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ENGINEERS AREN’T YOUR AVERAGE B2B PROFILE

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• Understanding the engineer’s buyer journey

• Marketing must be multichannel• The changing face (and mind) of

engineering• Delivering content across digital resources• Understanding digital preferences by age:

slicing up social• Matching content with each stage in their

journey

LET’S SEE WHAT MAKES THEM TICK

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UNDERSTANDING THE ENGINEER’S BUYER JOURNEYCut to the chase. Engineers don’t want to be told or sold. In fact, they often jump right to product specs. Engineers want convenient, accurate information and cold, hard facts. As a marketer, it’s your job to empower this audience with the information that is most valuable to them during phases of needs, analysis and research.

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ENGINEERS’ RESEARCH CYCLES ARE MUCH LONGER THAN YOUR AVERAGE B2B BUYEROnly after online investigating—which often includes up to 12 different resources—do engineers engage a live salesperson.  They also turn to peers to test their thinking—so word of mouth from trusted colleagues on reputable, fact-based reporting, industry resources data and proof of performance is also critical.

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MARKETING MUST BE MULTICHANNEL

Where do engineers turn first?

Traditional resources are still used, but the growing trend is definitely digital.

What does that mean for marketers?

Knowing where your audience goes first will allow you to align relevant messaging with online activities. For example: product demonstrations, how-to’s and animated infographics make great videos and serve immediate research needs.

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THE CHANGING FACE (AND MIND) OF ENGINEERINGDemographics are evolving. Long male dominated, the field is attracting an increasing number of females.But the biggest change is the veteran engineers with decades of experience and institutional knowledge retiring every day.This is giving way to a new, younger rank of engineers—a group even more active on social and increasingly reliant on digital media.

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DELIVERING CONTENT ACROSS DIGITAL RESOURCES

In the needs, analysis and research phases, engineers start with general search engines to seek out supplier websites, digital trade media publications and online catalogs. In the evaluation phase, engineers rely more on industry-specific search engines to look for data to help move them toward being able to make an informed decision.

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TOP DIGITAL CONTENT USED BY ENGINEERS

Webinars and online events. Seven out of 10 engineers say they’ve attended at last one event.

 

Video content. How-to videos, product demos and training videos are the three most popular types of content. 

Social media. Engineers are passive on social, preferring to read and watch rather than engage. Social helps amplify your reach and voice.

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UNDERSTANDING DIGITAL PREFERENCES BY AGE: SLICING UP SOCIAL

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MATCHING CONTENT WITH THE BUYER JOURNEY

MARKE TINGMESSAGE

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Engineers want content that’s easily accessible and “on demand,” quickly quenching their thirst for knowledge, peer affirmation, documented benchmarking, and best practices.

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WANT MORE INSIGHTS?

Download our free, info-packed eBook: “What makes engineers tick?” www.robertscomm.com/engineers  Check out what engineers have to say about being engineers here.