Technology media company TechTarget, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTGT) today announces the release of a groundbreaking new research report, A Profile of TechTarget’s Hyper-active IT Researchers: Media consumption habits of our top 30% most active users, revealing the online research process of the most active and most influential technology buyers. The results reported reflect both the actual response set of the survey sample and, additionally, the results of several in-depth interviews with respondents to the survey.
During the development of the Company’s new Activity Intelligence™ platform, which provides a view all of the specific interactions technology buyers have online during their buying process, it was discovered through a study of the top 30% most active TechTarget members that, within a defined period of time, the individual member is 3 times more active than the average member. Their increased activity correlates to the pressing needs they have to solve an impending business problem and their natural curiosity to research every possible option, but their significance only begins there. As documented in this new report, they represent substantially more than the average technology buying budget, authority and influence. In telephone interviews with a selection of respondents, they identified with the term “hyper-active” because they see themselves as “power users” of the internet and “chief informants” of their respective teams.
“It has become increasingly obvious that this segment of our audience, which we refer to as our hyper-active users, is a force to be reckoned with because of their significant number of touch points with both vendor and editorial information,” said Marilou Barsam, senior vice president of client and corporate marketing for TechTarget. “When it comes to online media consumption and technology buying influence, they should be viewed as movers and shakers due to the intensity with which they approach online research and the frequency with which they download information,” continued Barsam.
One of the most interesting characteristics of this hyper-active audience relates to their attitude toward the timing of when they download content and the specific stage they are in related to their buying process. As with previous Media Consumption Reports, they all agree that content is most relevant to them as it relates to their buying stage, yet they also point out that they have such a need for technical information that they will download and catalog information they may not get to for a while but know they will need in a later stage. Many of the interviewees detailed how they store the information, archiving it by topic and stage relationship criteria and then refer to it when they get to the appropriate time in their buying process or specific interactions within their team.
“Marketers need to consider the implications of this audience and their particular behavior. It not only validates the continued need to map your online content to match stages, but the necessity to have all stage-related material ready simultaneously should your sponsorship of it intersect with the ravenous appetite of this target audience. The reality is that if your content is not available for them to proactively download and/or store away, then whoever’s is available will be chosen for the “grand catalogues” of information that these buyers are constantly building and referring to along their purchase paths,” said Barsam.
Highlights from the responses of this important audience include;
- The average hyper-active buyer spends a majority of their research time online and averages 5–20 interactions per day
- 98% of IT professionals sampled cite online IT communities as an integral part of their research and/or purchase process
- 90% are investing in at least one major technology project this year
- 55% are technical decision-makers
- 43% plan to take on more than 4 projects
The full research and phone interview results from this report are available online athttps://www.techtarget.com/ForMarketers
TechTarget (https://www.techtarget.com) (NASDAQ: TTGT) is a leading global technology media company with more than 90 technology-specific websites, and over 9 million registered members, and more than 10 years of groundbreaking accomplishments. Our extensive editorial and vendor-sponsored content fulfills the needs of tech pros looking for in-depth coverage of technology topics throughout their buying process and positions us to meet the needs of technology marketers targeting qualified technology audiences.
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