Digital habits in B2B IT

10 tips for Marketers

Answering Your Technology Needs.

 About this report
Softchoice provides technology solutions to thousands of Respondent highlights:
organizations across North America. We combine the efficiency of a
national IT supplier with the touch and technical expertise of a local
• 1,444 individual responses from over 1,200 companies
solutions provider.
• 50% USA / 50% Canada
• 47% individual contributors
With the digital media landscape changing so quickly, we started making
• 71% work in IT
assumptions about how our customers wanted to use these tools.
Role type: 7%
When we couldn’t find any research that focused specifically on B2B IT, we 12%
Individual Contributor (IC)
did it ourselves. In August 2010 we surveyed over 5,000 of our customers Manager (MGR)
to understand how they use digital media to perform their jobs. 47%
Director (DIR)
Executive (EXEC)
Over 1,400 people responded to our survey from across North America. 34%
The research is now helping us connect more effectively with our
customers, and we thought other organizations may benefit from our work
- particularly businesses looking to leverage digital media when marketing 5% 3%
6%
to B2B IT professionals. Department:
IT 7%
Procurement
We divide this report into 4 areas of interest: Operations
1. Big browser research (What happens at the desktop) 8%
Other
2. The mobile experience (Smart phone usage) 71%
Administrative
3. The email experience (What happens in the inbox)
Finance
4. The social experience (Social media adoption)

Organization size: (PC count) 11%

23%
SMB (50-150)
Mid-Market (151-2,000)
Upper Mid-Market (2,000-5,000) 16% 42%
Enterprise (5,000+)
8%
Unknown

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 Report summary
With the digital media landscape changing so quickly, we wanted to understand how best to focus our digital marketing activities. The key
finding seems to be that as B2B IT marketers, we need to think hard about how and where IT decision makers consume content to make
buying decisions.
Almost half of respondents specified
online forums, communities and blogs as
‘the most useful’ sources of information.
Almost 50 percent of respondents specify
online forums, communities and blogs as
‘the most useful’ sources of information with
25 percent preferring traditional IT media.
IT research companies, vendor and VAR and
Service provider websites comprised the
remaining 27 percent.
Take-away:
Be community-minded.
Beyond corporate websites and blogs, B2B IT
marketers should consider how best to
engage their prospects.
Do you have a presence in the places where
clients are discussing issues or seeking
information? How are you leveraging your
own subject matter experts to add to
conversations in the blogosphere? Answering
questions like these is critical to bolstering
your visibility online.
© 2010 Softchoice Corporation
SMBs were more likely to have access
and use social media & video for research
compared to larger enterprises.
Small and medium-size organizations are
more likely to have access to social media
sites like Facebook and Twitter and to use
video for research and learning compared to
larger enterprises. Similarly, Directors and
Executives are more likely to have access to
social media compared to Managers and
Individual Contributors.
Take-away:
Never assume access is ubiquitous.
Access and use of digital media varies
significantly by organization size and role-
type. Think about your audience.
If you’re looking to appeal to people in the
SMB space, or senior level decision makers,
you have a number of avenues to promote
your message. But this might not necessarily
be the case for large enterprise organizations.
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Research on the go is a go. Blackberrys
and iPhones are playing an increasingly
important role in IT decision-making.
Forty three percent of respondents said they
have researched an IT solution from their
smart phone, and almost one in five say they
do so frequently. This is especially true for
Directors and Executives. Forty two percent of
recipients indicated they use a Blackberry,
with 17 percent indicating they use an
iPhone to do their job.
Take-away:
How is your business addressing mobile?
Optimizing email messages for mobile
devices is key. Also, if you aren’t already, look
at your website metrics to determine how
people are viewing your digital properties.
If you can identify key areas where mobile
views are significant, consider creating
optimized versions that focus on those areas.
 In this section:

Big browser research. When searching for an IT solution using a desktop browser, what are
the most useful sources of information, and the best ways to learn?

Tip #1: Become community-minded Tip #3: Experiment with video

> 1 in 4 primarily rely on IT communities for research > 57% of respondents regularly watch work-related video
> 1 in 5 primarily rely on industry blogs > 64% of Directors regularly watch work-related video

Q: What are your most useful

4% sources of information? 6% 12%
Q: How often do you watch video
9% 4%
27% User Forums/Communities related to your job?
14% IT Media Frequently
IT Blogs 33% Occasionally
IT Research Companies 45% Rarely
21% 25% Vendors Websites Never - I don't care to
VARs & Service Provider websites Never - IT policy prohibits video

Tip #2: Cater to learning preferences Breakout: Video usage by role type & size of organization

> Online guides/eBooks are within top three for every role type > Executives represent the largest group who frequently watch video
> IT Blogs are most popular amongst ICs within SMB & Mid-sized companies > SMB represents the biggest audience of regular video watchers

Q: What are your preferred ways of By Role By Business Size

learning? 70 70
5%2% 17%
5% 51
6% IT Media Articles 52
53 46 42 53 45
43 39
8% Online Guides & eBooks 41
14% Webinars/Pre-recorded Demos 35 35
8% Forums/Communities
8% 16% Whitepapers 18 18
18 16
10% Blog Posts 13 12 14 12
11
0 0 8
IT Research Resources
IC MGR DIR EXEC SMB MM UMM ENT
Videos
Audio/Podcasts Frequently Occasionally
Case Studies
© 2010 Softchoice Corporation
PowerPoint twitter.com/softchoice | www.softchoice.com | creative@softchoice.com
 In this section:

The mobile experience. How are individuals and organizations leveraging smart phones for
mobile browsing and reading marketing email?

