B2B买家搜索分析（How Do B2B Buyers Search? ）

Kingson

By Kevin Newcomb | May 24, 2007

Enquiro Search Solutions近有研究表明：搜索引擎既为B2B买家研究市场提供了原始资料，又在很大程度上影响着买家的购买决策。（Enquiro Search Solutions为加拿大领先的搜索引擎营销公司，也是北美顶级公司之一。其总裁Gord Hotchkiss受2007厦门搜索引擎战略大会之邀担任演讲嘉宾。）

2007年B2B市场调查在2004年调查的基础之上，分析了用户怎样通过在线研究，从而产生购买决定。

调查发现：整个购买流程中，从了解阶段，到研究，到谈判，到最后的购买阶段，通用搜索引擎都是用户研究市场的首选。但是，越临近购买决定，用户越倾向于使用垂直引擎。



在了解阶段，65.3%的用户表示他们使用通用搜索引擎。到研究阶段，比例下降到51.8%，谈判阶段为42.1%，购买阶段为42.6%。

研究阶段中，买家使用通用搜索引擎的可能性比使用B2B搜索引擎高出五倍。随着研究进入后期，买家开始搜集信息准备谈判。许多买家用B2B垂直搜索引擎（如Business.com，knowledgeStorm.com 和 Thomasnet）搜集所需信息。谈判阶段，B2B搜索引擎优先使用者占到了22.1%，购买阶段占18%。

影响B2B买家的因素

最重要的两个因素：卖家网站和同事口头推荐。两大因素之后是搜索引擎和批发商网站。有27%的买家会用搜索引擎找到卖家网站，来自同事和其他线下的推荐也会让买家到引擎上搜索。由此可见，对于B2B卖家，在搜索引擎相关结果里有好的展示，其重要性不言而喻。

谈到通用搜索引擎，被访买家大部分指的是指Google，达77%之多。紧随其后的Yahoo占14%，微软占7%，其余2%为其他搜索引擎。

“这使得B2B营销人员更加重视通用搜索引擎，尤其是Google，重视页面在搜索引擎上的结果，”Enquiro首席执行官兼董事长Gord Hotchkiss说。

B2B买家搜索什么？

“对于B2B买家，简单就是好，”Hotchkiss说，“他们希望卖家提供的信息明确，易查找，且在买家公司内部转发交流方便。”

这一点很容易理解。Hotchkiss认为，市场研究人员往往不是唯一最终决策人，甚至和决策无缘。研究人员的任务可能是查找相关报价，技术参数，客户服务和支持数据，以供决策者参考。一些富媒体信息，如视频和个性广播，买家并不关注。

卖家设计登录页面时需注意，如果从通用搜索引擎过来的B2B访问者大多是为了研究市场，他们不会对“现在就购买”等提示有反应。

了解了买家的心态后，卖家就应该提供给市场研究人员了解产品细节的机会，让他们找到必要的资料，以进入下一步骤——购买阶段，并在这个阶段仍成为卖家的考虑对象。

B2B买家和消费者使用搜索结果的方式相似

B2B搜索和消费者搜索的相同之处是两者与搜索结果页的交互方式。就排名和点入率的关系，Enquiro曾做过两次针对消费者的研究，研究结果和本次研究结果吻合。

比如，2006年的消费者调查表明，有机搜索前四个结果获取的点入率为54.9%，其中排名第一的结果点入率占26.4%。而排名第一的赞助商结果获取的点入率为8.7%，比第二位的3.6%高出一倍多。

本次B2B研究指出，有机搜索前四个结果获取的点入率为52.6%，其中排名第一的结果点入率占27.1%。而排名第一的赞助商结果获取的点入率为7.4%，也比第二位的3.4%高出一倍多。

“通过不断的研究，我们会发现更多的相似点，”Hotchkiss 说。

不同买家角色决定不同搜索行为

本次研究明确区别出了四大买家角色：财务型（economic buyer），技术型（technical buyer），用户型（user buyer），以及辅导人员（coach buyer）。财务型买家是最终购买决策者，也是支票签署人。技术型买家由公司内部派出，保证购买产品符合公司的技术需求。用户是在一线使用产品或解决方案的人。辅导人员通常是内部灵通人事，负责推进购买过程，通常享有购买解决方案的特权。

对买家角色和搜索行为不同的探讨将在下半年出炉。Enquiro计划独立发布三大角色（财务型，技术型和用户型）的研究结果。

Kingson

For business to business (B2B) buyers, search engines are the primary research source, and one of the top influencers on purchasing decisions, according to the latest research from Enquiro Search Solutions.

