{"id":134990,"date":"2022-09-05T15:51:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-05T14:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/?p=134990"},"modified":"2022-12-20T10:04:39","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T10:04:39","slug":"technology-changing-consumer-behaviour-is-biggest-marketing-trend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/digital-marketing-strategy\/technology-changing-consumer-behaviour-is-biggest-marketing-trend\/","title":{"rendered":"Need a marketing plan for your technology company?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know marketing in tech is done differently to other industries, but what makes a great technology company marketing plan?<\/h2>\n

The IT and High-tech industries are well-known for innovation. But having a great product is only half of the work of a successful go-to-market strategy. Now more than ever, it's crucial for marketers to step up and add value, to help differentiate and stay ahead of the fierce competition in the sector. How do you do that? Read our steps to creating a winning marketing plan for your technology company.<\/p>\n

Why invest in marketing for tech?<\/h3>\n

Worldwide IT spending in 2023 projected to total $4.6 trillion in 2021<\/a>, an increase of 5.1% from 2022. Your marketing plan is more important than ever in securing your market share of that growth.<\/p>\n

Clearly, marketing plans for technology companies need to develop to take advantage of all the omnichannel tactics available to the modern marketer. In fact, in our latest digital marketing maturity benchmarks report<\/a>, responders from the 'IT, High Tech and Telecomms' sector reported the greatest increase for all sectors in using technology for 'demonstration to prospects' and 'onboarding customers'.<\/p>\n

Structure your technology company marketing plan with our RACE Growth System<\/h3>\n

Insights from LinkedIn's global B2B Technology Buying survey show many decision-makers are active in all stages of a new technology purchase; including problem identification, vendor research, shortlisting, and purchasing. This means technology marketers need to implement an omnichannel approach to planning their tech marketing.<\/p>\n

After all, your buyer may discover you while searching online for an answer to their problem (SEO), they may read about you on a social media post (yours or somebody else's) or in an e-newsletter, they may hear your name in a board meeting and head to your website. All of these touch-points have been identified as valid start points for your relationship with your customer. So, planning your customer journey and nurturing your leads\/prospects toward that all-important sale, is a must.<\/p>\n

We recommend structuring your marketing plan for your technology company around the RACE Growth System. This practical framework supports technology marketers to optimize their results from your digital marketing. Ultimately, it\u2019s about using a data-driven approach, applying web analytics and recommended best practices to get more commercial value from your investments in digital marketing for your technology company.<\/p>\n

As demonstrated in the infographic below, the RACE Growth System covers how to improve your marketing across the full customer journey, from generating awareness to build your audience, encouraging interaction, lead generation, purchase, and then loyalty. All the tools and training you need are available for Business Members in the RACE Practical Digital Strategy Learning Path<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Digital-Marketing-Lifecycle\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Use our RACE Growth System<\/a>\u00a0to structure your technology company's marketing plan. Key goals and measures are explained at each part of the customer lifecycle. Each stage of the RACE Growth System integrates a data-driven marketing approach, defining the KPIs that marketers need to set to measure their reach, interaction, conversion and engagement.<\/p>\n

Apply a step-by-step process so you can confidently set targets, review your results and utilize data and analytics to inform your optimization. Find out more.
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Is your IT\/High Tech business competing online?<\/h3>

With so much competition, you need to stand out. Use the RACE Growth Process to win more customers<\/p>Get Started Today<\/a><\/div>\"Tech\"<\/div><\/p>\n

Listen to your audience<\/h3>\n

Deciding to purchase technology is often a big decision, which has both emotional and rational factors. Your marketing plan must be informed by both. We recommend that marketers in the technology sector use social listening to inform their strategies. Thankfully, that's not difficult to do, especially this year with digital disruption bringing more conversations into the social sphere. LinkedIn found a 173% increase in IT Decision Makers engagement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Technology<\/p>\n

You can monitor what your audience is doing and saying online through social listening. This technique is defined in our Social Media Marketing Learning Path<\/a> as 'the management and analysis of customer data from social sources, used to activate and recalibrate marketing and business programs'.<\/p>\n

To implement social listening for your technology company, we recommend you set up tracking on keywords related to your industry to monitor the following:<\/p>\n