Tip #4: Support research-on-the-go Tip #5: Determine your mobile strategy
> 60% of smart phone owners use their device for IT research > 42% of respondents use Blackberrys, 17% use iPhones
> 55% of Executives and Directors research IT on their mobile device > iPhone users are twice as likely to frequently browse mobile sites

Q: How often do you visit websites

Q: Have you ever researched an 26% 21% from your mobile device?
40%
IT solution from your smart phone?
Frequently
Yes Occasionally
60% Rarely
No 28%
25% Never

Breakout: mobile research by role type & organization size

Tip #6: Optimize your email for mobile
> The more senior the role, the more likely phones will be used for research
> The smaller the organization, the more likely phones will be used for research
> 40% of Executives/Directors read marketing emails on their phone
By Role By Business Size > Executives/Directors are twice as likely than Managers and ICs to
100 100 frequently read marketing emails on their phones
58 56 44 46 46 52 56 65
75 75

50 56 50 Q: How often do you read marketing

54 54
44 48 44
11%
25
42
25 35
email on your mobile device?
39%
23% Frequently
0 0 Occasionally
IC MGR DIR EXEC SMB MM UMM ENT
Rarely
Never
Yes No 28%

© 2010 Softchoice Corporation twitter.com/softchoice | www.softchoice.com | creative@softchoice.com

 In this section:

The email experience. What makes a marketing email worth reading? What do people
really think, and how can we improve the value of what we send?

Tip #7: Don’t waste time on trivial things Tip #8: Solicit feedback
> 38% of respondents indicated that relevance to their job or Asking for candid feedback from your constituents can yield some powerful
current project is the deciding factor when deciding to read a insights. When answering why people read marketing emails, these were
marketing email seven of our favourite responses:

“I already receive too many e-mails. “I enjoy reading articles from those
Q: What makes a marketing email If I am interested in a product, I will that have applied their topic in the
9% worth reading? research it myself.” field and is not product biased.”
4%
5%
6% 38%
Relevance “Being direct. What are you selling, “You have about 2 sentences
10% Message
and what is in it for me.” to catch my attention.”
Learning
Timeliness
29% “I am more interested in technologies “If it's a new feature or version of
Offers
than specific products.” something i've purchased in the past.”
Nothing/Spam
Other
“Only when it proposes to solve a
problem currently on my plate.”

{
What really makes a
marketing email
worth reading?

This wordle shows

the most common
terms from over
1,400 unique
answers.

© 2010 Softchoice Corporation twitter.com/softchoice | www.softchoice.com | creative@softchoice.com

 In this section:

The social experience. Is your organization a have or have not?How available are social
networking platforms within organizations? Who’s most likely to use
them?

Tip #9: Don’t assume access is ubiquitous Tip #10: Grasp the opportunity social presents
> 65% of respondents have some access to social media sites > 1 in 4 respondents already follow an IT brand via social media
> 17% of respondents use Facebook for business

Q: Does your organization give you Q: Do you follow an IT brand via

access to social networking sites? Twitter or Facebook?
26%
34% 37% Yes - unlimited access Yes
Yes - limited access No
No
74%
28%

Breakout: access by role type & organization size Breakout: social following by role type & organization size
> Executives and Directors have the highest level of access (>80%) > Executives and Directors follow the most IT Brands
> The larger the business the more likely access is restricted > The smaller the business the more likely users are using social media

By Role By Business Size By Role By Business Size

100 100 100 100
74 77 72 67 66 76 72 78
75 36 17 75 75 75
29 29
27 64
50 29 50
34 50 50
46 47 48 21
25 39 25 25 25 34
30 29 28 33 28
21 26 23 24 22
0 0 0 0
IC MGR DIR EXEC SMB MM UMM ENT IC MGR DIR EXEC SMB MM UMM ENT

Yes - unlimited access Yes - limited access No Yes No

© 2010 Softchoice Corporation twitter.com/softchoice | www.softchoice.com | creative@softchoice.com

 Additional resources
This report represents the summary of our findings. If you have specific questions or would like to see the data
represented differently, please let us know. We would be happy to help!

Ways to connect with the authors: For media enquiries:

Joel Marans Jonathan Alge Eric Gardiner
Manager, Design & Delivery Marketing Automation Lead Manager, Corporate Communications

joel.marans@softchoice.com jon.alge@softchoice.com eric.gardiner@softchoice.com

twitter.com/schnitzelboy twitter.com/the_mensch twitter.com/e_gardiner

Ways to connect with Softchoice:

Phone: Web: In person:
1-800-268-7638 http://blogs.softchoice.com We have over 40+ locations across
A live, knowledgeable response every time. http://twitter.com/softchoice North America. Find a local office here >>
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© 2010 Softchoice Corporation twitter.com/softchoice | www.softchoice.com | creative@softchoice.com