- February 2, 2021
- Intent dates, sales
While the quarantines and bans are hopefully temporary, the digital switch that erupted during the pandemic appears to be here to stay. As the buyer’s journey becomes more complex over time, it emphasizes the importance of broadening our horizons beyond traditional marketing to capitalize on the digital insights that buyers publish. Traditional practices like buyer personalities or far-reaching prospecting lack the context necessary to fully understand the needs of a buying team today. When B2B marketers and sellers take advantage of real buyer activityNot only will you be better able to keep up with changing market dynamics, but you’ll also be better equipped to meet the real needs of customers in 2021 and beyond.
The big picture: buyer activity matters
It is usually difficult to see the big picture when pieces of the puzzle are missing. For example, the overall picture for a sales rep usually looks like this: “I need to show potential customers that I can help them solve their weaknesses.” Missing pieces of this puzzle are:
- Am I speaking to the right person? Who are the other decision makers?
- Is this person currently interested in my company and our solutions?
- Where is this person on their buying journey? Are they even on the market?
This is why buyer activity is important. 70% of the buyer’s journey is complete before a buyer even reaches the sale. Salespeople working with cold leads and marketers blindly writing content will struggle to succeed in their endeavors due to the lack of important details. How can you help buyers navigate complex buying journeys when they don’t know what they need? Or where are you on your journey? Or even who they are?
Cameron Weeks, Customer Experience Executive and Founder of Edify Labs, said in a recent article, “Customers leave bread crumbs everywhere. Don’t waste this data. “Take this advice here – the right data and sales information is needed to truly understand what buyers need today. As the lines between B2B and B2C continue to blur, buyers not only expect personalization that behavioral data can provide, but they will need it.
Buyers’ trust is earned, not given
Moving to digital is only half the battle when it comes to staying connected with buyers. Sellers also need to build trust with the people they want to sell to, otherwise it will be difficult to break through and be heard. Salespeople who take a consultative approach and demonstrate knowledge of the purchasing team, the industry, and a prospect’s vulnerabilities are better suited to building productive long-term relationships. Because of this, sellers crave insights for buyers to create the highly personalized and meaningful connections buyers are looking for. Marketers can benefit from this type of information too. The more context they have, the more they can adapt content and messages to the buying journey.
Buyer Intent Insights put it all together
The digital transformation of the past year gave many companies the “push” they needed to drive innovation and tailor them more to the needs of buyers. We see marketers swap rigid personas for insights from real people. In the absence of personal events, the use of behavioral data has enabled sellers to understand not only what buyers are up to but also what they need. When businesses focus on buyer activity for insights and trends, they are better equipped to put pieces of the puzzle together to surpass the capabilities of traditional sales and marketing efforts.
Visit here to learn more about how TechTargets Prospect Level Purchase Intent Insight can help you get better results in 2021.
2021 planning, activity information, activity matters, B2B purchase intent data, behavioral data, behavioral knowledge for sales, real buyer activity