IT Marketing Metrics: Better Marketing Through Better Knowledge

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1 IT Marketing Metrics: Better Marketing Through Better Knowledge Teleseminar presented by: Anne Holland, Publisher, MarketingSherpa Laurie Hood, Vice President-Marketing, KnowledgeStorm August 5th, 2004

2 IT Marketing Metrics: Overview In March 2004, MarketingSherpa conducted a survey of 879 IT marketers. Questions focused on: Lead generation methods used Costs and response rates for various lead generation methods Industry lead gen conversion rates Marketing budget allocation IT marketers salary More than 40 other data sources were researched & evaluated. Combined with survey data to create: IT Marketing Metrics Guide: 2004 Data for Software, Hardware & Services Marketers Following presentation is a very broad overview of the Guide 2

3 IT Decision Makers Knowing the Market According to CIMS v.10 there are 50 million Business IT Influencers in the US 6% are MIS/IT Staff a critical and highly targeted audience 70% are Departmental Influencers 24% are Senior Managers IT Influencer Universe Size (000) 60,000 50,000 49,717 40,000 34,355 30,000 20,000 10,000 12,024 3,339 0 Total Influencers Senior Management MIS/IT Computer or Networking Departmental Source: 2003 CIMS v10 Business Influencer Study 3

4 Market to the Decision Making Team Different stages of the purchase process involve different types of influencers, but key stages of awareness and purchasing generally require a team of senior level decision makers Certain job functions play specific roles the purchasing process Purchase Process Responsibility by Job Title: Software Senior Exec IT Mgmt IT/Networking Mgmt LOB Technology Mgmt IT/Networking Staff Senior Exec Corp Mgmt Corp LOB Mgmtt LOB Staff 100.0% 90.0% 80.0% Awareness: Senior Management Consideration: MIS/IT Staff Consideration: MIS/IT Staff Purchase: Senior Manager with IT Consult 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Determine the need to purchase Determine features needed or specifying technical requirement Evaluate or specify products/services for purchase Recommend products/services Sales Process Evaluate or specify Vendors / Brands Recommend Vendors / Brands Authorize/Approve expenditure Source: CMP TechWeb Network Visitors Study

5 Building Awareness Builds Purchase Greater awareness generates a greater likelihood to consider purchasing your product Priming the lead generation pump builds comfort with a brand Creating awareness of a brand prior to the purchase process provides a level of brand comfort far surpassing any awareness possibly generated during the process Awareness Drives Purchase - Importance of Awareness Building 60.0% 51.2% 43.8% 30.0% 34.1% 23.9% 21.3% 14.9% 22.7% 18.6% High Awareness Low Awareness 0.0% Ad Awareness Message Association Brand Favorability Purchase Intent Source: Dynamic Logic- Business to Business Technology MarketNorms 5

6 Sales Cycle Fairly distinct order of customer interaction to maximize sales potential There is a proper marketing/sales tool at each step of the process White Paper Webinar Demo Brand Awareness Familiarity respondents have with the product/service Message Association Ability to match a messages and/or theme to a product/service Opinion Development of an opinion of the product/service In-Person Visit Purchase Purchase of the product/service Source: MarketingSherpa Interpretation of Dynamic Logic Chart 6

7 Most Effective Tactics Educate Your Prospect Demonstrations, White papers and Webinars provide relevant learning on demand Tactics also to help bring customers through the purchasing funnel White paper, then webinar, then demo Least effective tactics (Live chat button, Sweepstakes and Call back button) do not provide immediate or immediate learning Most Effective Interactions on Website Top % 80.0% 80.1% 77.3% 77.1% 72.6% 66.5% 65.1% 62.8% 61.3% 60.0% 60.0% 53.8% 52.1% 49.0% 48.6% 40.0% 20.0% 0.0% Free Trial Demo White Paper Webcast / Webinar Seminar / road show Contact Newsletter Product Discount Spec Sheet/RFP Form Contact Phone Number Generic Contact Us Form Instant Call Back Button Low Ticket Sweepstakes Live Chat Button Source: MarketingSherpa IT Marketing Metrics Survey 7

