Information technology (IT) media company TechTarget announced today it has acquired Los Angeles-based 20/20 Software, operator of the web site 2020software.com. 2020software.com is the only site focused on providing detailed feature-comparison information and access to trial software for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) seeking trial versions of CRM, ERP, accounting, human resources, salesforce-automation and other business software.
20/20 Software was advised in the transaction by The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc., a New York City-based investment bank specializing in the media and information industries.
TechTarget will operate 2020software.com as a separate site within the TechTarget network of media for targeted communities of IT buyers and decision-makers. Christina Morrison, vice president of sales and marketing for 20/20 Software, will join TechTarget as general manager, 2020software.com.
Acquisition Expands TechTarget Portfolio of SMB-focused Media
TechTarget’s acquisition of 2020software.com increases the depth of its offerings for SMBs and fortifies the company’s position as the top provider of media for IT buyers at US SMBs. TechTarget’s SMB-focused media– CIO Decisions magazine, SearchCIO.com, and SearchSMB.com– are currently the leading advertising vehicles for IT marketers seeking to reach this large and growing market. A recent report by analysts AMI Partners estimates that software sales to US SMBs will increase by 10 percent in 2006, driven largely by purchases of CRM and ERP packages.(1) This figure is approximately 2-3 times the estimated rate of growth for enterprise software sales.
“2020software.com has been an integral component of our marketing mix, enabling us to successfully reach key decision-makers within small and mid-sized businesses,” said Eric Martorano, director of marketing, Sage Software, a supplier of business management software and services which has more than 2.5 million small and mid-sized business customers in North America. “We have found that 2020 Software’s deep penetration of the SMB market has helped us gain exposure among our best prospects and regularly produces a significant number of qualified opportunities for our accounting solutions Sage MAS 90, Sage MAS 500, and Sage Accpac, as well as for our CRM solution Sage CRM SalesLogix. Because decision-makers come to 2020software.com to compare product features and request software demos, the leads we get from the site represent buyers who are further along in the purchase-consideration process, and thus convert to sales more quickly and at a higher rate than leads from other online sources.”
Shifts in Use of Media and Changing Advertising Budgets Favor Targeted Online Media Reaching Buyers Doing Pre-purchase Research
Founded in 1996, 2020software.com has doubled its revenues annually for several years running by capitalizing on the convergence of several phenomena: the increased reliance on search engines by business IT buyers researching IT purchases and the dramatic shift in advertising dollars away from broad, traditional media toward media that serve visitors in buying and research mode, chief among them, search engines and highly targeted online media.
2020software.com’s advertisers are the top providers of business software, including Microsoft, SAP, and Sage Software, a $585 million company providing business-management products and services to small and medium-sized businesses in North America.
“2020software.com has grown dramatically by delivering powerful return on investment to its advertisers, who have rewarded the site with larger and larger shares of their advertising budgets,” said TechTarget CEO Greg Strakosch. “2020software.com’s advertisers report shorter sales cycles and higher conversion rates for the leads they receive from 2020software.com. Our research showed that qualified buyers are drawn to the site by its consistently high search-engine rankings, its unique demo-request and feature-comparison model, and its targeted SMB focus. 2020software.com’s model is an ideal complement to TechTarget’s ROI-focused media. This acquisition fortifies TechTarget’s position as the preferred advertising vehicle for IT marketers looking to communicate with qualified IT buyers, especially those in the SMB sector, a powerful segment under-served by other media companies.”
“We sought to sell 2020software.com to a media company that had demonstrated year-over-year that it had the vision and innovative drive to execute on a media model designed to drive qualified leads to customers,” said John Dwyer, founder and principal, 2020software.com. “TechTarget has shown a single-minded commitment to delivering ROI for its advertisers and an ability to develop innovative advertising vehicles, like its SMB-focused media, that reach profitable market segments neglected by other media companies. TechTarget has the vision to build on the success the site has enjoyed to date. In addition, TechTarget’s extensive portfolio of targeted online offerings — its SMB-focused media, flagship Web sites and Research Library network – will drive additional qualified traffic to 2020software.com and serve as powerful resources for the site’s current members.”
For information on advertising opportunities with TechTarget’s 2020software.com, contact Christina Morrison at 800-718-7348 x300.
TechTarget is a leading provider of specialized online content that brings together buyers and sellers of corporate IT products. We sell customized marketing programs that enable IT vendors to reach corporate IT decision makers who are actively researching specific IT purchases. We operate a network of 35 websites, each of which focuses on a specific IT sector, such as storage, security or networking. IT professionals rely on our websites for key decision support information tailored to their specific areas of responsibility. We complement our online offerings with targeted in-person events and three specialized IT magazines that enable advertisers to engage buyers throughout their decision-making process for IT purchases. As IT professionals have become increasingly specialized, they have come to rely on our sector specific websites for purchasing decision-support. Our content enables IT professionals to navigate the complex and rapidly changing IT landscape where purchasing decisions can have significant financial and operational consequences. Since our founding in 1999, we have developed a broad customer base that now comprises more than 1,000 active advertisers who placed business with us in 2006, including Cisco, Dell, EMC, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Research in Motion, SAP and Symantec. More information about TechTarget is available at www.techtarget.com.
1. 2005 data, AMI Partners. AMI Partners defines SMBs as companies having between 1 and 1000 employees.
