As a B2B SaaS vendor, you have access to at least a dozen different software review sites to market your product and collect customer feedback. So what gives TrustRadius an edge, and why should it be an important part of your review strategy?
In this TrustRadius overview, we’ll walk through how the platform works for vendors and buyers so your team can leverage the review site effectively—by boosting your trScore, getting your product on the TrustMap, and accessing downstream intent data.
What is TrustRadius?
TrustRadius is “the most credible B2B technology decisioning platform,” according to the review site itself. Think of it as a B2B software review site that helps buyers make informed purchase decisions and gives sellers a valuable source of social proof and qualified leads.
The platform has been guiding B2B buyers’ software purchases for more than a decade. TrustRadius launched in May 2013.
Vinay Bhagat is the Founder and CEO of TrustRadius. He launched the platform after exiting the SaaS company Convio.
TrustRadius is based in the United States. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
Who is TrustRadius for?
Ostensibly, TrustRadius is for B2B decision makers looking for software reviews. But the platform also has several use cases for SaaS marketers and founders. Below, we’ll cover how the site works for both buyers and sellers.
TrustRadius for vendors
For SaaS companies, TrustRadius offers a valuable marketing opportunity. In addition to building a profile and acquiring reviews, you can use TrustRadius content to generate demand.
TrustRadius partners with software companies of all sizes. However, it’s most popular with enterprise vendors, which make up over 40% of its base. In contrast, competing sites like G2 and Capterra attract significantly more mid-market and small business vendors, respectively.
How do you claim your product profile on TrustRadius?
To get your product listed, start by requesting access to the TrustRadius vendor portal and answering a few questions about your SaaS company. Then you can claim your product profile.
The platform offers two profile options:
- Free profiles let you add product overviews, features, pricing, integrations, and demos to help prospective buyers evaluate your software. With a free profile, your product can also qualify for TrustRadius awards and badges.
- Premium profiles include all elements above, plus advanced marketing and insights. With a premium profile, you can run review generation campaigns, amplify marketing across channels, and access product insights and intent data.
How do you optimize your TrustRadius profile?
To make the most of your free TrustRadius profile, use all available components:
- Write an overview that explains your product succinctly while including keywords likely to stand out to your buyers.
- Create a list of features to help buyers assess whether your product checks their boxes.
- Add screenshots that show your product’s interface so buyers can get a sense of the workflow.
- Upload videos or demos so buyers can take a deeper dive into the software’s functionality.
- Provide pricing. TrustRadius pricing also lets you indicate if your product has a free trial or a freemium version.
As a premium TrustRadius customer, you can add a few additional elements to your profile:
- Choose a call-to-action (CTA) button to drive traffic to your company’s website.
- Set up a lead form and sync with your customer relationship management tool (CRM) to capture demand.
Optimized profiles typically have at least 10 reviews. We’ll cover tips for getting software reviews below.
What's an example of a TrustRadius vendor profile?
Gong is a great example of a SaaS company that’s attracted over 775 TrustRadius reviews and achieved a 9.2 (out of 10) rating in the competitive conversation intelligence category.
To introduce the revenue intelligence platform, Gong’s profile lists dozens of integrations, shows product screenshots, and features product videos. Gong also provides success stories that resonate with different ideal customer profiles (ICPs).
Gong has won TrustRadius awards for several years running. These Top Rated, Best Of, and Most Loved awards automatically display on the company’s product profile.
Gong cross-promotes this content on the company’s website and social media channels. A TrustRadius review features prominently on Gong’s “raving fans” page.
The company also shares TrustRadius awards on LinkedIn. These accolades build trust and offer social proof for the company’s 215,000+ LinkedIn followers.
TrustRadius for buyers
As a buyer, you can use the platform to research software and work with colleagues to make purchase decisions. You can also share your experience and insights by writing user reviews.
How do you research software companies on TrustRadius?
Buyers can research software by category or platform. With TrustRadius, you can also view alternatives to any software you’re considering or compare two options against each other.
To organize your research, you can create a board for each project and update it as you evaluate options. With boards, you can save software, pin specific reviews, and compare up to three platforms to one another.
TrustRadius tracks all the options you’re considering, along with the software you’ve already disqualified. To support decision making, you can share boards with colleagues.
How do you research software companies on TrustRadius?
As a tech buyer, you can share your experience with a software program in a TrustRadius review. All you need is a free TrustRadius account.
You’ll need to answer a handful of questions about your professional background and your experience with the software. Then you’ll be able to detail your takeaways in a short-form review.
As a software customer, you might receive requests from the platforms you use, asking you to leave a review. We’ll cover these incentivized reviews below.
How does TrustRadius work?
From review verification to product scoring to software awards, let’s take a closer look at how TrustRadius works and how vendors can leverage the platform successfully.
What is a trScore?
Every product profile has what’s known as a trScore, or a star rating that uses TrustRadius’s proprietary algorithm. It’s engineered to offer an objective look at B2B software, helping both buyers and vendors assess current sentiment.
