Targeted access to these specialist audiences is provided through a growing range of data-driven digital products and services that are designed to deliver highly qualified leads, demand generation and buyer intent to technology vendors, connecting them with the right buyers at the right time to maximize return on investment and accelerate growth.
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Selected Informa Tech Digital Businesses brands |
Specialist Tech Research: Intelligence & Advisory Brands | | Specialist B2B Content: Brand & Content Brands | | B2B Buyer Intent & Demand Brands |
Omdia Canalys Wards | | Industry Dive Information Week Light Reading Heavy Reading AI Business | | NetLine |
Industry Background and Trends
The Informa Tech Digital Businesses sit at the intersection of tech and B2B marketing, each dynamic innovative markets in their own right, with what management believes are compelling structural growth drivers. This provides a strong underpin to the long-term growth ambitions of the Informa Tech Digital Businesses.
Technology transcends all aspects of daily life and work. Enterprise technology, incorporating software and hardware systems used by large organizations for anything from customer relationship management to networking and cyber security, is central to operating effectively and efficiently. The pace of innovation and change is rapid, creating a constant cycle of investment to enhance, upgrade and replace technology.
For the Informa Tech Digital Businesses, investment in innovation and growth in research & development budgets provide a leading indicator of demand for their products and services. Of the top 1,700 corporate R&D spenders in 2022, ICT hardware, software and ICT services were the segments attracting the greatest R&D investment, with software and ICT services increasing 19% year-on-year. This growth in technology-related R&D is driving a new wave of investment and innovation, enhancing existing products and inspiring the next generation of products and services.
Over time, the scale of technology purchasing, particularly enterprise technology, has grown in size, resulting in B2B buying behavior becoming more complex. This complexity has led to longer sales cycles as more research is undertaken on purchasing technology products and platforms. Typically, large technology decisions will involve a number of people across an organization from technology professionals to CIOs, CFOs and often CEOs. This research takes many forms, with an increasing amount conducted online, including by reading specialist content, reviews, information, product profiles and bespoke research, as well as through webinars and online discussions.
According to Gartner, it is estimated that as much as 80% of the B2B buyer journey is now completed before a buyer might make contact with the sales team of a vendor. For technology vendors, online presence and digital brand visibility are therefore critical, leading to more companies focusing spend on branded content services, thought leadership and whitepaper distribution, digital event participation and advertising on the most relevant platforms and media.
Management believes the Informa Tech Digital Businesses are at the center of this shift in B2B buyer behavior, delivering highly relevant content and research to technology buyers that informs, educates and influences them along the different stages of their buyer journey.
These interactions with its content – who reads what, who clicks to find out more, how long buyers spend on specific websites, etc. – and general online behavior, when captured, enriched and analyzed, provide deep insights into who potential customers are, what products and services they might be interested in, where they are in their purchasing cycle and how significant is the intent to purchase.