Profiling the EMEA Technology Buyer for more Effective ... · Effective Media Planning A TechTarget Global Marketer Services report July 2012 . Survey goals ... - Make content readily

Profiling the EMEA

Technology Buyer for more

Effective Media Planning

A TechTarget Global Marketer Services report

July 2012

Survey goals

● Key Goal:

- Put common assumptions about EMEA marketing

to the test

● Especially in these areas:

- Specialists vs. generalists

- Buying teams

- IT managers role in online research

- How do IT decision makers want to communicate with you

- What type of content should we all be producing

- How is social media working for B2B

2 © TechTarget, Profiling the EMEA Technology Buyer for more Effective Media Planning, July 2012

Who took the survey?

● Fielded March–April 2012

● Conducted online through web-based form

● 750 respondents across Europe

● 140+ per country (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Benelux)

● Local language for France, Germany, Italy, Benelux

● Roughly 60%< 500 employees; 40%>500 employees

● Variety of job titles; 36% IT manager+


Specialists are the marketing target you

should be planning for

● In most countries, a plurality

of IT targets call themselves

specialists

- Across tech specialists and

project-to-project specialists

- Germany lowest at 37%

specialist

- IT generalist sits at about 1/3

of target

● IT managers (17–23%) deserve

separate effort

- IT mgr proportion of buying

team decreases at larger co

● At larger companies, specialist

jumps to 55–66%

© TechTarget, Profiling the EMEA Technology Buyer for more Effective Media Planning, July 2012 4

How would you describe your role?

52%

54%

38%

49%

50%

31%

21%

43%

29%

32%

17%

25%

19%

22%

19%

UK

Italy

Germany

France

Benelux

Tech/Serial specialist

Generalist IT manager

Specialist considerations as you set

your strategy

● Content considerations

- For mature categories, assume your targets have a sophisticated

knowledge of features and competitors—look for segmentation

opportunities

- Don’t shy from deeper technical problems as prospects are likely

looking for content focused on it

- SMB targets are more generalists, with less experience and will

want appropriate content

● Does this change things for your VAR enablement strategy?

● Larger company marketing

- Assume they are sophisticated on the tech front

- For serial specialist getting up to speed, need full chain of content

● IT Manager deserves a separate stream of marketing focused

on cost-savings and business benefit


IT researchers are juggling multiple purchases;

you’re competing for their attention


52%

53%

62%

54%

53%

UK

Italy

Germany

France

Benelux

● Across the region, a

majority are multi-tasking,

researching more than one

potential purchase each quarter

- About 10% have 5+ projects

- Little variance by company size

or change year to year

● Importance of marketing “at the

point of research” and aligning

with editorial content to

influence buyers as they are

doing research

2+ purchases per quarter

Plenty of ways to influence and “assist”

the busy IT researcher

● Capitalize on the ability to be a one-stop shop

- Those with broad product portfolios can try to address

multiple concerns

● Lots of cross-sell opportunities

● IT departments generally prefer to manage fewer vendor

relationships

● Respect the researcher’s time

- Make content readily available and easy to access

- Hold their attention; nurture with links to additional content

- Take an on-demand vs. live approach to webcasts, virtual

trade shows and other multimedia


Does the IT manager handle the web research?

● At small companies, IT mgr

takes early stage research

burden

- 53% IT mgr+ from companies

<250 employees conduct

“awareness stage” research

alone

● >250 employees, IT mgrs farm

out early (50%) and late stage

(30%) research to team

● Late stage research—everyone

is involved


Which most accurately describes

your research pattern?

50%

33%

30%

21%

30%

53%

24%

30%

Early web research: Team does it

Early web research:

Do it myself

Late stage web research: Team does it

Late stage web research:

Do it myself

IT mgrs >250 emp IT mgr <250 emp

We get that your reps want to talk to the

IT director, but…

● Marketing efforts solely focused on IT manager and above

miss the point at larger organisations

- Exaggerated, but directionally correct, 60% of companies

>250 employees, IT mgr won’t show up in online demand

gen programs

● “IT manager-only” lead gen campaigns may be most effective

for smaller business target

● Need to change marketing and sales targets processes to

identify, incorporate and cultivate the broader buying team

● Online programs are part of the marketing cycle, not where it

will end. You will need to work to get to full buying team

(including the manager), but don’t ignore the first open door.


