Kingpin CEO James Foulkes's presentation on the B2B buyer journey looks at decision maker behaviour, follow up best practices and the importance of localising content.

1. Looking beyond
language

2. Co-FounderJames Foulkes From Grimsby
About me

3. Founded in 1997 Media agnostic International
Tech specialists Transparent Accountable
About Kingpin

4. 4 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands
Kingpin in Numbers
2016 to Date
Countries delivered in
26
IMPRESSION
S
112,289,897
345,986
ENGAGEMENTS
60,229
Marketing
Qualified Leads
54,615
CONVERSIONS 23,175
Sales
Qualified
Leads
Global Reach Digital, Print, Search, eMarketing Clicks, Views, Shares, Likes &
Follows
One to one
interactions
with
34,110
individuals
Conversations &
Events
Trials, Registrations, Sign
Ups
Responses, Downloads &
Profiles
Opportunities & Pipeline

5. 5 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands
Meet the research:
Kingpin:
• Tech marketing report (UK, FR, DE)
• Ongoing snapshot research (European)
IDG:
• Customer engagement study 2016 (Global)
• The customer centric content marketing study (EMEA)
CEB:
• The customer challenge (Global)
CMI:
• B2B Content marketing trends (North America)
Techtarget:
• European media consumption report (European)
• IT Priorities (European)

6. 6 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands
Benelux and Eastern Europe lead spending growth plans
European IT Budgets
2.9%2.9%
3.2%3.2%
3.4%
3.9%
4.0%
4.6%
FranceSpain + PortugalUK & IItalyDACHNordicsEastern EuropeBenelux
6

7. GDPR Ready?
25th May 2018

8. 8 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands
What is GDPR
As of May 2018, the EU General Data Protection laws will be
changing. This will have a massive impact on your marketing data,
both strategically and in terms of what you can achieve.
Before the GDPR was proposed in January 2012 by the European
Commission and approved by the European Parliament in April
2016, we operated under the Data Protection Directive. This allowed
B2B marketers to work with a “soft” opt-in approach.
The main changes apply around consent that individual has given
the advertiser / data owner for future contact. This removes the “opt-
out” element we currently adhere to, and now needs a specific “opt-
in”.
This consent should be “unbundled” and clearly laid out in simple
terms what the individual will be receiving.

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CEB: The Average B2B decision making group includes 5.4 buyers
CEB – The Challenger Customer - 2015

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<1,000 employees
>1,000 employees
Average number of decision makers involved
in enterprise IT purchase decisions today
35%
Increased
10%
Decreased
55%
No change
1/3rd of companies report buying teams have
grown over the last 2 years
Trend that is more prevalent at large
organisations and in verticals like
financial services where nearly 50%
report IT buying teams have grown in
size over the last 2 years.
Enterprise IT refers to the concept of information technology (IT) resources (hardware, software, services) and data that are shared across the entire organization and
often has greater requirements for availability, compatibility, reliability, scalability, performance and security, among other things.
ITbuying teamsare growingin size andcomplexity
Source:
Q4. Please estimate the total number of people (including yourself), on average, involved in influencing a typical enterprise technology purchase within your
organisation TODAY?
Q3. Has the number of decision makers typically involved in enterprise IT purchase decisions for your organisation changed over the last 2 years?
Base: 261 qualified respondents

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Example – Company A
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
FY1 Q1 FY1 Q2 FY1 Q3 FY1 Q4 FY2 Q1 FY2 Q2
Asset Download Event Reg
Before the UK deal closed there were 29 engagements, from 26
individuals over 18 months.

