ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS column: Part 027: Does your website provide decision-makers and search engines with the information they need?

In addition to trade fairs, recommendations and consultations, more and more B2B decision-makers are citing the internet as a source for purchasing decisions. Various studies confirm that 85% of purchasing decision-makers have already found suppliers via the Internet. The iROI Internet Marketing Strategy has derived three recommendations for marketing managers for company websites.

The Internet has arrived in the B2B world in Germany and has become an integral part of everyday working life, according to the study "Web utilisation of German B2B decision-makers" conducted by Virtual Identity in cooperation with Google Germany. This study was based on 750 telephone interviews with B2B decision-makers. B2B decision-makers not only use the Internet for private purposes, but increasingly as an information channel for preparing investment decisions.

This study was based on 750 telephone interviews with B2B decision-makers. The main question was which information channels are used before an investment decision is made. Decision-makers primarily use search engines, supplier websites and specialised sources on the Internet to gain an overview of the market, the offers and the suppliers.

The information on the investment volume is also interesting. 30% of respondents invested less than €10,000, but 40% invested between €10,000 and €100,000. Nevertheless, 20% of respondents have spent between €100,000 and €500,000, 4% between €500,000 and €1 million. 6% of respondents have invested over €1 million.

Particularly in the case of electronic components, information behaviour is clearly dominated by the internet. In addition to trade fairs, recommendations and consultations, more and more B2B decision-makers are turning to the internet for their purchasing behaviour. This behaviour can be seen across the board in all positions, i.e. from managing directors, department heads and similar positions that play a significant role in an investment decision.

Results of the study "Web usage by German B2B decision-makers"

The most important results at a glance; they apply regardless of the economic sector and investment volume:

• 85% of all respondents have already found a future supplier via the Internet.
• B2B decision-makers spend two hours of their daily working time on the web.
• The Internet is the most important source of information for your own area of specialisation and for creating a market overview.
• Search engines and manufacturer websites in particular are critical sources of information for preparing an investment decision.
• As many as 40% of B2B decision-makers regularly use internet forums for professional purposes. 28% of these actively participate in the dialogues.

Companies can secure a share of this market volume

Despite all the reservations about the Internet, companies can now use these facts and figures to decide whether they want to leave this market pie to the faster competitor or secure a significant share of the market volume for themselves.

The iROI Internet Marketing Strategy has derived recommendations for marketing managers from this study:

Firstly, it is crucial for your current and future business to be present on the web and easily found by search engines. Your website must be strategically structured, optimally serve people and search engines with good content and be accessible by good target group owners (e.g. trade magazines) through links, white papers, etc. This will help you gain a good online reputation. This will give you a good reputation on the Internet.

Secondly, the rapid spread of social media has not left out the B2B environment and demands an active approach to these platforms.

Thirdly, easy accessibility in the offline world is very important: typically, at some point in the decision-making process, there will be a transition from the search for information to direct contact with the company. At this point, the potential investor must be quickly offered the right contact person to call or email. Unfortunately, this is not the case with many B2B websites and the potential customer looks elsewhere.

My recommendation: Keep yourself regularly informed about new developments in these areas in order to be able to act successfully, e.g. in the video newsletter. And if you are responsible for marketing and communication, then you should definitely utilise the potential of the internet and social media for the success of your B2B company.