How ISVs Can Get Visibility Without a Six-Figure Marketing Budget

For many Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), visibility in the ERP ecosystem feels like a luxury reserved for companies with massive marketing budgets.

Sponsored conferences, large trade shows, and one-off campaigns often come with high price tags and no guarantee that the right partners or customers will actually show up.

But here’s the reality: Visibility doesn’t have to cost six figures to be effective.

The Real Problem with ERP Marketing Today

Most ERP marketing models are built for scale — but not for most ISVs.

They assume:

• Big teams

• Big budgets

• Long planning cycles

They also assume something else that rarely gets talked about:

That ISVs can (and should) be everywhere.

The ERP ecosystem is packed with events, webinars, sponsorships, virtual conferences, in-person conferences, regional user groups, and partner programs. On paper, each one looks valuable — especially when competitors are listed as sponsors or speakers.

So ISVs start thinking:

• “If our competitors are there, we should be too.”

• “What happens if we skip this one?”

• “Will we lose visibility if we don’t show up?”

Before long, marketing decisions are driven by fear of missing out, not strategy.

And the cost keeps climbing.

Event fees increase.
Sponsorship packages grow.
Travel, time, and prep add up.

As a result, many ISVs are forced into tough choices:

• Spend heavily on one initiative and hope it pays off

• Try to stretch limited budgets across too many events

• Sit out entirely and risk losing momentum

• Or attempt to do everything themselves with limited reach

This is why so many strong ERP solutions struggle to stay visible — not because they lack value, but because the cost and pressure of “being everywhere” has become unsustainable.

Visibility hasn’t just gotten more expensive.
It’s gotten harder to prioritize.

Why Visibility Is About Frequency

One event rarely changes awareness.

What actually drives visibility is:

• Repeated exposure

• Showing up alongside trusted peers

• Being present when the timing is right for buyers

This is especially true in ERP ecosystems, where:

• Buyers evaluate multiple solutions

• Partners look for complementary tools

• Decisions happen over time, not in one moment

Visibility comes from showing up often — not from one big moment.

A Real Example: What Shared Visibility Looks Like in Practice

To understand how affordable visibility works, let’s look at a real-world example.

Across multiple Demo Days, one ISV participated in shared initiatives rather than standalone campaigns.

Here’s what that looked like over time:

• 197 partner leads

• 200 customer leads

• 397 total leads generated

• Across multiple ERP-focused events (Acumatica and Business Central)

• Without relying on a single high-cost sponsorship or trade show

These weren’t one-off results from one big moment.
They were the result of repeatedly showing up in the same ecosystem alongside other ISVs, in front of an audience already there to learn and compare solutions.

That’s the power of shared visibility.

Why Shared Marketing Lowers Cost and Risk

Traditional marketing often asks ISVs to place one big bet:

• One event

• One campaign

• One large spend

If it works, great.
If it doesn’t, the budget and momentum disappear.

Shared marketing flips that model.

Instead of carrying the full cost alone:

• Costs are distributed

• Audiences are pooled

• Promotion is coordinated

This allows ISVs to:

• Participate more often

• Test messaging without overspending

• Stay visible throughout the year

Affordable doesn’t mean low impact.
It means sustainable and repeatable.

Why This Works So Well in ERP Ecosystems

ERP buyers and partners don’t look for solutions in isolation.

They:

• Compare multiple tools

• Ask peers for recommendations

• Attend educational sessions to see what fits

Shared initiatives mirror how people actually evaluate ERP solutions — making them a natural fit for ISVs.

When ISVs appear together:

• Trust increases

• Discovery becomes easier

• Conversations happen faster

Where The ISV Society Fits In

The ISV Society was built around this exact reality.

Instead of asking ISVs to overspend on one initiative, it provides:

• Coordinated Demo Days

• Industry workshops

• Shared content and conversations

• Community-driven promotion

By sharing the cost, the audience, and the execution, ISVs gain consistent visibility — without needing a six-figure marketing budget.

The Takeaway

Great ISVs don’t struggle because their products aren’t strong.

They struggle because visibility has been priced as a luxury.

It doesn’t have to be.

Affordable, shared marketing allows ISVs to:

• Show up consistently

• Build awareness over time

• Generate meaningful conversations

• Stay visible without burning out their teams

Shared initiatives give ISVs a way to stay visible in ERP ecosystems without committing to six-figure marketing spends.