The 2014 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey

1 The 2014 B2B Buyer Landscape: How content and social media are impacting the buyer journey
R E S E A R C H
How content and social media are
impacting the buyer journey
THE 2014
B2B BUYER BEHAVIOR SURVEY
SURVEY

While B2B buyers strategically browse social media discussions during
their research, web search remains a top source of information.
Additionally, nearly two-thirds of buyers indicate that content had a
significant influence on a decision. While the buying process is getting
longer and buyers continued to wait to engage with sales, B2B buyers
are more satisfied with the process than they were a year ago.
Those are just some of the results of Demand Gen Report’s 2014 B2B
Buyer Behavior Survey. A total of 150 B2B buyers were involved in a
major purchase during the past 12 months, revealing some significant
trends that impact the purchasing process:
• The number of respondents who said they were satisfied with
their last purchasing experience surged by 57% over 2012
totals;
• As many as 40% of respondents said they waited longer than
last year to initiate contact with B2B vendors;
• As many as 34% of respondents said the number of team
members involved in the B2B purchase process increased over
the past year;
• Almost two thirds (64%) of respondents said the winning
vendor’s content had a significant impact on their buying
decision;and
• More than two thirds (68%) of respondents agreed that the
number of sources used to research and evaluate purchase has
increased over the past year.
These findings – along with many other insights from the report –
explain some of the trends that are taking place throughout the B2B
purchasing spectrum,which includes increasing buyer awareness
of purchasing options and a growing need for vendors to produce
engaging educational content at every touch point.
Introduction
Please describe how the following aspects of your purchase process have changed over the past year:
We use more sources to research and evaluate purchases. 37%
32%
36%
36%
31%
We rely more on peer recommendations.
We spend more time researching purchases.
We spent more time using social media to research vendors and solutions.
STRONGLY AGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

Perhaps the most important trend for B2B marketers, the 2014 study
revealed encouraging statistics regarding buyer satisfaction
levels, spurred by a noticeable increase in approval of the B2B
buying process.
Buyers who were asked to rate the overall experience of their last
major B2B purchase on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being “very positive”)
answered with an average rating of 4, with 79% of buyers rating their
experience with a positive “4” or “5.” This is a vast improvement from
the previous survey, in which only 21% of buyers felt either “satisfied”
or “very satisfied” with their last purchasing experience.
When looking deeper into the results, there are a number of factors
that contributed to this turnaround. For one, buyers are savvier in how
they are approaching research processes now that there are more
outlets to explore. Between vendor web sites, search engines, and
recommendations via social media and trade publications, there is a
plethora of data for a potential buyer to determine what solution is the
right fit for their needs.
How The Buying Process Has Evolved
When asked to rate the overall
experience of their last major B2B
purchase, 79% of buyers rating their
experience with a positive “4” or “5.”
This is a vast improvement from the
2012 study.
The previous, survey results indicated that the buying process was not
only taking more time, but becoming more complex due to diverse
buyer decision-making along the way. That trend has continued this
year, with buyers specifically going out of their way to spend more time
researching sources and purchases, using social media and conducting
ROI analysis before any final decision is made. Almost half (46%) of
buyers create a short list of potential vendors and 33% conduct initial
research on solution options before the first communication with a
sales rep.
Has the number of team members usually involved in your
B2B purchase process changed over the past year?
Decreased
Not sure
Increased
14%
34%
52%
Do you wait longer to initiate contact with B2B vendors, on
average, than you did a year ago?
Yes
Not sure
No
15%
41%
44%

The 68% of respondents who said they used more sources to
research and evaluate purchases represents only a small increase
over those who shared the same sentiment in 2012 (66%). However,
there were increases across the board for other aspects of the
buying process:
58% of buyers agreed with the statement that they spent more
time researching purchases, compared to 48%;
53% of buyers said they relied more on peer recommendations,
versus only 19% of buyers surveyed in 2012;
37% of buyers said they spent more time using social media to
research solutions, almost double the 20% of respondents to the
previous; and
51% of buyers conducted a more detailed ROI analysis before
making a ﬁnal decision, compared to 30% in 2012.
Participation in the purchase process remained relatively unchanged
from the earlier report. Processes involving eight or more people slightly
declined from 12% to 8%, while processes involving one to three
people slightly increased from 50% to 55%. While overall participation
change was minimal, more respondents said there was an increase in
team members involved in the process (34%) than said there was a
decrease (14%).
Buyers are paying closer attention to how they budget for B2B
purchases than they did in the previous survey. In 2012, 48% of
respondents said their purchases were initially unbudgeted, and that
they allocated funds only after building an internal business case; in
2014, that number dropped to 34%. The amount of companies who
pre-approve their budget at the start of the ﬁscal year also dipped from
23% to 14%.
Not surprisingly, budget allocation plans vary depending on company
revenue. Companies with annual revenue above $100 million are
inclined to allocate the budget from a larger line item at a rate of 43%.
On the other hand, 40% of companies with annual revenue below
$100 million initially enter the purchase without a budget.
How The Buying Process Has Evolved

