Recruitment, the main obstacle to the strong growth of software publishers

Syntec Numérique and EY released on October 8, 2019 the results of the ninth edition of the Top 250 of French software publishers. It’s an opportunity to see that the sector remains extremely dynamic and innovative in France, and to look back at the recurring recruitment difficulties that are holding back its growth.

The dynamism of the software publishing ecosystem in France is clearly on the rise, with revenue growing by 18% when you remove the contribution of the Top 10, which includes Dassault Systèmes and Critéo. Even better, this growth is very largely profitable (78% of the companies in the panel posted a positive result for the 2018 fiscal year) and the vast majority (91%) – self-finance their growth.

Accelerated ramp-up of SaaS

Facts: unsurprisingly, we see that the share of revenue generated through SaaS reaches 37% in 2018 versus 27% in 2016. This underlying trend is intensifying, as Cloud/SaaS is the technological priority for 49% of publishers, even ahead of artificial intelligence, which is more often artificial than intelligent, anyway. Subscriptions are establishing themselves, with 80% of publishers positioning them as the preferred contracting model.

Software publishers, don’t lose your subscribed customers to your solutions anymore; learn the acquisition and nurturing techniques that work with marketing automation.

My analysis: this ramp-up of SaaS increases the importance of analyzing how customers use software in order to control the churn rate (customer churn in English). Marketing automation for publishers becomes a competitive advantage. By knowing prospects’ and customers’ uses and interests perfectly, you target your communications precisely. Choose the solution from a publisher that is truly GDPR-compliant, i.e. not subject to the American Cloud Act.

Software publishers: an HR-stressed profession

Facts: Software publishers continue to record strong headcount growth over the 2016–2018 period, with 12,700 net jobs created over two years (+16%). Recruitment difficulties remain an obstacle to growth for 74% of publishers. Unfortunately, the study confirms the low percentage – 30% – of women working in the sector.  French publishers find it hard to hire …

This observation, made for many years, is only persisting and accelerating, as 87% of software publishers say they are facing recruitment difficulties, i.e. an increase of 3 points compared with 2017. The entire profession is now suffering from a shortage of talent, across almost all types of profiles! These difficulties are an obstacle to development for 75% of software publishers.

Don’t miss your recruitment opportunities; anticipate them  with inbound recruiting techniques and increase your HR effectiveness by +30%. 

My analysis : Once again, marketing automation—or rather, you should be talking about inbound recruiting—can play a decisive competitive role by translating acquisition and nurturing techniques to the targeted candidate profiles. Upstream, for people already in their roles as part of employer brand communications.

During the recruitment process by smoothing the candidate journey. Downstream, by reactivating profiles not selected for a position but that have sufficient quality for a future role, and also by taking advantage of the departure of positive employees to turn them into ambassadors.

The indirect channel, underused

Facts: 63% of French software publishers consider the direct distribution channel as the preferred solution for growing their business. Meanwhile, the indirect lever is increasingly being used by smaller, more agile publishers experiencing strong growth.

My analysis: using co-marketing practices between publishers or with value-added resellers (VARs) allows you to acquire new targets and qualify your existing database. You address new topics through articles, webinars, videos, and events—rich content that you place at the center of your marketing automation campaigns. You demonstrate your value to your partners; you become indispensable in your industry.

Start right away with  the first book on marketing automation, with more than 20 scenarios and KPIs that will make your relationships with customers and partners take off.