Baumen exists in this interesting space between two manufacturers. We represent global manufacturers’ components in Canada and help Canadian manufacturers find the best of these components for their applications.
We are constantly looking for new ways to engage with our customers and in many cases, we engage with the engineers and technical buyers at the OEMs. So, how are they spending their time? And how do they find their information and what are they looking for?
If you’re like the team at Baumen… you want to know because it will help you be more successful and ultimately help with the sales of your applications and components.
A fascinating study by Trew Marketing and GlobalSpec called, “2024 State of Marketing to Engineers – The Quest for Technical Solutions And the Influence of AI” 1 points to some key learnings we can all benefit from in our marketing strategies for 2024.
- Content Matters
When it comes to your online presence, content matters. But not just any content. 40% of technical buyers find specific technical detail such as data sheets, 29% technical publication articles, and 26% product reviews and testimonials to be the most valuable resources for their purchasing decision-making process. Product demonstrations and CAD drawings followed next in importance with 24% of technical buyers feeling these were useful for their purchasing process.
Technical buyers are now optimizing their research time on companies’ websites. Making sure the relevant information is there when they are looking is key to your success and engagement. While research is important throughout the entire product design and development stage, findings suggest that technical buyers still spend 20% of their research time in the final test and debug stage and 41% of their time on supplier and vendor websites when looking for information and components meaning that website content and accessibility is paramount for technical buyers throughout the entire product development life cycle.
- Your Online Presence Matters for Sales
Survey findings support the fact that technical buyers in 2024 will spend 66% of their buying process time online and at least half of this time online before speaking to anyone at the company. These findings are consistent across all ages of technical buyers, with 56–65-year-olds spending the most, 81%, of their buying process online. With that much of the buying process spent online, your website needs to accurately reflect your components, have technical information readily available and searchable, and reflect your expertise especially when it is reported that 29% of technical buyers have referred to sales application engineers internally and externally (hello the Baumen team!) as part of their recent purchasing processes.
- Use of AI is Growing
When looking for technical information, 26% of technical buyers say that they use AI for searching for the specific information that they need. In addition, 63% of technical buyers say they use AI tools in their work for everything from programming and data analysis to content creation and distribution. It is critical, then, that websites are optimized for AI searches as the use of AI for all things is trending upwards.
- Tradeshows and In-Person Conferences Still Matter
89% of technical buyers in 2024 plan to attend at least one skill development or industry focused in-person event. These events are still regarded as excellent opportunities to see components in person and for technical buyers to network with their community. Ensuring you are putting your brand in front of technical buyers at these events seems critical with the data pointing to the importance of this being a key component of your marketing strategy.
- Podcasts, Newsletters, Social Media and Video are Growing in Relevance
Here are some interesting facts:
- 90% of technical buyers listen to work related podcasts. This number has increased from 73% in 2023 and 70% of these listeners listen for an hour or more. This number is consistently increased across all age sectors.
- 98% of technical buyers subscribe to one or more newsletters with 81% of technical buyers subscribed to LinkedIn newsletters.
- YouTube (56%) and LinkedIn (44%) are the most popular social media choices for technical buyers across all age brackets when looking for work-related information.
What does all this mean for your marketing strategy? All evidence seems to point to the fact that outside of your website content, technical buyers are receiving and looking for technical information from a variety of sources. Ensuring that you can be found on social is going to improve your engagement with these buyers.
- Gated Content
It seems that technical buyers, when searching for information on a website, have no problem filling out a form for more information (gated content). In fact, 97% say that they are willing to do so for an informative eBook / Guide, (35%) for a Video /Tutorial, and (32%) for a Free Trial. This is an excellent way for a company to generate leads, track, and source engagement from the technical buyers visiting their website.
Being top of mind and in front of technical buyers is critical for the success of your application. The strategies outlined above allow us to benefit from a better understanding of buying behaviours and knowing more thoroughly our buyer persona. With so much changing and buying habits changing so rapidly, it’s even more important that companies stay up to date with the trends and new behaviours of their technical buyers. This ensures that we are not only giving them the information that they need but more importantly, that we are putting it where they are looking.
