[Joe]

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The B2B software review sites are starting to add video reviews. For example, on G2, video is used in a few ways. On a paid G2 plan, a vendor gets a Video Review (includes link/license to repurpose). G2 provides the questions, answers FAQs, and facilitates the call with their video director. Here is an example of a video review from G2: https://www.g2.com/products/g2-crowd/reviews/g2-crowd-review-platform-review-25302. There’s also an “Official Videos” section on G2 product profiles for vendors to upload videos like video testimonials. TrustRadius is also starting to use video reviews. They have them on a YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWNECZuqzQoxPxUYp9T24cg/videos. They also have them on vendor profiles (e.g. ClickUp’s TrustRadius profile has 5 video reviews: https://www.trustradius.com/products/clickup/reviews#overview

Has anyone worked with a review site on video review generation?

[Joe]

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I think the model is useful if you’re unsure whether you’re ready to hire BDRs internally. Several years ago, I hired Vorisght (now Acquirent) to start a BDR (sales appointment booking) motion at a B2B software startup. It was helpful to start small (I think we had 2 outsourced BDRs for either 10 or 20 hours per week). It can be hard to know what good looks like if you hire one full-time employee, and it’s the first in that function.

To find a good vendor, I’d search online for “best sales appointment booking providers” or “best lead generation services” until you find a list with vendors that appeal to you, create a shortlist, and backchannel (see if you can connect with someone like you who’s had success first-hand).

[Joe]

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I agree with @Alison about diversifying one’s approach and strategy to customer reviews. While the starting point may be one or two review sites, you ultimately want to be where your audience goes for buying information. That often means being in more than one or two places.

[Joe]

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In B2B, the other review sites to know are:

1. Capterra – Often high-ranking site on Google with a freemium, PPC model for vendors.
2. Software Advice – provides phone call consultations for buyers seeking personalized recommendations.
3. GetApp – SMB niche products focus.
4. Gartner Peer Insights – Enterprise focus, complements Gartner’s analyst info.
5. PeerSpot (Formerly IT Central Station) – Focus on enterprise buyers of Cybersecurity, DevOps, and IT software.
6. Trustpilot – More B2C, but suitable for some B2B / B2C hybrids
7. SoftwareReviews – Part of an IT consultancy, so best suited for IT software buyers who seek people and process alongside reviews to help make an informed software buying decision.

   To prioritize them, I recommend a combination of:

   – Checking Google – Search for “best (your software category) software” and see which sites rank highest. Most of the traffic to review sites comes from searches.
   – Asking Sales – Ask your Sales reps which review sites come up on call. Prompt them with a list of review sites and see which ones they mention. If you have call recording software like Gong or Chorus, search for mentions of review sites.
   – Researching review site milestones – Some review sites have review thresholds to be eligible for inclusion in reports, awards, and badges.

   You’ll likely end up prioritizing one or two review sites.

   Note: when prioritizing review sites, note that Gartner Digital Markets is Captera, Software Advice, and GetApp, and that one review generated on any of these sites is applied across all three sites — effectively a 3-for-1 review.

   For more info on this topic, see this in-depth post, “reviewing the review sites” https://b2bsaasreviews.com/best-software-review-sites/

[Joe]

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Hi Jeff!

As a Demand Gen professional, my approach is biased toward which review sites are the most popular with your buyer.

To identify which sites are the most popular, there are a couple things you can do: 1) Search Google as your buyer would. i.e. “Best [you product category] software” or “[your biggest competitor] reviews.” The review site that has the highest organic search result probably gets the lion’s share of your buyers attention as review sites generally drive a lot of their traffic from search. 2) Talk to your Sales team. Do they hear from your customers about the top review site you found in Google search? If you have a call recording software like Gong or Chorus, you can search the review sites by name to see which get mentioned and how frequently.

Note that this isn’t the only way to approach which review site to start with. It depends on your audience and your goals. For example, if your audience swears by the Gartner Magic Quadrant, you might want to start with Gartner Peer Insights. If you want to develop a review site badge for social proof, you might want to research the requirements to earn one on the main review sites — https://b2bsaasreviews.com/best-software-review-sites/ — and start with the most attainable one.

[Joe]

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I’ll be celebrating my first American Thanksgiving! I’m up in Toronto, but my wife’s close family friend married an American who recently moved to Canada. They’re hosting an American thanksgiving celebration. My advice to those living in the US: make friends with a Canadian ex-pat, and then you’ll get to celebrate Thanksgiving twice 🙂

[Joe]

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Pavilion had a mentor matchmaking program that they ran on Guider: https://www.guider-ai.com/. As a mentee seeking a mentor, it was great to be able to search through dozens of mentor profiles to see who I think would be the best fit and know that they want to be a mentor.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure if Pavilion is still running the program (?).

[Joe]

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Alison – PeerSpot does a great job capturing video reviews by users at in-person events. Usually, video footage from events is limited to speakers. You help put the customer user into the spotlight.

For anyone who hasn’t seen a PeerSpot video review from an in-person event, you can see some of them here: https://www.youtube.com/c/PeerSpot/videos

[Joe]

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Re: Pavilion for mentorship, I inquired. Pavilion said while they no longer use Guider for mentoring matchmaking, they recommend the following:

– Use their global member directory (in Airtable) to find mentor candidates

– Filter by role, chapter, membership level, expertise, etc.
– Then send a Pavilion Member Success Manager four or five names that strike you as potential mentors and include a short 4-5 sentences blurb about who you are and what you are looking for and the Member Success Manager can reach out to those members on your behalf to see if there’s a fit.

TL;DR while they no longer have a formal mentor matchmaking program, they can cobble one together on-demand.