How Vitay Uses Strategic Marketing to Revolutionize Reference Checking and Boost Growth

Vitay is a tool designed to streamline the reference-checking process for recruiters, employers, and HR (human resources) leaders. Targeting organizations that do a high volume of hiring, the platform's goal is to help organizations' recruitment teams save facetime, find better candidates, and improve their employee retention rate.

Since SureSwift acquired Vitay in 2022, we've seen some impressive strides and decided to dig deeper with Kit Dean, General Manager, and Julianne Oguntula, Marketing Growth Manager. Thanks to a great discussion with these two, we'll explore Vitay and the challenges it solves for users, how the team is using marketing to succeed, what they've learned along the way, and what's next for them.

The issue Vitay solves

"Recruiters often face challenges when they're trying to get candidates to submit references, and then there's the extra time required to chase those references, collect responses, and ensure the references they've received are actually genuine," explains Dean.

To address these challenges, the software offers peace of mind that users are getting genuine references while providing recruiters extra time to focus on more important activities involved in the hiring process.

Vitay's functionality and offering

Vitay's core offering is the reference-checking piece, which is an automated process with detailed and reliable insights and candidates' past performance.

VITAY - Reference Checking. Simplified.

More recently, background-checking functionality has been added (through resellers). This covers several different areas like criminal record checks, education verification, and employment history.

There's also a pre-screening tool available that identifies the best candidates early in the hiring process, plus a feedback tool that allows employers to gather and analyze feedback from both their candidates and employees.

Vitay's competitive edge: How it stands out from the crowd

The Vitay team has worked, and continues to work, to differentiate itself from its competition and meet the needs of its customers in the best way possible. Here are some things that make the product stand out from others like it.

1. Cost-effective with customized plans

Vitay's pricing is set up so that organizations of all sizes can use the tool to improve their reference-checking process. Plans are customized to the business and its needs.

2. Clients are partners, not buyers

The team doesn't view its customers as buyers, but rather as partners. This means they're constantly taking and leveraging feedback on the user experience to improve the product so it meets user needs and gets the job done well.

3. Highly customizable

The platform is highly configurable, allowing for extensive customizations to fit unique hiring processes. This ensures a seamless onboarding and adoption experience without requiring significant changes to users' current workflows.

4. An intuitive user interface

The platform offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface. With easy navigation and clean design, recruiters can quickly adapt to the platform, reducing training time and increasing adoption and productivity. 

5. One-stop candidate verification

Unlike most reference check software options, Vitay stands out by integrating background checking, pre-screening, and feedback features into one tool. Having a centralized platform for candidate verification helps recruiters stay organized and efficient.

Vitay's marketing strategy success

Marketing has played a pivotal role in Vitay's recent success. Initially, it was predominantly sales-led, but with the integration of various marketing initiatives, the team has seen significant growth and improvement in its brand presence and lead generation.

Here’s an overview of what they've been up to and specific wins they're enjoying from each initiative.

1. Software review platform campaigns

Through customer campaigns, the team has actively sought reviews on major software review platforms like G2 and Gartner Digital Markets (Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice). Buyers use these platforms to find a solution to a problem they need to solve.

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Positive reviews have boosted Vitay's credibility and visibility, leading to increased inquiries and providing the social proof used on its website and marketing collateral.

"This has really helped our credibility and given us the visibility we need at this point. And in the future, we're going to grow using and leveraging these platforms," Oguntula shares.

As a result of the team's efforts, a notable increase in positive reviews led Vitay's move from position 13 to 8 in G2's reference checks category.

2. Social media advertising

Vitay recently started using a PPC (pay-per-click) strategy with the aim to:

• Create awareness by telling the world it exists, and
• Show its ICPs (ideal customer profiles) — recruiting and HR leaders — how Vitay can help them streamline their hiring process.

The team is currently experimenting with different social media channels, which have successfully driven traffic to the website and lead generation pages. Quarter-over-quarter, social media advertising has contributed to a 32% increase in lead generation.

3. SEO improvements

By optimizing the website for search engines, the team has seen better rankings for relevant keywords its audience searches for. This has increased organic traffic — crucial for Vitay’s long-term growth.

The website’s organic impressions have increased by 33% over the past three months, with several keyword ranking improvements. "This was a great win because SEO usually takes time and we can already see an indication that we're going down the right path," notes Oguntula. The team is hoping to see a correlating traffic increase in the coming months.

4. Landing page revamp

The team revamped some landing pages to make it easier for prospects to reach out or book a demo. They also implemented improved workflows to facilitate connecting with prospective clients more effectively and gather the necessary information in a streamlined way.

Thanks to these new workflows, the team's ability to engage with leads and provide a more personalized experience has been enhanced.

5. Weekly blog content

Making a point of regularly publishing insightful and relevant blog posts is a priority for the Vitay team. This has started driving significant traffic to the website. It also helps in establishing Vitay's authority in the recruitment and HR tech space.

6. Case studies

Case studies, like the one shown below for Lead Health, showcase client success stories demonstrating how Vitay has significantly enhanced its recruitment processes. These insights are valuable for prospective clients evaluating Vitay’s potential impact on their business and can help inform their decision to use Vitay.

Top tips for B2B marketers

With all of the success the Vitay team has enjoyed, they'd be remiss not to share some of that insight and expertise with other B2B marketers. Here's what they had to say.