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Kingpin - The tech buyer journey – who kicks it off?
Who identifies an IT need within your company?
Don’t just focus
on C-Suite

13. 13 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands Kingpincomms.com
The Kingpin Phone System….
FAILED!
• James Foulkes – Co Founder
• Samantha Maskell – Finance Manager
• Darren Cyrus – Operations Director
• TAM – Support Company
Event: Team formed:

14. 14 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands Kingpincomms.com
What happened?:
Spoke to support
company
Spoke to phone line
provider
Spoke to mobile phone
re-seller
Engaged with Peer
groups
Early Discovery Main Research
Google
Emails received
Read WP’s (mainly vendor
and independent)
Consulted heavily with
phone line provider
Actively received/engaged
with phone calls
Shortlisting
Picked 3 orgs
Went to 1x Event
Visited
supplier/reseller sites
Consulted heavily with
the 3 orgs and with
our TAM
Decision?
Phone line
provider

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14%
73%
10%
3%
19%
72%
8%
1%
19%
68%
11%
2%
23%
53%
19%
5%
15%
60%
15%
10%
0%
15%
30%
45%
60%
75%
90%
A new technology vendor that my
company was not originally
familiar with
We had purchased solutions from
the vendor in the past
We were familiar with the vendor
but had not purchased solutions
from them in the past
I am not sure
DACH France Spain United Kingdom Rest of Europe
Which of the following best describes your company's relationship with the vendor selected for
your last IT purchase?
High Propensity to work with incumbent Vendor…

16. 16 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands Kingpincomms.com
… but buyers will often engage with unfamiliar vendors
18%
38%
16%
28%
23%
43%
17% 17%
22%
56%
15%
7%
20%
42%
9%
29%
27%
44%
20%
9%
0%
20%
40%
60%
I only downloaded/viewed content that was
produced by a vendor that I was not previously
familiar with
I engaged in a conversation with an unfamiliar
vendor's sales rep, but did not select the
vendor for my purchase
I selected a vendor that I was not previously
familiar with for our final IT purchase
I did not download/view content or engage
with a vendor that I was not previously familiar
with for my last IT purchase
While conducting your research for your last IT purchase, which of the following best describes your
interaction(s) with a vendor/reseller you were not previously familiar with?
DACH France Spain United Kingdom Rest of Europe

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Kingpin - Researching a vendor - sources
Direct
vendor
contact
7.5
Vendor
Websites
6.9
Review
Sites
6.5
Direct
vendor
contact
7.9
Direct
vendor
contact
7.6
Case
Studies
6.7
Partner
Recommen
-dations
6.6
Case
Studies
7.3
Search
engines
8.4

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Kingpin - The Channel
Kingpin Tech Buyers Research - 2015
Although Vendor engagement is preferred, the Partners are still key – especially in Germany
10% said no
preference
10% said no
preference

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Kingpin - The Channel
49%
70%
30%
51%
30%
70%
UK
FRANCE
GERMANY
Yes No
Do you purchase your business
critical applications and
services via an outsourced
partner?

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Kingpin - When researching IT solutions, vendor content is vital…..
7.50
6.55
6.87
6.37
6.54
6.54
6.56
6.15
6.02
5.88
6.06
5.93
6.17
5.54
5.31
7.63
8.37
7.25
7.33
7.21
6.22
5.72
5.44
4.67
4.25
3.85
4.41
4.15
3.81
2.89
7.86
5.9
6.52
6.74
6.58
6.26
5.86
6.44
6.14
6.44
6.54
6.1
6.02
5.56
5.42
DIRECT CONTACT WITH VENDOR
SEARCH ENGINE
VENDOR WEBSITES
CASE STUDIES
CHANNEL/OUTSOURCED PARTNER RECOMMENDATION
REVIEWS/RECOMMENDATION SITES
PEER GROUP
IT PUBLICATIONS ONLINE
EMAIL
IT PUBLICATIONS PRINT
EVENTS
WHITEPAPERS
FORUMS/PEER GROUP ONLINE COMMUNITIES
SPECIALIST BLOGGERS
SOCIAL MEDIA SEARCH – TWITTER, EXPERTS EXCHANGE, LINKEDIN ETC
UK France Germany
Direct content
Recommendation
Marketing content
/ Paid Media
Social Media
Kingpin Tech Buyers Research

