The B2B marketing and advertising landscape has never been as opportunity-rich and sophisticated as it is today. But that doesn’t mean it’s not without its challenges.
A recent survey of U.S. and UK B2B marketers found that the biggest problem B2B marketers are seeking to address with their new technology investments is the fact that their data isn't normalized across systems. At the same time, another recent B2B marketer survey found that, worldwide, B2B marketers report that the most challenging aspects of using data to drive demand is measuring results (41 percent), followed by making data actionable (39 percent) and identifying target audiences and accounts (33 percent).
Here's the good news: With the right data investments and partners, marketers can address each and every one of the above challenges. When it comes to vetting data sources and partners, B2B marketers should:
- Identify partners whose third-party data is normalized and interoperable across the systems in which they need to operate.
- Invest in data and partnerships designed with measurability in mind—specifically cross-channel, ID-agnostic third-party data.
- Look for third-party data that is actionable (i.e., packaged into segments to use for targeting).
- Seek out data partners that enable them to find their total addressable market through account-based marketing (ABM) and by matching contact data to consumer IDs to reach audiences on every device they’re using.
In seeking to overcome the above challenges, B2B marketers should be investigating ABM-focused solutions, as well as unique B2B audience segments and B2B to consumer contact linkage. In this regard, Eyeota, a Dun & Bradstreet company, has never been better positioned to help B2B marketers achieve these goals.
Account-Based Marketing Solutions: With the right data, B2B marketers can directly match to highly targeted and pre-qualified company lists of existing customers for cross-selling. Through the D-U-N-S® Number, corporate relationships and corporate linkages can be unlocked, enabling marketers to identify the full corporate hierarchy. Likewise, your prospect list can be used as a seedset to find more companies that over-index for specific targeting attributes, providing wider scale.
B2B Audience Segments: D&B's Standard Taxonomy offers hundreds of firmographic targets based on company size and type, industry, job function and decision-making authority across channels, and D&B has recently expanded its audience solutions offering beyond the U.S. to allow marketers to target B2B buyers with consistency in Europe and Asia. Marketers can complement their ABM targeting strategy with these unique B2B audience segments and amplify them with intent signals. By leveraging B2B intent indicators to identify which of your target companies are actively researching your products and services, you can ensure you know when (and what) your customers and prospects want to hear from you.
Business-to-Consumer identity linkages: The right combination of data sources also unlocks the power of a B2B to consumer identity linkage that powers unparalleled audience creation, reach, and expansion. With B2B2C identity linkages, marketers can achieve true multi-channel marketing by tying business and consumer data together to create the most complete, interlinked web of multi-channel B2B audience targeting data available. Likewise, by combining B2B2C linkages with the full breadth of available consumer attributes data, such as sociodemographics, lifestyle, interests and purchase intent brands can achieve a deeper, more holistic understanding of their audiences so they can optimize campaigns for better ROI and ultimately increase sales.
Contact our team at datadesk@eyeota.com for more information about D&B and Eyeota B2B solutions.
