Why most companies fail with their targeting approach
When it comes to data targeting for sales and marketing purposes, there’s a lot of speculation out there on the do’s and don’ts, so we’ve decided to cut through the noise and give you the low down.
Never assume
When it comes to historical data, many marketing and sales teams make the mistake of basing their assumptions entirely on previous insights. They look at roles and personas that have clicked their ads and bought their solutions in the past and they use this information to aid their go-to-market tactics. Seems reasonable, but what if things change?
There are two important factors to take into consideration:
We have all seen how the pandemic has transformed many job titles and functions and this makes it incredibly hard to predict what people are responsible for in an organisation.
Even though your previous data may point you toward a specific target audience, you could easily be wasting your time and efforts if that particular person isn’t ready to buy your solution.
Ask yourself how long it has been since you analysed your personas in light of market evolution?
Don’t be hasty when it comes to targeting
Have you ever found yourself making this statement?
“I only want to target senior job titles, because I don’t want to waste time talking with people lower in the chain”.
Maybe you have not realised there is mounting research out there arguing that most B2B purchases are made by a team effort and not single individuals. Check this Sirius Decisions article to learn more. So, even though you feel your solutions are serving only CIO’s you may be missing a trick if you’re narrowing your audience to them alone. Remember that roles and stakeholders change more often than you may realise so never assume that you know your customer.
Holiday emailing
If you speak with marketers they will probably tell you that they don’t bother sending mailshots during the holidays because of annual leave, but have you ever thought about the sales tactic in this strategy?
When you send mail over the holidays, you are likely to receive an OOO response and that response tends to include a lot of useful data! From direct telephone numbers to other buying influencers’ email addresses. Think of this method as a data capture strategy. If you need a tool, this one can help.
Vary your content
This is old school advice but still very much overlooked by many marketers. People resonate with different content types and formats, so this must be reflected in your targeting strategy. There’s plenty of research out there suggesting that some people are visual and love to consume video content and others prefer long and detailed reads like e-books or white papers.
Marketing using just one piece of content is restrictive and a sure way to lose leads. Customers like their own particular way to consume information, so you have to enable just that. Provide multiple pieces of content, across different formats and different channels. Meet your customer’s needs.
I’ve got your number
Are you strict when it comes to data collection? If you’re only accepting leads with valid phone numbers, then you’re surely missing a trick. As an agency, we call into the best possible verified data from leading publishers and data providers and right now we are averaging a 19% connection rate (to the actual lead) since March 2020, of which only 3% results in a positive outcome and 16% either not Interested or not a fit. So, if your sales team is strict on leads with valid numbers, these are the results you can expect. Of course, you can get that 3% higher if you have strong brand awareness, market leadership and great salesmanship, but you still need to talk to only 19% of the leads.
A sure thing
In 2015 Salesforce said it takes 6 to 8 touches to generate a viable sales lead. In 2020 our outreach team averaged 12 sales touchpoints to get a response, plus an additional 3-6 marketing touchpoints before that. Proof that now more than ever, the job to make leads interested falls mostly in sales and marketing teams of companies and every lead generation provider mostly deliver top-of-funnel leads to be nurtured.
Sales teams need to put a lot more work to convert leads than in previous years. What is working for us, is pairing advanced business development tools that can automate sales workflow with as many insights as possible into each lead’s behaviour and interests that allow us to make our outreach relevant, timely and of value.
On top that, we create as many avenues as possible to reach a potential lead. This way we are likely to hit that sweet spot and be on our customers’ mind when they’re ready to buy.
If you’re prepared to adjust your targeting to suit today’s market, then you’ll for sure put your company ahead of the game.
