Les Jones

E-commerce > CMO Council's Tech Media Consumption Surveys

Q2 2007 report:

The most noteworthy shift in ranking occurs in the questions related to information sources. When asked “In the past 3 months, which of the following information sources have you looked to for information on a new product or technology that your company is potentially going to acquire or implement?”, the number one source remains search engines. However, IT publisher’s Web sites moved into second place, displacing vendor Web sites which moved to third place.

The distinct favoritism for IT publisher online content over vendor Web sites is worth noting. Over time IT buyers may be searching for third party editorial content that discusses a technology or product offering in an unbiased way. This trend would reinforce that publisher content satisfies the buyer’s reliance on the Web for research, it may also indicate that, at a stage closer to developing a short list or making a purchase, the buyer moves to vendor content to obtain technical specifics on a solution.

There's also some information about the use of white papers, webinars, and trial software at different phases of the buying process. Good stuff.