Tech Marketers Need to Account for This Highly Influential Audience Segment

To keep up with the dizzying pace of the technology industry, buyers are increasingly enlisting the support of experts. A growing ecosystem of channel partners, system integrators, and outsourced IT advisors presents a new wrinkle in tech purchase decision-making. 

We already know that 80% of employees will play an active role in tech buying at some point. Now, with LinkedIn’s latest research into B2B tech buying, we’re gaining a better understanding of the role external tech influencers are playing as well. In the last year, 41% of B2B tech buyers have used external IT consultants, integrators, and channel partners to help inform their purchasing decisions.

External Advisors Are Filling the Tech Content Marketing Gap

It’s not enough to note that tech buyers are tapping external influencers with greater frequency. The bigger takeaway here is just how influential these external influencers are. When asked to rank the sources of information they use to inform their purchases, tech buyers said that external IT consultants, integrators, and channel partners were the most useful.

As for when external influencers are getting involved, our survey showed that enterprise buyers (48%) and IT contacts (45%) were most likely to lean on external consultants and partners during their buying processes. We also found that North American buyers were more likely to use external consultants than their EMEA and APAC counterparts. 

Influencing the External Influencers

As B2B tech buyers place more and more trust in external advisors, we’re also seeing channel and influencer programs transition from “nice to have” to “need to have”—especially in categories like end-user and data center software. 

It can be easy to assume that external consultants and channel partners already know everything about your company and your competition. As is the case with many assumptions, this one is often misguided. Consultants may know more than most people about the tech buying landscape in your industry, but they hardly know everything. Just like the rest of us, external advisors can be informed, enlightened, and persuaded. 

And just like the rest of us, consultants prefer tech content that’s personalized and caters to their specific needs. B2B marketers can engage these influencers by articulating the value they can create for both the influencer, along with how the influencer can create value for the company requesting their input. 

Creating Personalized B2B Tech Content for Influencers

While paid advisors certainly deserve your focus, they shouldn’t consume all of it. Any existing user of a product or service can potentially have a big influence on their company’s decision-making process. 

Staying top-of-mind among these influencers means keeping them engaged and informed about how your solution can benefit them on a personal level. Tactics like advocacy programs and user forums that give influencers early, privileged access to new features are known for their ability to generate critical feedback, but perhaps equally important, these opportunities can help engender brand recognition and loyalty among key influencers. 

On a similar note, B2B tech marketers should also be designing and prioritizing strategies for turning customers and influencers into advocates. A survey by Gartner revealed that 76% of B2B buyers consulted three or more sources of advocacy before they decided to make a purchase. 

Thinking back to the sources of information tech buyers consider most useful, B2B tech marketers could consider creating microsites or content hubs designed to fulfill the needs of specific users. For instance, you might create a microsite where a paid consultant, a power user, or a performance manager feels as though your tech content speaks directly to them. 

On LinkedIn, one idea is to create a Showcase Page specifically for users of your product. Or you could create a Showcase Page for a specific product, allowing users of that product to more easily stay up-to-date and engage with the aspects or your company that matter most to them. Another option would be to create events and webinars that focus on specific users, or use cases, of your product. 

In her post highlighting strategies for engaging anonymous buyers, Grace MacDonald suggests featuring salespeople in online content like how-to videos, podcasts, or online webinars. Doing so can make your sales content feel less intrusive while also providing greater authenticity. Generally speaking, tech buyers would rather listen to and engage with real people as opposed to content that’s been published by a corporate entity. 

Regardless of which tactics you deem right for your particular situation, the important thing is to include external influencers in your product and strategy roadmaps. On one hand, it may be more difficult than simply focusing on executive-level decision-makers. On the other hand, research tells us that accounting for influencers early and often in your strategy will ultimately be more effective. 

For more insights that can help you create B2B tech content that resonates and achieves results, download LinkedIn’s latest research, Brand to Buyer: Building B2B Technology Brands That Shine.