Consumer trends influencing B2B media consumption
This week we learned that the print editions of Computer Weekly and Microscope are to close. It’s a trend that is likely to continue across the media landscape—not just in the IT sector—as people increasingly turn to the internet and mobile apps for their daily news, information about trends, and research into products and services before they buy.
As consumers, the web is generally our first port of call for price comparisons, online reviews, and—more and more—for recommendations from people we know or follow on social networks. But what about the IT decision-makers that we tech PRs are trying to reach on behalf of our clients? Do they still actually read trade publications? And how much emphasis should we put on getting our clients into these titles?
Today, we released research that supports our suspicions: IT chiefs are allowing their “consumer” behaviour to influence how they make IT purchasing decisions.
58% of IT decision-makers ranked social networks and online communities as the most useful when researching a business-related IT purchase.
50% cited search engines.
36% said online news sources.
32% mentioned IT industry press.
In a sign of the fragmenting digital media landscape, 18% of IT decision-makers said they are reading fewer IT print publications than they did 12 months ago—possibly in part because there are fewer of them. The research also shows the value of print is declining:
24% said they get most of their news online.
16% reported using more video or podcasts than a year ago—highlighting the growing importance of other digital media services.
While this research isn’t the most groundbreaking study, it does confirm what we already know. More importantly, it validates the increasing importance of search and social media in the PR mix. It’s no longer about building brand awareness through column inches, but also about being found at the point of search and building a community of advocates to promote peer recommendations.
