Early stage follow-up preference Online vs. Phone

Transcription

1 A TechTarget Global Marketer Services White Paper Understanding and Influencing the International IT Buyer Part Two: Shifting behaviors in international buyer research and engagement

2 Helping marketers understand research behavior and preferences of international IT buyers International online marketing contains no shortage of conventional wisdom, some of which is true and some of which is not. To shed some data-illuminated light on how IT buyers actually behave as opposed to how we may think they behave each year TechTarget fields an International IT Buyer Profile Survey. The goal: to help technology marketers better understand the unique composition and research preferences of IT buyers across 10 different geographies. The results reinforce some commonly-held marketing beliefs and debunk others. TechTarget publishes this research in its presentation at Online ROI summits and in this four-part white paper series from our Global Marketer Services group. Part one: Common attributes of international IT buyers Click here to view this report Part two: Shifting behaviors in international buyer research and engagement Part Two of the series looks at the basic questions of: In countries traditionally known as print-friendly or preferring face-to-face, what is the trend in using these venues and online for purchasing research? What environments do IT buyers most prefer to interact and engage with content, messaging, and solutions information from vendors? When developing your prospects into customers, what follow-up methods are buyers most receptive to (and by implication, where might your marketing and sales approach be missing the boat)? Part three: Translation, localization and content preferences Part four: Engaging international buyers by phone TechTarget has offices in the US, UK, France, Australia, Singapore and China and serves the IT community through its globally focused tech market specific websites, featuring 70+ localized websites for over ten different international countries in seven different languages. With extensive Global Marketer Services and rich local capabilities, we help global technology marketers get to market faster in all the regions they care about most. About the Survey The survey was fielded in 2012 in English and, where appropriate, in local language. We garnered a statistically significant set of results in the world s most important international markets: UK, France, Germany, Benelux, Italy, India, China, Japan, ASEAN, and Australia/New Zealand. Each country s survey received a minimum of 140 responses. In total, we collected 750 European respondents and 1,100 APAC respondents. To receive the full report data, contact Renee Cormier.

3 Print, events decline in favor of online research Much of the conventional wisdom in media centers on country biases towards print or face-to-face interactions. Certainly these preferences exist between countries based on the availability of the media. However, the more interesting question for forward-looking marketers is how is this behavior changing and how to get ahead of competitors by adopting media to where the buyers are going, not where they have been. To understand this, we asked technology buyers where they are devoting more and less of their IT buying research time. In all countries the data points to a % of buyers spending less time using print for IT research UK Italy France Germany BENELUX 31% 47% 41% 32% 22% Australia China India ASEAN Japan 15% 26% DECLINE in time spent with print publications and events as research venues. While trends for individual countries are worth examining, it was clear that across Europe, buyers are attending fewer events for research and China and Japan are sticking with events more than other countries. When asked where users are spending MORE time for IT research, all countries noted an increase in online. The increase in time spent researching online outpaces face-to-face events or print increases by a 2:1 margin. The largest increases come from France (47%) and China (42%). International IT buyers spending less time using print and face-to-face events for IT research There has been a significant decline in print and face-to-face event usage over last 2-3 years in the majority of countries across EMEA and APAC % of buyers spending less time using face-to-face for IT research UK Italy France Germany BENELUX 47% 44% 44% 45% 30% Australia China India ASEAN Japan 35% 33% 17% 40% 29% What does this mean for you? Shift in-country budgets to online Many in-country marketing teams have continued to invest in well-known industry events and print brands even as these entities role in buying research has steeply declined. Local providers without strong online properties reinforce this perception. However, this data shows the landscape is changing underneath them (as it did in the US in the past decade). To be more effective, even country budgets should shift towards online outlets to keep pace with IT buyer media consumption. Equip local marketers with the right training and tools This movement requires serious effort in terms of training and tools for local marketers. Your organization will need to ensure that local marketing teams understand pros/ cons and best practices of online marketing. It is likely they ve had little online experience. These teams may have fewer translated assets to work with and are probably not sure of what English language assets they CAN use. Clarifying the full list of assets that are available and pointing out that English assets can be useful in non-english countries are good first steps. As teams get further, they need to recognize not all online leads are sales ready and they need at least a simple system for nurturing online prospects (e.g. recommendations for additional assets).

