Picking your target audience is the most important thing when it comes to advertising online.

We have acquired statistics for which countries it pays up the most to advertise software.

The factors that affect the results are:

1. Wealth – the richer the country, the more they have to spend on software.
2. Class – depends on the type of software you are selling, for business or personal use, but for personal use, the dying middle class is the desired one. Upper class, the richest 1%, is still 1%. We want to target the largest group of people who can afford it and need it, and are thinking their decisions through, because they do not have a money to waste.
3. Anti-Piracy Laws and Privacy laws – if the laws are strict and if and only if they are applied, there is more chance for you to sell a software. If your internet provider, as it is the case in all the Western World, tracks what you do and if you use P2P, for the software developer and salesman, this is actually a good thing. Since it is no joke (my friend, living in Paris, France, went on court and received a fine of 50,000 euros for downloading some music via torrent), if you do not use VPN, you might get caught. For most people it is the best to stay safe and pay for the software. The laws in the USA or Great Britain are very strict, while in Eastern Europe people can do almost what they want without penalties.
4. Education and development – there must be a need for the product, and the largest need is with the largest advancement. Even if some region is richer, it might not be good for advertising software. Example would be if that region is interested more in tourism or agriculture than technology.

Unfortunately, these factors seem to be valid for the same countries. The wealthiest countries have the largest percentage of middle class, the strongest anti-piracy laws, and are of course, the most developed.

Hypothesis following this standards would be:

• Countries of the Western and Central Europe, North America and Australia are desirable, as the all 4 factors are satisfied.
• The second group is Eastern Europe and Latin America.
• Asia are not desirable. Depending on a country the different factors are satisfied, but never all four.
• Africa is off the charts.

This is only generalization by the continents, it truly depends on a country. Let us see the statistics.

Frequency – how many times is the software being bought from someone from that country,
Population – countries population in Millions, rounded up,
Index per population – frequency divided by the population.

Country	Frequency	Population	Index per population
USA	187	321	0.583
UK	141	65	2.169
Germany	84	81	1.037
Australia	39	24	1.625
Canada	38	36	1.056
Italy	31	61	0.508
Netherlands	29	17	1.706
France	27	66	0.409
Sweden	17	10	1.700
Spain	17	46	0.370
Brazil	15	204	0.074
Denmark	12	6	2.000
Russia	11	146	0.075
New Zealand	10	5	2.000
Greece	9	11	0.818
Argentina	9	43	0.209
Finland	8	5	1.600
Belgium	8	11	0.727
Ireland	7	5	1.400
Poland	7	38	0.184
Norway	6	5	1.200
Switzerlan	6	8	0.750
Austria	6	9	0.667
Bulgaria	5	7	0.714
Israel	5	8	0.625
Taiwan	5	24	0.208
Lithuania	4	3	1.333
Portugal	4	10	0.400
Turkey	4	77	0.052
Philippines	4	102	0.039
Romania	3	20	0.150
Latvia	2	2	1.000
Fiji	1	1	1.000
Kuwait	1	3	0.333
Croatia	1	4	0.250
Indonesia	1	255	0.004

It is obvious that the USA is the largest market for the software, thus it would seem to be the best for advertising. However, if we would sort this table based on the Index, descending:

Country	Frequency	Population	Index per population
UK	141	65	2.169
Denmark	12	6	2.000
New Zealand	10	5	2.000
Netherlands	29	17	1.706
Sweden	17	10	1.700
Australia	39	24	1.625
Finland	8	5	1.600
Ireland	7	5	1.400
Lithuania	4	3	1.333
Norway	6	5	1.200
Canada	38	36	1.056
Germany	84	81	1.037
Latvia	2	2	1.000
Fiji	1	1	1.000
Greece	9	11	0.818
Switzerland	6	8	0.750
Belgium	8	11	0.727
Bulgaria	5	7	0.714
Austria	6	9	0.667
Israel	5	8	0.625
USA	187	321	0.583
Italy	31	61	0.508
France	27	66	0.409
Portugal	4	10	0.400
Spain	17	46	0.370
Kuwait	1	3	0.333
Croatia	1	4	0.250
Argentina	9	43	0.209
Taiwan	5	24	0.208
Poland	7	38	0.184
Romania	3	20	0.150
Russia	11	146	0.075
Brazil	15	204	0.074
Turkey	4	77	0.052
Philippines	4	102	0.039
Indonesia	1	255	0.004

Now we get the different results. Advertising online is not a billboard on a street. Street billboards would be great in the rich, crowded place like, for example, New York.

Let’s remember how online advertising works: you are paying per views or per clicks. That view or click is usually by the one person. Let’s say we are going for “views”: we want to make sure that the person who sees the add might be interested in it.

That is exactly what the Index is showing us – how likely is the person to buy the software within that country. In the case of our table leader, UK, it is the 2 people per Million, while in the case of USA, the leader of the previous table, it is approximately 2 in three Million. It pays up 3 times to advertise in the UK than in the US.

Localization of your software might also be a key factor. Lets assume that your software is in English only. This will not increase the likelihood of being bought by the English speaking nations, but it will decrease its chances for the rest of the World. Having localization for, for example Germany, another perspective market, makes it much more attractive for them, and thus it would change this table’s values.

And for the end, marketing pays up, weather you decide for the Facebook ads or Google’s AdWords. I wish you best of luck!