... we seek a reasonable balance.
Thank you. As with almost anything, that's the key word.
How often can we run a campaign like this? (some of you suggested 4 to 6 times a year).
Although this may be a little OT (but not so much), the frequency of this type of notifications should consider many different aspects IMHO.
For example, you called this one "Summer Discount". So, there should be a real discount (which I guess it was), and the notification should not be repeated within the summer.
If you are going to call it "summer" but you give a second discount within 3 months, then users will know that the name means nothing, and they may eventually translate it to devalue the "discount" part too. Bad PR.
Another factor would be how many new potential buyers you got since the last offer. For example, if Avast has, say, 150 million users, and after 3 months you got 1 million new "potential new buyers" (just to give a random number), then that "may" be one (good or bad) parameter, whether to display a new offer or wait. Of course some "old" users that haven't bought the first offer (for several possible reasons) might want to receive a new discount available so to accept it the next time, but I would tend to think (read as "guess") that "new" users might be the main target as potential buyers of the offer, together with users that would like to renew their registration (and payment).
So, an "old" user that already saw an offer, say a month ago, may or may not be interested on seeing an additional offer this month. How many users that didn't take the offer last time will take it this time? How many users will say "another advertisement, yet again? I may have to change, to use some competitor's tool".
Obviously the offer itself (price) is another factor, and the ratio of actual new buyers is too.
I personally think that a few times a year should not bother (no "nag"), whatever the previous examples and conditions are. But that's me. Other users here are already expressing concerns and even complaints, even without knowing its frequency. OTOH, "some" of those already concerned or already complaining are also saying that a few times a year should be acceptable for them; while others are already saying that they have "zero tolerance" (again, without even really knowing about it).
Avast should evaluate (not necessarily from this Avast Forum) the adequate frequency so to
balance how much those loyal users might not like this tray notifications but still not abandon ship (or not causing bad PR), and the need for the very well deserved income.
All this probably sounds obvious for the marketing guys in Avast Software. I just wanted to share a (possibly OT) comment, specially for those "with umbrellas already opened"
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