For B2B software companies targeting small business and mid-market buyers alike, Gartner Digital Markets offers tons of value. From user reviews to intent data, the network’s suite of services can drive results throughout the customer journey.
In this article, we’ll explore how B2B software vendors can tap into these Gartner Digital Markets offerings to cultivate trust, generate demand, and build pipeline via complimentary product listings and premium services.
What is Gartner Digital Markets?
Gartner Digital Markets is a network of review sites and premium services for B2B software vendors and buyers. Technology research and consulting firm Gartner is its parent company.
Altogether, Digital Markets owns four brands:
- Capterra, which is a long-established B2B software review site with 2 million+ reviews. It was founded in 1999 and acquired in 2015. Capterra is based in Arlington, Virginia.
- GetApp, which is a B2B software comparison site geared toward business leaders. It was founded in 2010 and acquired in 2015. GetApp is based in Barcelona, Spain.
- Software Advice, which is a software review site that offers personalized guidance. It was founded in 2005 and acquired in 2014. Software Advice is based in Austin, Texas.
UpCity, which is a review site for B2B service providers. It was founded in 2009 and acquired in 2022. UpCity is based in Chicago, Illinois.
How does Digital Markets make money?
The company generates revenue via its digital marketing and demand generation services. We’ll cover the three premium service tiers—Launch, Grow, and Excel—in detail below.
Is Digital Markets trustworthy?
Parent company Gartner is one of the most trusted names in tech. The company has over 40 years of experience providing industry research and expert advice to businesses across the globe.
Digital Markets has an extensive system for vetting and verifying reviews. These methods ensure that published reviews come from real users and that they provide value to B2B buyers.
Gartner Digital Markets vs. Gartner Peer Insights
In addition to its Digital Markets brands, Gartner also owns Peer Insights. All of these properties are known as leading business software review sites. The main difference is the scale of the businesses they serve.
Digital Markets brands are geared toward small business and mid-market buyers and vendors. In contrast, Peer Insights is designed for enterprise software buyers and vendors.
In addition to its complimentary user reviews and premium vendor services, Peer Insights has a free community forum for enterprise buyers. The forum’s data is a key source for Gartner’s industry research and expert analysis.
Capterra vs. GetApp vs. Software Advice: What's the difference?
Digital Markets’ three software-focused brands all have unique features and methodologies for determining top-rated products.
Capterra overview
The largest of the Digital Markets properties, Capterra lists 100,000+ solutions across 900+ categories. Although B2B software is the site’s main focus, it also lists providers offering B2B services like marketing, design, and accounting.
On software category pages, Capterra lists sponsored products first. That means vendors can bid to appear at the top of their category page. Buyers also have the option to sort by products with the highest ratings or the most reviews.
Within categories, Capterra organizes software into Shortlists, which use a proprietary methodology. Shortlists include the top 10 to 25 products in a software category and chart products based on their user ratings and popularity (search volume).
Buyers can use Shortlists to find highly rated products, spot industry trends, and choose software to compare. They can also filter Shortlists by pricing options, features, deployment, and user size to find the best option for their use case.
That means securing a spot on relevant Shortlists can help vendors improve awareness and consideration. While vendors can’t influence reviews, they can take steps to increase review volume. We’ll cover this service below.
GetApp overview
A dedicated software review site, GetApp lists tech solutions in hundreds of categories. Like Capterra, GetApp offers sponsored listings that allow vendors to bid for top placement on their software category pages
Because GetApp focuses on helping buyers compare products, each product listing has a built-in alternatives tool. Without leaving the category page, buyers can do comparative research and begin to build their own dashboards.
For eligible software categories, GetApp designates Category Leaders. The Category Leaders methodology considers the product’s usability, value, functionality, and support—as well as the user’s likelihood to recommend it.
On all Category Leaders pages, GetApp shows the average score across the category to help buyers evaluate. For each individual product on the list, the site displays a score out of 100 (up to 20 points for each of five criteria).
Products can receive the Category Leaders designation in multiple categories. For example, job scheduling tool Jobber has received the designation in more than a dozen categories.
Software Advice overview
Like Capterra and GetApp, Software Advice also displays sponsored listings at the top of category pages. Buyers always have the option to sort product listings by number of recommendations, number of reviews, and other criteria.
For eligible categories, Software Advice lists FrontRunners. The FrontRunners methodology charts products based on usability and customer satisfaction.
Overall, the criteria are similar to what GetApp considers. Software Advice’s usability score considers functionality and ease of use, while the customer satisfaction score considers value, support, and likelihood to recommend.
In addition to offering reviews and comparisons, Software Advice encourages buyers to get tailored advice via one-on-one calls. Below, we’ll look at how vendors can use Digital Markets’ pay-per-lead service to access these contacts.
Gartner Digital Markets' listings for vendors
To get started with Digital Markets, create a free product listing. Not sure if your solution qualifies? Capterra, GetApp, and SoftwareAdvice feature prepackaged B2B software, which means B2C and custom solutions aren’t eligible. UpCity is the Gartner Digital Markets site for B2B service providers.
