After analyzing buyer behavior and hyperscaler communication to procurement teams, here are strategies that ISVs can use to boost discovery:

Optimize for Console Search & Filtering

Buyers naturally get overwhelmed by 20K+ listings and will rely heavily on filtering to cut through the noise. Successful ISVs optimize for specific buyer preferences including:

• Free trials (available on 2K+ AWS listings)

• Usage-based pricing options (7K+)

• Standardized contracts for faster procurement

ISVs should also optimize their listings to be categorized and tagged in these systems. Structured metadata (deployment models, compliance certifications, etc.) helps CSPs surface your solution in relevant filtered views.

Plus: Your product should include outcomes-focused descriptions.

If you’d like me to cover broader listing optimization for search in later posts - comment below.

Frictionless Free Trials + Conversion Paths

Free trials are now expected by most buyers, with 25% of AWS Marketplace customers refusing to even consider products without them (my previous post on this).

The highest-converting path: Free Trial → Pay-As-You-Go → Enterprise Contract.

Data from AWS shows conversion from Free Trial to PAYG is 3X higher than direct-to-contract conversions. Why? It aligns with how modern tech buyers actually want to purchase.

As self-service free trials are becoming the standard expectation, the key is making them truly frictionless.

Reviews & Social Proof

As the volume of marketplace transactions grows and more customers search marketplaces, reviews become increasingly important.

You can already find G2 reviews integrated on AWS marketplace, and this trend is accelerating. Top ISVs actively solicit reviews from successful implementations to create a virtuous discovery cycle.

While organic discovery will naturally improve as marketplaces mature and volume of customers grow, relying solely on it remains risky.

Successful marketplace strategies combine optimized listings, external demand generation (via marketing campaigns) that directs buyers to specific marketplace pages, and strategic co-sell with clouds.

The Future of Marketplace Discovery

Drawing parallels with B2C e-commerce evolution, we'll likely soon see:

• Sponsored listings and promo placements

• AI-powered recommendations based on usage patterns

• Intent-based discovery tied to resource utilization and workloads

How do your buyers discover your marketplace listings today? Have you found effective solutions that others might learn from?