A Capterra Perspective
My name is Michael Ortner and I am the President and cofounder of Capterra, an Internet company that connects buyers and sellers of business software. We provide software vendors with a Pay-Per-Click program designed to convert prospects into sales leads.
This is my first blog. Since there are estimated to be 125,000 other blogs beginning today (according to Technorati) , I feel it is necessary to provide a justification as to why I am blogging and why you should read it. So at the risk of sounding too corporate, I'd like to start with my blogging goal:
I'd like to open a direct dialog with software companies to help them optimize and evaluate their online marketing campaigns, so that they are better positioned to generate more sales leads and grow their businesses.
After 6+ years with Capterra, and working with thousands of software companies, I've learned how critical the marketing / lead generation function is within companies, especially in the software industry. Marketers who truly understand online marketing provide such a trump card to their companies, that successfully bringing a software product to market without Internet-savvy marketers is nearly impossible - only because the Internet has become the main source of all product research.
I speak with dozens of software companies every week and the reality is that most of them could be doing a much better job of filling their sales pipeline. My blog will be geared toward anyone who handles sales lead generation for software vendors - whether it is someone in Marketing, Sales, Business Development or the founder of a start-up software company who does all of these things.
A few things worth mentioning. First, not only is Capterra's business model Pay-Per-Click, but we also advertise with quite a few Pay-Per-Click channels. So I am speaking both from the perspective of a vendor and a customer of the Pay-Per-Click / Online Marketing industry. Second, much of what I will write about will apply not only to vertical niche sites (such as Capterra), but also to search engines and even traditional media. Finally, while the purpose of this blog is to educate, it is born out of frustration. I spend a good chunk of my time explaining to vendors why their lead tracking doesn't work or why their website isn't converting visitors to leads, so much so that I am starting to feel like a broken record. Most vendors are very appreciative, while others think my suggestions are too difficult to implement. (They really aren't difficult at all.)
I am a huge believer in the software industry. It is filled with thousands of innovative companies that help organizations accomplish whatever their mission is more effectively. This blog is intended to help software companies clear the lead generation hurdle and do a better job of reaching out to all those organizations that need their software.
I'm shooting to do a weekly post, and my next topic will cover a recent epiphany we had regarding prospect behavior. Stay tuned...
This is my first blog. Since there are estimated to be 125,000 other blogs beginning today (according to Technorati) , I feel it is necessary to provide a justification as to why I am blogging and why you should read it. So at the risk of sounding too corporate, I'd like to start with my blogging goal:
I'd like to open a direct dialog with software companies to help them optimize and evaluate their online marketing campaigns, so that they are better positioned to generate more sales leads and grow their businesses.
After 6+ years with Capterra, and working with thousands of software companies, I've learned how critical the marketing / lead generation function is within companies, especially in the software industry. Marketers who truly understand online marketing provide such a trump card to their companies, that successfully bringing a software product to market without Internet-savvy marketers is nearly impossible - only because the Internet has become the main source of all product research.
I speak with dozens of software companies every week and the reality is that most of them could be doing a much better job of filling their sales pipeline. My blog will be geared toward anyone who handles sales lead generation for software vendors - whether it is someone in Marketing, Sales, Business Development or the founder of a start-up software company who does all of these things.
A few things worth mentioning. First, not only is Capterra's business model Pay-Per-Click, but we also advertise with quite a few Pay-Per-Click channels. So I am speaking both from the perspective of a vendor and a customer of the Pay-Per-Click / Online Marketing industry. Second, much of what I will write about will apply not only to vertical niche sites (such as Capterra), but also to search engines and even traditional media. Finally, while the purpose of this blog is to educate, it is born out of frustration. I spend a good chunk of my time explaining to vendors why their lead tracking doesn't work or why their website isn't converting visitors to leads, so much so that I am starting to feel like a broken record. Most vendors are very appreciative, while others think my suggestions are too difficult to implement. (They really aren't difficult at all.)
I am a huge believer in the software industry. It is filled with thousands of innovative companies that help organizations accomplish whatever their mission is more effectively. This blog is intended to help software companies clear the lead generation hurdle and do a better job of reaching out to all those organizations that need their software.
I'm shooting to do a weekly post, and my next topic will cover a recent epiphany we had regarding prospect behavior. Stay tuned...
