b2b social media: research into its role in the ict buying process
DESCRIPTION
Research into the social media behaviour of 100 UK ICT decision-makers. The Marketing Practice's headline findings illustrate how social media is being used at different stages of the buying cycle, what decision-makers want from their suppliers, how it can be used for demand generation, and what effects social media is having on 'traditional' marketing channels.TRANSCRIPT
© The Marketing Practice 2011
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THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN THE ICT BUYING PROCESS
10 DECISION-MAKER RESEARCH HEADLINES
© The Marketing Practice 2011
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About the research
• Conducted in the UK, in April 2011
• 100 senior managers and directors across public and private sectors, segmented by:• Role (Line of business Vs IT)• Organisation size (1000-5000, 5000-10000, 10000-20000 employees)• Age (18-25, 26-40, 41-55,56+)
• For a run-through of the full findings (over 20 different question areas) and analysis, please contact Paul Everett, [email protected]
© The Marketing Practice 2011
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Ten headlines
1. Half of all buyers agree it is important for suppliers to have a social media presence
2. Over 1 in 4 buyers have met suppliers as a result of interactions on social media...
3. ...Of those, 1 in 3 have given business to a supplier
4. LinkedIn comes out on top, with Facebook a strong second (especially for IT decision-makers)
5. Social media is most influential at early stages of the buying process and again post purchase
6. Making uninvited contact via social media isn’t as frowned on as you might have thought
7. Top 3 sources of information in social media are analysts, peers and suppliers
8. Some old rules hold true – don’t expect users to actively contribute to these networks...
9. ...And some content is as much about being found through search engines as communities
10. Traditional communication channels are more valuable than ever before
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A complex picture
• For: We’ve seen that half of decision makers feel that suppliers should be active within social media, and that a surprising number have met and given business to suppliers following a first interaction via social media
• Against: But the influence of social media dips at some key stages of the buying cycle, and more traditional channels are becoming seen as more valuable than ever before in the face of ‘overwhelming’ digital interactions
• The full research also shows us that there are significant variations by job function and size of organisation, as well as in how frequently people are using different social media networks
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Conclusions
• Social media can clearly extend the effectiveness of wider marketing strategies• Although simply using it to broadcast information that wasn’t good
enough in the first place is unlikely to generate returns!
• We should remember that social media isn’t purely about being active in buyers’ networks – it can also simply be about using the fact that 75% of people are active on LinkedIn to mine data/insight for other marketing activities
• There’s a careful choice to be made in each situation about the potential returns of social media activity (does the ROI justify the investment required, or could it be achieved by other means – there’s always an alternative)
• Social media has reached a point where it is almost universally used, but is at its most effective alongside other channels – hopefully we have reached the stage where it can be sensibly considered as an element of any wider marketing strategy rather than a hyped as a standalone silo...
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1. HALF OF ALL BUYERS AGREE IT IS IMPORTANT FOR SUPPLIERS TO HAVE A SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE.
(IT’S A LARGE PROPORTION, BUT OF COURSE IT ALSO MEANS HALF DON’T.)
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How important is it for suppliers to have a social media presence?
Total Director IT/Tech0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
19% 18%20%
30%32%
28%
51% 50%52%
Not Important Neither Important nor unimportant Important
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2. OVER 1 IN 4 BUYERS HAVE MET SUPPLIERS AS A RESULT OF INTERACTIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
(FOR IT DECISION MAKERS, THAT INCREASES TO OVER 1 IN 3.)
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Have you ever had a supplier meeting that was a result of an initial interaction on social media?
Total Director Level Specifically IT/Tech0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
28
18
38
72
82
62
Yes No
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3. OF THOSE, 1 IN 3 HAVE GIVEN BUSINESS TO A SUPPLIER.
(OVERALL, THAT’S NEARLY 1 IN 5 DECISION MAKERS WHO HAVE DONE BUSINESS AS A RESULT OF SOCIAL MEDIA INTERACTIONS.)
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If yes, did you go on to give business to that supplier?
Total Director Level Specifically IT/Tech0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
68 67 68
32 33 32
Yes No
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HERE’S AN EXAMPLE FROM BUZZIENT AND ORACLE OF BRINGING SOCIAL MEDIA INTERACTIONS INTO MEASURABLE CRM RESULTS...
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A post on Twitter
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...is monitored and captured in CRM...
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...and flagged as a lead to respond to
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4. LINKEDIN COMES OUT TOP OVERALL, WITH FACEBOOK A STRONG SECOND (ESPECIALLY FOR IT DECISION MAKERS).
(OUR FULL RESEARCH CONTRASTS THIS BUSINESS USE WITH THEIR PERSONAL BEHAVIOURS, AND ALSO LOOKS AT HOW FREQUENTLY THEY USE THESE NETWORKS.)
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Which of the following social media / networks do you use in a professional capacity?
