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What IT Pre-Sales Engineers Really Think About b2b Content Marketing.
Video 8 of 18: Printed Versus Digital
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An edited transcript of the conversation is provided below.
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Video 8: Edited Transcript
This question's about printed versus digital marketing materials.
Maybe twenty years ago there were mostly printed materials.
Data sheets were requested from the vendor, or faxed through.
I can remember requesting and then having to wait for stuff.
Nowadays, you can get a lot of things online, that the vendors have made public.
Matthew, how do you see this (trend) evolving?
Are people still asking for printed materials? Or, is it over?
Visuals, Video, Value
Mark, I can't say that anyone's asked for printed materials.
I think if you have them and you're sitting in front of a customer, it makes a difference sometimes, especially if it gets to the point and actually highlights what it is you're trying to display.
Anything on the visual side that highlights product architecture,'speeds and feeds'; things like that are important.
But, a twenty page white paper that you've printed out, it's not going to do a lot of good.
Videos are really good provided they're not thirty minutes long - to show a product, a demo, things like that.
But definitely, I see far more on the digital side as being effective than printed.
There is still a role (for) printed but that typically, in my mind, is when you're sitting right in front of someone, talking to them.
(Technical) White Paper Wonderland
Matthew, just to go back to the white papers you expressed an interest in, the technical papers.
Do you print those out, or do you read them all on your laptop or your portable, or whatever you're using?
Yes, so I keep them on my laptop.
I used a program called 'Goodreader' on my iPad to store a lot of those manuals and papers and things.
Because it's so much easier than carrying 50 pounds of documentation around!
I'm a traditional book lover.
I love physical, printed books.
All the books I read for leisure are printed but when it comes to the technical stuff, there's so much more that I can carry around if I keep it in electronic format.
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