eBook: 10 Things to Consider When Finding Your Ideal Prospect

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Determining What’s Essential

2 Align Sales and Marketing

3 Think Revenue

4 Meeting Has Changed

5 Effectively Measure Customers

6 Improve Database Marketing

7 Know your Obstacles

8 Identify Greatest Impacts on Marketing Programs

9 Elevate Information

Embrace Prospecting 10

10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOURIDEAL PROSPECT

10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOUR IDEAL PROSPECT

DETERMINING WHAT’S ESSENTIAL programmatic advertising. But the consensus is much more basic: Those marketers who focus on the best prospecting databases have an enormous advantage over those who don’t. Further, finding the “ideal” prospect in that database often means understanding what makes for an ideal customer in the first place, and mapping this profile onto the identification of possible new customers. Marketing has many roles, and it is imperative that these involve activities that lead to revenue and sales.

1

Developing a process by which the marketing team understands what prospects will be their best possible customers is no easy task. In particular B2B marketers face a rapidly changing world of marketing necessities, driven by a shifting array of customer and prospect research habits. That has put enormous pressure on marketing databases, which are increasingly fluid, often out of date, and in need of constant hygiene and improvement. In scrambling to keep up with the times, many marketers focus on new, cutting edge channels to reach out to prospects and customers, such as social media or mobile, or the dynamic world of retargeting and

Database accuracy, analysis, segmentation, targeting and appropriate lead scoring will lead to revenue growth. “


MAKE SALES YOUR PARTNER 2

For many companies, the key prospecting database resides in their CRM systems. These are generally overseen by sales, making the imperative for sales-marketing alignment even greater. In working with sales, marketing can better determine what a “prospect” means, and develop methods for finding and nurturing them for ultimate handoff to sales reps.

Working with sales, marketing can better determine what a “prospect” means. “

10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOURIDEAL PROSPECT

THINK REVENUE 3

For far too long marketing has been considered a cost center, rather than a generator of organizational wealth. This does not have to be the case any longer. Marketers should focus on cultivating leads that convert, and work with sales to make conversions happen. Meld your goals to revenue, not processes. Consider what marketing is all about: contributing to the bottom line, and making the company successful.

Marketers can help make marketing a revenue producing center and not a cost center, to benefifit the company and extend the influence of marketing. “


MARKETING IS CHANGING 4

Marketers are keenly aware that their professional world has changed dramatically over the past several years, and this transformation is having a profound impact on lead generation and prospecting. Overwhelmingly marketers indicate that the rapid changes in marketing technology, Big Data necessities, and such new channels as social media and mobile have created a marketing world unlike any in the past. This has been matched, or exceeded, by the changing ways prospects and customers consider with whom to do business.

HOW HAS THE WORLD OF MARKETING CHANGED OVER THE PAST 5 YEARS?

11.4% Completely. Everything has changed.

2.9% Slightly, or not at all.

29.1% Moderately, as we adjust to buyer’s needs.

56.6% Very much. The world has changed.


EFFECTIVELY MEASURE CURRENT CUSTOMERS 5

EFFECTIVE WAYS TO MEASURE CUSTOMERS, TO THE IDEAL PROSPECT

45.7%

17.3%

16.2%

49.1%

63.0%

38.2%

32.9%

20.8%

A major pain point for marketers is not being able to identify their best customers, and the inability to map this profile to prospects. With all the innovations in tools and analytics, social marketing, operations, content, product marketing, etc., marketers need a better understanding of profiling customers to understand their ideal prospect. Developing profiles and personas differs depending on the goal. In prospecting the focus might be on identifying buyers, decision makers, pain points and what products will help those pain points. A retention marketer might explore ideal profiles within the CRM database, and expand it by adding other key account contacts. Whatever the goal, a keen eye to existing customers is essential. Among these,

of marketers said loyalty and repeat business defines the “ideal” customer. 63.0%

They are loyal repeat customers.

Quick Conversion Rate

They have high customer life value

They recommend you to others

They had been accepted as lead by sales

Obtained a Certain Score

Initially Spends More Money

They were qualified by marketing as a lead

Other qualities of good customers include:

high lifetime value;

their recommendations to others;

their acceptance by sales as a lead;

and their quicker conversion rates

49.1% 45.7% 38.2% 20.8%


IMPROVE DATABASE MARKETING 6

It might be surprising to some to see such strong concern about the lack of database strength, since this has been a considerable concern for some time. The assessment of marketers in this study reiterates that without a powerful database, the competitive advantages gained by focusing on particular channels will not be effective.