8 Online IT Lead Generation Most Effective Eight (8) of the 13 highest lead gen tactics are via online and emarketing - Web site quality is rated most vital to online lead gen - Your house list is your next most vital lead gen source - Use of webinars and search marketing have grown in popularity and effectiveness Most Effective Lead Generation Methods Very & Somewhat Effective Website House List Seminar / Roadshow Webinars Telemarketing Paid Search Direct Mail Trade Show Search Engine White Paper Affiliate Rented Third Party Newsletters 82.8% 81.9% 80.7% 73.6% 72.0% 67.7% 65.9% 64.6% 64.5% 64.2% 61.8% 55.0% 50.0% 0.0% 30.0% 60.0% 90.0% Source:MarketingSherpa-2004 IT Marketing Metrics Survey 8

9 Lead Gen Conversion: What s the Industry Standard? Industry norm : Most IT organizations (about 75%) close approximately 11% of leads - A recent study by Gartner indicates that 70% of leads are not followed up. - Only 20% of IT marketers feel that their conversion of sales to leads is either outstanding or very good - Higher Conversion Rate, I.e. 50%+, may indicate insufficient lead production Leads to Sales 16% 6% 5% 73% <11% 11% to 25% 25% to 50% Over 50% Source: KnowledgeStorm 2003 Provider Study 9

10 Don t Try to Prove too Much Responsibility to prove ROI generally is acknowledged by the enterprise as their responsibility Very delicate balance between providing information and overselling the product let the enterprise interpret the data without too much vendor persuasion ROI Proving Responsibility Vendors Responsibility Enterprise Responsibility Other Enterprise 13% 76% 11% Vendors 46% 38% 16% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Source: SIIA / Kotler Marketing 10

11 Budget Breakdown Website, Direct Mail and Trade Shows have the most budget allocated Other than the website, these are not marketing tools perceived as most effective by IT Marketers Look at what is working and compare it to your budget Average Percent of Budget 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% 2.7% 2.3% Affiliate Third Party Newsletter 7.2% 2.6% Paid Search Other Online Search Engine Marketing 4.4% 7.4% 4.4% 3.1% 11.6% Solo Webinars Website White Papers 1.2% 10.9% 5.9% Direct Mail Telemarketing Trade Show In-Person 9.7% 5.8% 6.2% Print TV/Radio 1.0% PR Other 6.2% 3.6% Source: MarketingSherpa IT Marketing Metrics Survey 11

12 Conclusions IT Marketing lead generation Is about timing and media Awareness building prior to lead generation marketing is very important Different tactics are effective at different stages of customer courtship White papers are excellent introductory tools, webinars generate a dialogue and a demo is usually best for prospects that are serious Different influencers have different roles in the process Each influencer group has their own responsibilities and media/information consumption patterns Lead nurturance is absolutely vital to the sales cycle. Support your lead generation efforts with sufficient branding campaigns aim for a conversion rate that s higher than 11%, but not too high (less than 50%) Providing easily accessible and immediate information on the website is working best for IT Marketers Don t make the IT influencer wait for information time is critical 12

13 IT Marketing Metrics Guide: 2004 Data for Software, Hardware & Services Marketers By Andrew Latzman, Editor, MarketingSherpa To download the Executive Summary pdf, or for more information on the IT Marketing Metrics Guide, visit 13

14 Laurie Hood Vice President Marketing KnowledgeStorm, Inc.

15 KnowledgeStorm is the leader in technology search For For technology users: KnowledgeStorm is is the the easiest way way to to research hardware, software, and and IT IT services, and and make informed technology decisions. For For technology marketers: KnowledgeStorm helps increase visibility and and revenue for for hardware, software, and and IT IT services companies by by helping more relevant prospects find find their solutions. KnowledgeStorm 15

16 KnowledgeStorm Online Presence Through partnerships with search engines, portals, and key business and technology web sites, KnowledgeStorm hosts more than 1.6 million users each month. KnowledgeStorm

17 KnowledgeStorm Specialty Sites UK Germany New Zealand Healthcare Financial Services Accounting CRM SFA Manufacturing ERP Supply Chain HR/Personnel Insurance Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) Small and Medium Business Security Storage Business Intelligence Database Data Warehousing Networking Web Services Content Management Knowledge Management Marketing Management Project Management Linux UNIX Windows Java Visual Basic KnowledgeStorm 17

Customer Engagement: The Role of Content in the IT Purchase Process

Customer Engagement: The Role of Content in the IT Purchase Process Conducted across the IDG Enterprise brands: CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, ITworld & Network World Customer Engagement Purpose and