2Source: Accenture Technology Vision 2014; http://www.accenture.com/microsites/ittechnology-trends-2014/Pages/tech-vision-report.aspx

A huge shift is under way. Boundaries are blurring in many dimensions — not just between IT leaders and their business colleagues... IT strategy and business strategy are no longer

separate; they have become inseparable.

Why the Tech Committee matters?

3

ITDMMultiple titles with:• Budget• Purchase authority• Influence

OperationsFinanceSalesMarketing HR

Who was the Tech Committee?

4

Who is the Tech Committee?

OperationsFinanceSalesMarketing ITDM HR

Now all possess budget, purchase authority, and influence in tech buying

5

Buying decisions are made by a broader group than IT

95% of the Tech Committee use social networks for business

More likely to engage with vendors on LinkedIn than other networks

Understanding the Tech Committee on Social

6Source: Gartner analyst Laura McLellan , VP Research, Gartner; http://my.gartner.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=202&mode=2&PageID=5553&resId=1871515&ref=Webinar-Calendar

By 2017 the CMO will spend more on IT than the CIO

Why the Tech Committee matters?

We build

relationships between brands and the world’s

professionals to make them both more successful.

88

EARNEDTrust + Credibility

m u s t b e

APAC, N=565

9

 We surveyed over 2,300 Tech Committee members globally

But how do you earn TRUST with the Tech Committee?

* LOCAL LANGUAGE / LinkedIn Survey and Internal Data: Q2 2014

Germany, N=203France*, N=202

The Netherlands, N=204Canada, N=152US, N=404

UK, N=204

BRAZIL*, N=155

Australia, N=104

India, N=202Hong Kong, N=155Singapore, N=104

MIDDLE EAST

Saudi Arabia, N=155UAE, N=154

N. AMERICA EMEA

APAC

10

The Growing Tech CommitteeWho are they and how do you engage them?

The Power of Education without BiasIf you’re talking about yourself, you’re doing it wrong

The Expertise You Don’t Know You HaveThe definition of an expert is broader than you think

Nurture, don’t Disrupt Gating content too early and too often is counter-productive

Overview

The GrowingTech Committee

12

The Tech Committee: rapidly growing and influential

10+ millionglobal LinkedIn members who influence Tech decisions across departments and seniorities

Growing 1.25x faster than general

member growth

13

1.7M+ Tech Committee members in APAC

2x as active on desktop in the feed than members1

2x as active in groups than members1

25% more active on mobile than members1

1LinkedIn Internal Data – 4/1/2014 through 4/30/2014

And what type of IT products and services does your company plan to acquire in the next 12 months?

58%

48%

37%

32%

42%

90% in Market

25%9 in 10 are in market for an IT solution in the next 12 months

Top IT products and services the Tech Committee are in-market for:

15How frequently do you visit each of the following sources to get IT related news and information?

They’re hungry for IT news and information on social

Visit Google+Visit Facebook Visit TwitterVisit LinkedIn

46%58% 35%81%

89% use social media for IT News and Information each month

16

 % content from each source very or extremely trustworthyAPAC: They trust content on LinkedIn more than any other source

How frequently do you visit each of the following sources to get IT related news and information? How trustworthy do you feel the content you see from each of the below sources is?

 Visitation │ High Medium Low

54%

44%

37%

32% 31% 30%

23%

16%

The Power of Education without Bias

of the Tech Committee require education to sustain or make a change to their IT ecosystem

83%

18How significant is the role education plays in the following types of decisions undertaken by your organization?

19

More likely to consider an IT vendor who educates me through

each stage of the decision process

61%Educating throughout the purchase funnel makes generating leads more effective

20

Education with broad-themed, non branded content is preferred

47%

50%

52%Most interested in non-branded / non-sales focused content

More likely to consider an IT vendor who publishes content about my industry and topics of interest

More favorable toward an IT vendor who publishes content about my industry and topics of interest

21

Start with content about general industry topics, prioritized for your audience

Author or promote expert content on the direction and use of your industry’s products

Promote branded user reviews and case studies to drive consideration and selection of your company

1

3

2

Three types of education

22

 Top types of information sought in each stage of IT decision-making process:

Earn more interest with a variety of content

* Based on 2013 comScore IT Committee Research. Global data.

AWARENESS SCOPE PLAN SELECT IMPLEMENT

IT industry news / strategy info

Best practices, how-to’s, checklists

Product / solution demo / software trial

Diagnostic / assessment tools

1

3

2

3

The Expertise You Don’t Know You Have

24

 Not necessarily on title or connections

APAC: Expertise is based on references from others

4%

9%

13%

13%

21%

39%

52%

54%

73%References from coworkers and other professionals in their field

Has a (on average) 8.3 years of experience

Published author or presenter in their field

Manages a team

Third Party scores (Klout, Kred, PeerIndex, etc.)

Has a Master's Degree or higher

Is a vice president or more senior

Has 500 or more connections on LinkedIn

Other (Please specify)

When you think of a technology subject matter expert (SME), what is the first thing that comes to mind?Below you see some additional qualities a subject matter expert may have. Please select all the attributes below that are required to be a technology SME.

% Who Believe Each Statement Defines an Expert

Expertise can help drive the bottom line

35%Are more likely to buy from vendors who have experts

publishing on LinkedIn

Experts

26

Utilize the expertise in your organization to earn trustOn the world’s largest professional publishing platform

Nurture, don’t Disrupt

of those surveyed provide fake information when they complete a

lead capture form

52%

28A Lead Capture for is a technique used by companies to collect contact information, usually when someone downloads a piece of information the company has published or a webinar they have held. Is the information you provide on Lead Capture forms truthful?

How many of you have had Mickey Mouse download your

content?

29

are less likely to consider a vendor who

gates the FIRST piece of content

33%

Gating content too early or too often decreases consideration

65%

are less likely to consider a vendor who

gates ALL content

 IT Committee Members actively looking for an enterprise IT Solution (in-market)

30

Nurturing leads through content is vital because most are not ready to talk to sales

of content before they are ready to talk to a sales rep.

5 pieces

The average IT Committee member needs to

consume

31

Earn trust with broad-based content that goes beyond your brand’s self-interests

Focus on educating prospective customers in the short-term to generate higher quality leads in the long-run

Leverage your employees and company specialists as experts

Incorporate an “always on” content strategy with a variety of content – gated and un-gated

Marketer Implications