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IT purchase decisions are not controlled solely by a business’s IT department – and they are not the responsibility only of senior business executives. New research from LinkedIn, comScore, Starcom Mediavest Group and Mashwork identifies a broader, cross-functional IT Committee responsible for shortlisting and appointing suppliers. And it proves that those businesses that identify this group accurately, and deliver relevant content to them in the early stages of the purchase decision process, have a clear advantage when it comes to securing a share of their budgets. The IT Committee trusts LinkedIn more than any other website to receive information relevant to their IT decisions, and they are approximately 50% more likely to engage with vendors on LinkedIn than on other social networks. For full details, read our full research report The Social Media Bridge to the IT Committee, or download a concise summary of the report as an eBook, with essential tips for building relationships with IT decision makers. With the IT Committee typically 60% of the way through the purchase decision process before its members start reaching out to potential suppliers, engagement through relevant, value-adding content isn’t just a means of building long-term relationships for IT companies; it’s an essential part of lead generation, and can make the difference between being included on shortlists and not making the cut. Typically, only three vendors are shortlisted for each IT purchase, and 94% of purchases are from companies on these shortlists. When potential suppliers engage with Committee members on LinkedIn, their likelihood of securing a meeting increases significantly. The study proves that IT Committee members increasingly prefer social media, and LinkedIn in particular, as a channel for guiding their purchases from awareness, scoping and planning through to selection and implementation. When asked why they chose social media to guide their decision-making process, the Committee nominated Trust, Efficiency, Relevance and Access to a broader network as prominent reasons. Meeting these criteria is essential for companies looking to engage Committee members pro-actively: “receiving a lot of marketing material” was identified as the number 1 reason why those members avoided connecting with vendors on social platforms. Rather than generic marketing materials, they demand value-adding content that is relevant to particular phases of the purchase cycle: industry news and strategic information in the awareness phase, best practice and how-to guides, plus demos and checklists during the later stages.
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The Social Bridge to the IT Committee How trusted content on social media
builds relationships with IT buyers
Commissioned study
conducted by: Germany
2
Through decision
making process
60%
Buyers are highly informed, savvy, and demanding
Source: CEB, “The Digital Evolution in B2B Marketing”, 2012
First contact
with brand
Tech companies risk being on the
sidelines if they don’t educate and help
TECH
COMPANIES
3
Decrease in lead potential
Implications
Less exposure to client and prospect
projects
Limiting long-term perception as a trusted
partner and thought leader
Social media can help bridge the gap and build
relationships
4
TECH COMPANIES
Why is it so critical to foster long-term relationships?
THE IT COMMITTEE
They work
cross functionally
44% Work outside of IT
They include individual
contributors and managers
60% are individual contributors or managers
These scarce influencers include more than the IT
department and the Executive team
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Germany on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 6
LinkedIn partnered with comScore, Starcom MediaVest Group,
and Mashwork to understand today’s B2B IT Committee
comScore: Q3 2013
SMG / Mashwork: 2012
LinkedIn data: Q2 2013 7
What are they thinking?
200 IT Committee members in
Germany
What are they saying?
3,000 tech posts from public
LinkedIn Groups
What are they doing?
IT decision makers on LinkedIn
Key Findings
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Germany on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 8
Make the vendor shortlist by
fostering long-term relationships,
while serving short-term needs via
lead generation.
The vendor shortlist is more
exclusive and critical than you
think.
Social media is not just for
connecting with peers. The IT
Committee actively seeks insights
& conversations with vendors.
