Social Media Influences and Drives IT Purchase Decisions

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- UBM Tech released its annual Social Media @Work research – a report that looks at the social media consumption habits of business technology decision makers and marketers. The Social Media @Work report affirms the critical role social media plays in the business technology market and how it continues to change the way people work, live and play.

The full report, including strategies that marketers can use to maximize social media to engage IT decision makers, can be downloaded from CreateYourNextCustomer.com, an online resource for technology marketing best practices, research and solutions.  Access the free report at http://bit.ly/WzkiMy; registration is required.

Study highlights include:

• Social media influences and drives IT purchase decisions: 66% of tech professionals say that they have used social networking sites to obtain information for a technology purchase.
• 92% of IT respondents have taken one or more actions as a result of using social media, including visiting a vendor web site, or contacting a vendor directly for more information, and registering to download content such as research or a white paper.
• Social media is gaining credibility among IT professionals:  42% of respondents say that social media is "productive" — an increase from 36% two years ago. The percentage of respondents who describe it as simply "fun" decreased by 6 points.
• Social media has also gained credibility with tech marketers – the majority of tech marketers surveyed now have a business presence on all four of the major social networking platforms, with close to 90% maintaining a business presence on Twitter and Facebook, 84% who have a business presence on LinkedIn, and about three-quarters on YouTube.

"Social media is now completely ingrained into the workflow of business technology decision makers," said Scott Vaughan, UBM Tech's Chief Marketing Officer. "This poses challenges for tech marketers who lack resources to develop and execute effective, cohesive social media strategies. Our report incorporates practical tips to help even the most time-strapped tech marketers leverage social media as part of their overall marketing strategies."

To download an executive summary of UBM Tech's latest Social Media @Work research, please visit: http://bit.ly/WzkiMy.  The executive summary was authored by UBM Tech CMO Scott Vaughan and Research Director Amy Doherty.

UBM Tech's latest Social Media @Work report is based on research conducted across 462 business technology professionals involved in IT purchasing and 155 B2B tech marketers in late 2012.

About UBM Tech

UBM Tech is a global media business that provides information, events, training, data services, and marketing solutions for the technology industry.  Its media brands and information services inform and inspire decision makers across the entire technology market— engineers and design professionals, software and game developers, solutions providers and integrators, networking and communications executives, and business technology professionals.  UBM Tech's industry-leading media brands include EE Times, Interop, Black Hat, InformationWeek, Game Developer Conference, CRN, and DesignCon. The company's information products include research, education, training, and data services that accelerate decision making for technology buyers.  UBM Tech also offers a full range of marketing services based on its content and technology market expertise, including custom events, content marketing solutions, community development and demand generation programs. UBM Tech is a part of UBM (UBM.L), a global provider of media and information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

For more information:
Winnie Ng, VP of Marketing, Business Technology Media
Winnie.Ng@ubm.com

SOURCE UBM Tech