Supercharge H2 marketing with intent data

In B2B marketing, data enables us to challenge the way we think, learn, market and buy. As buyers expect more from their B2B buying experiences, leveraging the data available helps to maximise the customer journey. Using a combination of customer insight and intent data can enable B2B marketers to better understand the buyer journey and their purchase decisions and build better demand strategies. 

What is Intent data... is it a rising star for B2B marketing?

There are many reasons why intent data appeals to marketers. The ability to find people that are the in market by having sight of customers showing signs of researching a topic related to your product/solution is a powerful marketing tool. Intent data allows you to identify audiences that are actively looking - this is demonstrated by their actions online and/or the content they are consuming. As a result of this, marketing and sales are able to focus their time and messaging on those people showing signs of intent at that moment in time. Other benefits include an informed content strategy that delivers relevant content at the right time, departmental alignment throughout the customer journey and a great experience for your prospects and customers.

In light of the pandemic and the reality of budget cuts, never has there been so much scrutiny on how money is spent. Therefore it is likely that more and more B2B companies will incorporate intent data to their marketing strategy in H2 - mainly for the ability to focus marketing efforts on those showing buying signals, and for creating better quality leads for sales and ultimately drive sales conversion and revenue.

 Why is Intent data so relevant now?

Right now, more of us are working from home and spending longer online. As a result, advertising is cheaper than its even been. The flip side to this is that the data we had around conversion rates has become invalid and generally we’re seeing less favourable conversion rates. For this reason, there’s a real need for a laser focus on the target audience so that the conversion rates you achieve are from the people that matter and at the right time for them as well as you.

In the post-Covid landscape, you may need to re-prioritise your target audience - a practical way of doing this is to look at your target industries and drill down on those that have prospered during the pandemic - examples that spring to mind are tech, communications, food industries etc.

 Laser focus your marketing

Typically, businesses will build a target database based on a wide range of possible industries, decision-makers, geographies etc - targeting a large volume of businesses with common attributes to existing customers or simply just that they may be the type of business they’d like to sell to/be working with. Intent marketing allows you to breakdown your target audience and prioritise time and effort to those who are actively interested in what you’re doing/have to offer - resulting in better conversion rates in terms of marketing and sales activity.  

 The three layers of intent data

The layers of intent data are defined as

Aggregaters of intent data - for example Bombora and Cyance who have the ability to track IP and cookie data to identify companies and buyers who are researching certain topics. You can monitor key topics relevant to your products/solutions and focus your marketing on these types of companies that are still in market looking for your solution in spite of the pandemic.

3rd party publishers - for example Tech Target and Centaur Media pick up search traffic from Google to measure people searching certain terms and going through to these websites to consume relevant content. Where budgets permit, it can be powerful to get your brands here at the point at which your buyers are actively researching a topic relevant to your offering.   

1st party own data - this is your company data and insight using your MA platform, CRM and website for example. You can also drill into any IP tracking tools you may have such as Lead Forensics to identify who’s interacting with your brand and the different behaviours displayed. Using data from your MA and CRM tools you can track which segments are showing the best conversions and continue to test, monitor and adapt campaigns based on the intel captured.

Practical steps to get started…

There are a few practical steps you can take in-house to define a market that potentially has a higher propensity to buy from you:

1.      Collaborate:

Leverage insight from other departments like sales and account managers. These people are your eyes and your ears. They are talking to prospects and customers and therefore can give you great advice about:

a. industries that are performing well and still spending

b. what messaging/hooks are resonating right now

c. who you should be talking to at a company and decision-maker level - a broader decision-making universe is recommended post-Covid.

 Keep the conversation open with these departments so they can feedback quickly if a particular angle/sales message isn’t working.

2.      Data analysis:

Work with the appropriate people in your organisation to pull available CRM and revenue data. Use the data to analyse and identify existing high performing sectors. Other tactics can include:

a. Overlaying the data with those prospering industries to help you to define a market that potentially has a higher propensity to buy from you.

b. Re-prioritise target audiences if you’ve pivoted as a result of the pandemic – reviewing market data available on the types of products people are buying, for example, home office equipment, tech/telecoms products and cross-ref with your prospect data to identify those decision-makers that are more likely to buy at this time.

3.      Desk-based research:

There are some great resources freely available for you to see the impact of the pandemic on the macro environment – these include Gartner, IDC, Forrester reports etc. Desk-based research should be focused on the market as a whole with a critical focus on the impact of the latest Covid guidance. The insight gained at this stage will inform not only your target data but your messaging and CTA’s. 

In summary, intent can be a powerful tool for B2B marketers - particularly now, where budgets are smaller and there’s serious pressure to create better quality leads for sales and drive revenue. The insight gained through intent data can also enable you to better segment your data by creating messaging based on those content topics that you know are relevant to the intent data set. The benefits also extend to content marketing – by understanding the topics that interest your target audience you can create content that will be relevant and interest them – avoiding a nurture programme built on what you want to tell your buyers rather than what they want to hear.

Are you’re looking to incorporate intent data into your B2B marketing strategy and would you like to find out more about how it forms part of a demand programme? If so, drop me a DM with your question(s) and we can start a conversation.