4 becoming more essential for IT buyer research The first section of this research showcases how buyers engage with media, but how do they want to engage with solution providers? While the conclusions in this section are not radical, they fly in the face of the international sales culture of making phone calls to those high up in organizations. If this research proves anything, it is that international IT buyers want their communications from vendors to come in a very different way. When it comes to getting content and researching solutions from vendors, buyers are increasingly turning to vendor websites to obtain this essential information. Hot Warm Cold Spending more time... IT vendor websites communications Phone communications UK 31% 18% 11% IT 46% 30% 17% FR 28% 21% 16% DE 32% 21% 9% Across all countries, vendor websites are the #1 focus for buyers with between 28% and 53% reporting an increase in time spent researching on solution providers sites during the purchase process. With preferences for face-to-face or other forms of contact with vendors, marketers should look more closely at the data country-by-country, as it varies. For example, in China, buyers are increasing the time spent interacting with vendors in all communication areas. Meanwhile, UK and Japanese buyers are sharply decreasing the time spent on all activities beyond vendor site interactions. IT buyers across all regions want to engage vendors on their sites They increasingly use vendor websites to research solutions, download content, and interact with vendors. Other engagement preferences vary by country. BEN 29% 23% 11% ANZ 35% 25% 17% IN 39% 35% 29% China 53% 42% 46% ASEAN 29% 30% 25% JP 30% 19% 11% What does this mean for you? IT vendors must acknowledge that buyers have now assumed control of the buying process. According to the most recent TechTarget Media Consumption report, less than ¼ of buyers in EMEA and less than half of buyers in APAC indicated that they require sales interaction prior to creating vendor short-lists. Make sure your website is equipped to help buyers make decisions With potential prospects finding information, researching solutions, and short-listing partners with little to no contact with you, managing a user s experience with your own website is more important than ever before. Marketers must ensure their websites are equipped to meet the needs of buyers across the globe and know that this is a place IT buyers will come to in order to learn product specifics to help them make their decision. Localized website content is a must Make sure the answers to their questions are easy to find or you risk losing opportunities to capture and cultivate prospective customers. Vendors should also make international iterations of the site accessible and ensure local content is produced and highlighted. Face-to-face meetings 14% 20% 23% 17% 20% 31% 45% 13%

5 phone Buyers favor online follow-up vs. phone calls early in buy cycle Buyer s preferences for interacting with IT vendors change throughout the buy cycle. and online interactions are overwhelmingly the preferred method during the early stages of their research across all regions, but taper off as the preferred method as the user advances through the buy cycle, particularly in APAC. Buyers are not receptive phone follow-up in early stages of the cycle. In fact, the majority of buyers in both EMEA and APAC only indicate a preference for phone calls in the Awareness stage between 5% 19% of the time. Chinese buyers (23%) have the highest Preference for follow-up in Awareness stage VS. threshold for early stage calls, while Japanese buyers (3%) have almost no tolerance for early stage calls at all. Survey respondents indicated that outbound calls to IT buyers must be timed just right to be effective; phone receptivity peaks during the shortlisting phase of the research process and buyers prefer a mix of online and phone follow-up as they get closer to a final decision. IT buyers not answering the call Buyers mainly prefer online communication from vendors, especially earlier in the buy cycle. Receptivity to phone follow-up has declined dramatically in most markets. Preference for follow-up in Consideration stage VS. Change in receptivity to a phone call from 2011 to 2012 What does this mean for you? Online campaigns featuring awareness level content introducing the IT issue at hand and outlining the landscape of options is a must. This is where users begin their IT purchase journey and having your message there for them, along with content that speaks to users in this stage of the buy cycle is critical. Outbound calling strategies should focus on contacting leads after there has been some downstage indicators after the lead has engaged with your content multiple times or has downloaded a later stage asset for example. This will yield better results from your telemarketing teams and serve the user s desire to speak to someone once they have conducted a little of their own research to understand the scope of the issues they are facing. Phone Phone EMEA 71 % 12 % 32 % 25 % -43 % APAC 73 % 11 % 27 % 29 % -9 %

