What sources of information do decision-makers from the industry use? And how helpful do they rate the sources? In an industry survey, the Vogel Communications Group, a comprehensive service provider for B2B communications, asked 1,000 decision-makers from the most important industry sectors about the most relevant and useful sources of information for them.
From customer events and in-house exhibitions to emails, advertisements, social media, networks, provider directories and webinars: The respondents selected the offers that they personally use from 25 different sources of information. They also assessed how helpful these sources are for keeping up to date with products and providers. On average, each decision-maker uses 11.3 of these offers.
Of the information provided directly by the manufacturer, the company's website is the preferred source for all decision-makers. Customer events/house exhibitions and newsletters follow in second and third place. Other interesting findings: Video channels such as YouTube are particularly popular with younger respondents. Almost one in two up to 29-year-olds and a good third of up to 49-year-olds find them helpful.
The manufacturers' social media channels bring up the rear. They were rated the worst by all age groups. For example, 64.5% of respondents rated the information as unhelpful. Even the highly affine target group of up to 29-year-olds, who have grown up with the use of social networks, are critical: 68.7% rate the content as not relevant! There is a clear need for companies to take action here: professionalization also offers manufacturers the opportunity to stand out from the competition.
In addition to manufacturer offers, other sources play an important role in the continuous procurement of information. Printed and digital specialist media lead the ranking of the ten most relevant sources of information with 84.9%. Followed by Google and other search engines (73.8%) and personal networks (73.6%) (see figure). A homogeneous picture emerges here: these sources of information are rated almost equally by respondents of all age groups.
Overall, the results indicate that decision-makers value professional and useful content: Trade media, for example, are highly ranked by decision-makers. The evaluation of the individual sources shows a heterogeneous picture: the younger group of decision-makers, the so-called millennials, who are currently up to 29 years old, bring their own media preferences to the job. For 77.8% of them, industry experts have an important orientation function. In addition, more than 60% of this group also consume videos and animations via platforms in the B2B environment, for example via YouTube. Content from social networks is also used, but does not yet appear to be satisfactory. A new generation of B2B decision-makers is growing up here, to which B2B communicators must also adapt.
Background: The survey on the sources of information used took place from July to August 2019. Around 1,000 decision-makers from 14 industrial sectors took part in the survey. They come from the mechanical and plant engineering, automotive and supplier industry, automation technology/electrical engineering/electronics and chemical/pharmaceutical industry, among others. The respondents work in companies of all sizes, with almost 70% in management positions.
In addition to the information source study, a further survey on trends and challenges in B2B marketing was conducted with around 600 marketing experts in the industry: What challenges do they face? Which channels do they use? Which developments are of interest to them and how are marketing budgets being used today and in the future?
A detailed summary of the results of both surveys can be found here.
Journalists can request the study at pressestelle@vogel.de.
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Vogel Communications Group is one of the leading service providers for B2B communication in the German-speaking world. Its headquarters are in Würzburg. With four agencies in Berlin, the Group offers comprehensive communications expertise. The Group's services range from trade media, corporate publishing, social media services, PR, trade fair services, networks and communities to market intelligence & insights and an in-house congress center. The publishing areas include 100+ trade journals, 100+ web portals, 100+ business events as well as numerous mobile offerings and international activities. The print and digital media provide access to 14 sectors in the five economic fields of industry, automotive, information technology, law/economics/taxes and B2B communication.