Single buyer scenario is rare, especially

at large companies

● <20% in any country say buying

team of 1 is standard

- Less than 10% of companies

>500 employees say there is a

single buyer (except France)

● 55–66% say most common

scenario is 2–4 person buying

team (UK tends larger)

● 15% of >500 employee

companies report a typical

5+ buying team size


15%

34%

15%

21%

16%

4%

13%

4%

28%

9%

UK

Italy

Benelux

France

Germany

All >500 employees

% with single buyer scenario

Larger buying team has implications

for the way you market

● More potential contacts and ways to penetrate an account,

but everyone has a unique area of interest

- You need more content

● App manager, storage admin, project mgr, IT director may all work

on project, but each will approach a purchase from their unique

perspective

● Reps and marketing team follow-up has to know how to take

good first step with different roles

- Is the first email to a lead targeted to role or content downloaded?

- Can your reps/marketers speak the unique “language” of the

person who has downloaded the content?

● Finding as many contacts as possible is key

- Any contact you DON’T know is an opportunity for another vendor

to set tone for buying process


F2F events and print are declining in

importance as a “place” for research

● Across the board shifts away

from print, events

- UK and Germany see biggest

shift away from events

● Trend mirrored on the

“increased” use question

- % of buyers increasing online

research is double that of

group increasing use of F2F or

print

- Benelux >larger increase

for print

- France has biggest online

increase of 47%


Over last 2 years, where have you

spent less time in purchasing

research?

0% 25% 50%

F2F events

Print

Independent sites

UK Italy Germany France Benelux

Similar shifts in how buyers want to interact

with tech vendors

● Buyers prefer to access

your site well ahead of other

means of contact

● Across the board declines

in phone preference

- Germany—49% report less

time on phone with vendors

- UK: >40% shifting away from

phone, F2F

- French habits more stable

● Importance of F2F with vendors

varies more by country


Where are you spending more

time in terms of buying research?

0% 25% 50%

Visit vendor sites

Email w/vendors

F2F w/vendors

Phone w/vendors


There are nuances, users want more time

with vendors as cycle advances


How do you most prefer to communicate with an IT vendor/VAR

at different stages?

71%

32%

15%

12%

25%

16%

8%

33%

63%

9% 10% 7%

0%

50%

100%

Awareness stage Consideration/solutioncomparison

Decision stage: Finalvendor selection

Events

Face-to-face

Phone

Email/Online

Outbound calls need to be timed just right

● Most frown upon early-stage phone calls

● Phone receptivity peaks during the shortlisting process

- Phone strategy should focus on contacting leads after there has

been some downstage indicators

- When asked when are you open to receiving a phone call, less

than 40% would take a call at all

● Benelux least receptive to ever getting a phone

- Less than 20% would take a call during any stage of the buying

process


Receptivity to early stage phone calls is

on the decline

● In nearly all markets, IT buyers are becoming increasingly

reluctant to receiving early stage calls from IT vendors


2012 2011 % change

Benelux 27% 38% -11%

France 30% 53% -76%

Germany 18% 54% -66%

Italy 29% 33% -12%

UK 20% 41% -51%

How effective is a cold call with a content

offering?

● Across all markets, about half

got a call offering content

- Roughly 50%–75% accepted

the content, if it’s interesting

even if they had no plan to

make a purchase

- Germans (35%) most apt to

take the content just to end

the call

● Be skeptical of the info

collected

- Less than 10% provide

accurate info

- French most apt not to tell truth


How accurate would the information

you share about your company and

purchasing plans be?

0% 35% 70%

Would say anything to end the call

Somewhat accurate

Completely accurate


Hit users at the right time, with the right

message, through the right channel

● Avoid cold calling to early-stage prospects

- Most find it a nuisance and the information you should be

skeptical of the information you gather

● Nurture prospects using the same channel where you initially

engaged them

- Email online leads with additional content; raise familiarity with

your offerings and move them downstream

● Look for activity cues on when it’s a good time to call

- There’s a small window of time when calls are most likely to

be welcomed

- Rely on internal CRM systems and publishers to establish these

cues and have more engaged conversations with prospects

- Ensure your reps/ISRs are Web savvy


Global best practices are more important

than you think to ITDMs in every region

● Even accounting for language

preference, more than half of

IT pros put global best practices

as what they look for most in

a site

- Preference for “global” content

rises at companies >500

employees


Which type of site do you prefer

for conducting IT purchasing

research?

59%

67%

59%

57%

58%

41%

33%

41%

43%

42%

UK

Italy

Germany

France

Benelux

Global best practices

Local content

What do the global/local results mean

for your marketing?