6 Key Takeaways Buyers doing majority of purchase research online Buyers doing majority of purchase research online Over the past two years, usage of online as a preferred research place for IT purchases has grown, while the use of print and events has generally declined. Distribution of marketing budgets should fit this transition. Face-to-face communication preferences vary by country Not every market has abandoned face-to-face contact at the same rate. In places like China, facilitating faceto-face contact remains important but should be rightsized to match buyers quick movement to the Web. Buyers want to engage vendors on their sites are the preferred platform for interacting with technology providers. Content must be available and easy to find for all regions. Buyers have low threshold for phone follow-up in early stages Be mindful of when to call your prospects. Online follow-up is preferred early in the buy cycle while receptivity to phone follow-up is very low. Phone follow-up becomes more effective when prospects are in later stages and have already engaged with your online messaging and content. What does this mean for you? Understanding and acknowledging that buyer-seller interactions are moving more and more online will help you develop a more informed framework and create deeper engagement with your international content marketing programs. For continued success and better synergies with your regional teams, it is imperative to pay close attention to localization as it relates to your website and content, as well as marketing and follow-up tactics.

7 Part one of the series Common attributes of international IT buyers focuses on who you are marketing to. The research provides a profile of the International IT Buyer by addressing the following questions that have implications for your go-to-market strategies: Do international buyers have specialized or more general roles within their companies? Is there a single buyer at each organization that you should aim to reach? How many projects does each buyer and buying team research in any given quarter? What role does the IT manager play in conducting pre-purchasing research on the Web? Part three addresses the types of content that resonate best from market to market, answering the following questions: How important is localized content? Does its importance differ by market? How critical is translated content, especially in countries where many researchers are comfortable with English? How much progress can marketers make repurposing English language content for international campaigns? Which content assets do users find most valuable: whitepapers, case studies, trial downloads? Part four provides insight into telemarketing and the effectiveness of phone-based offerings, answering the following questions: When, if ever, are researchers receptive to receiving phone calls from IT vendors? How does the willingness to field a call vary based on a user s research stage or country? How accurate is the data telemarketers collect about a company s purchasing timeline and budget?

8 Global study demographics Company size EMEA APAC < % 28% 100 to 1,000 26% 36% > 1,000 36% 36% Job title EMEA APAC IT management (manager IS/IT) 16% 17% Consultant/systems integrator 14% 6% IT staff 11% 15% Project management 7% 5% Senior IT management 6% 6% (CIO/CTO/VP/director) Systems management/ 6% 7% administration Programmer/developer 6% 9% Network management/ 5% 8% administration Architect 4% 3% Senior non-it management 3% 2% (CEO,CFO,VP,director) Analyst 3% 5% Application manager 2% 2% Database administrator 2% 3% Privacy officer 1% 0% Telecommunications manager 1% 0% Other 14% 11% TechTarget (NASDAQ: TTGT) is the online intersection of serious technology buyers, targeted technical content and technology providers worldwide. Our extensive network of online and social media, powered by TechTarget s Activity Intelligence platform, redefines how technology marketers view and engage technology buyers based on their active projects, specific technical priorities and business needs. With more than 100 technology-specific websites and a wide selection of custom branding and lead generation solutions, TechTarget delivers unparalleled reach, innovative opportunities, and extensive Global Marketer Services to drive technology marketing success around the world. TechTarget has offices in Atlanta, Beijing, Boston, Cincinnati, London, Paris, San Francisco, Singapore and Sydney. To learn how you can engage with serious technology buyers worldwide, visit techtarget.com and follow To recieve the full report data, contact Renee Cormier.