1. Leverage customer reviews and testimonials:

Remember, businesses want to do business with other credible businesses! So, make sure to leverage customer reviews and testimonials authentically to build trust and credibility. To do this, highlight measurable success stories, integrate them into your marketing collateral, and engage actively with feedback. 

"If users are saying great things about you, it not only looks good to prospects, it also looks good to your customers as it gives them the confidence that they're working with the right people," Oguntula points out.

She notes how the reviews also act as a knowledge base — they might mention things that need to be changed or improved with the product. Marketers can pass that information on to their product teams to implement improvements. "It's like a hidden gem to propel your business or product to a greater level."

2. Invest in SEO and content marketing

If you have an SEO specialist on the ground, they’ll probably tell you how SEO is a long, rewarding journey. The Vitay team has found this to be very true.

Investing in SEO and content marketing will enhance your online visibility and attract higher-quality leads. While many marketers don't have the budget to do huge marketing campaigns and plans, SEO offers huge value by leveraging Google and other search engines that people use to get information. There's even SEO for TikTok now.

Focus on putting out high-quality, relevant content that addresses your audience's pain points and interests. And remember, it doesn’t end with clicking "publish" — you’ll need to actively optimize this content with targeted keywords to ensure an improvement in search engine rankings.

"SEO helps you show up and be in their face when they need something. If they're looking for a particular product, you're there because you've used that keyword on your website or content and it's going to help you gain an organic awareness or presence with people that might be looking for your service," Oguntula explains.

3. Start small, test, and scale

Begin by implementing small-scale marketing initiatives to test their effectiveness. Monitor key metrics closely to identify what works best for your ICPs. "As marketers, we're always trying to prove our hypothesis or theory about something that we think is going to work with our target audience. Sometimes it's left to guesswork. That's why testing is important — you have to find the data to support the theory that solidifies your idea," Oguntula stresses.

She also says it's important to start small. "Vitay is a growing company, and we don't expect to be at a certain level or go viral right off the bat — we know this often doesn't happen and instead are taking small steps that will lead to a larger effect later."

Once you've identified successful strategies, you can gradually scale them up and continuously aim to maximize your ROI and growth — stick to what works, but keep iterating and building on it.

What's in store for Vitay? Future plans and marketing strategies

With all of this success under their belt, Vitay team members know they can't be complacent and take their success for granted. This means they need to stay ahead of the curve and focus on what's next. Here are some future plans and marketing strategies they have in mind.

Ramp up on brand awareness. The team plans to significantly increase brand awareness for its product. Building on what they're currently doing, they'll leverage new strategic marketing campaigns, SEO, and regular engaging content to establish a strong presence that resonates with their audience. The goal here is when people think of reference-checking software options, Vitay comes up in the top three.

Enhance the trial experience for prospects to experience the platform. The team will introduce an improved, complete trial option for prospects to fully experience Vitay firsthand. They're reviewing how trials are offered and are looking to provide potential customers the chance to explore Vitay's features and benefits to see if the tool works for them. The goal here is to accelerate customer acquisition and build long-term relationships.

Improve product offerings to stay competitive. The team has collected feedback and ideas on how to improve the product. "We're keeping our ears to the ground and monitoring recruiting trends so we know what direction to take, what gaps we can fill, and how we can improve and stay competitive," Dean explains. "In the meantime, we plan to keep our uptime to 99.9% and focus on making our interface easier than ever to navigate."

The team's biggest lessons

Some of the biggest things the team has learned so far include the need to invest early in marketing and to create alignment between sales and marketing teams. They've also found networking and collaboration opportunities with other SureSwift portfolio teams invaluable.

Early investment in marketing. "We recognize the importance of investing in marketing efforts sooner rather than later," Dean notes. "This includes bringing on a dedicated marketer to drive our initiatives forward."

He also notes the importance of contracting with resources and specialists in areas where the team's strengths don’t necessarily lie, something that's been beneficial in enhancing Vitay's overall strategy and execution.

Alignment between sales and marketing. Moving forward, the team aims to create seamless collaboration between its sales and marketing teams. Operating as a unified task force ensures alignment on marketing plans and goals, fostering a more cohesive approach to effectively reaching their audience.

Learning from others at SureSwift. As one of SureSwift's several portfolio companies, Vitay has access to the broader SureSwift ecosystem and the resources and expertise that come along with it — which has helped them immensely.

"It's been very beneficial to have access to marketers of different SureSwift products, as you get insight from different experiences and you can reach out to ask questions on what's working for them and what tools they're using successfully or considering trying. They're very open to sharing that knowledge, (something) I've really enjoyed and learned from," Oguntula explains.

She also shares that guild marketing meetings help to connect with general managers and marketers from other portfolio companies and that having playbooks (best practices guides) helps to start and streamline many initiatives.

Dean notes that having pre-vetted contractors or specialists to go to has been helpful, too, as they don't have to do the research on their end. "It's kind of like recruiting or hiring — it takes time to try and find the right types of organizations or partners to work with. So if we don't have to invest that time in vetting organizations to consider, all the better."

One example is the SEO strategy organization already vetted by SureSwift's Director of Corporate Marketing, Tracie Clayton. "They've been great to work with," Dean says.

We hope you've gained a takeaway or two from how Vitay is using marketing to succeed that you can put into practice for yourself. Visit their website to learn more about the product or request a demo, or check out SureSwift's blog for more actionable SaaS tips.

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