Since connection specifics have grown increasingly hazy as internet accessibility has increased, marketers must overcome many challenges in order to utilize IP addresses in B2B marketing fully.
Even a seasoned marketer may find navigating ISPs, VPNs, numerous free Wi-Fi hotspots, mobile devices and carriers, and remote work issues challenging. This is a typical scenario when a B2B marketer gets IP-based data, generally from anonymous web browser visits, and wants to learn more about the company behind the IP. Table stakes, in this case, frequently include the domain name or company linked to the traffic, a location, and some fundamental firmographics.
Here are the most common mistakes and misunderstandings consumers have with IP address marketing.
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Not taking the WFH revolution into account
Without a VPN, entire families or neighborhoods may appear to originate from the same IP address in today’s remote work environment, and frequently they appear to have consumer identities. B2B marketers typically experience meager match rates on social advertising when employing company contact information since people rarely utilize it when logging onto social networks.
A system that links these consumer identifiers with the companies where these individuals work to provide the most comprehensive view would be advantageous to marketers. This helps with social media campaigns as well, as experts frequently use their own credentials to set up accounts.
The misconception of “One IP, one answer”
The marketer must first understand how interrelated all of the aforementioned systems are—ISPs, VPNs, etc. and how several users may share an IP address.
For instance, two people could be utilizing a store’s free Wi-Fi while working for different businesses. Here, one IP address may have three or more affiliations. Marketers can identify the IP address of the ISP or even that the free Wi-Fi is connected to the business. Then, depending on their browsing history, any Wi-Fi user may or may not be immediately identified. In this situation, how can a marketer decide which audience to target with digital marketing?
Also Read: Techniques for B2B Marketers to Boost Customer Experience and Strengthen Trust
Marketers would benefit from a solution that includes data from numerous, disparate sources, including published network maps, system logins/user authentications, lead form fills, different kinds of beacons, mobile device information, and even “B2B2C user mappings,” given the complexity of mapping IPs to businesses. Each of these data collection techniques offers a unique perspective on people and enterprises. All of these sources of information should be combined by the solution, along with further details (such as the browser being used, any cookie information that may be present, timestamps, etc.), to present a probabilistic map of potential companies that could be hiding behind the IP address.
Refusing to use device fingerprinting
Given many of the problems with using an IP address alone, it is frequently possible to further segment audiences by using extra information related to the IP address. Beacons, which are frequently tiny, transparent images or a little piece of JavaScript, can help with this problem by gathering more data about the remote client. This data, which is sometimes referred to as the “User-Agent” string, is practically always included in web requests.
Language, time zone, web browser version, any unique add-ons the browser has, and even device kind are some of the details in a typical User-Agent. Individual surfing sessions from the same IP address can be further segmented by gathering this supplementary data.
Even if an IP address changes, additional elements like geolocation and timestamps can be utilized to identify the same person further.
Avoiding these mistakes can help ads target the correct people, even if marketing with IP addresses has become considerably more challenging.
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