Slides from the September 2015 webcast: Engineer's Content and Online Marketing preferences. In the webcast, the CEOs of ENGINEERING.com and TREW Marketing will speak to marketers specifically targeting highly technical audiences on the most effective ways to do marketing. Download the full research report here: http://advertise.engineering.com/research-report-engineers-content-and-online-marketing-preferences Watch the webcast here: http://advertise.engineering.com/2015-content-and-online-marketing-survey-to-engineers-webcast

1. September 2015
Smart Marketing for EngineersTM
Study:
Content and Online Marketing
Live webcast

2. 2
Presenters

3. 3
Agenda
Agenda
Introduction and Methodology
Summary
Respondent Demographics
Channel Insights:
E-Newsletters, Webcasts, & Social Media
Content:
Most Valuable Sources & Most Trusted Authors
Content Search & Consumption:
When, Where, and How
Q&A, Contact Information

4. 4
Overview
Marketers charged with targeting technical audiences are grappling with the shift toward online and content marketing and how to
implement this approach effectively to attract, engage and convert skeptical engineers. Marketers need to understand what content
engineers trust and where and how they look for it online. They need to understand how engineers’ behaviors toward traditional
marketing channels such as advertising, are changing with the onset of modern channels such as social media.
While content marketing research exists for consumer and broad B2B markets, there is a gap in available, actionable data to educate
and inform marketers who are specifically targeting highly technical audiences such as engineers and scientists on the most effective
ways to do marketing for the greatest return on investment.
Therefore, TREW Marketing and ENGINEERING.com teamed up to to conduct a survey of engineers in North America in industries
such as design services, industrial and manufacturing, automation and control, and aerospace and defense. Survey recipients were
chosen from ENGINEERING.com’s database and results are outlined in the report that follows.
Sample
A sample of respondents was selected from ENGINEERING.com’s database to receive an invitation to participate in the survey. A
total of 580 respondents from a representation of industries, job roles, ages and company sizes completed the survey.
Method
Recipients were sent an e-mail asking them to participate in this study. The e-mail included a URL linked to the online questionnaire.
Data was collected from July 16th through August 7th of 2015.
Number of respondents: 580
Incentive: Participants were offered the opportunity to enter a drawing for one of three $100 VISA gift cards.
Introduction and Methodology

5. 5
In June 2015, TREW Marketing and ENGINEERING.com partnered to survey engineers about their value and trust they
place in content, and where, when and how they consume and search for content. Below are key findings from the
survey data, and following is the complete report.
Notable insights
• The way engineers most often interact with e-newsletters is scanning subject lines.
• Engineers most often consume work-related content on their desktop computer throughout the workday; mobile
devices are used most often when they’re on the go and commuting.
• In viewing webcasts, engineers prefer real-world examples and images and diagrams.
• Online resources such as websites and search engines are the most valuable source of information versus offline
sources such as conferences or publications.
• Engineers have the highest trust in content written by an engineering expert at a vendor company, more than an
industry analyst or editorial pieces.
• Most engineers use social media in their personal life where they may stumble upon work-related articles.
Summary

6. 6
Respondent Demographics

7. 7
Q: Which of the following best describes your job function? (n=476)
Engineering Consulting,
13.7%
Engineering Design,
27.3%
Engineering Other, 5.5%
Engineering Project
Management, 8.0%
Management/
Leadership, 7.1%
Architect/Building/Contractor Engineering Analysis Engineering Consulting
Engineering Design Engineering Faculty/Staff Engineering Other
Engineering Process/Production Engineering Project Management Internal IT
Maintenance/Facilities Management Management/Leadership Manufacturing
Marketing/Sales Purchasing Quality Control/Assurance
Recruiting/HR Research and Development Software Developer
Student Technical Support Services
Respondent Overview: Primary Job Function

8. 8
Q: Approximately how many people work at your location? (n=475)
Respondent Overview: Company Size
1,000 or more
500 – 999
100-499
51– 99
26-50
16-25
6-15
1 to 5
0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0%

9. 9
Q: Which of the following ranges includes your current age? (n=489)
Respondent Overview: Current Age
66+
56-65
46-55
36-45
26-35
Under 25
0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0%

