Breaking Down the Dynamics

Technology has, in a sense, changed everything. It’s changed how we communicate, how we collaborate, how we work, how we play, how we learn and go to school, how we watch television and movies, etc.

The workplace especially has been heavily influenced by tech, creating roles that were previously nonexistent and extending roles that just covered support. One of these roles is the line of business decision maker or LOB, a position that once only applied to one, maybe two people, but now covers a team or several teams that oversee their IT purchasing and sometimes, decisions.

A video by TechTarget looked at the way technology has changed the dynamics of LOB, especially how teams relate to solutions or products that directly affect them and their departments. More importantly, the video looks at how marketers need to change their messaging when reaching these LOB leaders. The full video is below:

As a digital marketing company, we know the challenge of trying to reach these LOB executives; as the video suggests, the idea of a single buyer is outdated. Buying teams now consist of, at a minimum, five business executives or more. With this in mind, marketers should be writing and utilizing their content for these buying teams.  But who are they? What are the dynamics?

The New Roles of Purchasing

Today’s LOB decision makers are often involved in the purchasing decisions, however, these decisions usually focus on applications that directly affect them, such as HR or finance. These LOB teams begin their involvement at the very beginning of the purchasing path and are mostly dependent on the programs they’re using. This does not mean that IT isn’t involved in these purchases; on the contrary – any time there is integration or referencing of company data, IT will definitely be involved.

And speaking of infrastructure, this is still a prime area for IT departments. These types of purchases will always involve IT, but other decision makers might be involved in this as well, from the standpoint of how any changes might affect their current programs or any budget considerations.

Now that you know a little more about how purchasing is being done by LOB, how does this affect you as the technology marketer?

New Roles = New Marketing

With new roles in purchasing, there must be new ways to market to your target audience. Content, for instance, has paved new areas of opportunities to showcase thought leadership, address pain points and challenges, and offer new perspectives on solutions and services. With new purchasing roles and buying teams, marketers need to account for a shortened buying cycle and more complex buying teams. Today’s marketer not only needs to provide content – whether it be tech sheets, blogs, whitepapers, videos, infographics, etc – but also be available for potential buyers in the case they have questions.

Content, for instance, has paved new areas of opportunities to showcase thought leadership, address pain points and challenges, and offer new perspectives on solutions and services. Content is a perfect way to look at both sides of team members, describing business value and outcomes for COOs or CFOs and showcasing some of the functions and features of a product to gain the interest of the CIO and IT director.

Too often, once a prospective lead has come through, marketers go about their business and never try to follow up. Thankfully, this practice has been dwindling, as marketers are now becoming more aware that buyers still need helpful guidance and assistance on their purchasing journey.

The new roles of LOB purchasing teams are creating new avenues for marketers, allowing them to seize the reigns and become a champion for LOB teams. To do this, marketers first need to understand what the new roles are for LOB and then provide easily accessible content material to help those teams learn more about your solution or service.

Resources:

Get the Facts about the Teams Buying Enterprise Technology

Don't Miss the Mark with the Right Technology Buyer