The bottom line for many marketers remains the lack of hard metrics, and not being able to attribute incremental revenue directly to their programs. In fact, most survey respondents suffer under the apprehension that their marketing departments are generally or completely considered merely cost centers within their own companies, and not revenue producing growth centers.

Better segmentation, targeting, scoring and qualifying of prospect

Improve quality and relevance of database

Improve data hygiene, removing inactive, inaccurate contacts

Gain real-time knowledge of prospects’ business events

Append current contacts with actionable info

Better understand the buyers journey

Analyze multiple touch points leading to a sale

Improve the size of our database

Implement better technology solutions

52.6%

42.3%

35.4%

32.6%

28.6%

28.0%

25.7%

22.3%

21.1%

Just 25% of marketers said they can attribute specific marketing efforts to conversions and sales. 25%

Only 7.7% of marketers said their analytics show that revenue is attributable to marketing. 7.7%

THE MOST PRESSING CHANGES NEEDED TO IMPROVE DATABASE MARKETING

Most respondents to BtoB’s survey said they could improve their database marketing efforts by segmenting it better, scoring prospects well, targeting them with appropriate messages and qualifying them for the sales team.

52.6% improving data hygiene; 35.4%

Other solutions include

gaining real-time knowledge about prospects’ business events;

appending new intelligence to current contacts;

and analyzing multiple touch points leading to a sale, among others.

32.6%

28.6%

25.7%


KNOW YOUR OBSTACLES 7

As seen, 51.1% of marketers said they’re scrambling to improve the depth and accuracy of their databases.

THE MOST IMPORTANT OBSTACLES IN REACHING OUT TO PROSPECTS

The depth and accuracy of our database is lacking

We lack technology to make sense of data overload

We lack an approach to defining personas

We don’t know where to find good data

We’re not sure who our ideal customer is

Sales and marketing are not aligned

Can’t get a handle on customer lifetime value

33.3%

20.7%

37.9%

51.1%

30.5%

24.1%

22.4%

Marketers are working to improve the depth and accuracy of their databases, while targeting prospect personas. “

Other areas that are challenging to marketers in gaining a handle on prospecting include the lack of database technologies (37.9%), the understanding of prospect personas (33.3%), the inability to find good sources of data (30.5%) and—significantly—having little sense of how to identify the “ideal” current customer. Doing so, in many respects, will help map onto the best types of prospects available.


IDENTIFY GREATEST IMPACTS ON MARKETING PROGRAM 8

AREAS OF GREATEST IMPACT ON MARKETING DEPARTMENTS AND PROGRAMS

As seen to the right, it is noteworthy, however, that seeking a better marketing liaison with sales falls far down the list.

Marketers are concerned about the sheer amount of information available to decision makers from all sources, and that it will overwhelm their own messages and drown out their presence in the marketplace. In response, marketers agree, marketing technology at the service of content distribution—at the right time, to the right person—will help overcome this issue.

Better sales marketing alignment

are not viewed as important factors of change, compared with other shifts in the marketing landscape.

24.6%

A focus on change and processes may not address the holes in the prospecting process, and how to plug the gaps. “

and the necessity of supplying sales with appropriate content 20.0%

40.0%

20.0%

40.6%

61.1%

37.1%

32.0%

24.6%

The degree of online information available to decision makers

The growing necessity of marketing technology

The use of content by marketing to nurture leads

The surge in data

The shift of power from brand to customer

The need for sales and marketing to align

Use of content by sales


ELEVATE INFORMATION 9

Analysis fuels technology. “

Marketing technology is a means to an end, but not an end in itself. Analysis fuels technology, with its ability to parse database information, append fields who are lacking, segment prospects appropriately, and home in on those prospects that are most likely to convert quickly and become loyal customers. In particular, real-time information— delivered as it happens—can offer sales and marketing teams great leverage in converting prospects.


EMBRACE PROSPECTING

Find prospects that exhibit qualities that are most likely to convert and become profitable. “

Far too often marketing cedes the prospecting and lead generation task to sales. Culprits here may be an excessive focus on branding efforts, or an inordinate concentration on trending channels such as social media and mobile. A solution is to liaise with sales to embrace the prospecting task; to work with the sales team to identify their best customers; and to develop a plan to find prospects that exhibit qualities that are most likely to convert and become profitable.

10

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY

BtoB RESEARCH INSIGHTS FINDING THE IDEAL CUSTOMER PROSPECT WHITE PAPER


Business

eBook: 10 Things to Consider When Finding Your Ideal Prospect