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Kingpin - What type of content is preferred during the buying cycle?
WHITEPAPERS
17%
WEBINARS
23%
CASESTUDIES
13%
INFOGRAPHICS
3%
VIDEO
CASESTUDY
4%
A MIXTURE
34%
Kingpin Tech Buyers Research

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Chart term definitions: A top performer (aka, “most successful”) is one who characterizes his or her organization’s overall content marketing approach
as extremely or very successful. The “least successful” characterize their organization’s approach as minimally or not at all successful.
Source:
2017 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Recent research shows linkbetweenstrategyand higherlevels of effectiveness
Most Successful All Respondents Least Successful
Organisation is clear on what an effective or successful content
marketing program looks like
81% 41% 14%
Organisation is extremely/very committed to content marketing 91% 63% 35%
Describes organisation’s content marketing maturity as
sophisticated/mature
72% 28% 29%
Has a documented content marketing strategy 61% 37% 13%
This year’s B2B Content Marketing Top Performers at-a-glance

23. 23 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands
Fewer than4 out of 10 marketershave a documentedcontentmarketingstrategy
Yes, and it is documented, 37%
Yes, but it is not documented, 41%
No, 21%
Percentage of B2B
marketers who have a
Content Marketing
Strategy

24. 24 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands
Number of assets typically viewed or
downloaded to aid in the purchase process
10+ assets, 29%
5-9 assets, 34%
<5 assets, 29%
Builda deep contentlibrary
Q13. Please estimate the total number of informational assets (i.e., white papers, webcasts, case studies) you typically view or download to aid you in the
purchase process for enterprise IT purchases.
Exec IT
9
Mid-level IT
7
IT Pros
10
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8

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Which of the following characteristics are most important to you when downloading/viewing
pieces of content to assist in the research for your IT purchase?
Relevancy is the key characteristic for buyers when
evaluating content
25
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Featured on a website relevant
to my research
Produced by vendor with whom I
am familiar
Was directly relevant to my IT
purchase
The media format of the content The length of the content piece Produced by a third-party
expert/analyst
Recommended by colleagues or
experts I trust

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How many vendors/solutions was your company considering for your IT purchase in
the early, middle, and late stages of the researching and decision-making process?
DACH buyers are considering 2+ vendors in the early and middle stages
26
9%
17%
67%
48%
79%
32%
43%
4%
1%
Early stage
Middle stage
Late stage
1 vendor 2-3 vendors
4-7 vendors

27. 27 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands
How many vendors/solutions was your company considering for your IT purchase in
the early, middle, and late stages of the researching and decision-making process?
French buyers are considering 2+ vendors in the early and middle stages
27
10%
15%
63%
65%
78%
33%
25%
7%
4%
Early stage
Middle stage
Late stage
1 vendor 2-3 vendors
4-7 vendors

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How many vendors/solutions was your company considering for your IT purchase in
the early, middle, and late stages of the researching and decision-making process?
UK buyers are considering 4+ vendors in the early stage of the
process
28
11%
20%
67%
38%
73%
29%
51%
7%
4%
Early stage
Middle stage
Late stage
1 vendor 2-3 vendors
4-7 vendors

29. 29 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands
1 Determine
Business
Need
2 Determine
Technical
Requirements
3 Evaluate
Products &
Services
4 Recommend
& Select
Vendors
5 Sell
Internally
6 Approve &
Authorize
Purchases
1 Feature article
about trends,
strategies, mgmt.
1 Interviews with
tech experts
1 Product testing/
reviews/opinions
1 Product testing/
reviews/opinions
1 ROI tool,
calculator,
assessment tool
1 ROI tool,
calculator,
assessment tool
2 Case studies 2 Tech news 2 Product demo/
Product literature
2 Vendor
presentations
2 Case studies 2 Interviews with
tech experts
2 Tech news 3 Feature article
about tech
3 Vendor
presentations
3 Product demo/
Product literature
3 Analyst
research
3 Product demo/
Product literature
4 Feature article
about tech
4 Product demo/
Product literature
4 Tech news 4 Peer
presentations
4 Vendor
presentations
4 Vendor
presentations
5 Analyst research;
Interviews with
tech experts
5 Product testing/
reviews/opinions
5 Case studies; 3rd
party research;
Forums/social
media
5 Interviews with
tech experts; 3rd
party research
5 Product demo/
Product literature
5 Analyst
research
Informational needs shift during purchase process
Q9. When making enterprise IT purchases, which of the following types of information or content do you rely on most at each of the following stages of the
purchase process for which you are involved? (Please check all that apply per column) Base: 261 qualified respondents

