Brasil - The Social Bridge to the IT Committee How trusted content on social media builds relationships with IT buyers

Commissioned study conducted by: Brasil version

2

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

Why is it critical to foster long-term relationships?

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

4

What are they thinking? 150 IT Committee members in Brasil

What are they saying? 3,000 tech posts from public LinkedIn Groups

What are they doing? IT decision makers on LinkedIn

Implications for IT Marketers

5

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 IT Committee actively seeks conversations with vendors on social media

6

THE IT COMMITTEE

They work cross functionally

45% Work outside of IT

They include individual contributors and managers

37% 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 Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 7

Nearly all of the IT Committee use social networks

Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 8

2013

97% 95% 2012

95%

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 Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2012 9

Access

A

Access a broader network

44%

Relevance

R

Relevant context to connect with vendors

36%

Efficiency E

Quickly find information

45%

Trust

T

Learn from trustworthy peers

39%

TERA drives even deeper utilization across the entire IT decision process

Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 10

Implement

67%

Select

68%

Plan

82%

Scope

71%

Awareness

84%

Influence of social media at each stage of decision making

As tech decision makers use social to learn and debate, they’re looking to vendors to participate

Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 11

62% Open to connecting with

vendors on social Ready to have a conversation

with a vendor on social

93%

The vendor shortlist is more exclusive and critical than you think

12

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

Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 13

vendors make their short list Only 4

purchased from a vendor that made the short list 93%

purchased from a new vendor Only 1 in 100

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

Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 15

Top 5 reasons the IT Committee doesn’t connect with a vendor on a social network

01

Talk too much about themselves

05

Don’t believe would provide any credible information

04

Don’t believe would provide any info that is relevant to my job

02

Don’t want to receive a lot of marketing materials

03

Not thought leaders in the category

Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013

Building relationships with the right content is critical to being considered

16

AWARENESS SCOPE PLAN SELECT IMPLEMENT

The IT Committee are interested in a diverse range of topics including non-IT – earn more interest with multiple types of content

Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 17

New Product Launches

Diagnostic or Assessment Tools

Top types of information sought in each stage of IT decision-making process:

Best Practices / How-to Guides

Best Practices / How-to Guides

Product / solution demo / software trial

Product / solution demo / software

trial

Build relationships to make the short list

18

Traditional lead generation can hurt relationships… social is about earning leads

19

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

49%

54%

53%

33%

29%

29%

17%

17%

18%

Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 20

% 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

Vendors who interact with the IT Committee at a high rate are more likely to create promoters

21 Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013

Engagement on LinkedIn Prior To Purchase Vendor Net Promoter Score

70 NONE

87 2+ TYPES

Engage the IT Committee everywhere they learn

22

FEED

MOBILE

GROUPS

INMAIL

Key Findings

Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013 23

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.

Appendix

§  LinkedIn Product alignment with engaging members §  Types of content that IT Committee engaged with

foo 24

Earn leads and build relationships with content

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SLIDESHARE CHANNEL

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PERSONALIZED INSIGHTS VIA API

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

26 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

27 Source: commissioned social intelligence research conducted by Mashwork on behalf of Starcom MediaVest Group and LinkedIn, Q1 – Q4 2012

1,345 IT Decision Makers engaged with this post on LinkedIn in June

28 Source: commissioned social intelligence research conducted by Mashwork on behalf of Starcom MediaVest Group and LinkedIn, Q1 – Q4 2012

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