Ross Gebhart
, Brand Marketing Manager at Fleetio

The Problem: Bot Activity Was Disrupting Lead Generation Efforts

Bot activity had been a persistent issue for Fleetio over several years. Ross Gebhart, Brand Marketing Manager at Fleetio, recalls how the problem became more serious, at the beginning of 2023: “We noticed a significant spike in spam hitting our website, not only affecting pageview traffic but also impacting crucial demo forms used to generate leads for our sales team.”

The demo request forms on their website are crucial for generating leads, and this influx of spam led to a concerning rejection rate of approximately 50% of their Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs). Such skewed data strained the resources and efficiency of Fleetio’s sales team, diverting valuable time and attention from genuine leads and potential business opportunities. Fleetio thus recognized the urgent need for a Bot Mitigation solution to preserve the integrity of its lead generation process and marketing data.

The Solution: Browser Fingerprinting & Advanced Bot Protection

After evaluating several bot protection providers, Ross decided to try DataDome, recommended by one of Fleetio’s board members. What stood out was DataDome’s unique approach to bot protection, utilizing machine learning and relying on more advanced signals than simple IP addresses.

“After all the programs we tested, it was really eye-opening for me to discover that DataDome could propose such sophistication in fingerprinting and identifying bots,” Ross recalls. He enjoyed the platform’s ability to categorize traffic according to various parameters, such as regular page views, form submissions, and API traffic. “It was the perfect solution for the exact problem that we had.”

The integration and onboarding experience with DataDome went smoothly, despite Fleetio’s unique setup on the Netlify hosting platform using Next.js. Ross appreciated the way the team worked alongside him to adapt to this configuration: “The support team was incredibly helpful. They reviewed the code I assembled for integration and then assisted with testing everything to ensure a seamless integration.”

The whole DataDome integration process only took a week or so, including all necessary testing.

The Results: Immediate Reduction In Spam Traffic & Accurate Marketing Data

After implementing DataDome, MQL rejection rates were instantly reduced to less than 10%, which is a typical threshold on the Fleetio website. This significant reduction not only solved the Marketing team’s issue but also translated into substantial time savings for the sales development team, which no longer had to deal with chasing down spam leads or filtering out junk form submissions from genuine ones.

“A huge secondary benefit to us,” adds Ross, “is that we can now rely on cleaner data, which gives us a better understanding of our traffic.” Indeed, by removing bot traffic from their analytics, Fleetio gained a clearer picture of their actual website visitors, contributing to more informed decision-making.

Ross Gebhart has already started recommending DataDome to other VPs and CMOs. Beyond the effective solution provided, he appreciated the human touch of the support team: “It has been such a pleasure to work with them. They promptly conduct audits whenever we encounter issues or even suspect human interference with our CAPTCHA.

On a more personal note, amidst our setup process, I welcomed my fourth child in August. The DataDome team surprised me with a thoughtful parent package. This gesture made me feel incredibly valued as a customer, and seeing my daughter in the DataDome onesie brings back fond memories of their kindness.”