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Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of articles from MarketingCharts, which provides up-to-the-minute data and research to marketers
IT buyers say they’re contacted by marketers and sales reps more than 20 times per week on average, new research from Spiceworks has found.
The survey – fielded among 535 IT professionals in the U.S. and U.K. who influence tech purchase decisions – reveals that virtually all (97 percent) use online forums and communities to learn about new tech products.
Other popular channels used by a majority include tech news sites (79 percent), Google (77 percent), word-of-mouth (73 percent) and vendor websites (67 percent).
Fewer turn to conferences/tradeshows (43 percent), e-mails from sales reps (24 percent) and social media (23 percent) when searching for information, per the report.
That said, 57 percent want to be contacted by e-mail when being pitched while fewer than half as many (26 percent) want to be pitched on online forums or communities.
Phone (eight percent) and social media (four percent) are even less favored as a method of pitching.
Overall, despite the number of pitches they say they’re fielding on a weekly basis (mostly via e-mail rather than phone), only 36 percent said they preferred seeking out information themselves when needed.
When asked what fuels a respond to a new marketer or sales rep, IT buyers were most apt to point to a relevant product/service (77 percent). Other high responses include detailed pricing information, 61 percent; detail product specs, 55 percent. Coming in lower were a free product trial, 35 percent; a recognized brand, 35 percent and peer testimonial, 24 percent.
As far as important factors that IT buyers take into account when considering their brand loyalty, the top answers were great customer support (97 percent), consistently fair pricing (96 percent), a history of reliable products and services (96 percent), access to technical experts at the company (91 percent) and access to informative content (86 percent.)
The biggest factors that defer loyalty were a poor customer support experience, 94 percent; too many sales/marketing calls and emails, 85 percent; a security issue with the vendor, 85 percent; price increases, 75 percent, and lack of innovation, 75 percent.
When asked what fuels a respond to a new marketer or sales rep, IT buyers were most apt to point to a relevant product/service (77 percent). Other high responses include detailed pricing information, 61 percent; detail product specs, 55 percent. Coming in lower were a free product trial, 35 percent; a recognized brand, 35 percent and peer testimonial, 24 percent.
As far as important factors that IT buyers take into account when considering their brand loyalty, the top answers were great customer support (97 percent), consistently fair pricing (96 percent), a history of reliable products and services (96 percent), access to technical experts at the company (91 percent) and access to informative content (86 percent.)
The biggest factors that defer loyalty were a poor customer support experience, 94 percent; too many sales/marketing calls and emails, 85 percent; a security issue with the vendor, 85 percent; price increases, 75 percent, and lack of innovation, 75 percent.