● Technology problems are rarely geo-specific

- Buyers want to stay up to speed on what is going on globally

● We think it says something positive about our approach of

global best practices content with local online sites

combination

● For your content, keep in mind:

- Users first want to know what you are doing that is global

and best

- Don’t diminish the value of local content, just size the investment

appropriately because it is typically the hardest to source,

produce and approve

- Prioritize what you want to be “local”


More variety exists than you would expect

in preferred content types

● Despite taboos around

“comparison,” users want that

insight most

- Especially in France, Germany

● More demand for product

literature than in US

- Germany stands out

● Users *say* they put case

studies and white papers

on even footing

- Performance indicates

differently


Rank value of the these content

resources when visiting an IT site

for research*

0% 30% 60%

Tech solution comparison

Trial software

Case studies

Product lit

White papers


* % rating ea. asset as among two most valuable

Which is more valuable: A local case study

or an industry case study?

● It’s a close call, but local trumps vertical-specific; local most

important in France


Local case studies from

my country Case studies from

my industry

Benelux 24% 21%

France 39% 35%

Germany 34% 21%

Italy 22% 24%

UK 20% 13%

What insight do content preferences provide

for your marketing plan

● Invest in comparison content

- Produce your own comparison content—buyers know it is biased, but not enough content like it exists. They need a framework

● Align with sites that offer deep, technical best practices oriented material

- It’s among the two top types of content researchers look for

● Present more of your content as quickly as you can to your prospects—it shows expertise and will meet diverse preference

- We know your US teams have more content and can help

● Make trials easier—people want them

● Make the most of the case studies you have

- My opinion—have them available and use as follow up, but don’t lead with them (unless industry specific)


In non-English speaking countries, comfort

with English content decreases with rich media


68%

59%

62%

57%

22%

28%

30%

27%

10%

13%

8%

16%

Subtitled videos

Product Lit

White papers

Webcasts

Very comfortable

Somewhat comfortable

Not comfortable

France comfort

with English?

Benelux comfort

with English?

41%

32%

42%

35%

36%

33%

40%

27%

23%

35%

18%

50%

Subtitled videos

Product Lit

White papers

Webcasts

Very comfortable


Not comfortable

In non-English speaking countries, comfort

with English content decreases with rich media


43%

33%

33%

20%

45%

49%

53%

44%

12%

18%

14%

38%

Subtitled videos

Product Lit

White papers

Webcasts

Very comfortable


Not comfortable

German comfort

with English?

Italian comfort

with English?

17%

22%

24%

14%

43%

53%

47%

36%

40%

25%

29%

50%

Subtitled videos

Product Lit

White papers

Webcasts

Very comfortable


Not comfortable

English can be a starting point for

European countries

● A significant percentage of users do feel comfortable with

technical white papers in English and can be a foundation for

baseline efforts:

- Benelux—Very/somewhat comfortable—92%

- France—Very/somewhat comfortable—84%

- Germany—Very/somewhat comfortable—71%

- Italy —Very/somewhat comfortable—86%

- Best if on your most technical/essential information

- Comfort level declines with more engaging media types

● You do miss a significant portion of the audience without the

local language component

- For our campaigns, 60%–80% of our French, German, Italian

campaigns come from local language campaign


IT Pros are using social media for research,

but not the popular platforms

● ITDMs seem to be looking to

social media for recognised

peer expertise and opinion

- Most of these options

are very niche

- “Influencer” based marketing

becomes important

● LinkedIn is only broad social

media platform playing any

role and how they are using it

is relatively unclear


Which social media tools do you

use to gather info on potential tech

purchases?

0% 35% 70%

Online user communities/forums

Industry blogs

QQ&A sites (e.g. ITKE, Quora)

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter/Weibo


What direction can you take in terms

of social marketing?

● Figure out who the influencers are in these niche communities.

That is where the peer-to-peer advice giving is happening.

- Supply the leaders and the process with relevant content and

answers on things you know about


Final thoughts

● Recognize that the march to specialisation is on (in total and

for an individual project) and respond to it

● Aggressively pursue the whole buying team

● Put even more bets online—that is where users are and

increasingly will be, including IT managers

● Simplify your local content approaches and start with the

English assets you have

● Begin movement to Web 2.0 sales and marketing

- Put off phone conversations; make more content available; target

your follow up and engagement

- Wide spectrum of sophistication in the market now (with some

clear, old barriers). Changing processes now will start you on the

journey


30

Thank you

© TechTarget, Profiling the EMEA Technology Buyer

for more Effective Media Planning, July 2012

Documents

Profiling the EMEA Technology Buyer for more Effective ... · Effective Media Planning A TechTarget Global Marketer Services report July 2012 . Survey goals ... - Make content readily