Not surprising. We've always found that companies ranking higher in natural search results are automatically assumed to be a top player in their industry. That exposure is similar to when you see a company with full-page ads in all the trade pubs you read - you tend to think they must do pretty well. (But the investment is much smaller.)

So, if 24% of these purchase decisions are influenced by natural search performance, what other factors come into playr? Here's a quick rundown of a few:

Word of mouth - 48%
Conferences/trade events - 42%
Print magazines - 40%
Online magazines - 36%
Direct mail 15%
Radio/TV - 4%
Cold calls - 3%

Also interesting is that the bigger the tech marketer, the less they spend on online marketing. SEO makes sense for all companies, since the investment is relatively low - consider the costs of sending a team to major conferences and maintaining a consistent presence in print! But the good thing about search is that the payoff is high, making for a favorable ROI...

Figures approximated from Marketing Sherpa and CNET, Business Technology Buyers' Survey, May 2006

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