Which Departments Wield the Most Influence Over Purchase Decisions in Your B2B Industry

Which Departments Wield the Most Influence Over Purchase Decisions in Your Industry

CONTENTS

03 Introduction

07 Technology

16 Financial Services

19 Education

21 Automotive

23 Government

25 Healthcare

27 Manufacturing

29 Marketing and Advertising

31 Retail

33 Services

38 Travel

I F V E N D O R S A R E N ’ T K N O W N C O M PA N Y- W I D E , T H E Y ’ R E N OT K N O W N

The B2B Buying Process is a team game. There are decision makers and there are influencers.

Marketers must strive to reach both groups.

The bottom line is this: Many departments impact the final buying decision,

and marketers and salespeople are well-advised to

reach all of the influential departments.

4

T H E N U M B E R O F D E PA R T M E N T S I M PAC T I N G T H E B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N VA R I E S B Y I N D U ST R Y

5

S E V E R A L D E PA R T M E N T S I N F LU E N C E T H E TY P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N

Recent LinkedIn research found that many departments influence

the buying process, with Information Technology, Finance, and

Business Development leading the way.

T O P D E P A R T M E N T S I N C L U D E D I N T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N

Information Technology 32%

31%

26%

23%

22%

21%

Finance

Business Development

Accounting

Operations

Administrative

6

W H AT YO U ’ L L L E A R N

LinkedIn’s research showed the number and kind of departments that influence

buying decisions varies from industry to industry.

In the following slides, marketers and salespeople can see the departments

that wield the most influence on purchase decisions in the industry they target.

7

8

I N D U ST R Y: T E C H N O LO GY — A DT E C H

Finance 46%

31%

25%

23%

22%


Information Technology

Engineering

Marketing

W H I C H D E P A R T M E N T S W I E L D T H E M O S T I N F L U E N C E O V E R T H E T Y P I C A L B U Y I N G D E C I S I O N ?

Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision

in the Technology — Adtech industry 3.3

9

I N D U ST R Y: T E C H N O LO GY — C LO U D C O M P U T I N G

Information Technology 61%

36%

34%

32%

28%


Engineering

Finance

Operations



in the Technology — Cloud Computing industry 4.5

10

I N D U ST R Y: T E C H N O LO GY — C O M P U T E R A N D N E T W O R K S E C U R I TY

65%

27%

24%

23%

21%


Finance

Engineering


Administrative



in the Technology — Computer and Network Security industry 3.7

11

I N D U ST R Y: T E C H N O LO GY — C O M P U T E R S O F T W A R E

54%

36%

27%

25%

25%


Finance

Engineering

Operations

Product Management



in the Technology — Computer Software industry 3.9

12

INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY — INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES / IT CONSULTING

73%

30%

23%

23%

21%


Finance


Program and Project Mgmt

Engineering


Average number of departments influencing a typical buying decision in the

Technology — Information Technology and Services / IT Consulting industry 3.8

13

I N D U ST R Y: T E C H N O LO GY — O N L I N E M E D I A P L AT F O R M S

43%

37%

30%

30%

21%

Media and Communication

Marketing






in the Technology — Online Media Platforms industry 3.8

14

I N D U ST R Y: T E C H N O LO GY — T E L E C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

41%

36%

33%

25%

24%


Operations

Engineering

Purchasing

Sales



in the Technology — Telecommunications industry 3.9

15

I N D U ST R Y: T E C H N O LO GY — OT H E R

35%

34%

29%

27%

21%


Engineering

Operations





in the Technology — Other industry 3.4

16

17

I N D U ST R Y: F I N A N C I A L S E R V I C E S — C O M M E R C I A L B A N K I N G

61%

44%

42%

27%

24%

Finance

Accounting


Administrative




in the Financial Services — Commercial Banking industry 4.0

18

I N D U ST R Y: F I N A N C I A L S E R V I C E S — OT H E R

47%

43%

20%

18%

18%

Accounting

Finance

Administrative





in the Financial Services — Other industry 3.2

19

20

I N D U ST R Y: E D U C AT I O N

58%

36%

22%

22%

18%

Education

Administrative

Accounting

Finance

HR



in the Education industry 3.5

21

22

I N D U ST R Y: A U TO M OT I V E

30%

27%

23%

23%

23%

Engineering

Administrative

Accounting

Operations

Purchasing



in the Automotive industry 3.5

23

24

I N D U ST R Y: G O V E R N M E N T

28%

24%

24%

22%

19%

Administrative



Engineering

Finance



in the Government sector 3.3

25

26

I N D U ST R Y: H E A LT H C A R E

53%

37%

34%

24%

22%

Healthcare Services

Administrative

Finance

Accounting

Purchasing



in the Healthcare industry 4.2

27

28

I N D U ST R Y: M A N U FAC T U R I N G

50%

47%

42%

35%

34%

Engineering

Operations

Purchasing

Finance

Product Management



in the Manufacturing industry 4.6

29

30

I N D U ST R Y: M A R K E T I N G A N D A D V E R T I S I N G

68%

41%

38%

29%

23%

Marketing


Sales

Media and Communication

Finance



in the Marketing and Advertising industry 4.1

31

32

I N D U ST R Y: R E TA I L

34%

33%

28%

28%

25%

Purchasing

Sales

Administrative

Operations




in the Retail industry 4.0

33

34

I N D U ST R Y: S E R V I C E S — C O N S U LT I N G

29%

28%

27%

25%

18%

Product Management

Finance



Purchasing



in the Services — Consulting industry 3.4

35

I N D U ST R Y: S E R V I C E S — H U M A N R E S O U R C E S

66%

36%

30%

27%

22%

HR

Finance

Administrative


Legal



in the Services — Human Resources industry 3.6

36

I N D U ST R Y: S E R V I C E S — I N F O R M AT I O N S E R V I C E S

55%

29%

28%

25%

21%


Finance


Operations

Accounting



in the Services — Information Services industry 3.9

37

I N D U ST R Y: S E R V I C E S — OT H E R

33%

23%

22%

19%

16%

Operations

Finance


Accounting

Consulting



in the Services — Other industry 3.1

38

39

I N D U ST R Y: T R AV E L

37%

36%

31%

31%

18%

Finance

Accounting

Administrative

Sales




in the Travel industry 3.4

40

D O W N LOA D T H E F U L L E B O O K

The research in this SlideShare is part of a

larger body of research conducted by LinkedIn.

This research is contained in the “Rethink the

B2B Buyer's Journey“ ebook. This guide shows

how marketers are rethinking the buying team,

content and social media marketing, and sales

and marketing alignment.

Download ebook

https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/c/16/2/rethinking-the-b2b-buyers




41

A B O U T T H E R E S E A R C H

For this research, we conducted a survey of more than

6,000 buyers, marketers, and salespeople at mid-sized

to enterprise-level B2B companies in seven countries:

The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom,

Australia, India, France and Germany. Each participant

in the survey took a 10-minute online survey.