It's amazing that it took Adobe so long to introduce a free verion of photoshop online, as some competitors have been online for 9 years; for example Shutterfly Inc. Others have been around for some time as well.
You can find any story around the web on how that applies to Adobe, and what Photoshop Express can or can't do. I include some links at the end of the article.
This is a great lesson for online marketers, and needs to be quickly looked at, because it's the underlying strategy for competing in a world where so much is expected to be offered for free. Don't underestimate the fact that "free" is a business model, it definitely is, it's just not the only part of the business model.
One thing to keep in mind as we go ahead, the assumption in this article is you want your business to grow. You may respond by saying, "who doesn't?" - but there's good growth and bad growth, and the wrong kind of growth can dilute and potentially harm your brand.
With that in mind, here's three things all online marketers need to understand about free:
Branding
If you have any type of product, service or good business reputation, offering free is a key way to extend that brand by offering users the tried and true successful method of letting them have a free trial.
What that does is just not only give them access to your products, but it definitely offers the opportunity to grow your brand beyond its existing base.
Core Demographic
Growth of any business implies that you want to expand beyond your core demographic. Offering something free, again, is one of the best ways to do that, and potentially the quickest.
The question that must be answered is if it'll negatively impact your core user, and if it really matters if you do. More money and profits will come from the core user than the rest of those interacting with your brand.
Early Adopters to Mass Users
So what's happening when you're thinking of increasing your customer base, is you're in reality moving from serving your core user and demographic, into a more general customer.
There's both opportunity and potential peril in going this route.
The core demo you serve will always be the hard core user, and the real fan and evangelist of your business. They'll make up the majority of your sales and profits, and so can't be casually cast aside.
Where the opportunity lies in extending your brand, is in converting those you attract interest from into true believers, and they become part of a growing core base. Offering "free" gives them the chance to see if they want to go deeper.
On the core demographic side of it, you've got to be careful not to alienate them while attempting to grow. They think of themselves as special, and expect to be treated as such. So providing something new for them, while attempting to expand the base, is vital to successful marketing campaigns.
This is what Adobe is attempting with the new Photoshop Express. While they have the serious photo enthusiast, their future doesn't look as bright for new devotees because they've limited their base by not extending the brand out there.
The free site will provide lots of opportunities to up-sell and cross-sell as people interact with their easy-to-use tools.
They seemt to have their core user base well taken care of, so they can confidently move ahead to secure future growth.
We need to think of these things as we attempt to grow our online businesses.
This not only helps to break through much of the clutter out there at any time, but also is very useful in economic times like these where people tighten up their spending over concerns about the future.
Related sites about Photoshop Express online launch:
Adobe Launches Hosted Services With Photoshop Express
Free Web version of Photoshop launches
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