NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IDG, the world’s leading technology media, data and marketing services company, today announced the availability of buyer persona research titled “Influencing the Influencers: Understanding the Tech-Involved Line of Business Decision-Makers.“ IDG’s new research identifies a cohort of tech-involved line of business (LOB) decisions-makers who wield critical influence over technology investments in concert with IT.
As technology has been integrated across the enterprise to transform work processes, LOB leaders have devoted resources to collaborate with IT, together leveraging their joint expertise to identify and select technology solutions. While the increased involvement of LOB decision-makers in technology purchasing is widely understood, marketing to this group of decision-makers still misses the mark. IDG’s research helps marketers better understand the role the tech-involved LOB influencers have in collaborating with IT.
Based on IDG’s survey, approximately 40 percent of tech-involved LOB leaders are engaged in helping determine technology requirements for their organizations, and do so jointly with traditional IT leaders. Tech-involved LOB leaders also recommend or select vendors and develop business cases for financial investment. In fact, among tech-involved LOBs visiting IDG’s hundreds of B2B websites, 68 percent have personal responsibility for vetting solutions and vendors for two or more technology areas.
The quantitative and qualitative study examines the Tech-Involved LOB persona, their emotional drivers, preferred content sources and their influence in the technology purchasing process. With this insight, marketers have data that enables them to develop messaging that targets the unique needs of both audiences in order to increase sales.
“The integration of technology solutions across the enterprise has increased the number of stakeholders involved in the buyer’s journey,” said Josh London, CMO of IDG. “Bridging the gap between IT and tech-involved LOB decision-makers through smart, strategic marketing and determining a tailored content marketing approach across regions, enables marketers to improve the effectiveness of their campaigns by including both audiences.”
Key Findings – Influence, Emotional Drivers and Why a Two-Pronged Approach Is Needed
- Tech-Involved LOB influence extends throughout the IT purchase process, from determining the business need (65 percent) to recommending or selecting vendors (57 percent).
- Tech-Involved LOBs consider themselves customer-centric change-agents who advocate for technologies that address clients’ needs. They are open to new technologies and exploring new frontiers.
- Tech-Involved LOB Top Business Function respondent roles include: operations (28 percent); Administrative (19 percent); Accounting and Finance (16 percent); Sales (11 percent); Marketing (eight percent)
- 69 percent of tech-involved LOB view IT as a source for solutions, and 57 percent of tech-involved LOB view IT as a strategic partner, which is why savvy marketers must target both for incremental effect.
Cross-Border Marketing Approaches
Creating and delivering compelling content aligned to tech-involved LOBs’ emotional drivers can be a huge opportunity for technology marketers, keeping in mind some important differences across borders:
- Tech-Involved LOB in the U.S. are more evidence-driven and leverage research much more than those in EMEA or APAC.
- Tech-Involved LOB in APAC have the most direct influence over how the budget is spent, and they are most likely to characterize their IT organization as being on the “bleeding edge,” so content should be forward-looking.
- Technology marketers in EMEA need to influence LOBs much earlier in the process, since 68% are involved in determining the business needs for their organization.
For more information on the research, please click here www.idg.com/LOBpersona.
About IDG
IDG connects the world of tech buyers with insights, intent and engagement. IDG is the world’s largest media, data and marketing services company that activates and engages the most influential technology buyers. Our premium brands, including CIO®, Computerworld®, PCWorld® and Macworld®, engage the most powerful audience of technology buyers providing essential guidance on the evolving technology landscape. Our global data intelligence platform activates purchasing intent, powering our clients’ success. IDG Marketing Services creates custom content with marketing impact across video, mobile, social and digital. We execute complex campaigns that fulfill marketers’ global ambitions seamlessly with consistency that delivers results and wins awards. Visit IDG.com for more information. IDG is the #1 tech media company in the world, per comScore.*
*Source: comScore Media Metrix, Desktop Unique Visitors, Worldwide, February 2016