In its Business to Business Survey 2007, Enquiro set out to update its 2004 B2B study and examine how people research B2B buying decisions online.

The study found that general search engines topped the list of research sources throughout the purchase cycle, from awareness, through research, negotiation and purchase phases. However, many buyers move toward vertical search engines as they get closer to making a buying decision.



In the awareness phase, 65.3 percent of users said they would start their research with a general search engine. That number dropped to 51.8 percent in the research phase, 42.1 percent in the negotiation phase, and 42.6 percent in the purchase phase.

The study found that in the researching phase, a purchaser is five times more likely to turn to a generic search engine for information than a B2B search engine. As purchasers enter the later research phase and start compiling information to begin the actual negotiation, many rely on B2B vertical search engines, such as Business.com, KnowledgeStorm, or Thomasnet, to help gather the detailed information they require. B2B search engines were the first choice of 22.1 percent of respondents in the negotiation phase, and 18 percent of respondents in the purchase phase.

Influences on B2B Buyers
The two factors that remain the most influential to buyers are a vendor's Web site and a word-of-mouth recommendation by a colleague. Right behind those two factors come search engines and distributors' Web sites. When you consider that another 27 percent of buyers will find a vendor's site via a search engine, and that a recommendation from a colleague or other offline influence will generally lead a buyer to a search engine, the importance of cultivating a strong presence in relevant search results becomes even more clear to B2B vendors.

And when buyers in the study were talking about using a general search engine, they usually meant Google. A whopping 77 percent of respondents prefer Google, compared to 14 percent who chose Yahoo, 7 percent who chose Microsoft, and 2 percent who chose another engine.

"This reinforces for B2B marketers the importance of having a presence on general search engines, especially a presence on Google," said Gord Hotchkiss, Enquiro's CEO and president.

What are B2B Buyers Searching For?
The study also revealed some things that B2B searchers are looking for in a Web site once they've found it. In all cases, B2B purchasers preferred to access information in a text format that was downloadable and portable.

"For B2B buyers, simpler is better," Hotchkiss said. "They want vendors to provide clear information, that's easy to get to and can be easily transferred within the buying organization."

The reason for that is simple, Hotchkiss said: The person doing the searching is not usually the only person involved in making the final decision, and in fact may not be involved in the decision at all. The researcher may be tasked with finding the relevant pricing information, technical specs, customer service and support data, which they in turn will need to present to the decision makers. Buyers found rich media, video and podcasts less important.

It's also important for vendors to consider that fact when building landing pages, Hotchkiss said. If most of the B2B visitors from a general search engine are coming to a site to do research, they are not going to respond to a call to action that urges them to "buy now," he said.

Instead, a vendor should use that knowledge to provide researchers with the opportunity to dig down into the details of their products, and make it easy for them to find what they need to move on to the next phase of the buying cycle, with the vendor still in their consideration set, he said.

B2B and Consumer Interaction with SERPs is Similar
One thing that remains the same between B2B and consumer search is the user interaction with the search results page. Enquiro has performed two previous consumer-focused studies of click throughs by position, and the results of those studies are consistent with this study.

In the 2006 consumer study, for example, the top four organic listings captured 54.9 percent of all the click throughs, with the number one organic result capturing 26.4 percent. In the sponsored listings, the top pay-per-click ad captured 8.7 percent of click throughs, more than twice those of the number two ad at 3.6 percent.

In this B2B study, the top four organic listings captured 52.6 percent of all the click throughs, with the number one organic result capturing 27.1 percent. In the sponsored listings, the top pay-per-click ad captured 7.4 percent of click throughs, which again was more than twice those of the number two ad at 3.4 percent.

"From study to study, we're seeing remarkably similar results," Hotchkiss said.

Search Behavior Varies by Buyers' Roles
Four major roles were identified for the survey: the economic buyer, the technical buyer, the user buyer and the coach buyer. The economic buyer is the person who ultimately makes the buying decisions and signs the check. The technical buyer is a person within an organization who is tasked with ensuring that whatever solution that is purchased needs the technical requirements of the company. The user buyer is the person on the front lines who will actually use the solution or product purchased. The coach buyer is an internal champion who helps move the sales process along and usually has a vested interest in the purchase of the solution.

The question of variances by role of the searcher will be answered later this year. Enquiro plans to release separate findings for the top three types of buyers in the survey, the economic buyer, technical buyer, and user buyer.

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