30. 30 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands
1 Determine
Business
Need
2 Determine
Technical
Requirements
3 Evaluate
Products &
Services
4 Recommend
& Select
Vendors
5 Sell
Internally
6 Approve &
Authorize
Purchases
1 Feature article
about trends,
strategies, mgmt.
1 Interviews with
tech experts
1 Product testing/
reviews/opinions
1 Product testing/
reviews/opinions
1 ROI tool,
calculator,
assessment tool
1 ROI tool,
calculator,
assessment tool
2 Case studies 2 Tech news 2 Product demo/
Product literature
2 Vendor
presentations
2 Case studies 2 Interviews with
tech experts
2 Tech news 3 Feature article
about tech
3 Vendor
presentations
3 Product demo/
Product literature
3 Analyst
research
3 Product demo/
Product literature
4 Feature article
about tech
4 Product demo/
Product literature
4 Tech news 4 Peer
presentations
4 Vendor
presentations
4 Vendor
presentations
5 Analyst research;
Interviews with
tech experts
5 Product testing/
reviews/opinions
5 Case studies; 3rd
party research;
Forums/social
media
5 Interviews with
tech experts; 3rd
party research
5 Product demo/
Product literature
5 Analyst
research
Informational needs shift during purchase process
Q9. When making enterprise IT purchases, which of the following types of information or content do you rely on most at each of the following stages of the
purchase process for which you are involved? (Please check all that apply per column) Base: 261 qualified respondents

31. 31 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands 31

32. 32 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands Kingpincomms.com
• Forbes revealed that that 75% of executives questioned watch
business related videos online every week.
• Of those, 65% visit the marketer’s website after viewing a video.
Too High?

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9
11
13
13
14
14
15
17
First-look product overviews
Tech news reports/live coverage of news events
How-to videos
Interactive video
Interviews with industry experts
Industry research/tech analyst reports
Webcasts/Web shows
In-depth product reviews
IN MINUTES
Attention span longer than expected for tech video content
Q15. What is the maximum desired length you prefer for the following types of technology-related content? (Please select one per row.)
Base: 261 qualified respondents

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Sell to Europe?

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Kingpin - Follow up – Email for first touch
Kingpin Tech Buyers Research

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Kingpin - But don’t be afraid to call – talking matters
respondents agreed that
telephone engagement was
important to establish a
relationship with a vendor.
Kingpin Tech Buyers Research

37. 37 kingpincomms.comintelligently connecting audiences and tech brands
3%
10%
19%
68%
I never provide an email
address/do not register
for content
A personal email address used
for both content registration
and nonwork-related tasks (e.g.
emailing friends, sending pictures)
A personal email address
created specifically for
content registration
A work email address
ITDMs Register with Work and Personal Email
37
Q. When registering for content used in the purchase process, do you typically provide…
Q: How many personal email addresses have you created?
Source: 2016 IDG Enterprise Customer Engagement Research

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Kingpin - But understand your audience – not all calls are equal
Don’t call
Germany in the
afternoon
Swiss ITDMs
like it in the
morning
Italians prefer being
addressed by their
Title and Surname
In Spain they
favour a
conversational
approach
Brits would
rather you
got straight to
the point
Kingpin Tech Buyers Research

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Thank you