10. 10
Aerospace and Defence,
6.3%
Automotive, 5.1%
Construction, 8.7%
Education, 3.8%
Engineering Design
Services, 22.8%
Industrial
Machinery/Tools, 5.3%
Manufacturing - Other,
19.7%
Software, 3.6%
Aerospace and Defence Agriculture/Forestry Automotive
Biotechnology Chemicals/Plastics/Rubber Communications
Computer Systems and Peripherals Construction Consumer Products/Electronics
Education Engineering Design Services Fabricated Metals
Government Heavy Equipment Industrial Machinery/Tools
Manufacturing - Other Medical Equipment Mining
Mining and Forestry Oil and Gas Packaging Machinery
Paper/Printing/Textiles Recruiting Retail
Scientific and Measuring Equipment Semiconductor and Electronic Components Software
Transportation Utilities and Energy
Respondent Overview: Industry

11. Survey Results

12. 12
Channel Insights:
E-Newsletters, Webcasts, & Social Media

13. 13
Q: How do you interact with e-newsletters in your inbox that you subscribe to and trust? (n=574)
5.1%
5.6%
23.9%
29.6%
35.9%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
They get filtered to a folder (I don’t see it in my
main inbox)
I delete most automatically
I read every one for important information
I open most or all to scan for content, and
delete the rest
I scan for subject lines that intrigue me, and
delete the rest
E-Newsletters
Engineers are very engaged with e-newsletters: almost all respondents (89%) pay attention to the e-
newsletters they subscribe to and trust in some way. The primary ways engineers interact with e-newsletters
are scanningsubject lines (36%) or opening to scan for content (30%).

14. 14
Q: When viewing educational webinars and webcasts, please select your preference for features that make the webinar more worthwhile. (n=575)
Educational Webcasts
When viewingwebcasts,the three features engineers prefermostare real-worldexamples,imagesand diagrams,anda
pre-event agenda/explanation. Mostdo not have a preferencewhether a single ormultiple speakerspresent.
14%
9%
8%
9%
6%
4%
6%
4%
2%
2%
54%
49%
35%
27%
20%
20%
17%
14%
10%
6%
32%
42%
57%
64%
74%
76%
78%
82%
88%
93%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Multiple speakers
Single speaker
CPE credits
Interactive Q&A section
Slides/text
Trends, research data
Product demonstrations
Pre-webinar agenda/explanation
Images and diagrams
Real-world examples
Less preferred I do not care either way Most preferred

15. 15
Q: Select the option that best describes your use of social media for work. (n=489)
8.6%
22.9%
26.2%
42.3%
Yes, and I have a separate social
media presence that I use for work
Yes, I use social media to search or
share information with professional
contacts
None
I use social media in my personal
life, and sometimes read articles I
stumble upon that apply to work
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Use of Social Media for Work
In describingtheir use of social media for work, most engineers (42%) indicatethey use social media in their
personal lifewhere they may stumbleupon work-related articles.Interestingly,nearly a third (31%) said
they use social media for work, either to search and share information or with a separate presence.

16. 16
Use of Social Media for Work – Age Comparison
When social media use is examined by age group, responses show younger age groups engage with social
media more in their personal life than older age groups. All other groups selected “I use social media in
my personal life and sometimes read articles that apply to work” to describe their use of social
media, with the youngest engineers by far (54%) choosing this option more than any other.
Q: Select the option that best describes your use of social media for work. (n=489)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Yes, and I have a separate social media
presence that I use for work
Yes, I use social media to search or share
information with professional contacts
None
I use social media in my personal life, and
sometimes read articles I stumble upon that
apply to work
26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65

17. 17
Content:
Most Valuable Sources & Most Trusted Authors

18. 18
Content Sources
Nearly all engineers (93%) indicateonline resources such as websites and search engines are a valuablesource of
information on the latest engineering technologies, trends and products. Among offlinesources offered,
engineers equallyrate print publications and technicalconferences as very or moderately valuable(both 75%).
Q: How valuable are the following sources when seeking information on the latest engineering technologies, industry trends, and products? (n=572)
58%
75%
75%
93%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Trade shows
Print publications
Technical conferences
Online resources (e.g., websites, search
engines, video, etc.)

