Views on Reviews is a new series of interviews with B2B SaaS professionals who will provide a real-world perspective on what it’s like working on reviews. My eighth interview is with Dev Basu, CEO of Powered By Search.
Dev Basu founded and runs Powered By Search, a top agency that helps B2B SaaS companies scale demand generation to drive demos, trials, and grow MRR.
Powered By Search has helped dozens of B2B SaaS companies, such as Basecamp, CallRail, Clio, Loopio, and TouchBistro.
Dev’s known by his peers, colleagues, and clients as:
- a world-class expert when it comes to scaling B2B SaaS marketing
- one of a select few digital marketing experts that understands the big picture as well as what it takes to get things done
- when you think of a person within the digital space with a wealth of knowledge both applied and innovative, Dev comes to mind
Without further ado, here are Dev’s views on reviews.
1. Powered By Search got started as an SEO agency and has evolved into a B2B SaaS Marketing Agency. How did you get into B2B SaaS?
Answer: Our first client was a virtual data room client back in 2010. Of all our clients, we loved B2B more than B2C, and within B2B, SaaS clients were the savviest, and most fun people to work with.
2. What was your first experience with reviews in business software?
Answer: We used to run into software directories as search competitors for clients for whom we did content marketing and SEO work. We enjoyed beating them at their own game.
3. Have you yourself looked at reviews on a business software review site before purchasing? If yes, tell us how you got to the site, what you looked at, etc.
Answer: Yes, we have and they are useful for sure. I think it’s been a 50% mix of Googling vs just going to G2 or Capterra.
4. How do you see reviews fit into a broader demand gen strategy?
Answer: It’s a lead conversion tool vs a lead acquisition tool. Super important to have social proof that is objectively believable.
5. You’ve worked with many B2B SaaS companies over the past 10-15 years. What are some of the most common questions that your B2B SaaS clients ask you about reviews and review sites?
Answer: There’s a whole range of questions that usually proceed in this order: How can we ask for reviews without bugging our customers too much? How do we prevent getting bad reviews? (this is the wrong question to ask) Which sites matter? If we could only focus on one, which one would it be? Do review sites affect our rankings on Google? Is it worthwhile to invest in something like Capterra Ads?
6. As a search expert in B2B SaaS, is there any way a vendor can outrank a review site on a B2B SaaS product category search? If not, how do you advise B2B SaaS companies view review sites in the context of search results for key buying terms like “best + [B2B SaaS category]” searches?
Answer: Yes! In fact, the presence of a review site for a “[category] + software” search is usually indicative of fertile ground for brands to own the SERP (search engine results page). The easiest way to do this is by creating page(s) extremely tailored to the search intent, and then promoting those pages. It’s also important to go with the flow of what Google wants. In a query like “best + [category] software”, the intent isn’t to find a single vendor, but to find comparisons between multiple vendors. To address this intent, we typically work with clients to create blog posts or well-designed pages that help the right type of customer choose their platform, while providing a nod to other types of customers that may be suited for other platforms. For example, say you’re Chili Piper and you offer a meeting booking platform. Compared to Calendly, the install base is largely made up of sales teams with multiple reps and complex lead routing. Therefore, rank for “best meeting booking tools”, they could simply include a list that includes themselves, Calendly, and others like Doodle and point out which platform is the best fit for a specific persona.
7. You’ve said, “Most B2B SaaS companies have a love-hate relationship with review sites.” From what I gathered, you argue the love comes from recognizing the importance of these sites (?), and the hate comes from seeing the review sites in a “limited scope…reputation management and driving more reviews are often their sole objectives. This is especially the case for smaller, up-and-coming SaaS businesses that see themselves as underdogs within their category (?) In other words, when it comes to how B2B SaaS vendors view review sites, do you think the view is, love ‘em if you can lead (on them), and hate ‘em if you can’t?
Answer: I think startups naturally have a lot of hats to wear and dedicating a CSM function or engineering the product to prompt an ask for reviews takes a backseat to building the product, acquiring more customers, and improving go-to-market strategy. The view isn’t so much of hating ‘em if they can’t participate, but rather just deferring participation till it becomes a priority. The rub is that by the time it becomes a priority, there’s a lot of inertia to build a critical mass of reviews.
8. You see review sites as treasure troves of competitive intel for B2B SaaS vendors and have written a helpful post. What prompted you to see review sites from this different angle (i.e. competitive intel)?
Answer: I think a lot of marketers evangelize ‘talking to customers’ but very few actually do it. So in the absence of these 1:1 conversations, review sites play an important role in being able to get competitive intelligence that can help you chisel and refine your positioning.