Digital transformation and ongoing advancements in technology continue to disrupt business processes in virtually all industries, especially marketing. The advent of the internet and digital media contributed significantly to the evolution of marketing strategies, an evolution that continues to this day.
The need for data-driven marketing
Unlike the mass marketing approaches of the past, current marketing and sales strategies revolve around engaging specific customer segments and leading them step-by-step through the buyer’s journey. While digital marketing tools have made it easier to execute lead generation initiatives, it is becoming more difficult for brands to stand out.
As such, more and more businesses are looking to data-driven marketing to acquire more leads, achieve sales targets and drive more revenue. This trend has resulted in brands leveraging intent data to grow their sales pipelines.
Why brands should use intent data
Knowledge, emotion and desire are some of the major drivers of human behavior, especially when it comes to purchasing decisions. Successful marketers learn to read the behavioral signals of prospective buyers and use insights derived from such signals to push their prospects further down the sales funnel. Such signals are known as intent data and include actions such as downloading a white paper, attending a webinar and opening an email.
Intent data is focused on predicting buyers’ intentions based on their online behavior. Buyers who actively search for a particular product or service are exhibiting an intent or predisposition to purchase.
How to use intent data
Marketers are using intent data to develop personalized and strategic campaigns. When used properly, intent can help brands better prioritize qualified leads and identify potential buyers before the competition does.
More personalization
Intent data allows businesses to precisely target prospects through a highly personalized marketing approach. Since intent data provides insights into what the target audience is looking for, brands can create funnels that look and feel as if they were designed for the individual rather than a demographic.
Improve account-based marketing efforts (ABM)
When marketing supplies high-quality intent data about client accounts to sales departments, sales leaders can justify increasing efforts and allocating more resources to cover the accounts in question. Intent data helps sales executives focus their best efforts on the accounts that are more likely to generate significant revenue, thus helping them meet sales targets faster.
Countering threats from competitors
Intent data can also help marketers identify and counter the actions of competitors that are targeting their leads. Although companies have almost no way of knowing the impact of their competitors’ marketing efforts on active prospects, intent data can help identify competitors that prospects are interested in. With such data brands can redesign their marketing efforts and alter their sales conversations to deal with the threat.
Increase ROI with intent data
Research indicates that businesses that effectively implement data-driven marketing are six times more likely to bring in higher profits and five times more likely to have better customer retention rates than the competition. Brands that effectively use intent data to focus their marketing efforts will generate more high-quality leads, reduce costs in terms of acquiring and retaining customers and raise their revenue levels.
Contact DemandWorks Media to learn more about how to use intent data to grow your sales pipeline.