The document discusses strategies for effectively engaging the IT committee in the technology industry, emphasizing the importance of building trust through valuable, broad-themed educational content. It highlights the committee's reliance on social media, particularly LinkedIn, for trustworthy information and its hesitance towards vendors that gate content too early. Ultimately, it recommends nurturing relationships through consistent and relevant content that positions vendors as industry experts.

1. Mike Weir
Vertical Director – Technology Industry
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
mweir@linkedin.com
Nurturing the IT Committee
Is marketing helping or hurting?

2. Too often, we are the bad party guest talking about ourselves NON-STOP

3. 3
This lack of value is killing our client & prospect relationships

4. 4
Today, we have platforms and data to help us understand the IT Committee and engage them

5. 5
TRUST + CREDIBILITY
MUST BE

6. 6
Buying decisions are made by a broader
group than IT
95% of the IT Committee use social
networks for business
More likely to engage with vendors on
LinkedIn than other networks
Understanding the
IT Committee on Social

7. 7
We surveyed over 2,300 IT Committee members globally
How do you earn TRUST with the IT Committee?
* LOCAL LANGUAGE / LinkedIn Survey and Internal Data: Q2 2014
Germany, N=203
France*, N=202
The Netherlands, N=204
Canada, N=152
US, N=404
UK, N=204
BRAZIL*, N=155
Australia, N=104
India, N=202
Hong Kong, N=155
Singapore, N=104
MIDDLE EAST
Saudi Arabia, N=155
UAE, N=154
N. AMERICA
EMEA
APAC

8. 8
The Growing IT Committee
Who are they and how do you engage them?
The Power of Education without Bias
If you’re talking about yourself, you’re doing it wrong
The Expertise You Don’t Know You Have
The definition of an expert is broader than you think
Nurture, don’t Disrupt
Gating content too early and too often is counter-productive

9. The Growing IT Committee

10. 10
The IT Committee
10+ million
members who influence IT decisions across departments and seniorities
Growing 1.25x
faster than general member growth

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IT decision making goes beyond the senior IT department
78%
of the IT Committee works
outside of IT
30% 61%
are individual
contributors or managers
control part or all of
the IT Budget
In which department do you work?
In which of the following stages of IT decision-making are you currently involved?

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They’re hungry for IT news and information on social
How frequently do you visit each of the following sources to get IT related news and information?
Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4
Visit LinkedIn Visit Facebook Visit Google+ Visit Twitter
75% 44% 41% 32%
83% use social media for IT News and
Information each month

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% content from each source very or extremely trustworthy
They trust content on LinkedIn more than any other source
How frequently do you visit each of the following sources to get IT related news and information? How trustworthy do you feel the content you see from each of the below sources is?
50%
48%
34%
33%
24%
20%
15%
9%
LinkedIn
Online Trade/
Industry Sites
Google+
Online News
Sites
Discussion
Forums
Blogs
Twitter
Facebook
Visitation │ High Medium Low

14. The Power of Education without Bias

15. of the IT Committee require education to sustain or make a change to their IT ecosystem
78%
15
How significant is the role education plays in the following types of decisions undertaken by your organization?

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More likely to consider an IT vendor who educates me through each stage of the decision process
67%
Educating throughout the purchase funnel makes generating leads more effective

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Education with broad-themed, non branded content is preferred
52%
53%
59%
Most interested in non-branded / non-sales focused content
More favorable toward an IT Vendor who publishes content about my industry and topics of interest
More likely to consider an IT vendor who publishes content about my industry and topics of interest

18. Start with content about general industry topics, prioritized for your audience
Author or promote expert content on the direction and use of your industry’s products
Promote branded user reviews and case studies to drive consideration and selection of your company
1
3
2
18
Three types of education

19. The Expertise You Don’t Know You Have

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Influence on tech purchases
(by purchase stage and content source)
Experts Rule the Day. But, the Definition of Expert has Evolved
Thinking of a recent or upcoming company-wide technology purchase, how influential is the SOURCE of the information you consume at each stage of the purchase cycle?
56%
53%
53%
63%
62%
49%
45%
44%
59%
47%
33%
29%
30%
34%
37%
Awareness
Scope
Plan
Select
Implement
Awareness
Scope
Plan
Select
Implement
Awareness
Scope
Plan
Select
Implement
EXPERT CONTENT INFLUENCE
USER / PEER REVIEW INFLUENCE
BRANDED CONTENT INFLUENCE

