Most Valuable Content and Offers for IT Buyers

MarketingSherpa, in partnership with IDG Connect, recently published an interesting study regarding the types of content and offers that IT buyers find most valuable. The report surveyed IT buyers about the specific factors that motivate them to “opt-in, open, and engage with vendor email.” The results were surprising and revealed some disparities between what IT marketers provide and what IT buyers want to see.

For example, the study found that most marketers focused on using offer types such as educational content (92%), free research reports (85%), and peer best practices (79%). Yet IT buyers said they were most likely to click on a link that offered news and articles (84%), competitive comparisons and buying guides (73%), and promotional content (70%).

It’s not that IT buyers don’t want educational content and free reports. It’s just that they’re somewhat further down the list in terms of preference—specifically 65% of IT buyers would click on educational content; 64% on educational reports.

The study also looked at the percentage by which various offer types increase the likelihood that prospective buyers will click on a particular link. Not surprisingly, there was a disconnect here as well.

Prospective buyers said they’d be more likely to click on these offers in the following percentages: promotional content (26%), online tutorials and demonstrations, competitive comparisons and buying guides, free research, and educational content (all 25%). Marketers thought the most valuable offers were educational content (27%), free research reports (26%), and competitive comparisons and buying guides (21%).

The Impact of Buyers’ Guides

The most striking finding was how valuable buyers found buyers’ guides. This jibes with my own experience.

During the mid 80s, when I was an editor at PC Magazine, one of my first major projects was managing a special issue about investment software. The reviewers I hired all worked for major brokerage firms including Smith Barney and Shearson Lehman. Despite the fact that we paid them very little for the reviews, I had no trouble convincing any of the firms to participate.

Part of the reason they wanted to undertake the considerable effort necessary to participate in the project was undoubtedly the publicity. (At that time, PC Magazine regularly thumped onto people’s doorsteps at 500 pages every two weeks, so the publication was literally a big deal.) But the reason they stated was that they wanted to make sure they were aware of the capabilities of all the packages out there—they didn’t want to miss any options. No other publication provided that capability. By doing comprehensive product reviews, PC Magazine became a dominant player in the industry for years.

Now, however, with the decline of trade publications, buyers still need that competitive analysis. Although they’re undoubtedly aware that vendors will not provide unbiased evaluations of their competitors’ products, they find these comparisons useful because they do provide a framework for comparison and evaluation.  

What offers should you use?

The bottom line of this research is that buyers will click on the offer that matches where they are in the buying cycle. So you can’t go wrong by finding out where buyers are at and providing them the appropriate material—whether it’s an educational piece early on in the process or a buyers’ guide that helps them narrow down the field.  

What types of content and offers do you find most appealing to prospects?

Comments

[Barb Ostapina]

Interesting, Cheryl. Thanks for sharing. Your bottom line says it all: "...that buyers will click on the offer that matches where they are in the buying cycle." And isn't that how it's always been? It all starts with the readers/buyers/audience... figuring out who it is and how to help them with whatever keeps them up at night - at a given point in time - and then delivering that.

[legitimate paid surveys]

I think IT buyers are more enthusiasta by the articles. Ofcourse it entices them to buy products that sounds good. Aswell, the, site should be easier to use with the payment terms.

[renamer]

Excellent post. You handled the article very well. Thanks for sharing.