By Brent Applegate
TechTarget eliminated any doubt that they intend to be the powerhouse for white paper marketing when they acquired Bitpipe in December of 2004. With the acquisition, Needham, Massachusetts-based TechTarget became the top online syndication outlet for white papers.When the acquisition was announced, some white paper advertisers hoped TechTarget would retain Bitpipe’s services and pricing while rolling TechTarget sites into the Bitpipe network. While the Bitpipe brand and presence should live on for the foreseeable future, the combined company definitely resembles TechTarget more than Bitpipe.
“Bitpipe exists as a site but no longer as an entity,” explained Catherine Engelke, TechTarget’s director of public relations. Engelke explains that since March 2005, “The entire library of white papers from Bitpipe has been populated on the relevant TechTarget sites.”
The Bitpipe syndication network has also changed since the acquisition. The biggest news was the departure of tech publisher CMP, which coincided with the addition of BusinessWeek.
TechTarget CEO Greg Strakosch encourages advertisers not to focus too much on Bitpipe’s syndication network. “One of the misconceptions about Bitpipe is the amount of traffic that came from the syndication network… In reality, most of the traffic came directly into Bitpipe… through search engine optimization and direct searches on www.bitpipe.com.”
However, white paper marketers who relied on Bitpipe to reach CMP’s vast audience may not be as nonchalant as Strakosch about CMP’s defection to KnowledgeStorm.
Long-term Bitpipe advertisers experienced the biggest change. According to TechTarget’s Engelke, a single white paper syndication package includes a dedicated email campaign, posting on the relevant TechTarget site, and distribution through Bitpipe.com and the Bitpipe Partner network. The price tag is $15,000 for 3 months, a big jump from Bitpipe’s pre-acquisition pricing, but comparable to TechTarget’s pre-acquisition sponsorship costs.
I spoke with TechTarget advertiser Imprivata, a startup in the field of identity management. They worked with both Bitpipe and TechTarget before the merger. Molly Gallato, Imprivata’s director of marketing, said she was very pleased that TechTarget acquired Bitpipe because she can reach her entire audience while working within TechTarget’s managed campaigns, something previously not available via Bitpipe.
Gallato explained that Bitpipe “had some services and a database that were pretty substantial, but I don’t think we got as much out of it as we could with TechTarget, because TechTarget brought a whole new [level of] professionalism.” Gallato continued, “The acquisition opened up the Bitpipe database to be something that is far more strategic.”
Integrated programs are planned and managed by TechTarget’s Client Consulting Service, which works with white paper advertisers to develop and deploy campaigns to achieve the desired quantity and quality of leads. TechTarget’s flagship integrated campaign is called TargetROI. According to TechTarget’s Engelke, TargetROI programs do not have set pricing, but are based on the cost of the media in the campaign. Client Consulting Services are provided at no cost; however, to run a TargetROI campaign, there is a minimum media spending level of $34,500 every 3 months.
TechTarget also offers a service called LeadPrism suite. The service builds on the X-stream PDF wrapper technology that was acquired with Bitpipe and is designed to provide total lead management for TechTarget integrated program advertisers. The wrapper technology captures lead data every time a PDF file is opened. Leads are prioritized by demographic information, screening questions and prior site engagements. LeadPrism recommends follow-up actions that can integrate into several popular CRM systems. While the full LeadPrism is only available to advertisers in integrated programs, some of the individual components, such as the LeadCenter, are available separately.
In conclusion, it seems that a moment of silence is in order for Bitpipe. TechTarget has swallowed the quirky but far-reaching search and syndication directory whole. While officials at TechTarget say they have no plans to discontinue Bitpipe’s traditional “civic” activities, such as readership surveys and white paper awards, the “old Bitpipe” is gone for good. In its place stands a supercharged TechTarget that now boasts the largest online collection of white papers and commands premium sponsorship pricing due to its highly targeted sites.
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