Boosting Code Quality Through AI Tools | Viktoria Guseva from Codacy

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro-experiences like case studies, intro videos, and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us out at pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Viktoria, director of marketing at Codacy. How are you doing today, Viktoria?

Viktoria Guseva: Hey, Ernesto. Thanks for inviting me. I’m doing great.

Ernesto: Great to have you on. And while I’m sure, Viktoria, our listeners are tuning in wondering what Codacy is all about, let’s kick it off with that. In your own words, tell us a little bit more.

Viktoria: All right. At Codacy, we help dev teams build clean, secure code effortlessly and fearlessly. In a nutshell, we provide an essential developer toolbox that enables software development and DevOps teams to efficiently optimize and secure their code.

Ernesto: Okay, great. And so, to give our listeners a better understanding of Codacy, what would you say is the key problem that you guys solve?

Viktoria: Right. Our customers are primarily based in the US and Europe, and typically these are companies with at least 30 developers internally. We offer two main options: a self-serve solution for smaller teams that can register and start using our product easily, and a more hands-on approach with our sales and customer success teams for larger organizations. Usually, customers start by signing up for a free trial where they can integrate their repository via GitHub, BitBucket, or GitLab and explore the toolbox. Or, they can reach out to sales directly and request a demo.

Ernesto: Perfect. So then, is there a certain vertical segment? What would be the ideal ICP for Codacy?

Viktoria: Definitely. Our main focus is on developers, first and foremost. But we also work with decision-makers like CIOs and CTOs. These two groups—developers and technical leadership—are our most important ICPs.

Ernesto: And how would someone typically find out about Codacy? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you guys?

Viktoria: Yes, we have a few key channels. Our marketing strategy leverages both brand and demand-generation activities. We create high-quality content like white papers and reports, such as our “2024 State of Software Quality” report. We also use webinars, blogs, and PR activities to educate the market. One key initiative is the Codacy Pioneers program, which supports the open-source community by providing mentorship, funding, and free tools to developers contributing to innovative open-source projects.

Ernesto: Great to hear that. So for our listeners, they can always visit you at codacy.com. What role does the website play in your client acquisition?

Viktoria: The website is crucial. It serves as both a brand awareness tool and a lead generation channel. We’ve improved our SEO significantly by creating developer-oriented content for the Codacy blog. Moving our website to HubSpot CMS last year has also allowed us to experiment more and get better insights into how marketing campaigns perform.

Ernesto: That’s awesome. Are there any tools, tips, or methods you’d recommend to our listeners for website lead generation?

Viktoria: In my experience, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Each business has unique ICPs, so what works for one may not work for another. The key is to stay flexible and open to experimentation, hire the right team with the right mindset, and ensure you have the right software to support your efforts.

Ernesto: Great insights. Let’s switch gears a little, Viktoria, and talk about you as a leader at Codacy. As the director of marketing, what are some key tasks you focus on in your day-to-day work?

Viktoria: My key focus is helping the marketing team achieve our KPIs and ensuring that we’re working on what will bring the most value to Codacy. Another important focus area is avoiding silos between marketing, sales, engineering, and customer success teams.

Ernesto: Excellent. With so much happening in the marketing world, how do you stay up to date with trends, strategies, and news? Any preferred channels?

Viktoria: I do a lot of reading and take courses, but I’ve grown most through mentorship. I have a few mentors who help me with both soft and hard skills. I also give back by mentoring young founders, running masterclasses, and writing for Forbes.

Ernesto: That’s great to hear! Let’s jump into our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready for that?

Viktoria: Let’s do it.

Ernesto: First off, Viktoria, what is the last book you read?

Viktoria: I love history books, and recently, I read Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. It explores human evolution and culture through themes like money, empires, and religion, helping us understand what defines us as a species.

Ernesto: Sounds like an interesting read for our listeners. Next up, if there were no boundaries in technology, what’s the one thing you’d fix for your role as a marketer?

Viktoria: As the leader of a remote-first team, I’d love to have some sort of teleportation tool that could bring us together offline more often. Remote work has many benefits, but meeting in person is still important.

Ernesto: Interesting take! Next, if there’s one repetitive task you could automate, what would it be?

Viktoria: Reviewing reports and dashboards. It would be great to have a tool that not only generates reports from multiple data sources but also suggests bite-sized action points or experimentation hypotheses.

Ernesto: Great point. Lastly, what’s one piece of advice you’d give yourself if you were restarting your marketing journey today?

Viktoria: Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time to see results from marketing programs, so it’s important to stay patient and remember that excellence takes time.

Ernesto: Excellent advice! As we wrap up, Viktoria, what’s the one thing listeners should remember about Codacy?

Viktoria: Codacy helps dev teams build clean, secure code effortlessly and fearlessly.

Ernesto: Perfect. Listeners, check them out at codacy.com. Like Viktoria said, it’s effortless code quality and security for developers. Viktoria, thank you so much for joining us today. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in. I’m looking forward to our next episode of Pathmonk Presents.

Viktoria: Thanks, Ernesto!