The tech purchase process is in continuous transformation, making it a complex process to keep track of and navigate. As technology becomes more and more prevalent as a business driver, it is necessary to align your marketing strategy with the current needs of the buying team.

Enter the latest and greatest tech buyers’ journey road map: Foundry’s 2023 Customer Journey Poster – How to Engage IT Decision-Makers. Establishing a strategy that effectively engages IT decision-makers (ITDMs) may start with quality content, but it extends much further. The poster highlights additional aspects, such as the impact strong customer experience and proper engagement has on increasing sales.  Turn to these 5 easy steps to guide your strategy.

Understand the goals of your target audience

It doesn’t matter the company; every organization wants to be considered an innovator in their respective industry. Gaining a stronger understanding of what your customer is currently prioritizing and what they want to focus on in the future is essential to their customer journey.

  • 93% of organizations have made digital-first plans
  • Why are organizations implementing a digital transformation (DX) strategy?
    • Improve employee productivity/collaboration – 51%
    • Reduce costs/inefficiencies – 50%
    • Create better customer experiences to keep up with expectations – 45%
  • Increasing spend in these areas:
    • Cybersecurity
    • BI/analytics tools
    • Data analytics frameworks
    • AI & machine learning
    • Business process management/workflow automation
    • Robotic process automation

Know your customers

Leadership shifts with each stage of the technology purchase process. Once you’ve gotten a grasp on what your target audience is focused on, be sure to know who is involved in which stage of the process so you are actively engaging the correct people at the right times. For example, the CIO leads the way when determining the business need, but IT management and security staff are more involved in the technical stages such as evaluating products and services and determining technical requirements.

Be sure to understand who is involved throughout each stage of the purchase process so your message aligns with the influencer and their needs.

  • 61% agree that the purchase process for technology products and services is becoming increasingly complex
  • There are more than double the number of influencers involved in enterprise tech purchases – 33 total compared to 15 for SMBs
  • 57% will purchase from an existing vendor, while 43% will seek a new vendor

Consider their educational needs

There are so many forms of content available today, but do all of them provide quality, actionable insights to your audience? On average, ITDMs download six assets throughout the tech purchase process, however they state that only 48% of downloaded work-related content has provided them with value in the past 12 months. It’s important to provide them with the content types they most rely upon as well as from the proper sources.

  • 91% of ITDMs think it’s challenging to find high-quality content
  • Where do they find information?
    • Tech content sites
    • White papers
    • Webcasts/webinars
    • Technology vendors (via phone, email video conference)
    • Technology vendors (via vendor website)
  • 96% of tech buyers are interested in custom-tailored content, based on…
    • Industry
    • Tech platform(s) already installed
    • Company size

Make tech buyers your brand advocate

One of the most important aspects to the customer journey is establishing trust and authenticity with your target market. Becoming a dependable and knowledgeable partner is key to retaining your customer base and ultimately having them become an advocate for your brand and product.

  • 65% of tech buyers say that they typically spend more time consuming content from known and trusted brands because they’re confident their time will be well spent.
  • Vendor awareness impacts tech buyers’ decision to engage with certain content:
    • Product reviews – 71%
    • Case studies – 56%
    • Third-party market research – 44%

Become an integral part of your customers’ research process

To become not just a vendor, but a relied upon resource for your customers, it’s all about knowledge, timing and trust. These strong relationships will help to increase your sales, so be sure to provide a valuable and enjoyable journey for your customers and prospects.

  • Knowledge – 96% of tech buyers have responded to outreach from a potential vendor, specifically when they:
    • Shared valuable content or informationWere knowledgeable about business or specific challenges
    • Demonstrated honesty/transparency
  • Timing – 16 hours is the average time tech buyers expect follow-up after filling out a contact form
  • Trust – 73% of tech buyers say that when a technology brand is known and trusted, it increases the likelihood that they will be added to the short list.

Between this research, our content experts and premium data we can help you identify and engage the world’s most influential tech buyers. Get started by downloading the 2023 Customer Journey Poster and partner with Foundry to simplify your marketing with data-driven media and martech solutions.