With IT budgets on the rise and most organizations planning significant purchases in 2011-12, opportunities for IT Hardware marketers abound. We surveyed 800 IT leaders and C-level executives in the U.S. who are involved in hardware purchase decisions at their companies and are active members of LinkedIn. The study examined decision-making responsibilities, LinkedIn usage, trust factors, purchase intentions, and brand affinities.

1. Marketing Solutions
Reach Senior IT Executives
with LinkedIn
IT DECISION MAKERS LinkedIn IT Hardware Buyer Audience Study, 2011
ON LINKEDIN
With IT budgets on the rise and most organizations planning significant
ACTIVE BUYERS purchases in 2011-12, opportunities for IT Hardware marketers abound.
100% plan hardware purchases in LinkedIn’s membership includes leaders from every Fortune 500 company1
the next 12 months as well as executives at thousands of small and mid-sized businesses.
LinkedIn connects marketers with the most influential, affluent, and
75% plan hardware purchases in
educated audience on the web2 – but can it connect you with senior IT
3 or more categories
executives? This is the question we examined in LinkedIn’s 2011 U.S. IT
Hardware Buyer audience study.
ENGAGED
Spend 5-9x more time on LinkedIn
We surveyed 800 IT leaders and C-level executives in the U.S. who are
than leading IT channels
involved in hardware purchase decisions at their companies and are active
members of LinkedIn. The study examined decision-making responsibilities,
CONNECTED LinkedIn usage, trust factors, purchase intentions, and brand affinities to
Network with 3-5x more colleagues
learn whether executives on LinkedIn:
than the average LinkedIn member
• Actively use LinkedIn to do their jobs and make IT decisions
TRUST LINKEDIN & THEIR
• Influence and direct IT hardware purchase decisions at their companies
PROFESSIONAL NETWORK
98% rely on their work colleagues / • Have budget for major IT hardware purchases in the next 12 months
professional network for IT product
• Recognize and recommend specific hardware brands
recommendations
63% look specifically to LinkedIn
for IT information SENIORITY OF HARDWARE BUYER STUDY PARTICIPANTS
CIO, CTO, COO IT C-LEVEL
VP
DIRECTOR IT LEADERS
MANAGER
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Participants in LinkedIn’s 2011 IT Hardware Buyer audience study included a representative sample of C-level IT
executives (CIOs, CTOs, and COOs with IT responsibilities) and IT Leaders (VPs, Directors, and Managers). At the time
the survey was conducted, 87,000 IT decision makers were active on LinkedIn each month, and the number continue to
grow. Base: all survey respondents (n=800)
IT executives are active on LinkedIn – and not just for
job searches
The number of channels that compete for the attention of technology
leaders is on the rise. How are these IT leaders using LinkedIn, and how
does their LinkedIn usage compare with time spent on leading IT channels?
As a group, IT professionals tend to be early adopters and have long been
actively engaged on LinkedIn. In fact, IT professionals who visit LinkedIn
spend more time on site per visit – and view more pages per visit – than
they do at leading IT sites such as ZDNet, IDG, and Ziff Davis Enterprise.3
1

2. IT PROFESSIONALS ON LINKEDIN ARE HIGHLY
ENGAGED
34
Average Pages per Visitor (US)
Minutes per Visitor (US)
19
4
3 3 2 2
2
LinkedIn ZDNet IDG Tech Network Ziff Davis Enterprise
Sites
IT professionals spend more time and view more pages per visit on LinkedIn than on leading IT sites.4
Do IT executives spend their time on LinkedIn to network, share
recommendations, and seek IT information – or are they simply looking
for jobs? We examined the activities of IT executives on LinkedIn during
a typical month. IT executives primarily use Linked to engage in
professional networking activities, view people and profiles, participate in
LinkedIn Groups around a professional interest, and learn about
companies and products. Participation in each of these activities exceeds
job hunting by a wide margin.5
IT execs on LinkedIn are senior decision makers
It can be difficult for marketing professionals to ensure that their
messages are reaching the right people at the right level in an
organization. LinkedIn makes it easier for marketers to reach their target
audience, because LinkedIn members participate under their real names
and organizational affiliations, and senior executives comprise a
significant portion of the overall audience.
Of the 800 IT executives who participated the LinkedIn IT Hardware Buyer
audience study, 57 percent were director level or above,6 and all play a
significant role in hardware purchase decisions in their companies.
LINKEDIN MEMBERS DRIVE IT PURCHASE DECISIONS
What role(s) do you typically play in purchases of IT products or services for your
company or institution?
FINAL DECISION MAKER
PART OF DECISION COMMITTEE
SET BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS &
BUDGET
RECOMMEND BRANDS TO
CONSIDER
SET TECH. REQUIREMENTS
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
IT C-Level IT Leaders
C-level IT execs on LinkedIn are most likely to be the final decision makers in IT purchase decisions, and IT leaders strongly
influence every phase of the purchase process. Base: All survey respondents. IT Leaders (n=656), IT C-Level (n=144)
2

