BI Revolution

Many professionals are turning to social media as a place of trust for their purchasing decisions and it’s no different for the IT industry. IT decision makers have a highly-regarded task of ensuring they recommend the best products and services for their organizations.

LinkedIn, Forrester Consulting, and Research Now zeroed in on these professionals to see how they utilize social media, including its effects on their purchasing decisions and how they engage with social.

According to Michael Weir, Head of Category Development for the Technology Industry at LinkedIn, “It’s no surprise that [IT decision makers] are heavy users of social networks. In fact, 85% have used at least one social network for business purposes.

What’s surprising is that 73% have engaged with an IT vendor on a social network – underscoring the value of the channel for IT marketers. Even more revealing is the fact that social media is now a critical source of influence across the entire decision making process, not just during the initial research phase.”

Marty Note
This is an imporant infographic because it move social into the find, herd and close aspect of business development where the ROI is substantial and undeniable. 

 

Via Lauren Moss, John van den Brink, Gladys Pintado

This piece was posted by Loren Sorenson for Hubspot, I selected it because as she says "If you aren’t prepared for the visual content revolution, you may be left in the dust.

Not convinced? Let's take a look at exactly how visual contentis positively contributing to marketing strategies -- it may just give you the push you need

"Learn why visual content is a critical part of your content creation strategy.

Here are some highlights:

**People remember only 20% of what they read

**83% of learning is visual

Condenses and Explains Large Amounts of Information

**Today, there is too much information on the Internet you have about 3 seconds to catch someone’s eyes so they'll consume your information.

Gives Your Brand an Identity

**Visual content draws people in, letting viewers better understand your brand's identity

Drives User Engagement

**If you've ever read a book with a child, you probably know they find pictures more interesting than words; but are adults really that different?

Selected by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond"

Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/Ifujbp]

Via janlgordon, Beth Kanter