In 2014, 72% of respondents said they used social media to research
the solution purchase, a total that has gone unchanged since last
year’s survey. However, the amount of respondents who connected
directly with potential solution providers via social networking channels
increased by more than 57%.
LinkedIn is the top choice among senior executives who look to
connect via social media, whereas blogs are the top choice for
non-executives. One third (33%) of executives place Facebook at
the bottom of their social media priority list with an influence score
(on a 1 to 7 scale) of 5, preferring to go the more professional route.
Regardless of demographic, the emerging Google+social media
channel always had the lowest influence score with a 6 average.
Respondents who didn’t believe the winning vendor’s content had a
significant impact on their purchasing decision unsurprisingly ranked
YouTube/Vimeo almost a full point lower (5) than respondents who
did (4).
Social Media: More Up Close And Personal
What role did social media play in your research process? (Check all that apply)
Asked for suggestions
and recommendations
from other users
Browsed existing
discussions to learn
more about the topic
Connected with
individual thought
leaders to ask for
their opinions
Connected directly with
potential vendors
I did not use social
media for this purpose
22% 22% 23% 28% 57%
LinkedIn is the top choice among
senior executives who look to connect
via social media, whereas blogs are
the top choice for non-executives.

When comparing the eventual winning vendor to the rest of the
considered vendors, 61% of respondents agreed that the winning
vendor delivered a better mix of content appropriate for each stage of
the purchasing process. This variety enables the vendor to touch on as
many issues as possible that may capture a potential buyer’s interest
in a solution. According to the study, 66% of buyers agreed that the
winning vendor provided higher-quality content and 63% said the
winning vendor’s content was more conducive to building a business
case for the purchase.
In terms of content production, vendors still have to hit the right chords
with potential buyers before taking further steps. Close to half (42%) of
respondents neither agree nor disagree with the statement that the
winning vendor provided more content during the purchasing process.
This is a sign that the amount of distributed content isn’t as relevant to
buyers as the quality.
What Content Wins More Deals?
No
Not sure
Yes
your buying decision?
15%
20%
65%
0 8+2 - 41 5 - 7
How many pieces of content (e.g. white papers, articles, videos,
etc.) did you view from the winning vendor?
5%
8% 30%
52%
5%
61% of respondents agreed that the
winning vendor delivered a better mix
of content appropriate for each stage
of the purchasing process.

When buyers encounter the research process, they often search
the web and observe numerous solutions to really gauge what could
be the best fit. In fact, 46% of buyers use web search engines as their
first source when starting their research. After web search, vendor
web sites are the leading choice for both the second and third source
among buyers.
While social media comes in dead last as a first source of information
for B2B buyers, more are turning to social media when it comes to
second and third sources as they begin their research. Web search,
vendor web site and peers/colleagues still dominate the sources
consulted during initial research.
Once purchasers reach the vendor web site, they expect to be able
to hear more information about the product and service there than
anywhere else. More than one third of respondents (37%) ranked
general educational content such as white papers and infographics to
be the most important aspect featured on a vendor web site.
General educational content is vendor-neutral, and focuses particularly
on the industry itself and how solutions provide some sort of assistance
or convenience to the user. Individuals wading through this process
aren’t looking for a sales pitch, but rather are seeking generic
information to help them get up to speed.
The growing complexities of the buying process over the past two
years can certainly be attributed to the number of solution vendors
now available, in addition to the upsurge in means by which these
vendors can publicize themselves. For the second year in a row,
respondents ranked vendor response timeliness and ability to provide
relevant content as the two biggest impact drivers of the vendor
selection process.
At least 76% of those surveyed believed a timely response from the
vendor was important, while 71% emphasized the importance of
relevant information. Buyers then listed reviews and references from
industry peers (66%) and the vendor’s reputation as an industry thought
leader (61%) as additional major drivers of the process.
With timeliness and content being so vital in helping buyers complete
the selection process, vendors have to find ways to deliver their service
in an efficient manner to compete. This service could be improved
through a multitude of methods, whether that entails implementing
new sales and marketing automation technologies more in tune with
the individual buyers, training salespeople to be more adherent to
buyer needs or enhancing the marketing department to provide more
relevant content.
Discoverability Key To Success At Top Of Funnel
you began your solution research, in order of importance?
Web search
Trade or business media
Industry experts/analysts
Peers/colleagues
Vendor web site
Socialmedia/networks
59%
8%
First source
46% 18% 17% 1%
4%
9%
Second source
14% 26% 24%
7% 8%
12%
Third source
13% 18% 17% 6% 5%
16%

