Content Is Still King in IT Marketing

Another finding of the TechTarget/Google research I mentioned in yesterday's post, was that content is still king when it comes to marketing and selling SMB and enterprise IT solutions.

White papers, email newsletters, and case studies still play important roles in helping customers understand technology and best practices, and in helping customers with choose one product over another.

Customers look for different types of content in different stages of the purchasing process.

White papers are important in the awareness and consideration phases of purchasing. They're much less important in the final decision-making stage. By then, customers are interested in product comparisons, case studies, and, above all, trial software.

The table below describes how customers use various types of content. (For an explanation of these phases, see yesterday's post.)

Content Type	Purchasing Phase
Postings in online communities	Awareness Consideration
Email newsletters	Awareness Consideration
White Papers	Awareness Consideration
Case Studies	Awareness Consideration Final Decision
Product Literature (e.g., Data Sheets)	Consideration Final Decision
Online Vendor Demos	Consideration Final Decision

One conclusion from this study: Social media, however popular, doesn't eliminate the need for traditional marketing, when it comes to selling sophisticated IT products or products in highly competitive markets.

Google/TechTarget Research Ties Keyword Search Terms to IT Purchasing Cycles

One of the more interesting insights presented by TechTarget at this week's ROI Summit in Newton, MA, was this:

IT purchasers change their search terms as they move through a multi-month purchasing process.

TechTarget reached this conclusion after undertaking an extensive study with Google of 2,200 professionals who play decision-making roles in IT purchases.

Phase I: Awareness
TechTarget and Google found that IT purchasers begin by searching for information about an issue or problem (e.g., data leak protection or VoIP quality).

Searches might include keywords such as "risk," "troubleshoot," and "optimize."

Phase II: Consideration
Once IT purchasers are familiar with the nature of the problem and the types of products available to address it, they begin searching for information about specific products and solutions.

Keywords might include the word "solution," as well as specific brand names.

Phase III: Decision
Finally, as they focus on a few key vendors in preparation for making their final purchase decision, they search for information comparing one product to another. They no longer search for general information about the problem; they understand the problem well and want detailed information about product capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses.

Searches will likely include product names and the word "comparison."


The Changing Prevalence of Search Keywords in IT Purchasing Cycles

The chart below shows how keyword searches evolve across the three phases of the purchasing cycle: Awareness (of a problem), Consideration (of various approaches to solving the problem), and Decision (as to which product to choose).



Conclusion for marketers: Make sure you have content and search keywords that address each phase of the buying cycle.

Tired of Jumping from One Google Tool to Another to Manage a Campaign? Try Google AgencyToolkit

At a SEMPO meeting last night in Cambridge, I got a chance to see a new Web site that Google has put together to make it easier for marketers to find all the tools available for running a highly effective Google AdWords campaign.

Now, instead of jumping from the AdWords Editor to Hot Trends (to see whether certain key phrases are becoming more popular or less) to Google Optimizer (for checking the results of your latest A/B tests of Web site content), you can start from a simple, clean page that presents all these Google tools in one neat, orderly place.

The new destination is Google AgencyToolkit. The site groups tools into four categories:

Plan
AdPlanner, Insights for Search, Blog Search, Hot Trends, Traffic Estimator

Place
Placement Tool, Ad Preview Tool, Site and Category Exclusion Tool

Create
Search-based Keyword Tool, Campaign Optimizer, AdWords Editor, AdWords API

Measure
YouTube Insight, Analytics, Conversion Optimizer, Conversion Tracking, Website Optimizer, Webmaster Tools

(If you roll over the links above, you'll see just how widely scattered these tools are across Google's properties.)

The site looks like this:



If you're running an AdWords campaign or if you'd just like the convenience of having all these in one location, give the site a visit.