19. 19
Content Sources– Age Comparison
Cross tabulation of age with preference for sources revealed an interesting trend for trade shows (in red) and
online media (in blue). While onlinesources are rated as the most valuablefor all age categories, the data reveals
that older engineers findonline media to be relatively more valuablethan younger engineers. And younger
engineers rate trade shows as more valuablethan older engineers do.
Q: How valuable are the following sources when seeking information on the latest engineering technologies, industry trends, and products? (n=572)
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Under 25
26-35
36-45
46-55
56-65
66+
Technical conferences Print publications Trade shows Online

20. 20
Content Sources– Industry Comparison
Cross tabulation revealed a difference in how particularindustries value content sources. Slide 17 shows engineers
on average find online resources most valuable,followed by technicalconferences, then print publications,and
lastlytrade shows. However the Engineering Design Services industry is uniquein preferring trade shows most,
then technicalconferences, then onlineresources and print publicationsleast.
55%
58%
58%
70%
62%
52%
58%
54%
49%
50%
51%
75%
61%
57%
57%
79%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Trade shows
Print publications
Technical conferences
Online resources (e.g., websites, search engines,
video, etc.)
Aerospace and Defence Construction Engineering Design Services Manufacturing - Other

21. 21
Q: Please rank your level of trust in content that is written or published by the following, where rank 6 is your highest level of trust, and rank 1 is your
lowest.(n=501)
4.51
4.32
3.90
3.71
3.06
2.16
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Engineering expert at a vendor company
Industry analyst
Editorial piece in an industry print or online
publication
Online or magazine editor
Sponsored story in industry print or online publication
Anonymous source at a vendor company
Ranking Trust in Content Authors
Engineers have the highest trust (4.5 out of 6) in content written by an engineering expert at a vendor
company followed by industry analysts(4.3) and published editorialpieces in industrypublicationsin print
or online (3.9).

22. 22
Content Search & Consumption:
When, Where, and How

23. 23
Q: At what point in your day are you consuming work-related media, social media and content? (Check all that apply.) (n=569)
Content Consumption by Platform and Time of Day
Engineers most often consume work-related content on their desktop computer throughout the workday
(84%) or at home in the evening (74%). They most often use mobile devices when they’re commuting
(69%) or on the go during the day (61%).
48%
53%
34%
61%
69%
74%
63%
84%
57%
42%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
At home in the evening
During lunchtime
It is a regular part of my work day
On the go during my day (meetings,
breaks, in queues)
On my commute to/home from work
Desktop/laptop Mobile device

24. 24
Q: In thinking about high-quality work-related content you’ve viewed online in the last six months (such as white papers, web or blog pages, videos, etc), how
did you find them? (n=506)
How EngineersFind Content Online
Engineers most often do a keyword search in Google (79%) to find work-related content. The next closest
method for findingwork-related content is through an email subscription they have set up (60%) or
searching specificvendor websites they know (55%).
78%
71%
68%
65%
58%
57%
45%
40%
21%
22%
29%
32%
35%
42%
43%
55%
60%
79%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
RSS feeds that I have set up
Other social media (e.g., Twitter,…
Media aggregators (e.g., Google News,…
I found it on a LinkedIn group or LinkedIn…
Visiting industry publications
Emailed to me by a vendor or publication
Searching within specific vendor sites I…
Email subscription that I have set up
A keyword search on Google
Not Often More Often

25. 25
Q: When searching for information on a work-related topic using a search engine, how many pages of results are you willing to view before you select one or
start your search over? (n=490)
How Many Pages DeepEngineersGo in SearchResults
Engineers will go deep in search engines to find information on a work-related topic they are researching.
Most (29%) will go three pages deep followed by two pages (27%) and over a fifthcombined (23%) will go
five pages or deeper. And while industry data by ChitikaInsightshas shown that 92% of all trafficon Google
occurs on the first page of search results, only 9% of engineers in this survey said they stop on page one.
One
9%
Two
27%
Three
29%
Four
13%
Five to ten
16%
Ten +
7%

26. Q&A

27. 27
How to reach me:
John Hayes
ENGINEERING.com
Twitter:
@Jackhayes
Blog:
Digital Marketing for Engineers
Join the LinkedIn group:
Digital Marketing for Engineers

28. 28
How to reach me:
Rebecca Geier
TREW Marketing
Twitter:
@rebeccag
Blog:
Smart Marketing for EngineersTM
Website:
www.trewmarketing.com

29. 29
Smart Marketing for EngineersTM
An Inbound Marketing Guide to Reaching Technical Audiences
Foreword by Dr. James Truchard
Cofounder and CEO
National Instruments
Download FREE Chapter, Pre Order:
www.trewmarketing.com/smartmarketingforeng
ineers