoka]

I like to see videos of someone making patches with the synth - rather than the glossy marketing ones. I also like to have a playlist of demos and examples that I can listen to in the background to get a feel for what the synth is like. But that's maybe just me. I'm the sort of guy that (sometimes) reads the manual of synths I don't own yet...

[Aleksey Vaneev]

Not video tutorials - that would be too much work.

Simply a 5 or 6 step read-me document that walks the user through the general use. (or perhaps a little popup on the plugin that reads "quickly learn how to use me!")

Such as"

Thanks for trying out the VST Potato-er Dynamic Poop-Maker. Here's a quick rundown on how to use it

1. Download this short audio file
2. Load it into your DAW and add the Potato-er onto your channel
3. Move the Delflagenator slider down to "4"
4. Notice how the top end is enhanced and sounds like a potato
5. Now, move the Thingmawhatizit slider to 50 - this works with the bottom end and will make it sound less like a potato

When I work with clients they will often assume that their target customer understands their product as much as they do. That is never the case.

Clarity = sales.

Sound reasonable, but why not assume they can simply load presets? I always relied on a small but diverse enough set of presets.

TL;DR is a commonplace now, so a lot of text won't get you far, especially referential text like "do this, do that". Sound processing is usually a complicated thing, some parameters require "wall of text" to describe what they do and what's the best settings are for which material.

[Michael L]

It makes no difference to me what a developer says about an effect. They speak through their work. On the website, I just look at the GUI to see the parameters and through them the developer's passion. If I need that type of effect, I demo it. Everything depends on my interaction with it. If the presets sound similar to what I want, I'll tweak. If I can get what I want, I will demo it again before buying it. Most effects are good but not exactly what I need, and I can't tell without interacting with it.

[noise_2015]

I mean, only for the top companies videos may be effective. Users of such companies have a larger attention budget. If you are second- or lower -tier company, videos attract little interest (we have statistics for Video tabs on the product pages - i.e. users pressed the Video tab before even seeing its cover image).

I don't think I've ever seen your videos but your results may be because they aren't created from the needs of your target.

Some good rules for Tutorial videos:

Approach your tutorial video like your friend is coming over to see your cool new toy, and talk to the viewer just like that - too formal and it pushes targets away.

Often with video, less produced will yield better results as it feels more authentic and approachable.

Company logo and plugin name up for no more that 2 sec's (including fade in and fade out). That info is often somewhere else on the page. In fact, do even need this at all?

No marketing blah, blah. Give some actionable content within the first 20 secs. 20 seconds is pretty long - many TV commercials are now 15 seconds.

Start with a "Hi, I'm Steve from VST company and here is how to get some great results with this plugin", and quickly do the thing that your plugin does.

*-Then quickly (so no depth) explain what you moved to get the results that you got.

After that, you can go into more depth and edge cases, etc.

The goal is really to get most views past the * part - that's success. Complete viewing isn't always the real goal.

When clients complain that their content marketing isn't working, it's often because their content is pretty bad.

[noise_2015]

Sound reasonable, but why not assume they can simply load presets? I always relied on a small but diverse enough set of presets.

Exactly. You're assuming that the target understands your world and your language, that is not the case.

Presets don't help one really understand how to use a plugin, just that it does something.

Why not try it? It doesn't take much effort and the results will speak for themselves (believe me, I've been down this road before).

[Aleksey Vaneev]

I mean, only for the top companies videos may be effective. Users of such companies have a larger attention budget. If you are second- or lower -tier company, videos attract little interest (we have statistics for Video tabs on the product pages - i.e. users pressed the Video tab before even seeing its cover image).

I don't think I've ever seen your videos but your results may be because they aren't created from the needs of your target.

That wasn't my point. Website visitors simply do not go to pages with videos, irrespective of video content. The only way is to "push" them these videos which I'm hesitant to do.

[JimRussell440]

Include a link to an audio file and include a short tutorial on how to use your plugin so people will understand how to use it.

You'll get much more buy-in, especially with the Free->Premium funnel.

- a marketing guy

This seems like a very, very small tip of the iceberg to me. The real work comes in making people aware of the software in the first place. Getting across what it does, and the results it offers, in what is usually a very small window of opportunity.

Downloading a tutorial after the sale requires somebody take an extra step, = inertia. Surely much better you include a Tutorial folder with the original plugin download, so then everybody has it.

Website visitors simply do not go to pages with videos, irrespective of video content. The only way is to "push" them these videos which I'm hesitant to do.

In general, on average, yes. But in my experience, different people respond to/enjoy different 'channels'. One section may prefer to watch videos, another to read, another to see, some to hear, others to do, others to be recommended... and many more mixtures in between.

I think Voxengo is currently strongest on reputation, for example, and a lot of that is through SPAN. [Just my perspective]. But there are plenty of success stories when things are done in other ways too.

It's probably fair to say that a balanced, 'all-channels' approach is probably safest cost/benefit to anyone starting out.

[noise_2015]

I think you're confusing my point with marketing (raising awareness) - after all that's what I do for a living.

This is for people who have downloaded your plugin (or got via a Computer Music link, etc), loaded it into their DAW and are going, "OK, now what does this do"?

Don't assume they understand the ins and outs of the plugin (remember - they are not you!)- they may be noobs (we all were at one point). You are helping them go from "eh, don't seem to do anything" to "Oh I get it! Cool! I'll use this alot!" quickly and easily.

You need to have a different message and often different language at every step of the funnel - companies often don't realize that and it's why their marketing usually fails to make significant gains for their company.People tend to want to talk to themselves - and that is often a very different persona then their clients. That and the realization of "perhaps someone knows more about this stuff than me".

[S0lo]

I think there are so many diverse opinions on that matter. There are users who love to be teached, there are ones who love to dig on their own. There are who do both and/or some where in between. There are ones who like to read (as shocking as this might seam). And there are the ones who like to test and point out bugs and check whats possible and whats not. There are preset flippers, preset tweakers and the ones who never touch a single preset!!.

I think there is nothing wrong with all. And we should provide something for every one. Problem is TIME.

[Aloysius]

How to increase your success of your VST or Plugin Effect

Give all your customers one million dollars.