Data driven marketing

What is data driven marketing?

Data driven marketing is when businesses use information about their customers or their prospects to direct their B2B marketing efforts. It could be what types of audience to target, what channels to use, the right messages to apply or anything else – what matters is that the decisions were made by studying B2B data.

Quite simply, data driven marketing is more effective and more efficient. It means your marketing gets in front of people who are likely to be interested in it. And, because your marketing messages will be relevant to their pain points, they are more likely to respond.

Marketing data

To get the most from your B2B marketing budget, you need to target a narrow audience of people likely to be interested in your product. The best way to do this is to draw up an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and aim all of your messaging at this persona.

Data is the critical component when creating your ICP. Analyse your current customer base and look for common factors, including job title, company size, location and stage of growth. The more detailed the data you have on your customers, the more accurate the profile you will create.

The more you know about your customers, the easier it is to identify their pain points and craft a message that positions your product as the solution. This is the bedrock of data driven marketing.

Marketing tech

Every company is different and will have different requirements from their tech stack. However, some tools will be universal as you power your data driven marketing.

• CRM software – Your CRM system stores all the relevant data on your customers and prospects. Use it to analyse trends and identify shifts in your customer base.
• B2B lead generation software – B2B marketers need new names in order to identify potential leads that they can turn into customers. The best solutions allow you to segment the database, so you can create a list of new names that match your ICP.
• Email marketing software – Email is a fast, cost-effective and powerful way to introduce yourself to new leads. Set up sequences in your email marketing software that guide your prospect through your offering and log responses.

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Inbound strategy

Inbound marketing is a way to attract customers to your company, rather than going out and finding them yourself. B2B marketers create marketing content that makes a connection with the prospect, builds trust and educates them about their product. Then, when the prospect is ready to engage and consider making a purchase, they already know who to go to.

There are several ways to manage an inbound strategy. You could write blogs, set up email sequences, create video webinars, maintain a presence on social media, the possibilities are vast. However, you need to have an inbound strategy that is driven by data.

The more data you have on your ideal customers, the better you know them. That means you know where they hang out online, you know what content will engage them and you know when it’s time to take the relationship to the next level and get them to buy. A focused, well-managed inbound strategy is a key plank of data driven marketing.

Marketing campaigns

A B2B marketing campaign is where you execute on your strategy. It is a sequence of activities designed to promote your solution. Campaigns move leads through your funnel until they are ready to engage with your sales team on a one-to-one level.

Just as you use data to drive your decisions as you create your ICP and devise your marketing strategy, data is essential as your campaign progresses. Marketing campaigns produce data as they play out – your job is to use it to boost performance, now and in the future.

Here are four marketing methods for data driven marketing:

• Social media marketing – What types of social post resonate best with your audience? Do they like text-heavy posts, or ones with striking images, for example? Watch those likes and shares.
• Digital marketing – A/B test landing pages so you can monitor what types of copy produce the best conversion numbers.
• Email marketing – Use your email marketing software to monitor open rates, click-through rates and bounce rates. If your emails aren’t getting opened, you may want to alter your subject lines.
• Content marketing – What types of content get the most views, shares and responses?

Better data means better marketing

If you’re looking to bring data driven marketing into your business, it’s time to talk to Cognism.

• Identify more of your ideal customers, so your campaigns reach more of the people that matter.
• Multi-channel marketing at your fingertips.
• Take the guesswork out of planning and build smarter campaigns.