Mostly we code...sometimes we write. Every once in a while, we podcast.

Every once in a while you have a blog topic bouncing around in your head, but you lack the inspiration to start it. Well I got it, on Sunday, when I was at the mall with my 2 kids enjoying a beautiful morning full of ice lattes, lemon bread and the Fall's latest fashions.

My phone dings. It's Twitter. Someone mentioned me. On CodeWeavers corporate account. The Tweet asked who our target market was, and opined that if it was Apple then we should really work on our newsletter layout. With #servicetweet. Instantly, my blood pressures skyrockets. Did I royally screw up something? Did I put a Linux box on a Mac promotion? Quickly I pull up the 'newsletter,' which is actually an email promotion we're running. You know: to-may-to, to-mah-to. But after a quick review, "Whew!", I take a big yogi breath. It's just the personal opinion of someone on Twitter, feeling the need to bash our branding (on the Lord's Day, no less). I've got this. I can continue my Sunday in peace.

This is the frustrating thing about social media. Anyone, marketing expert or not, can take public potshots at your brand in 140 characters. I don't know if said Tweeter is a marketing professional, design specialist or branding rock star (and for the record people, please stop using the branding buzzwords rock star and epic). I didn't waste my time finding out more about him, except that it is probably a him. At least his Twitter profile picture is of what appears to be a male. Anyway what are ya gonna do? Haters gonna hate…

What 'him' doesn't know is that we are constantly A/B testing. Email campaigns, webpages, call to actions-hell, we even A/B test our customer surveys. You name it, we test it, and yes that even extends to our margarita machine and chili cook-offs. And, as it happens, the email campaign in question (September 2015) that got 'him' up in arms superseded any email campaign we have run this year, to this very select and very targeted group. Our KPI (key performance indicator), which for this particular A/B test is revenue, outperformed any other email campaign this year by as much as 826% IN $ALES.

My sales team will take that to the bank any day. Every day.

I appreciate the #servicetweet and the concern for our targeting and branding. And for now I am going to shake it off and eat my feelings alone in the server room. Rest assured CodeWeavers customers, quantitative data drives the majority of our marketing efforts. And remember kids, there is always more than meets the eye in Marketing, and I can guarantee that you are going to see more. Much more. Or will you? Who knows what next month's email promotions may look like/offer/bring to our Mac and Linux users. If you want to be a guinea pig, or if the curiosity of our A/B testing is killing you, you can always sign up to receive our exclusive CrossOver offers.

Oh, and we know our current website sucks. Don't worry: we're working on it.

About Jana Schmid
Jana has been working in the marketing profession for over 15 years. She joined the CodeWeavers marketing department in 2010 and has earned oddities such as the Margaritaville Tahiti Frozen Concoction Maker and a lifetime supply of sparkling water for her performance as Marketing Director. Contact Jana at jana@codeweavers.com and learn more about her professional accomplishments on LinkedIn.