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B2B Marketing Marketing Data Analytics

B2B marketers using data to target buyers still find it a major hurdle to personalization

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By Laurie Fullerton, Freelance Writer

June 5, 2017 | 2 min read

With more data than ever available for reaching target audiences, B2B companies still struggle to deliver custom content to both individual buyers and specific accounts. According to eMarketer’s report, “B2B Personalization: Delivering One-to-One Experiences to Buyers,” (subscription only) by using data more effectively, B2B marketers must better understand their target buyers and target accounts to allow for precise and accurate personalization.

eMarketer report

In order to deliver an accurate personalized experience, B2Bs must use multiple sources to gather information about their buyers.

“It is a combination [of data] from their CRM [customer relationship management], lead generation, data management platform or from a core niche site that must be brought together,” said Whitney Powell, media director at B2B marketing agency DWA media, who uses multiple data sources to get the right audience for targeted programmatic campaigns that her agency runs in a one-to-one scenario for clients. “We use analytics to validate the audience to ensure that the audience is right.”

Additionally, a recent survey from the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs found that about half of B2B marketers in North America used website analysis, keyword search, employee feedback and competitive analysis to learn about their target audiences. Less frequently used data sources included database analysis (31%) and auditing existing buyer data (24%).

Further, research from Altimeter shows that a variety of data sources can create personalized and targeted content. At 65% and 63%, respectively, social media metrics and website analytics were the top two data sources used by content strategists surveyed in North America and Western Europe. About half also said they used data from customer service records and customer surveys for personalization.

B2B Marketing Marketing Data Analytics

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