21. Not necessarily on title or connections
Expertise is based on references from others and demonstrated knowledge
6%
10%
11%
14%
22%
37%
52%
55%
72%
References from coworkers and other professionals in their field
Published author or presenter in their field
Has a (on average) 8.5 years of experience
Manages a team
Has a Master's Degree or higher
Is a vice president or more senior
Has 500 or more connections on LinkedIn
Third Party scores (Klout, Kred, PeerIndex, etc.)
Other (Please specify)
21
When you think of a technology subject matter expert (SME), what is the first thing that comes to mind?
Below you see some additional qualities a subject matter expert may have. Please select all the attributes below that are required to be a technology SME.
% Who Believe Each Statement Defines an Expert

22. The IT Committee is positively impacted
by the actions of your employees
25%
Are more favorable toward a
vendor whose employees
participate in LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn Groups
24%
Are more favorable toward a
vendor whose employees
share content on LinkedIn
Employees
23%
Are more likely to consider
if vendors have experts
publishing on LinkedIn
Experts

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Utilize the expertise in your organization to earn trust
On the world’s largest professional publishing platform

24. Nurture, don’t Disrupt

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The IT Committee is anxious about gated content
40%
15%
fear SPAM or sales calls
leave the site completely
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you try to download an article or access a product page and are forced to enter your contact information?

26. of the IT Committee provides fake information when they complete a lead capture form
59%
26
A Lead Capture for is a technique used by companies to collect contact information, usually when someone downloads a piece of information the company has published or a webinar they have held. Is the information you provide on Lead Capture forms truthful?
How many of you have had Mickey Mouse download your content?

27. 61%
In market
27
Those in market for IT solutions are more likely to provide fake information
At least sometimes provide fake info
41%
Not in market

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IT Committee Members actively looking for an enterprise IT Solution (in-market)
Gating content too early or too often decreases consideration
How likely are you to consider an IT vendor whose first piece of content you see requires you to provide your contact information?
41%
81%
are less likely to consider a vendor who gates the FIRST piece of content
are less likely to consider a vendor who gates ALL content

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Nurturing leads through content is vital because most are not ready to talk to sales
When researching a specific major enterprise IT / security solution, how many pieces of content related to that solution do you typically need to consume before you are ready to be contacted by a sales representative?
of content before they are ready to talk to a sales rep.
5 pieces
The average
IT Committee member needs to consume

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Lead gen and branding don’t need to be separate
TRADITIONAL
LEAD GENERATION
SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
VALUABLE CONTENT
SWEET SPOT

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Publish and promote your content in places on LinkedIn where the IT Committee is engaging the most
1LinkedIn Internal Data – 4/1/2014 through 4/30/2014
The Feed starts the conversation
2x as active on desktop in the feed than members1
Groups for expert articles & content
2x as active in groups than members1
Ensure content is mobile friendly
25% more active on mobile than members1

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What does the IT Committee want to hear about from experts?
Base: IT Committee n=181, circle size shows relative % ranked BIGGEST impact
Which of these topics do you see having the biggest impact for your organization and which you would share with your network?
Discussions on how technology
is changing the way we work
Cloud-based applications
Data Management
Cloud Storage
Network Security
“First Look” at new products or solutions
Enterprise Social Networking
Industry Event Promotion and
Registration
% Would Share with Network
% Ranked Top 4 Topics
0%
50%
100%
100%
50%
IT Topics and Intent to Share

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Marketer Implications
Earn trust with broad-based content that goes beyond your brand’s self-interests
Incorporate an “always on” content strategy with a variety of content – gated and un- gated
Leverage your employees and company specialists as experts
Utilize LinkedIn’s Content Marketing Score to optimize and measure your content
Prepare for the future of LinkedIn

34. Thank you!