By Robert Estupinian
I am sure that it is no surprise to anyone that executive level managers are first seeking the internet to get their information when doing research. What was not known is to what extent. According the “Rise of the Digital C-Suite” study from Forbes Insights and Google, the Internet has become the most valuable information resource for US executives.
The survey showed that online ranked ahead (by 74%) of at-home and at-work contacts, personal networks, trade publications and outside consultants as an information resource. Newspapers and magazines were secondary sources.
It is interesting to note that not long ago the main source of what was going on for executives were newspapers and trade journals. Now it is obvious that particularly due to convenience and the abundance of information the internet is the first choice.
When it comes to locating business information online, search engines were rated higher than other digital tools, such as blogs, social networking sites and subscription search services.
The most important information executives searched for online was competitor analysis (53%), followed by customer trends (41%), corporate developments (39%), technology trends (38%) and compliance and legal issues (26%).
Surprisingly, 53% of executives preferred to gather information themselves rather than delegate research tasks to employees.