Report reveals what modern marketers look for when choosing potential vendors
Choosing the right vendor can make or break a marketing strategy, so it’s no wonder marketers are more scrupulous than ever before.
New global research released by Hotwire and Vanson Bourne surveyed 1000 global business decision makers including around 100 from Australia, to find out which information sources prove to be effective in helping to investigate potential vendors.
The study, The Changing Face of Influence, found almost half of marketing respondents look for vendor customer stories and case studies, direct customer references either via phone or visit as well as vendor thought leader opinion pieces before making their decision. Other factors considered included external peer opinions and independent consultant opinions.
Hotwire Australia managing director, Alexis Wilson, said despite the information overload many decision makers are experiencing, it’s clear marketers are still looking for the proof in the pudding – customer references.
“The IT industry is relying heavily on their colleagues and industry analysts to point them in the right direction,” she said. “Interestingly, thought leadership pieces are proving to be highly influential in both fields, which supports the efforts many organisations are putting behind content marketing, blogging, and CEO profiling.”
When assessing the effectiveness of different information sources, the report also revealed some key differences between IT and marketing decision makers. Marketers got most value from thought leader/opinion pieces (52 per cent), customer case studies (46 per cent), direct customer references (35 per cent) and business press opinion pieces (35 per cent).
IT decision makers sought external peer opinions (50 per cent), internal peer opinions (48 per cent), analyst research (46 per cent) and independent consultant opinions (44 per cent) were most valuable.
“The survey demonstrates there are clear gaps between the information marketers and IT leaders are looking for, and the information that is actually helping them make decisions,” Wilson added. “Marketers are clearly impacted by industry experts who can think through and implement forward-thinking concepts, while IT leaders are highly influenced by their peers’ actions. Arguably, to ensure our businesses are thinking innovatively, we should be combining these to form strategic decisions.”
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia, or check us out on Google+: google.com/+CmoAu
In this latest episode of our conversations over a cuppa with CMO, we catch up with the delightful Pip Arthur, Microsoft Australia's chief marketing officer and communications director, to talk about thinking differently, delivering on B2B connection in the crisis, brand purpose and marketing transformation.
The lessons emerging from a year like 2020 are what make the highlights, not necessarily what we gained. One of these is renewed emphasis on sustainability, and by this, I mean complete circular sustainability.
The past 12 months have been a confronting time for marketers, with each week seemingly bringing a new challenge. Some of the more notable impacts have been customer-centric, driven by shifting priorities, new consumption habits and expectation transfer.
ABM has been the buzzword in digital marketing for a while now, but I feel many companies are yet to really harness its power. The most important elements of ABM are to: Identify the right accounts; listen to these tracked accounts; and hyper-personalise your content to these accounts to truly engage them. It’s this third step where most companies struggle.
Hey there! Very interesting article, thank you for your input! I found particularly interesting the part where you mentioned that certain...
Martin Valovič
Companies don’t have policies to disrupt traditional business models: Forrester’s McQuivey
I too am regularly surprised at how little care a large swathe of consumers take over the sharing and use of their personal data. As a m...
Catherine Stenson
Have customers really changed? - Marketing edge - CMO Australia
The biggest concern is the lack of awareness among marketers and the most important thing is the transparency and consent.
Joe Hawks
Data privacy 2021: What should be front and centre for the CMO right now
Thanks for giving these awesome suggestions. It's very in-depth and informative!sell property online
Joe Hawks
The new rules of Millennial marketing in 2021
In these tough times finding an earning opportunity that can be weaved into your lifestyle is hard. Doordash fits the bill nicely until y...
Fred Lawrence
DoorDash launches in Australia