Social Media Use Continues to Expand Communications Channels

Social Media Use Continues to Expand Communications Channels

How Big Is the IT Market?

IT decision makers’ reach is extensive. 43% of U.S. IT decision makers work outside IT, 15 million U.S. IT decision makers, $820B in U.S. IT spending

Acquiring New Customers Can Be Costly

The channel needs to find ways to reduce new customer acquisition costs. Acquiring a new customer is 5 times more costly than up-selling an existing one.

Social Media Use

Usage is already almost ubiquitous. 2012: 85%, 2013: 95%

Top Reasons for Using Social Media

Usage as a vehicle to communicate with vendors has already reached 37%. 58% learn from trustworthy peers, 49% access a broader network, 40% quickly find information, 37% relevant context to connect with vendors

Usage of Social Media at Each Decision-Making Stage

Social media is making an impact across the sales funnel. awareness: 79%, plan: 74%, determine scope: 73%, implement: 70%, select: 68%

Attitude Toward Vendors

The opportunity to engage customers has never been greater. 68% open to connecting with vendors via social media, 76% ready to have a conversation with a vendor

Top Reasons for Not Connecting with Vendors

Channel partners tend to have more credibility than vendors. don’t want to receive a lot of marketing material, don’t believe they would provide credible information, aren’t thought of as leaders in their product area, don’t believe they’d provid relevant information, talk too much about themselves

The Real Channel Sales Challenge

On average, only three vendors make the short list. 92% purchased from vendor that made their short list, only one in six bought from a new vendor