65%-69% of potential tech buyers complete research before contacting sales.1

40% more stakeholders are at the table assisting with research than there were four years ago.1

THE TECH MARKETING NINJA: Crafty Skills Required to Reach Stealthy Tech Customers

Today’s tech buyers are cloaked in a veil of self-education, research and stealth reconnaissance that arms them with decision-influencing data well before they reveal themselves to tech vendors. The sales path is less linear and less clear. Here, the marketing ninja plays a growing role in driving the purchase decision—and revenue.

…and using your messaging arsenal to drive a better marketing relationship with customers and directly impact sales.

58%of pipeline ends up in “no decision“ or stalled.2

59%

of sales rep time is spent not selling.3

The obvious challenge for tech companies is that their sales team has less time to influence the purchase decision through direct interaction.4

25%

EARLYas soon as

they know they have a need

53%

MID-WAYafter they

have a short list of solutions

22%

LATEwhen they’re ready to buy

So when do those wily customers reveal themselves to sales reps?4

When buyers do reveal themselves, they usually know what they want. That’s why it’s so important for marketing to act as the bridge—between customers and the business—that leads to sales.

THE TECH MARKETER CAN INFILTRATE THE CUSTOMER’S “VEIL OF SECRECY”…Here, the tech marketer’s value shines—crafting content that speaks to purchasers at the right time, and “closing” the sale before direct interaction. It’s not surprising, then, that marketing and sales are the top reasons for creating content.

In fact, 80% of tech companies create marketing collateral to help market products. Other strategies include: 5

71%

SALES ENABLEMENT

70% DEFINING

POSITIONING

70% CREATING

MARKETING PLANS

…but slicing through the clutter to prove C-suite value is a challenge.

83%

of marketers are feeling the pressure to prove direct value from the C-suite.6

When C-suite-ers were asked to give marketing a grade for its ability to prove its value: 6

20% of marketers earned an A

30% of marketers

earned a B

50% earned a C

or lower

Even the C-suite internally is split on marketing impact: 7

CMOs perceive they’re contributing to 30% of a company’s business revenue, but only 25% of CFOs agree.75% of CMOs believe their efforts are directly influencing sales, but only 33% of CFOs agree.

A+ IMPACTMARKETING BUSINESS VALUE IS REALWhen it comes to C-suite approval and consensus, the proof is in the numbers: 8

Cost per lead for content marketing $32.25

Cost per lead for paid search $111.11

LinkedIn can enable tech marketers to become “tech ninjas,” proactively reaching customers and prospects where they are, and influencing them before they connect with sales.

Find out more about how LinkedIn can help your marketing team support sales and move the needle on the bottom line. Visit http://lnkd.in/TechNinja

Content marketing ROI outweighed paid search ROI by more than 3X

In addition to saving money, content marketing

can build up search rankings:14.6%

1.7%

Organic search leads have a 14.6% close rate compared to outbound marketing leads with only a 1.7% close rate.9

67% of consumers were more likely to buy a new product if they found it through an online search.10

Organizations can’t afford to let dusk fall on a day without leads.

1 IDC. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140910120144-51845612-death-of-the-enterprise-salesman2 Sales Benchmark Index. http://www.salesandmarketing.com/content/new-rules-sales-execution-stop-enabling-and-start-executing3 CSO Insights. http://www.salesandmarketing.com/content/new-rules-sales-execution-stop-enabling-and-start-executing4 Customer & The Buyer’s Journey Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, June 2014. http://www.demandmetric.com5 Marketing Profs. http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2015/27524/how-b2b-tech-companies-market-products6 2015 Marketing Performance Benchmark Management Benchmark Study. http://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2015/27548/marketers-answer-what-have-you-done-for-me-lately-infographic7 Marketing Week Study. http://www.trewmarketing.com/smartmarketingblog/marketing-for-engineers/proving-roi-of-marketing-for-b2b/#sthash.DfRn1dwl.n9dbGSlh.dpbs8 Kapost and Eloqua Study. http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/09/prove-content-marketing-roi-ceo-values/9 Hubspot Report. http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/09/prove-content-marketing-roi-ceo-values/10 Nielson. http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/09/prove-content-marketing-roi-ceo-values/11 Content Marketing Institute. http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/03/technology-content-marketing-research/

THE MARKETING BOTTOM LINETech marketers understand the importance of having a solid content marketing strategy to measure content success and how it supports sales: 11

24% say their organizations are successful at tracking the ROI of their content marketing program (compared with 21% of B2B marketers overall).

24% 40% 62%

That rises to 40% when the tech marketer has a documented content marketing strategy.

Tech marketers are more focused than their B2B peers on sales and lead-related metrics: sales lead quality (62% vs. 49%), higher conversion rates (61% vs. 48%), and sales lead quantity (54% vs. 40%).

Wield your messaging sword wisely: It’s all about smart, pinpointed marketing, giving customers the info they want at the right time…