Case Study Subscriber Survey

One of our media clients with print, online, and conference offerings was intensely concerned with the issue of where advertisers should place their ads for greatest effectiveness: print, online or conferences. The audience consisted of software and hardware developers, engineers and programmers.

"Finding the right mix of channels..."

What was the most effective mix of media for advertisers to reach their audiences?

The survey was designed to determine which basic engineering designs, technologies, systems, operating systems, languages, projects were being currently used and projected for use. Further the survey identified two types of key decision makers:

  • Those who were involved making high stakes decisions about technology and engineering issues -- decisions usually involving professional engineers at staff or project leadership level.
  • Those who were involved in making high stakes decisions about managerial issues -- decisions usually made by middle level managers and executives.

"The innovative part of this project was to delve into "real-life high-stakes decisions"

The innovative part of this project was to delve into "real-life high-stakes decisions" that respondents had been recently involved in. Given that important decisions are made in hundreds of different ways, it is very difficult to characterize common models of decision making (committees, individuals, teams, collaboration, consultants, one person decision, CEO directive), we asked both engineers and managers to...

  • Describe ONE in-depth recent high-stakes decision they had been involved with
  • The problem this decision was trying to resolve
  • The budget for this decision
  • The sources of information used in these decisions (media)
  • The role the respondent had in the decision and solution
  • The criteria used to evaluate effective solutions
  • The technologies/vendors and brands that were considered
  • The final vendor chosen
  • The effect of this decision on the enterprise
  • The degree of success achieved towards the goal.

With over 1,000 respondents, we were able to quantify which media were used most by managers, why they used these sources of information and in what types of situations they used the media. The ultimate answer turned out to be a split of the pie, showing that managers preferred conferences and print, whereas engineers preferred online and print, with conferences of lesser importance.

This allowed our client to recommend specific packages and mixes of print, online and conference advertising to get the highest value for the particular type of product or service being advertised.

"...the individual in-depth key decisions that respondents provided became an extraordinary sales tool for the sales force..."

In addition, the individual in-depth key decisions that respondents provided became an extraordinary sales tool for the advertising sales force of our client. Out of over 1,000 respondents, we had 500 cases in point of "Management Key Decisions" and anther 500 cases in point of "Engineering Key Decisions" each grouped into twelve industry categories. If a sales person were talking to an advertiser in one category, say "medical" or "hand held electronics", she could go to that category and directly show her advertiser how real managers and engineers were deciding on high dollar value products and services in that space -- a very powerful and electrifying experience for both the sales person and her client.

"...the data came alive."

Two dozen cases were selected as Key Examples of why subscribers purchased the products and services they did, why they selected one brand or vendor over another, and how they solved their problems. By reporting this data as in-depth cases of individual decisions, the data came alive. The client and their clients could almost taste, touch and feel what was going on in the frontlines of the business where sales are made. Our client's advertisers could not have had better illustrations of why it was important to advertise in print, at conferences, and online, and what mix would be most effective.

Bottom line: Making data real and alive puts our clients and, in turn, their clients as close to their audience's needs as is possible without actually being in the room when the decision is made. It also addresses the problem of the best media mix for different advertisers, allowing for personalized solution for each customer. Customizing your response to your audience is an amazingly effective way to increase customer retention rates and to show how much you care.