More software developer organizations continue to engage with the RSPA in person and online. Inspire 2022 attracted a record number of ISV attendees, continuing the momentum created at RetailNOW 2021 where 230+ ISV executives participated. And the RSPA Niche & Startup ISV Community continues to attract high-initiative ISV executives to its bi-monthly conference calls.

During one recent ISV Community meeting, the group shared lead gen best practices, many developed through trial-and-error:

• We advertised on Facebook and Google AdWords but found no success. People were clicking but we got no leads. But we started getting leads when we partnered with a company that advertises specifically to restaurants on Facebook. The last couple months things have really started to take off. We’re getting lots of leads and selling a high percentage of those leads.
• We get leads with a dedicated SEO (search engine optimization) team who specializes in inbound marketing. Inbound is more blog posts and materials that people will read that generate a qualified lead. It also leads them to our chatbot that asks more specific questions.
• We post our content where people in our target audience go to – forums and open online communities (e.g. post a PDF of our content in restaurant equipment forums) and that results in targeted leads.
• We wrote an article about how online ordering aggregators charge restaurants, we put that on LinkedIn and we got a lot of people to comment. We harvested their email addresses out of LinkedIn and started a campaign with them.
• When you do paid SEM (search engine marketing), it’s important to have a chatbot on your site. Your website is your #1 destination but still doesn’t generate a ton of traffic on its own.
• We’ve been in the lucky but also problematic state that we sell our product faster than we can develop it. The traditional lead gen methods are still working well because we’re super niched focused on beer/wine/liquor. We started seeing leads improve after asking ourselves, “Who is this for?” When a target prospect lands on your site, they need to immediately answer “yes” to the question, “Is this for me?”
• We had a strong history of SEO – leads would show up like magic – but last year we really struggled. We landed on more content marketing and we’re now seeing stickiness with leads. Our target is resellers/referral partners and setting them up for success.

Did you know…
The RSPA Niche & Startup ISV Community helps software developer executives meet and network with fellow RSPA ISV members in a vendor-neutral setting. Founded in 2019, the group has grown to nearly 80 members.

To join or sponsor the RSPA Niche & Startup ISV Community, email Membership@GoRSPA.org.