LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - May 13, 2014) - Today at its third annual SpiceWorld London user conference, Spiceworks showcased how the world's leading technology brands are using the company's social offerings to reach and engage with millions of IT professionals. Spiceworks' suite of social products are used by companies such as Microsoft, HP, Dropbox, VMware, Box and AMD to share information about their company, its products and services, and to connect directly with IT professionals who spend more than $550 billion on IT solutions each year.

According to Forrester, 82 percent of all U.S. business technology buyers and 78 percent of all European business technology buyers engage in some form of online social activity while working¹. Additionally, social channels impact every phase of the technology purchasing process, and buyers may be up to 90 percent through the process before reaching out to a vendor. Technology brands that embrace this change in buying behavior and meet IT professionals on their turf have an opportunity to shape how their brands are perceived and ways buyers interact with them.

"Broad social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter don't capture the breadth and depth of the applications, content and community IT professionals need to do their jobs every day," said Sanjay Castelino, vice president of Marketing at Spiceworks. "We're addressing this gap by giving five million IT professionals and 3,000 technology brands a professional network designed exclusively for them."

Technology brands tap Spiceworks to reach and engage with IT professionals on their terms

Thousands of brands use Spiceworks to reach and engage with IT professionals as they're managing their networks, connecting with peers, or reading the latest IT content from the network. Spiceworks helps technology brands have an ongoing conversation with their customers and prospects, keeping brands top of mind as buyers make purchasing decisions. Social offerings used by the world's leading technology brands include:

• Vendor Pages give brands a home within Spiceworks where they can share the content and information IT professionals need to make an informed buying decision. Vendors can add interactive content, host discussions about their products and services, and give IT professionals a way to follow news as it happens. Free and paid Vendor Page options are available to address the specific needs of technology brands.
• Product Pages allow brands to provide detailed product information to IT professionals in the network. Vendors can display product descriptions, technical specifications, ratings and reviews, and more. Brands can claim their Product Page for free or upgrade to a premium Page for added customization options. 
• Community Accounts allow vendors to showcase their technical expertise in a way that supports IT professionals as they're getting their jobs done. Community accounts allow employees of technology companies to post and reply in real-time to IT conversations taking place within the network. These representatives help make companies more approachable and add a human element not found in other mass-market networks. Over time, brand representatives become the voice and face of technology companies and a trusted advisor to IT professionals. 
• Community Brand Representatives allow Spiceworks to engage with IT professionals on a brand's behalf. The offering allows vendors with limited time and resources to keep their finger on the pulse of the network while building mindshare and relationships with millions of IT professionals.

Spiceworks' social offerings help vendors quantitatively monitor and track their progress on a regular basis to gauge their performance in the network and how they compare to their competition. Custom alerting on competitive news or broader topical discussions is also available.

More information on Spiceworks' suite of social offerings can be found here.

About SpiceWorld
Spiceworks' SpiceWorld user conference draws attendees from businesses across the world. The event features break-out sessions, expert discussions, and topics voted on by the network of IT professionals in Spiceworks. Sessions include in-person talks with the company's founders and product developers, top technology vendors, and industry experts. SpiceWorld conversations can be followed on Twitter at #SpiceWorldLondon.

About Spiceworks
Spiceworks is the professional network more than 5 million IT professionals use to connect with one another and over 3,000 technology brands. The company's platform simplifies how IT professionals discover, buy and manage more than $550 billion in technology products and services each year. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Spiceworks is backed by Adams Street Partners, Austin Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Goldman Sachs, Shasta Ventures and Tenaya Capital. For more information visit http://www.spiceworks.com

Follow Spiceworks on Twitter: http://twitter.com/spiceworks and connect with Spiceworks on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Spiceworks. 

Spiceworks is a registered trademark of Spiceworks, Inc. All other names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

¹ 2012 Social Technographics Of Your B2B Community Prospects, September 2012, Forrester Research, Inc.