To claim your company’s complimentary listing, complete the form. First, you’ll need to provide basic details about your software and await verification.
Once approved, you can add more details to your listing. While the three brands have slightly different product listing formats, all show features, screenshots, pricing, comparisons, and reviews.
Note that you don’t need to create separate product listings for Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice. When you fill out the form above, your listing will automatically appear across sites.
Each site generates comparisons automatically, based on software categories and user ratings. While product listings can attract reviews organically, Digital Markets’ paid review collection service is designed to accelerate the process.
Gartner Digital Markets' premium services for software vendors
With Digital Markets’ premium offerings, SaaS companies can maximize free product listings and access intent data.
How does the review collection service work?
As a software vendor, you can begin asking customers to leave reviews as soon as your product listing is live. Note that reviews sync across the three sites. Any software review published to Capterra is also eligible to appear on GetApp and Software Advice.
But there’s a faster and easier way to attract reviews quickly. Digital Markets offers a free review collection service, including gift cards as nominal incentives. All you have to do is share your customer list with the Digital Markets marketing team.
Having a few reviews is a good start. But product listings with 10 or more reviews get three times more views, according to Gartner Digital Markets. That means getting more reviews can drive more demand.
When you opt into this service, you’ll also get a dedicated review collection landing page. Your team can share the landing page with customers directly, adding a personal touch to your review collection process.
This service also includes a toolkit your marketing team can use to run successful review collection campaigns. In addition, you get access to a dedicated consultant who can help you get more social proof.
What is the pay-per-click (PPC) offering?
For demand generation, Digital Markets offers a PPC service designed to improve visibility and increase views. PPC campaigns drive traffic to a dedicated landing page, which can generate qualified leads and book demos.
These campaigns can also help you get more product listing views. If you’ve optimized your product page with features, pricing, and screenshots and taken advantage of the free review collection service, it can drive consideration.
Since product listings support external links, you can use them to direct buyers to a campaign landing page. Once prospects complete your lead capture form, you can guide them toward next steps.
It’s important to note that in-market buyers may return to review and compare products multiple times. With the PPC service, you’ll have a better chance to get your product in front of them throughout their research process.
How does the pay-per-lead (PPL) offering work?
Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice all offer personalized buying advice to B2B decision makers. With Digital Markets’ PPL service, you can capture leads who fit your ideal customer profile (ICP).
The PPL service is designed to move quickly and deliver hot leads efficiently. Essentially, buyers request one-on-one calls with software advisors, who then offer free 15-minute consultations.
Digital Markets advisors handle the qualification process for you, based on your ICP. They also verify leads for authenticity and quality. When there’s a match, they deliver leads to your sales team for follow-up.
If you’re looking to connect with in-market buyers in real time, the PPL service is worth exploring. Because this service includes sponsored product listings, it can boost visibility and generate leads.
What do the premium digital marketing services include?
An optimized landing page can completely change the outcome of your paid campaigns. If you don’t have in-house capacity or expertise, the Digital Markets conversion rate optimization (CRO) team can help.
The company’s digital marketing services include landing page design and optimization services. On average, the team has achieved a 64% conversion rate increase across 4,000+ client projects.
In addition to responsive design and data-driven components, Digital Markets landing pages include translation services. If you’re targeting a global market, this feature can improve conversion rates by up to 50%.
How can B2B software vendors access Gartner's intent data?
Your marketing and sales teams don’t necessarily have to depend on Digital Markets’ lead generation services. If you’re running account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns or looking to improve customer retention, intent data may be a better fit.
Digital Markets’ Buyer Discovery offering delivers firmographic data and account-level identities sourced from Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice. Data includes awareness, engagement, and intent scores for better segmentation.
Since the data integrates with tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, 6sense, and LinkedIn, you can use it to run efficient, targeted campaigns. Using this intent data, you can connect with buyers while they’re in market, when your outreach is more likely to make an impact.
How do Gartner Digital Markets' plans compare?
The easiest way to get started as a SaaS vendor is to choose one of the three Digital Markets plans: Launch, Grow, or Excel. Here’s how the three plans compare.
Launch
Launch is Digital Markets’ free plan. With this option, you get a free product listing on Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice. You get access to the complimentary review collection service and the option to repurpose reviews in your marketing.
With this plan, your software becomes eligible to appear in comparative tools, which highlight your product’s advantages over the competition. Your product also qualifies to appear in Digital Markets’ research reports.
Grow
Grow is Digital Markets’ most basic premium plan. It includes PPC and PPL offerings, along with landing page optimization and product listing translations. With this plan, you get access to an account rep for help with lead generation.
Excel
Excel is Digital Markets’ top-tier premium plan. In addition to Grow features, it includes Buyer Discovery offerings data as well as a dedicated senior account rep. If you’re running ABM and lead generation campaigns, this top-tier plan is your best bet.
Next steps to learn more
Curious how Gartner Digital Markets brands compare to G2, TrustRadius, and other competitors? Take a closer look at the best B2B software review sites to find the right source of social proof, demand generation, and buyer intent data for your SaaS company.
