CONTACT & CONTENT PREFERENCES
Top three preferred channels for info about tech / vendor:
Vendor websites:
Case studies / customers of specific vendors:
Analyst / consultancy firms:
Decision-makers consume more content than you may think. On average, they spend 1.5 hours a day consuming content about their industry and business, with the most popular time to do so being in the morning.
Over a third (37%) consume 5-6 pieces of content before making direct contact with a vendor. It’s therefore really important to take the audience on a journey, but only Monday to Friday as only 1% consume content at the weekends!
In the early research stages, many decision-makers (40%) prefer self-serve marketing content. Overall, half prefer to source the information they need to make tech decisions themselves, but the other half prefer to receive it directly from the vendor. This presents a great opportunity to convey the right message to the right audience – and influence the decisions made.
Two-thirds (64%) prefer vendors’ websites as a primary source of information – creating a clear leaning towards fully digital content. Analysts (51%) and peers/trusted associates (48%) show strong preferences for human-led insights, which is backed up by a larger proportion preferring LinkedIn searches as a preferred channel in contrast to other social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter (X) or TikTok that are a preference of only a small number of people.
This tells us that content which is proactively created for self-promotion purposes is crucial in telling a brand’s story. But, so is the evidence, because 54% want to see case studies or what your existing customers have to say about you and the work you have done together.
Top three preferred formats for content from vendors:
Case studies:
Webinar:
Video / event / white paper or report (joint third):
Linkedin vs. the rest
Preferred channels to source information about tech solutions or vendors demonstrate a clear preference for established business social media:
Linkedin searches / groups / contacts
Other social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter (X), TikTok)
The what, where & how of content.
The top three preferred formats for content are case studies (40%), webinars (38%) and video (37%). These are all fairly classical styles of content that enable people to understand in easy-to-consume ways.
There is, broadly, a greater preference for written content like case studies and papers at the CIO / CTO level versus a greater leaning towards webinars and in-person delivery at a IT Director and Senior Manager level.
Thinking of doing a podcast? Don't.
Don’t, because this came out as the least preferred format for content at only 13% (after blogs as the second least favourite at 18%).
Surprisingly (to us anyway) is that data sheets are still important for a third of respondents – suggesting that people are seeking the details. This research validates our thinking that people buy ‘into’ outcomes, and they do still actually buy the functionality of certain products or services. Case studies and existing customer insight enable you to demonstrate the outcomes possible for them, and the most functional type of content satisfies their need for the details.
Importantly, more than a third (35%) want content to be more interactive and engaging – so thinking of the above, it’s a lean towards content that is relevant to their needs and their discovery, but easy and engaging to consume. Interactive data sheets anyone?
About formats: See our video on content format here.
