Technology media company TechTarget, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTGT) today announces the release of its latest report in the Company’s groundbreaking series of media consumption research on the information technology (IT) professional. This 12th report examines ten global regions, including the countries of; India, China, Japan, Italy, France, Germany, South Africa, Australia-New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
This study, conducted through 2,425 completed online surveys with 31% of respondents representing IT management and 43% representing large enterprises, shows clearly that understanding regional differences is critical to successful technology marketing.
Important distinctions for technology marketers to know about these regions include;
- Indian IT professionals are the most receptive audience to online IT communities,
- China’s and Japan’s audiences prefer product literature and case studies to white papers,
- Japan’s IT purchase process frequently takes more than one year to complete,
- German IT professionals are the least likely to accurately complete online registrations,
- Indian audiences are even more receptive to video content than the United States,
- When marketing to India it’s important to reach a large number of people at each company because of large buying teams.
“Marketing budgets need to accompany the shift in global research habits suggesting that marketers around the world need to invest in building diverse content portfolios and placing this content in varied information sources that IT professionals frequent,” said Marilou Barsam, senior vice president of client and corporate marketing for TechTarget.
One important consistency across all regions was the high regard and increasing use IT professionals reported having for online social networks and online IT communities. These social media are becoming an integral part of their research process because the technology purchase decision-makers can easily interact with peers who have experienced similar enterprise technology solutions and are already familiar with specific brands and solution sets. Vendor credibility is thereby established through existing clients more quickly and by a more trusted audience than vendor marketing could accomplish.
“Worldwide, more IT professionals rely on the Internet for their purchase-decision research process than any other source. Despite distinctions for specific content based on a specific region, the study reaffirms that all view the Internet as the best source for information when they seek advice on brands and the technical details on solutions to purchase – therefore, it is also logically, the best medium for marketers to cultivate relationships and why investing in social online venues that these buyers rely on makes a lot of sense,” continued Barsam.
Download and read the full TechTarget Global Media Consumption Trends Report today. (http://techtarget.global-media-consumption-2010.sgizmo.com/)
TechTarget, Inc. (www.techtarget.com) (NASDAQ: TTGT) is a leading global technology media company with more than 90 technology-specific websites, 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. Outside of North America, TechTarget runs 23 websites and has offices in London, Mumbai and Beijing.
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