8 The 2012 B2B Buyer Landscape: New Challenges, New Complexity
An overwhelming majority (82%) of senior executives who took the
survey reported content as a significant driver of their buying decision,
a noticeably higher rate than the 54% of non-executives who believed
it held a major impact. While both executives and non-executives
believed the winning vendor provided a better mix of content to help
through each stage, the executives who took the poll were more
ambivalent than non-executives across the board when it comes to
content characteristics.
Almost half (47%) of executives didn’t even take into account whether
content by the winning vendor had any bias. The survey responses
suggest that while senior executives believe content had a substantial
impact on their buying decision, there may be other factors also
significant enough to drive a purchase.
Executives also viewed fewer pieces of content compared to non-
executives. Of the non-executives, 11% had viewed at least eight
pieces of content, whereas no executive looked at that many.
Companies earning less than $25 million per year comprised 61%
of buyers who said the winning vendor’s content had a significant
impact on the buying decision. This is a far cry from the percentage
of companies earning less than $25 million per year who didn’t think
content had a big impact on their purchase (26%). On the other
end, 11% of buyers speaking largely of the content’s impact earned
annual revenues of more than $500 million. The same demographic
encompassed 26% of buyers who feel content didn’t have a
noteworthy impact.
Conclusion: Keeping Buyers Happy
With satisfaction levels rising over previous years, B2B marketers must
continue to produce content that is trustworthy and relevant for every
stage in the process.
With buyers now waiting longer to reach out to vendors, it is up to the
vendor to provide top-notch content that can deliver all the information
a buyer needs to know about a solution. Vendors need to interact with
the selective buyer at every touch point.
Since the level of consumer satisfaction in 2014 was remarkably higher
than in the previous survey, it is clear that vendors are excelling in
capturing the buyer’s attention and gaining their trust. In 2014, vendors
have the task of not only continuing the success, but further refining
the process of tailoring their message to each buyer at every stage in
the process.
Relevant content, combined with a heightened level of communication
between the departments responsible for customer touch points
(such as sales/marketing, operations and information technology),
gives vendors the ability to build the trust necessary for a successful
relationship with the buyer.
Execs And Smaller Companies Value Content
An overwhelming majority (82%) of
senior executives said that content
was a significant driver of their
buying decisions.
About The Survey
The 2014 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey includes
responses from more than 150 respondents actively
involved in purchasing a business solution within the last
12 months.
Of the respondents, almost half of them (49.5%) reported annual
company revenue of less than $25 million, while 20.6% reported
revenue of $25-$100 million. Approximately 16.5% reported revenue
of $100-$500 million, and $13.4 reported revenue greater than
$500 million.
Primary decision-makers comprised 47% of the respondents, while
40% identified themselves as influencers/recommenders. The final
20% described their role as team members with equal influence on
the purchase decision.

The 2014 B2B Buyer Landscape: How content and social media are impacting the buyer journey
9
About
DemandGen Report
411 State Rt. 17 South,
Suite 410
Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 07604
P: 201.257.8528
F: 201.257.5281
info@demandgenreport.com
About Demand Gen Report
Demand Gen Report is a targeted e-media publication spotlighting
the strategies and solutions that help companies better align their
sales and marketing organizations, and ultimately, drive growth. A
key component of the publication’s editorial coverage focuses on the
sales and marketing automation tools that enable companies to better
measure and manage their multi-channel demand generation efforts.

The 2014 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (16)

More from Christophe Robinet

More from Christophe Robinet (14)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

The 2014 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey