Special AV Promo: Will it work?

You really need to look at the root cause of you product not being widely known.

Is it a visibility issue? Your money might be better spent on increased or more effective advertising.

Has your product ever been reviewed by any of the industrymagazines? Many IT managers don't feel comfortable spending large sums of money on a product that they or others have never heard of. Reviews at least ive them a second opinion.

In what format is your free download (complete functionality but date limited, partally functional - some functions not enabled, demo only with test data set)? Again, IT managers will be unwilling to spend large sums of money on a product that they cannot test in THEIR environment.

Without market visibility, reviews, references from other users, or the ability to truly test the product, you aren't going to get any sales.

First off, I agree with everything the previous poster replied. I would like to add a little to it. In my opinion, IT managers/administrators who are serious about the systems which their jobs are pending will not get involved with unknown software in spite of sweepstakes, drawings or contests.
There are many other ways to get your product out known that I feel would be much more effective. Magazines and E-magazines are excellent because all it usually costs you is a little phone time and a copy or two of your software.
I feel that price has bearing as well. It may be better to initially offer a substantially lower price than your competitor (if possible). Once your product proves itself with a fair sized corporation, you can then linkyour software to their name.