As more and more businesses are undergoing their long-awaited digital transformation, popular advertising networks such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads are gradually becoming more competitive than ever. This competition makes it more difficult for brands to stand out. Today, we will talk about a secret weapon for the companies within the software industry: Capterra Ads.
So, what exactly is Capterra, and are Capterra Ads worth it? Let’s find out:
What is Capterra?
Capterra is the world’s leading software reviews and selection platform. With thousands of products across hundreds of categories and over 1 million verified reviews, the company acts as an online marketplace where technology vendors can connect with potential buyers.
Put simply, Capterra is a comprehensive search engine that people can use to browse software and compare tools with other similar products. They can analyze and evaluate each product’s features, pricing, ease of use, customer service, value for money, and likelihood to recommend, among others.
What is Capterra advertising?
Capterra advertising allows software vendors to promote their products across relevant categories and appear on top of the search engine’s results. Similarly to Google Ads, Capterra runs an auction every single time it has an ad space available on the network for a particular category, and advertisers bid to show up on higher positions.
Capterra Ads can be very powerful for increasing lead generation, especially for B2B software companies. When a user searches for a product, let’s say “Website Builder Software“, he will see a long list of tools to choose from, with the sponsored ones on top by default. However, these tools can be ordered in other ways, such as “top rated”, for example.
You can distinguish easily which tools are sponsored – their Call to Action button will be in orange, while the non-sponsored ones have a blue button:
Are Capterra ads worth it? Sponsored result vs. organic result.
Despite the promotional nature of Capterra advertising, it remains a review-based platform that you can easily use to compare tools and decide which ones will work the best for your business. What I like about Capterra is that it doesn’t hide ratings and reviews in any way, shape or form.
So, even if a sponsored software product shows up on top because the company bid higher in the auction, you will be able to spot quickly if it has negative reviews or ratings – and discard them due to bad quality. The point us, Capterra will not try to convince you that a product is better just because it ranks higher.
Advertising is subtle, and it won’t save companies from offering poor quality products.
Are Capterra Ads worth it?
Yes, Capterra Ads are worth investing in because they offer unique targeting capabilities that software companies can leverage to generate high-quality leads with strong purchase intent. You can start advertising on Capterra with as little as a $100 ad budget.
In my last article, I spoke about the Top 15 Powerful Alternatives to Google Ads for 3x More Leads – and Capterra was one of them because it really works. Here are my top 7 reasons why Capterra ads are worth it:
1. They are easy to set up
As opposed to advertising platforms such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads, which can be more complex to set up and you need some minimal Marketing knowledge, Capterra Ads are surprisingly easy to configure. All you need to do is:
- Upload some screenshots and/or videos of your software;
- Provide a product listing information to tell people more about your product;
- Select the software categories that you want to bid for;
- Select the countries that you want to position in;
- Add a landing page;
- And set your bid.
The thing that will take you the most time will be detailing all your product information. If you already have a profile on Capterra on which you manage your reviews, you might have this step completed already, so it will be even faster.
2. They don’t require a lot of budget
As we mentioned previously, Capterra Ads don’t require a huge budget to get you started. In fact, you can start advertising with as little as $100 per month. If you are happy with the results, you can always increase your budget accordingly.
The minimum bid on the platform is $2. It may seem like a lot compared to other networks, but it is important to keep in mind that conversion rates can be very high due to the specific niche audience that you can find on Capterra. Average conversion rates can reach 5-10%, in my experience it was around 8%.
3. They have a wide reach
When you advertise on Capterra, you don’t advertise only on Capterra. In fact, you can also opt-in to GetApp and SoftwareAdvice (it’s optional but not obligatory), which are two different platforms for software comparison and review.
This increases your reach significantly as you will get to the audience of three of the most popular software marketplaces in the world. And you don’t have to configure entirely different ads either – you can just tweak and optimize your descriptions to fit each platform.
4. You can make changes in real-time
If you are not happy with the results of your Capterra Ads, you can very easily make changes and see them happen in real-time. For example, you can add or remove the software categories that are not working for you, or discard the countries with the highest Cost per Click.
You can also opt-in and out of GetApp and SoftwareAdvice quickly and easily.
5. You can promote on +800 categories
Capterra has a huge variety of software categories – more than 800 at the moment of writing, and they are constantly adding new ones. With such a wide variety, it is highly likely that your product will fit in at least 5-10 categories – which means that you have flexibility when it comes to A/B testing your audiences.
Additionally, with more budget, you can also expand your reach by showing up in more countries or for more generic categories.
6. They can get you more reviews
Another reason why Capterra Ads can be very effective is because they can get you more reviews on top of your performance results. Needless to say, if more people know about your product and try it, more of them will leave a review.
Getting customer feedback is one of the golden rules of Marketing in the 21st century, and you should encourage it and appreciate it, whether it’s positive or negative.
7. You can reach a niche-specific audience
As we already mentioned, Capterra Ads have a very unique targeting capability. It allows you to reach potential customers who are actively looking for a product within your category, and you have the golden opportunity to take this purchase intent and convert the user into actual customer.
To increase your conversion rate, make sure that you also work on getting more Capterra reviews and managing them accordingly. Don’t be afraid of negative reviews, but take them and learn from them to become better at what you are doing.
Do you want to learn more about Capterra? Check out these 9 Tips to Drive 2x More Leads With Your Capterra PPC Campaign.
And that was all from me for today! I hope you liked my article on Capterra ads – if you have any doubts or questions, don’t hesitate to leave me a comment below, and I will be happy to answer them. If you want to take your ads to the next level, you can also explore the services of my Digital Marketing agency Marketing Toolbox.
