Enquiro’s survey data shows that when it comes to business to business buying decisions, online influences such as vendor websites, search engines, and industry information websites are surpassing offline influences such as word of mouth and trade publications.

New York, NY – April 13, 2007 – Enquiro CEO & President, Gord Hotchkiss unveiled findings yesterday from the latest Enquiro survey conducted with B2B purchasers. The presentation, which took place at the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo in New York, gives marketers information about influencing factors in business-to-business buying decisions.

The objective of the survey, conducted with over 1000 B2B buyers, was to discover how people research B2B buying decisions online and how this varies by role within a company and by purchase phase. How do people navigate from awareness, through research and negotiation phases to the actual purchasing decision? What is the balance between online and offline influences? Do purchasers use search engines, and if so, which search engines and why? Do they use specific B2B search engines? When do they refer to a vendor’s site or an industry information site and what do they look for specifically?

Enquiro’s survey data shows that when it comes to business to business buying decisions, online influences such as vendor websites, search engines, and industry information websites are surpassing offline influences such as word of mouth and trade publications. Also, nearly 70% of users use search engines as a primary research resource, and Google remains the first choice for B2B purchasing research. In his presentation, Gord Hotchkiss showed how, “Vertical search becomes more important as buyers move through the sales funnel. In the researching phase, a purchaser is five times more likely to turn to a generic search engine for information.” Hotchkiss added, “However, as the purchaser moves from researching to negotiating, that gap closes, where nearly a third will look to vertical search engines such as business.com or KnowledgeStorm.”

The B2B survey has been supported by MarketingSherpa which was also a partner for Enquiro’s 2004 paper titled The Role of Search in Business to Business Buying Decisions. A newly added sponsor for this follow-up study is ZoomInfo. “As a leading business information search engine, ZoomInfo is a stakeholder and natural partner in the research that we are conducting,” says Bill Barnes, Enquiro’s EVP of Business Development. “They, along with others in the B2B vertical, will benefit from new data that is being released.”

Further information on this B2B research is available through Enquiro’s website. The comprehensive findings will be released as a whitepaper on the same website on April 30.


About Enquiro
One of North America’s leading search marketing firms, Enquiro helps B2B clients maximize their online presence through balanced marketing solutions. Its strategies are based on industry research and expertise in usability, and natural and sponsored search. Enquiro has also authored eye-tracking studies which have given marketers a greater understanding of user interaction with the major search engines and defined “Google’s Golden Triangle.”

About Gord Hotchkiss, President & CEO, Enquiro
Gord has been active in the marketing and advertising industry for 18 years. Starting as an award winning radio copywriter, he founded Hotchkiss Advertising Inc. in 1988. He has extensive experience creating and implementing marketing strategies for businesses in all sectors. Since 1997, he has focused primarily on website design and online marketing. Gord serves as an expert on online marketing for both the Gerson Lehrman Group and the Round Table Group. He is current chairperson of the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO) board. He also writes a regular column on search strategies for MediaPost publications and for enquiro.com’s NetProfit column.

Contact:
Andrew Spoeth, Director of Marketing
Enquiro Search Solutions, Inc.
1628 Dickson Ave., Suite 300
Kelowna, BC, Canada V1Y 9X1
1.800.277.9997
andrew.spoeth@enquiro.com