the social bridge to the it committee

The Social Bridge

to the IT Committee

Jake RaroqueResearch Consultant

LinkedIn

@LinkedInMktg

#inTC13Roslyn KuVice President

comScore

@comScore

The Social Bridge to the IT CommitteeHow trusted content on social media

builds relationships with IT buyers

Commissioned study

conducted by:

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

5

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

TECH COMPANIES

Why is it so critical to foster long-term relationships?

There is a scarcity of influential B2B tech buyers – tech

companies can’t afford to alienate them

5X more expensive to gain a new customer

than to retain an existing one 3

1 comScore PlanMetrix US June 2013

2 Forrester Research. Global Tech Market Outlook 2013 To 2014. January 2013.

3 TARP Worldwide

$820 billionUS IT spending2

15 millionUS Tech Decision Makers1

THE IT COMMITTEE

They work

cross functionally

43% Work outside of IT

They include individual

contributors and managers

50% 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 the US on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013

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

What are they thinking?

379 IT Committee members

What are they saying?

3,000 tech posts from public

LinkedIn Groups

What are they doing?

IT decision makers on LinkedIn

Key Findings


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

Nearly all of the IT Committee use social networks


LinkedIn leads all social platforms

86%

2013

95% 95%

2012

85%

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 8 countries on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2012

Access

A

Access a

broader network

49%

Relevance

R

Relevant context to

connect with vendors

37%

Efficiency

E

Quickly

find information

40%

Trust

T

Learn from

trustworthy peers

58%

TERA continues to drive even deeper utilization across the

entire IT decision process


67%56% 58% 49% 61%

Implement

70%

Select

68%

Plan

74%

Scope

73%

Awareness

79%

Influence of social media at each stage of decision making

YoYIncrease

As tech decision makers use social to learn and debate,

they’re looking to vendors to participate


68%Open to connecting with

new vendors on social

Ready to have a conversation

with a vendor on social

76%

The vendor shortlist is

more exclusive and critical

than you think

The IT Committee already have a good idea who they want to

work with


vendors make their short listOnly 3

purchased from a vendor that made the short list92%

purchased from a new vendorOnly 1 in 6

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


Top 5 reasons the IT Committee doesn’t connect with a

vendor on a social network

05

Talk too much about

themselves

02

Don’t believe would provide

any credible information

04

Don’t believe would provide any

info that is relevant to my job

01

Don’t want to receive a lot of

marketing materials

03

Not thought leaders in

the category


Building relationships with the right content is critical to

being considered

AWARENESS SCOPE PLAN SELECT IMPLEMENT

The IT Committee are interested in a diverse range of topics

– earn more interest with multiple types of content


Best practices, how-to’s, checklists

Product / solution demo / software trial

IT industry news / strategy info

Top types of information sought in each stage of IT

decision-making process:

Diagnostic / assessment tools

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

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


1,345 IT Decision Makers engaged with

this post on LinkedIn in June


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

Traditional lead generation needs to be blended with social

to earn leads

Sweet Spot

Social

Relationships

Valuable

Content

Traditional

lead generation

Context matters. Credibility and trust drive brand perception

and willingness to consider a vendor for the shortlist

45%

46%

47%

32%

33%

31%

23%

23%

21%


% who trust LinkedIn more than other websites

Connecting more efficiently with vendors and relevant companies

Talking about my experience with IT vendors

Receiving information relevant to my IT decisions

LinkedIn Same Other websites

The IT Committee are more likely to engage with their

vendors on LinkedIn than on other social networks


Reading a post from their vendor

Following theirvendor

50%more often than other

social networks

LINKEDIN IS

USED

56%more often than other

social networks

LINKEDIN

IS USED

Likelihood of getting a meeting with the IT Committee

increases as vendors engage with this audience on LinkedIn


# of types of engagement with vendor on LinkedIn before purchase

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


Engagement on LinkedIn Prior To Purchase

Vendor Net Promoter Score

39

NONE

58

1 TYPES

62

2+ TYPES

Engage the IT Committee everywhere they learn

FEED

MOBILE

GROUPS

INMAIL

Earn leads and build relationships with content

SLIDESHARE CHANNEL

SPONSORED UPDATES

SLIDESHARE CONTENT ADS

PERSONALIZED INSIGHTS VIA API

Implications for IT Marketers

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

the social bridge to the it committee

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