The IT Committee actively seeks conversations with vendors on social media
9
Nearly all of the IT Committee use social networks
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Germany on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 10
2013
83% 95%
2012
75%
Use social network monthly for business
The reason? Social media – LinkedIn especially – provides
them with trust, efficiency, relevance, and access
Source: Commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting in Germany on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2012 11
Access
A
Access a
broader network
47%
Relevance
R
Relevant context to
connect with vendors
33%
Efficiency
E
Quickly
find information
38%
Trust
T
Learn from
trustworthy peers
37%
TERA continues to drive even deeper utilization across the
entire IT decision process
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Germany on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 12
43% 39% 38% 26% 72%
Implement
58%
Select
49%
Plan
58%
Scope
57%
Awareness
62%
Influence of social media at each stage of decision making
YoY Increase
As tech decision makers use social to learn and debate,
they’re looking to vendors to participate
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Germany on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 13
70% Open to connecting with
vendors on social
Ready to have a conversation
with a vendor on social
85%
The vendor shortlist is
more exclusive and critical
than you think
14
The IT Committee already have a good idea who they want to
work with
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Germany on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 15
vendors make their short list Only 3
purchased from a vendor that made the short list 90%
purchased from a new vendor Only 1 in 10
How do you make the short list if you are a new vendor?
Old ways of communicating don’t work and can turn off your
audience
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Germany on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 17
Top 5 reasons the IT Committee doesn’t connect with a
vendor on a social network
04
Talk too much about
themselves
02
Don’t believe would provide
any credible information
03
Don’t believe would provide any
info that is relevant to my job
01
Don’t want to receive a lot of
marketing materials
05
Not thought leaders in
the category
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Germany on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
Building relationships with the right content is critical to
being considered
18
AWARENESS SCOPE PLAN SELECT IMPLEMENT
The IT Committee are interested in a diverse range of topics
– earn more interest with multiple types of content
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Germany on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 19
Diagnostic or assessment
tools
Expert ratings, reviews or testimonials
Peer ratings, reviews or testimonials
Top types of information sought in each stage of IT
decision-making process:
3,217 IT Decision Makers engaged with
this article on LinkedIn in June
"Windows 8 is gold: Release date just
days away [link] #ITBW for
@computerworld by @richi $MSFT”
Junior Decision Maker, Twitter
"It's nice to hear that Asian companies are
starting to adopt e-learning. [Link] E-
learning going mobile in Asia | ZDNet”
Senior Decision Maker, LinkedIn Groups
20 Source: commissioned social intelligence research conducted by Mashwork on behalf of Starcom MediaVest Group and LinkedIn, Q1 – Q4 2012
Senior decision makers are 2X more likely to have shared
and engaged with product / industry news
Senior decision makers were 11.5X more engaged with
thought leadership content
21 Source: commissioned social intelligence research conducted by Mashwork on behalf of Starcom MediaVest Group and LinkedIn, Q1 – Q4 2012
1,345 IT Decision Makers engaged with
this post on LinkedIn in June
22 Source: commissioned social intelligence research conducted by Mashwork on behalf of Starcom MediaVest Group and LinkedIn, Q1 – Q4 2012
Junior decision makers were 39% more engaged with best
practice content
"An interesting and insightful article elaborating on the
innovative applications of analytics to enhance VAS
revenues.... [Link]"
Junior Decision Maker, LinkedIn Group
Build relationships to make
the short list
23
Traditional lead generation needs to be blended with social
to earn leads
24
Sweet Spot
Social
Relationships
Valuable
Content
Traditional
lead generation
Likelihood of getting live access to the IT Committee
increases as vendors engage with this audience on LinkedIn
25 Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Germany on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
# of types of engagement with vendor on LinkedIn before purchase
0%
20%
40%
NONE 1 TYPE
Pre-Purchase Vendor Engagement by
# of Types of Engagement on LinkedIn
Vendors who interact with the IT Committee at a high rate are
more likely to create promoters
26
Engagement on LinkedIn Prior To Purchase
Vendor Net Promoter Score
42
NONE
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Germany on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
51
1 TYPE
Engage the IT Committee everywhere they learn
27
FEED
MOBILE
GROUPS
INMAIL
Earn leads and build relationships with content
28
SLIDESHARE CHANNEL
SPONSORED UPDATES
SLIDESHARE CONTENT ADS
PERSONALIZED INSIGHTS VIA API
Implications for IT Marketers
29
01
02
03
04
Target more than IT functions in your campaigns.
Ensure your content is authentic, valuable, timely, and customized by decision stage and seniority.
Start earning leads via social in addition to buying leads.
Focus on building relationships to get on the short list.
Begin tracking how often and for what clients you make the short list. 05
