Study Reveals That Events, Web Search, Social Media And A Vendor’s Website Have Biggest Influence On Decision-Makers

Mission Control Marketing, the essential agency partner to the CMO at mid-sized B-to-B organizations, revealed new findings from its study about mapping the impact of marketing on the B-to-B customer journey. In partnership with market research firm, Researchscape, Mission Control Marketing surveyed decision-makers across marketing, technology, operations and finance roles at medium to large-sized businesses about the marketing channels that influence their purchasing habits.

“We found that there is almost no third-party data that shows the influence of specific marketing channels or individual events on the buying decisions during the b-to-b customer journey. CMOs at b-to-b companies, especially ones that sell products and services at high price points to large organizations, have limited data to reference when deciding which marketing channels would show the biggest impact on delivering customers. The results of this study give clarity around the impact of earned, owned and paid media on decision-makers and the smartest way to invest in each channel based on a company’s budget,” Elliot Schimel, CEO, Mission Control Marketing said.

Some salient statistics that emerged from the study:

• 85% of executives say a vendor’s website influences their decision to consider a vendor
• 77% said webinars influence their decision to work with a vendor
• 97% who attended a trade show were influenced by the event during their buying decision
• 83% of all executives use social media for business
• 87% say podcasts could influence a decision to choose a vendor

Additional insights include:

• Deloitte is the most trusted and influential analyst firm
• LinkedIn is more influential among marketing executives
• Technology professionals are most likely to attend a conference or trade show

The research identifies the daily media habits of these decision-makers as well as the marketing channels they turn to when considering vendors for an RFP or when choosing new solutions. The impact of the following channels were included: events, industry analysts, news media, advertising, social media, email marketing, owned media and others.

The study compared these media channels to each other and conducted an in-depth exploration of each channel individually. Its findings provide insights about how decision-makers behave, how they consume media, what media they trust, what marketing channels they prefer, how they assess vendors, and, most importantly, what most influences their decision to choose a vendor.