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SWMS Alert: TechTarget's In-House ROI Consultants Set It Apart
August 23, 2005
By Sam Whitmore
Inherent in TechTarget's name is a focus on lead-generation and sales. Unlike most tech publishers, TechTarget was founded by tech vendor salespeople, not media types.
TechTarget's lead-gen strategy is built upon three principles, CEO Greg Strakosch says:
• Generating highly-qualified leads. TechTarget does this with editorial content as well as white papers and other vendor content acquired late last year with Bitpipe.
• Tools and technology. Last month TechTarget announced LeadPRISM, a program designed to help customers generate more leads and sales. The new Lead Center tool is available now; other program components will be rolled out soon.
• Client consulting services. That's the secret sauce.
LeadPRISM may be all well and good, but TechTarget's biggest competitive advantage lies in its Client Consulting Services (CCS) department. Led by vice-president Marilou Barsam, this 18-person operation advises TechTarget advertisers how best to spend their money -- within the TechTarget portfolio, of course.
Of TechTarget's 2,500 advertisers, about 500 "come in and out of programs" managed by CCS, Barsam says. When it comes to TechTarget's top 30 advertisers, Barsam says she and her team "[help] manage everything they do."
Such handholding helps TechTarget immensely. Navigating rate cards and understanding deliverables can confound even experienced media buyers, much less tech vendor executives who understand little about advertising. With its rising profits and tens of millions in venture capital, TechTarget can afford to hire seasoned media pros who can put together slick media plans tilted, naturally, toward TechTarget properties.
"They see us as an ally," Barsam says of advertisers. "They say that with all the cuts and the limited resources they have, the data and information we provide helps them to do their jobs." TechTarget employs "three or four" former media buyers on staff in its Client Consulting Services department, Barsam says.
TechTarget's 76 percent advertiser renewal rate seems to imply that in-house client consulting doesn't exactly hurt.
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Contact:
Doug Jensen
781-657-1528
888-274-4111 x 1528
djensen(at)techtarget.com |
