Many a marketer must have dreamed of sharing a lift with a board member from one of their prospect companies. Just imagine: an opportunity to share that carefully-crafted elevator pitch with the person responsible for making the ultimate decision on whether to purchase new technology.
While this opportunity rarely, if ever presents itself, this doesn’t stop technology vendors from targeting Board-level representatives at every opportunity. Kingpin’s 2015 technology marketing report found that every single one respondent targets their marketing efforts at the board level. While it’s laudable to attempt to influence the most powerful person possible, it’s just as important for vendors not to neglect others in the decision-making cycle.
The research was conducted amongst IT decision-makers in France, UK and Germany, and found that only half of technology marketers typically target their communications at technical heads. Should we interpret these results as meaning that mid-level employees, such as IT managers, are only half as important as members of the Board?
We would argue that, far from being the case, IT managers are just as critical to the end goal of securing a new customer. They might not make the final purchasing decision, but they are incredibly influential in the whole sales process.
The busy Board member is too busy to chat to technology marketers (unless, perhaps, they are trapped in a lift with one). Instead, they will call on their technical employees, such as IT managers, to give them the benefits of their expertise.
After all, who is the most likely person to be aware of your company and the products or services that it provides? Who is most likely to download a technical white paper; to drop by your booth at an event; or to register for a free trial? If a Board member does this, fantastic. It’s far more likely, however, to be a technical expert such as an IT manager.
It’s vital, then, that technology marketers are reaching IT managers effectively, which involves the right content delivered through the right channels. At the mid-level, you might expect more modern communications formats such as social media to be more effective. In fact, our research suggests that social tools rank low for effectiveness among technology marketers compared to traditional methods such as email and phone calls. These are the channels through which end users themselves say that they expect and prefer to be contacted.
By all means, target the C-level whenever you have the opportunity. But don’t by any means make them the sole focus of your marketing efforts. It’s just as important that you reach the people who will influence the final decision-maker: so make sure your content is relevant and sufficiently technically-detailed – and don’t be afraid to pick up the phone once someone has shown an interest.
By James Foulkes, Director and Co-Founder of Kingpin.
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