For many touch points along their journey, B2B buyers have evolved to prefer online channels, and it’s up to B2B marketers to take the competitive lead and provide them with the finest experience. The road ahead may be difficult, but the destination is clear.
According to a 2021 survey by Gartner, “Adapt Your Sales Force to Meet Current B2B Buyer Trends”, by 2025, 80% of B2B sales will move to a hybrid sales model.
Data should drive an identification strategy that can enable targeted advertising and account-based marketing (ABM) now that third-party cookies are being phased out. Key indicators must be the focus of insights in order to swiftly find fresh opportunities. To drive omnichannel marketing at scale, technology should be orchestrated.
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Data: To drive targeting, a first-party data identity graph is used
There are several advantages to using first-party data over third-party data. It’s more precise, stable, and applicable to a marketer’s own firm. However, it frequently lacks scalability, limiting B2B marketers in particular. Identity graphs, which connect multiple data sets, clean data, and set the stage for marketers to activate data through partnerships, are being developed to address this limitation.
First-party data isn’t usable for programmatic advertising without an identity graph, and sharing insights securely is significantly more difficult. B2B marketers should evaluate what data they already have, how they might integrate it to build a more complete 360-degree view of their customers, and what they will need to activate it across channels and partners.
Furthermore, an identity graph will show marketers what data they are lacking, such as intent data, which can help marketers discover new opportunities and design more relevant campaigns.
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Insights: Focused reporting on the proper metrics
The desire for insights goes hand in hand with data. Single-event data from particular marketing campaigns do not provide a clear picture of real performance. For example, if a B2B team has separate reporting for connected TV (CTV) and search advertising, they will never be able to comprehend how a single prospect interacted across all channels during the customer journey.
Marketing insights should be organized into a cohesive whole in order to see the entire impact of marketing across a customer journey. Marketers can use omnichannel analytics to make better judgments about which channels to invest more money in, as well as segmentation.
Boston Consulting Group’s research, “Customer insights” shows 80% of organizations have only the most basic customer insight tools and capabilities, and they underuse what little they have. Insight isn’t simply a useful tool for marketers as they manage their budget; it’s also a significant competitive differentiator.
Omnichannel marketing: Create tailored ABM across channels
The standard, not the exception, is omnichannel marketing. In the end, B2B marketers are marketing to individuals, not corporations, and people are comfortable moving between channels.
“Omnichannel” may appear to signify “every channel,” but this isn’t always the case. For many B2B marketers, starting with “every channel that matters to clients” is a smart method to develop a successful omnichannel marketing strategy. If a B2B company’s customers prefer to order online and are unlikely to need to order on their phones, its omnichannel strategy doesn’t need to prioritize a new mobile app just to cover all the bases. Instead, the company should analyze individual customer journeys to see where customers are leaving the website and where they are heading, as well as how additional channels, such as email or search, could assist build a better experience.
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