How to sell to IT Directors at Marketplaces companies
IT Directors at marketplaces are primarily measured on system uptime and performance metrics. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of their tech stack and specific performance issues, such as integration hurdles with vendors or downtime incidents affecting user experience. Showing familiarity with their platform's architecture can open the door to meaningful conversations.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 179 marketplaces company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- integration issues with vendors
- system downtime complaints
- performance metric pressures
- user experience disruptions
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent platform outages
Search for reports or user complaints about downtime on platforms like Reddit or industry forums. Filter for mentions of the specific marketplace software they use. This indicates a pain point that your solution could address, making your outreach timely and relevant.
- 02
Research their vendor integration challenges
Look for case studies or articles discussing common integration issues faced by two-sided marketplaces. Focus on companies that have recently onboarded new vendors. Highlighting your understanding of these challenges can create a stronger connection in your outreach.
- 03
Connect through industry-specific channels
Engage with IT Directors on LinkedIn by joining groups focused on marketplace technology. Share insights or comment on relevant posts about vendor platforms. This positions you as a knowledgeable peer rather than just a salesperson, increasing the likelihood of a response.
- 04
Mention a recent technology upgrade
If you find that the target company has recently upgraded their technology stack, reference this in your outreach. IT Directors appreciate vendors who recognize their efforts to innovate and can provide solutions that align with their current tools and goals.
- 05
Follow up on unresolved support tickets
Use tools like G2 or Trustpilot to identify unresolved support issues that users have raised about the marketplace's technology. In your follow-up, ask if they’ve found a resolution and suggest how your solution can prevent similar issues in the future.
Can marketplaces companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 179 marketplaces companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Addressing your recent downtime
- Vendor integration challenges
- Improving system performance
Questions
- Why do IT Directors at marketplaces ignore outreach about new tools?
- IT Directors often receive numerous outreach messages that fail to address their specific challenges. If the outreach does not demonstrate an understanding of their current technology stack or pain points, they are likely to dismiss it as irrelevant.
- What are common objections from IT Directors regarding new vendors?
- IT Directors may voice concerns about the integration complexity of new tools, potential disruptions to their existing systems, or the reliability of the vendor's support. Addressing these objections proactively in your outreach can increase engagement.
- How can I make my outreach stand out to IT Directors?
- To stand out, tailor your outreach by referencing specific challenges they face, such as recent platform outages or integration difficulties. Providing insights or solutions that directly relate to their current issues shows that you understand their unique environment.
- What timing is best for reaching out to IT Directors?
- Timing your outreach after significant industry events, such as technology conferences or product launches, can be effective. IT Directors are often looking for solutions to enhance their offerings or resolve issues that arose during these events.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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