Rather than simply averaging the product’s reviews and ratings, the trScore weights these inputs to produce a score on a scale of 10. For example, Airtable has a trScore of 8.5 out of 10.
One of the biggest benefits of the trScore is that it places more weight on newer reviews than on older ones. This approach is ideal for business technology, as it prioritizes updated reviews that reflect current versions and features.
Another advantage of the trScore is its focus on credibility. It weights random reviews more heavily than those from biased sources. This approach prevents sellers from skewing scores by securing reviews from top champions only.
What are TrustMaps?
TrustMaps are comparative charts that measure products in the same category against each other. They’re based completely on user data, relying on trScores and research frequency to help buyers understand the landscape.
By default, TrustMaps display the top eligible products in a category. Buyers can filter by company size to zero in on the software that’s most likely to be a good fit for their use case.
For example, here’s the TrustMap for marketing automation software for small businesses. HubSpot has by far the highest research frequency. But tools like SALESmanago and Klaviyo have much higher trScores.
To get on the TrustMap for a software category, sellers need at least 10 reviews with at least five for a given company size segment. Note that not all categories have TrustMaps, especially those with only a few products.
How do TrustRadius awards work?
TrustRadius offers several awards and badges to spotlight top-ranked products. The platform’s Top Rated and Best Of awards are some of the most coveted.
Top Rated awards reflect customer satisfaction, as they’re based completely on reviews. To be considered, a product must have at least 10 reviews in the past 12 months, a trScore of at least 7.5, and at least 0.5% of the category’s traffic.
TrustRadius issues Top Rated awards annually for each software category. Product profiles display them in badge form (like ClickUp’s below), and software companies can also share these awards on their websites and marketing channels.
TrustRadius’s Best Of awards are also based on buyer reviews. Award-winning products have the highest percent of positive key insights in features, value, and relationships.
Best Of awards display in a carousel on product profiles, and award winners can promote them across marketing channels. For example, monday sales CRM won Best Of awards in all three categories for 2023.
How can vendors get more TrustRadius reviews?
According to TrustRadius, over 40% of B2B buyers use reviews at the beginning of their research. Many also refer to them later in the decision making process.
For software vendors, having more positive reviews that reflect current features can boost trScores, get products on the TrustMap, and qualify them for TrustRadius awards.
As a vendor, you have several options to get more reviews from satisfied customers. Some of the most common tactics include:
- Creating in-app notifications for engaged users
- Sending email campaigns to current customers
- Engaging attendees at in-person or virtual events
Keep in mind that not every customer you connect with will be in a review mindset. One way to find customers who are likely to leave reviews is to use net promoter score (NPS) surveys.
Using concise templates can be helpful for reaching out to customers and getting them to take action. The TrustRadius review growth kit includes templates that your team can customize.
To increase the likelihood of getting reviews from a more representative customer sample, you might also offer incentives like gift cards or company swag. Note that TrustRadius tracks and discloses incentives to provide transparency.
How can SaaS companies use TrustRadius intent data?
As a premium customer, you can tap into TrustRadius data to get insights on accounts that are actively researching products in your category—including yours and your competitors’.
With this downstream intent data, you can find in-market buyers, improve outreach, and close deals faster. It’s ideal for enhancing demand generation, optimizing account-based marketing (ABM), and decreasing churn rate, as the second-party signals integrate directly into your CRM and paid tools.
How does TrustRadius make money?
TrustRadius is free for B2B software buyers and reviewers to use. For sellers, the platform has a freemium model. Vendors can list products for free, but accessing premium features comes at a cost.
TrustRadius makes money by providing services and data to software sellers, including:
- Creating tools for vendors to get more reviews
- Giving vendors licenses and tools to cross-promote reviews
- Providing vendors with anonymized intent data
One aspect that sets TrustRadius apart from other B2B software review sites is that it doesn’t support ads. Vendors can’t pay for better placements, which means buyers won’t see sponsored products at the top of category pages or search results.
That also means TrustRadius can use trust to maximize its competitive advantage, building a moat based on vendor value and buyer confidence.
Is TrustRadius trustworthy?
The platform has more than 480,000 reviews, all of which come from 100% verified users. Since the company was launched, TrustRadius has verified and vetted every reviewer, with the aim of prioritizing trust and credibility.
Reviewers must authenticate their accounts via either a work email address or a LinkedIn account. Before publishing their reviews, TrustRadius verifies buyers’ experience with the software.
As impressive as the total review count might be, the platform prioritizes quality over quantity. According to the TrustRadius about page, reviews average over 400 words—which indicates high-quality feedback from engaged buyers.
Next steps to learn more
Curious how your SaaS company can get more reviews on TrustRadius and then use them to win more customers? Learn how to generate and leverage B2B software reviews for your SaaS business and read the B2B SaaS Reviews interview with Vinay Bhagat, Founder & CEO of TrustRadius.
