Twitter Tweets from the Google/TechTarget B2B Roadshow

I got to attend an invitation-only Google/TechTarget event at Google’s office in Cambridge, MA, and tweeted some of the more interesting tidbits of knowledge I picked up. (In all truthfulness, I added a couple to this column.)

The event, “The Google/TechTarget Research Project: How IT Pros Search Online During the Purchase Process,” was billed as “TechTarget and Google partnered to research the search behaviors and online interests of business technology buyers, including the relationship between brand and search activity.”

The research was compiled from a sample of 2,200 participants from North America, Europe, and Asia. Topics covered included search terms used at the various stages of the IT buying process, buyer attitudes toward lead-generation efforts, and more.

There were some very interesting data offered, and the food was actually pretty darn good. However, I wish they gave more examples of practical applications for the data and findings they revealed. I guess it’s up to us to figure out how to apply the data to what we do in the future.

Below, my tweets in all their concise 140-character glory:

• At Google/TechTarget: how IT Pros Search Online During Purchase Process
• 97% percent of tech buyers start with search
• Less then 12% of tech buyers us a single word search phrase
• 80% skim full page of results before clicking, 38% would click on paid search
• 6% just stick to page 1, 53% will go to page 2 or 3 in a search, 41% say will go to 4+ pages
• Tech buyers use comparison oriented phrases close to end buying stage- i.e. avaya cisco ip phone system comparison
• 53% use search to discover vender solutions they are not aware of
• 67% willing to click in link of vendor they are not familiar with
• Asia pacific uses video in tech buying twice as much as N America and Europe.
• 27% tech buyers use mobile search at least once per week. 12% say they use it every day.
• A fire alarm went off during the presentation – we all ignored it. Turn out a jackhammer set it off.
• Blackberry was top mobile device used in mobile search. Google guy here is pushing [Android]. It is being developed here in Cambridge.
• 74% sign up for at least 1 rss feed, 26% sign up for more then
• North American have a higher aversion to sharing their contact info then Asia and Europe which is opposite of what our euro clients claim
• When filling out a form, 81% of tech buyers will give their accurate email, only 27% will give their accurate phone number

Oh yeah, one thing that I didn’t tweet was that IT buyers love video and that video is a very underutilized form of communication when selling IT. The speaker emphasized the power of video and said not to be too worried about the high production value. Use it whenever you can for product demos and more. I agree, people love that “play” button!

By the way, if you want to follow me on Twitter go to www.twitter.com/HarryJGold. I promise I won’t tweet too many useless “I am enjoying pizza” or political tweets; I pretty much stick to 140-character nuggets of wisdom.

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