Technology Marketing by Tatum MarketingJust another WordPress weblog

For technology marketers, there is some interesting and useful information in the Social Media Research Study, 2008 conducted by InformationWeek.  The term “social media” includes social networks, professional online networks, and user groups & forums.

Here are some highlights I discovered during a B2B magazine presentation called “The Hottest New Media Apps for Engaging B2B Buyers”.

• While IT buyers utilize a variety of social media for professional networking, the most widely used are communities within technology news and information web sites. This is where nearly three quarters (73%) of IT buyers go to engage with other professionals.
• Two thirds (67%) of those who connect through these online communities do so on a weekly basis.
• More than half (59%) of IT buyers take advantage of communities found at sites like Yahoo or Google for business-related issues. These folks seem to connect daily.
• About one quarter (close to half of 49%) have a LinkedIn account they use for business purposes.
• Far fewer have a FaceBook or MySpace account – and those are used for personal networking.
• 46% participate in user groups and forums.

So what does this mean if you sell to IT buyers?

Keep in mind that these numbers are trending upwards. More and more IT buyers are using various social media for business networking. While you may not have to worry about FaceBook, MySpace or even LinkedIn (for the time being); you’ll want to keep an eye on technology news and information websites, and check out those communities on Yahoo and Google.

A word of caution to those who are new to social media: this is not just another marketing channel. Blatant sales and marketing pushes are not welcome. Your best strategy is to a) identify the places your prospects are hanging out and then b) observe for a while.

Technorati Tags: social media, web 2.0, prospects, technology marketing, B2B marketing