1. Brasil - The Social Bridge
to the IT Committee
How trusted content on social media builds
relationships with IT buyers
Brasil version
Commissioned study
conducted by:

2. Buyers are highly informed, savvy, and demanding
60%
Through decision
making process
First contact
with brand
Source: CEB, “The Digital Evolution in B2B Marketing”, 2012
2

3. Why is it critical to foster longterm relationships?

4. LinkedIn partnered with comScore, Starcom MediaVest Group,
and Mashwork to understand today’s B2B IT Committee
What are they thinking?
150 IT Committee members in
Brasil
What are they saying?
3,000 tech posts from public
LinkedIn Groups
What are they doing?
IT decision makers on LinkedIn
comScore: Q3 2013
SMG / Mashwork: 2012
LinkedIn data: Q2 2013
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5. Implications for IT Marketers
01
Target more than IT functions in your campaigns.
02
Ensure your content is authentic, valuable, timely, and
customized by decision stage and seniority.
03
Start earning leads via social in addition to buying leads.
04
05
Focus on building relationships to get on the short list.
Begin tracking how often and for what clients you make the short
list.
5

6. The IT Committee actively seeks
conversations with vendors on
social media
6

7. These scarce influencers include more than the IT
department and the Executive team
THE IT COMMITTEE
They work
cross functionally
45% Work outside of IT
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
They include individual
contributors and managers
37% are individual
contributors or managers
7

8. Nearly all of the IT Committee use social networks
Use social network monthly for business
95%
95%
97%
2012
2013
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
8

9. The reason? Social media – LinkedIn especially – provides
them with trust, efficiency, relevance, and access
T
Trust
39%
Learn from
trustworthy peers
E
R
Efficiency
Relevance
A
Access
45%
36%
44%
Quickly
find information
Relevant context to
connect with vendors
Access a
broader network
Source: Commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2012
9

10. TERA drives even deeper utilization across the entire IT
decision process
Influence of social media at each stage of decision making
84%
Awareness
71%
82%
68%
67%
Scope
Plan
Select
Implement
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
10

11. As tech decision makers use social to learn and debate,
they’re looking to vendors to participate
62%
93%
Open to connecting with
vendors on social
Ready to have a conversation
with a vendor on social
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
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12. The vendor shortlist is
more exclusive and critical
than you think
12

13. The IT Committee already have a good idea who they want to
work with
Only 4
vendors make their short list
93% purchased from a vendor that made the short list
Only 1 in 100
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
purchased from a new vendor
13

14. How do you make the short list if
you are a new vendor?

15. Old ways of communicating don’t work and can turn off your
audience
Top 5 reasons the IT Committee doesn’t connect with a
vendor on a social network
02
01
Talk too much about
themselves
04
Don’t believe would provide any
info that is relevant to my job
Don’t want to receive a lot of
marketing materials
03
Not thought leaders in
the category
05
Don’t believe would provide
any credible information
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore inin Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
15

16. Building relationships with the right content is critical to
being considered
16

17. The IT Committee are interested in a diverse range of topics
including non-IT – earn more interest with multiple types of
content
Top types of information sought in each stage of IT
decision-making process:
AWARENESS
Best Practices /
How-to Guides
SCOPE
PLAN
SELECT
IMPLEMENT
Best Practices /
How-to Guides
Product / solution
demo / software
trial
Product / solution demo /
software trial
New Product Launches
Diagnostic or Assessment
Tools
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
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18. Build relationships to make
the short list
18

19. Traditional lead generation can hurt relationships… social is
about earning leads
Sweet Spot
Traditional
lead generation
Social
Relationships
Valuable
Content
19

20. Context matters. Credibility and trust drive brand perception
and willingness to consider a vendor for the shortlist
% who trust LinkedIn more than other websites
LinkedIn
Same
Other websites
Connecting more efficiently with vendors and relevant companies
53%
29%
18%
Talking about my experience with IT vendors
54%
29%
17%
Receiving information relevant to my IT decisions
49%
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
33%
17%
20

21. Vendors who interact with the IT Committee at a high rate are
more likely to create promoters
Engagement on LinkedIn Prior To Purchase
Vendor Net Promoter Score
NONE
70
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
2+ TYPES
87
21

22. Engage the IT Committee everywhere they learn
FEED
GROUPS
INMAIL
MOBILE
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23. Key Findings
Social media is not just for
connecting with peers. The IT
Committee actively seeks insights
& conversations with vendors.
The vendor shortlist is more
exclusive and critical than you
think.
Make the vendor shortlist by
fostering long-term relationships,
while serving short-term needs via
lead generation.
Source: commissioned study conducted by comScore in Brasil on behalf of LinkedIn, Q3 2013
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24. Appendix
§ LinkedIn Product alignment with engaging members
§ Types of content that IT Committee engaged with
foo
24

25. Earn leads and build relationships with content
SLIDESHARE CHANNEL
SLIDESHARE CONTENT ADS
PERSONALIZED INSIGHTS VIA API
SPONSORED UPDATES
25

26. Senior decision makers are 2X more likely to have shared
and engaged with product / industry news
"Windows 8 is gold: Release date just
days away [link] #ITBW for
@computerworld by @richi $MSFT”
"It's nice to hear that Asian companies are
starting to adopt e-learning. [Link] Elearning going mobile in Asia | ZDNet”
Junior Decision Maker, Twitter
Senior Decision Maker, LinkedIn Groups
3,217
IT Decision Makers engaged with
this article on LinkedIn in June
Source: commissioned social intelligence research conducted by Mashwork on behalf of Starcom MediaVest Group and LinkedIn, Q1 – Q4 2012
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27. Senior decision makers were 11.5X more engaged with
thought leadership content
1,345
IT Decision Makers engaged with
this post on LinkedIn in June
Source: commissioned social intelligence research conducted by Mashwork on behalf of Starcom MediaVest Group and LinkedIn, Q1 – Q4 2012
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28. Junior decision makers were 39% more engaged with best
practice content
"An interesting and insightful article elaborating on the
innovative applications of analytics to enhance VAS
revenues.... [Link]"
Junior Decision Maker, LinkedIn Group
Source: commissioned social intelligence research conducted by Mashwork on behalf of Starcom MediaVest Group and LinkedIn, Q1 – Q4 2012
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