Twitter LinkedIn Facebook YouTube Blogs (general) Specialist blogs Specialist online communities /
forums
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
23%
75%
41%
22% 22% 21%24%
34%
72%
34%
24%
32% 32% 32%
12%
78%
48%
20%
12%10%
16%
Total
Director
IT/Tech
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FOR ANYONE WONDERING HOW FACEBOOK CAN HAVE SUCH A STRONG PRESENCE, HERE’S AN EXAMPLE...
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5. SOCIAL MEDIA IS MOST INFLUENTIAL AT EARLY STAGES OF THE BUYING PROCESS AND AGAIN POST PURCHASE.
(BUT DOES STILL INFLUENCE THE FINAL BUYING CHOICE OF 1 IN 5 DECISION MAKERS.)
© The Marketing Practice 2011
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How influential is social media at different stages of the buying cycle?
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2731 31
48
3844
3541
322829
3428
20
34
Little or no impact Neutral impact Some or great impact
© The Marketing Practice 2011
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6. MAKING UNINVITED CONTACT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA ISN’T AS FROWNED ON AS YOU MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT.
(ALMOST 3 IN 4 (4 IN 5 WITHIN IT) SAY THAT MAKING UNINVITED CONTACT WOULDN’T DISADVANTAGE A SUPPLIER.)
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Would potential or current suppliers be disadvantaged if they tried to approach you, without invitation, via social media of any sort?
Total Director Level Specifically IT/Tech0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
27
34
20
73
66
80
Yes No
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7. TOP 3 SOURCES OF INFORMATION IN SOCIAL MEDIA ARE ANALYSTS, PEERS AND SUPPLIERS.
(BUT THERE’S NO CLEAR WINNER, AND THE FULL RESEARCH SHOWS THAT DIFFERENT JOB FUNCTIONS VALUE DIFFERENT SOURCES)
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How valuable is the information that you can receive from the following social media contributors?
Suppliers Peers Journalists Analysts Independent bloggers0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2321
31
21
36
40
3739
30
3937
42
30
49
25
Not valuable Neither valuable or not valuable Valuable
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8. SOME OLD RULES HOLD TRUE – DON’T EXPECT USERS TO ACTIVELY CONTRIBUTE TO THESE NETWORKS.
(BUT THE NUMBER WHO DO CONTRIBUTE IS NEARLY DOUBLE THE 1 IN 10 FIGURE SOMETIMES USED)
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Would you say you are an active contributor or do you use them more simply as a source of information?
Total Director Level Specifically IT/Tech0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1713
25
8387
75
Active Member Use Them As A Source Of Information
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9. AND REMEMBER THAT SOME CONTENT IS AS MUCH ABOUT BEING FOUND THROUGH SEARCH ENGINES AS COMMUNITIES.
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Do you come across useful information mainly as a result of traditional online searches or as a result of direct involvement in social media?
Total Director Level Specifically IT/Tech10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
53 52 53
47 48 47
Mainly As A Result Of Traditional Online Searching, Such As Search Engines
Mainly As A Result Of Regular Direct Involvement In Social Media Channels
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10. TRADITIONAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS ARE MORE VALUABLE THAN EVER BEFORE.
(RICHARD WATSON’S FUTURE FILES GIVES AN INTERESTING VIEW ON THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND THE INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF ‘REAL LIFE’ INTERACTIONS)
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Taking into account the rise of digital interaction, do you value the following forms of traditional communication more, less or the same as in the past?
Networ
king
at e
vent
s
Face
to fa
ce m
eetin
gs w
ith s
uppli
ers
Teleph
one
conv
ersa
tions
“Soc
ial” b
usine
ss a
ctivi
ty (E
.g. D
inner
s, h
ospit
ality
, tea
m b
uildin
g)
Inno
vativ
ely p
rese
nted
phy
sical
mat
erial
from
sup
plier
s
Hearin
g fro
m s
peak
ers
at c
onfe
renc
es a
nd s
emina
rs
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
19 20 22 20 22 23
43
31
4350
45 4438
49
3530 33 33
Less Than You Have Done The Same As You Have Done More Than You Have Done
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“BUSINESS TECHNOLOGISTS ARE NOT CLEANLY SUBSTITUTING SOCIAL FOR OTHER DECISION-MAKING APPROACHES AND INFORMATION SOURCES, BUT RATHER ARE ADDING SOCIAL IN A COMPLEMENTARY WAY. TECH MARKETERS MUST FOLLOW SUIT, MIXING TRADITIONAL AND SOCIAL TACTICS TO ACHIEVE BROAD COMMUNITY MARKETING OBJECTIVES.”
SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS®: BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY BUYERS, FORRESTER, 2010
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For a run-through of the full findings (over 20 different question areas and variations by size of organisation/age/job function), and our resulting 90-day social media action plan, please contact:
Paul EverettDirector of Marketing [email protected]