In Mind Cloud, a manufacturing sales platform, is a SaaS startup based in Singapore, Germany and the U.S., that needed an efficient way to ramp up organic leads with a focus on the U.S. market and scale growth. As a software provider within a niche category, at the intersection of software category and a specific industry, the company struggled to find the right digital lead generation platform that could help it connect with target buyers. According to In Mind Cloud, many channels were too expensive, offered little control over budget, and delivered poor-quality leads that were unlikely to convert.
In 2017, In Mind Cloud launched a lead generation campaign with Gartner Digital Markets and with the goal of reaching active buyers in the U.S. market on Capterra. With PPC, In Mind Cloud gained control over paid marketing spend by setting a monthly budget and only paid for leads that clicked through to visit its website. Falk Brauer, Managing Director at In Mind Cloud, said, “My favorite part about working with Gartner Digital Markets is that the leads are always qualified. The leads we would receive from other channels were always a mixed bag.”
In Mind Cloud tracks a variety of metrics with a particular interest in cost per marketing qualified lead (MQL) and the timeline it takes for those leads to become an opportunity. “Gartner Digital Markets stands out when it comes to providing those bottom-to-mid-funnel metrics,” Brauer said. “What’s also nice is that there’s always a baseline of leads that come in. We don’t need to worry whether it’s working or not because Gartner Digital Markets is always doing its part and working for us.”
Gartner Digital Markets has become an essential part of In Mind Cloud’s marketing strategy. Even when In Mind Cloud needed to carefully watch costs, it continued to invest in lead generation on Capterra due to the high ROI this channel continues to deliver. Overall, Gartner Digital Markets contributes to 20% to 40% of In Mind Cloud’s total MQLs per month. According to Brauer, “We’re currently in cost-consolidation mode and have ramped down most channels except for Gartner Digital Markets. It’s our most important inbound channel. It has provided a stable flow of leads over time and our budget can easily be adjusted according to our business needs.”