3. IT execs trust their colleagues and professional networks IT EXECS ON LINKEDIN
According to Forrester Research, business technology buyers consistently ARE ACTIVE BUYERS
rank ‘peers and colleagues’ as the number one source of influence in the
buying process.7 The LinkedIn Hardware Buyer audience study reinforces
75%
this finding, with 98% of IT executives looking to their colleagues and
professional networks for trusted advice on IT purchases.
IT executives on LinkedIn are exceptionally well connected, with three to OF IT EXECUTIVES SURVEYED
five times more connections in their professional network than the average BUDGETED FOR
LinkedIn member.8
3 OR MORE
LINKEDIN CONNECTS IT DECISION MAKERS TO
MAJOR
TRUSTED ADVICE HARDWARE
When deciding whether to purchase a particular IT product or service for your company
or institution, do you trust recommendations from the following sources?
PURCHASES
IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS
WORK COLLEAGUES/
PROFESSIONAL NETWORK 98%
VALUE-ADDED RESELLERS/
SYSTEM INTEGRATORS 81%
WHITEPAPER 70%
IT COMPANY’S WEBSITE 36%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
‘Work colleagues/professional network’ is the #1 trusted resource for IT Hardware Buyers on LinkedIn, surpassing other
trusted sources of information. Base: all survey respondents (n=800)
IT executives consider LinkedIn to be an important asset in getting their jobs
done, with over half of respondents rating LinkedIn a good resource for:
• Getting information about IT companies, services, or products
• Getting advice on how to solve an IT product or service challenge
• Finding recommendations about IT products or services
• Staying on top of the latest news or trends in the IT industry
Additionally, 20 percent of IT leaders and 17 percent of C-level IT executives
stated that information on LinkedIn had directly influenced a recent purchase
decision.
IT execs on LinkedIn are active IT Hardware buyers
With major analyst firms reporting rising spending across most IT hardware
categories in 2011-20129, it’s not surprising that most IT execs on LinkedIn
are planning major purchases.
We surveyed LinkedIn users on their purchase plans across major IT
hardware categories. Every IT executive surveyed had budgeted at least
one major hardware purchase in the next 12 months and 75% planned
purchases in 3 or more hardware categories. We looked at planned
purchases by category, company size, and measured awareness of 40
major brands of computers, servers, storage solutions, networking
devices, mobile phones and voice plans, landline phones and VOIP,
and printers. Contact your LinkedIn account executive for information
on specific brands and categories.
3

4. Advertise on LinkedIn BRANDS INCLUDED
LinkedIn is a powerful vehicle for IT marketers to reach their target IN THE STUDY
audience. Our marketing solutions provide advertisers with the ability to
target audiences based on our members’ profile information, including job 3COM JUNIPER
title, job function, seniority, company name, company size, industry, and
8X8 KODAK
geography.
ACER LENOVO
To learn more about the LinkedIn IT Hardware Buyer audience study and APPLE LG
how you can tap into LinkedIn’s audience of affluent, influential,
AVAYA MICROSOFT
hard-to-reach professionals, contact your LinkedIn account executive.
BARRACUDA MOTOROLA
BLACKBERRY NEC
Methodology
BROTHER NETAPP
LinkedIn’s 2011 U.S. IT Hardware Audience Study was an online survey
fielded in Q1 2011. The survey was conducted with 800 active, U.S. BUFFALO NETGEAR
LinkedIn members whose LinkedIn profiles met the definition of IT Leaders CANON NOKIA
and C-Level execs in organizations of 200 or more employees, and who
CISCO NORTEL
were screened for their involvement in IT hardware purchase decisions
within their organizations. For the purposes of this survey, ‘active’ means a DELL ORACLE
LinkedIn member who has used LinkedIn at least once in the last 30 days. EMC PALM
EPSON SAMSUNG
The demographics of the survey were representative of the broader
LinkedIn Audience at the time the survey was conducted. A total of 800 FABRK SEAGATE/MAXTOR
LinkedIn members completed the survey, however, a number of analyses HITACHI SONY
focused on subsets of participants (n ~656 and n~144). The margin of
HP SUN MICROSYSTEMS
error on reported percentages is +/- 3.5% for the entire sample. The
margins of error for subgroup analyses are +/- 3.8% for the IT Leader HTC TOSHIBA
subgroup (n=656) and +/- 8.2% for the C-Level executive subgroup IBM WESTERN DIGITAL
(n=144), assuming a 95% confidence level.
IOMEGA XEROX
IT hardware product categories included in this study: computers, servers,
storage, networking devices, mobile phones and voice plans, landline
phones and VOIP, printers.
For more information
http://marketing.linkedin.com/contact
1
As of January 2011, LinkedIn counts executives from all 2010 Fortune 500 companies as members.
2
The Nielsen Company @Plan data, released December 2010. U.S. LinkedIn members include more
decision makers, more college and post graduates, with higher average household incomes, than
many leading business websites.
3
Comparative pages per visitor and minutes per visitor from the Nielsen Company, @Plan January
2011.
4
Nielsen Company, @Plan January 2011.
5
For example, in January 2011, 90% of active IT executives communicated with their network, 82%
searched or viewed profiles, and 31% participated in a LinkedIn group for like-minded professionals,
whereas only 12% looked at job listings.
6
18 percent of participants in LinkedIn’s 2011 U.S. IT Hardware Buyer Audience Study 2011 were
C-level executives in IT (CIOs, CTOs , COOs), 16 percent were vice presidents, 23 percent directors,
and 43 percent managers.
7
Kim Celestre, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research, referencing Forrester’s Social Technographics®
findings in her June 14, 2011 report, "The Social Tech Product Launch: Monitor Social Conversations
to Guide New Product Introductions.”
8
‘Number of connections’ data based on LinkedIn active audience statistics, January 2011.
9
Andrew Bartels, Vice President and Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, “Mid-year update: Tech
Industry Outlook for 2011 and 2012” (teleconference presentation), June 23, 2011.
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