If you log on to Skype website, the welcome message goes something like this: “Call any phone, anywhere with Skype”. As you scroll down, the next big line in bold says “Pretty cheap calls to phones and mobiles”. Then as you scroll further down: “Here’s looking at you, baby!” (the video calling stuff). There is no major liner that promotes what Skype has so far been promoting: free PC-to-PC voice calls.
If you are a Skype employee, I am glad you guys finally shifted focus towards generating real money. While you are at it, we thought you could do with some help from our end. You should also consult Boston matrices and Gartner magic quadrants. But wonderful tips (below) usually come for free:
1. Even among your active PC-to-Phone (SkypeOut) user base, expect churn as high as 30% to 50%. As such try to lower down your customer acquisition costs. Pay between $10 to $30 per customer acquisition, and not more than that. Do not go wild teaming with every social network out there. A common thread of these deals should be exclusivity. This way you deny rivals access to some of the most popular online sites. You need to focus on the developing world as well. US consumers have inexpensive long distance calling rates available. You need users in developing world with broadband access. Find portals in those countries to team up with. Do not feel bad if you are seen as smuggling minutes from these countries. We are here to cheer you up.
2. Integrate SkypeOut functionality into online directories enabling your customer to initiate a call by clicking on the number. That will demand a thin version of your software client. This eliminates the long downloads that discourages consumers from experimenting with the service. PC-to-phone calling, for first timers, represents the desire for instant gratification or impulse calling.
3. Focus on mobile VoIP. Long distance calling rates are still relatively expensive there. The download option for mobile version of your dialer should be prominent on your webpage.
4. Join a peering exchange so that you improve your margins on minutes routed through the exchange. Arbinet, Xconnect and Stealth have large ENUM registries which you can utilize. They would however demand that you let other connected carriers call your SkypeIN numbers for free. Not a problem. That will actually drive your SkypeIN business.
5. Acquire some hosted-call-center service providers. That will drive your SkypeOut and SkypeIN traffic.
6. Work more with companies like VoSky and MobiGater, partners that are great sources of revenue generating traffic. Establish OEM relationships with the international divisions of PC companies. These deals should require partners to distribute keyboards that include a button labeled ‘Skype’ that launches the Skype software. This type of deal is crucial because eliminating the need to download software removes a large obstacle to using the service.
7. Brand the service, not your website. Unfortunately, this is a compromise every communications company makes, whether they are web based or not.
8. Do some SkypeOut promotions with those who can help you market your stuff online. For example, tap into those bloggers who make phone calls to write their blogs. Give them free $50 credit per month. It was the reporters and journalists who hyped up VoIP in the mid nineties.
9. Internal marketing and direct sales will bear the best results. So while some of channels mentioned above can be a good source of customer acquisition, you have come this far on your own (without the sales push though …. so time to build that sales team).
10. One last bit. One day a competing Web -2.0 (read minus 2 dot 0) company will force you to make your SkypeOut calling a free service. Do not fall for the trap. If you do, there is nothing we can do for you. Perhaps in those difficult times you may find some consolation in ad networks like VoodoVox.