For B2B sales and marketing leaders, the ability to leverage data and analytics has become a critical differentiator. As businesses navigate complex buyer journeys and a rapidly evolving digital landscape, the demand for data-driven strategies will only continue to increase. And by mastering analytics, B2B marketers can unlock new opportunities for optimization, drive smarter decision-making, and ultimately, deliver better results.
In this installment, we’ll dive into three key areas B2B marketers should prioritize on their quest to mastering NextGen analytics; 1) resetting your sights on metrics that were once aspirational, 2) capturing and attributing sales data throughout the funnel and, 3) analyzing data to generate predictive optimizations.
Attaining Metrics That Were Previously Aspirational
Most marketing organizations are proficient in analyzing data related to campaign and content specific engagement, but less proficient in measuring areas such as quality of marketing attributable leads, revenue opportunity attributable to marketing, and return-on-marketing-investment (ROMI). However, with advancements in analytics technology, these metrics have become more accessible and actionable, allowing B2B marketers to gain a deeper understanding of their performance and make more informed decisions.
Lead quality metrics, for example, help you identify the prospects most likely to convert, while revenue attribution allows you to measure the direct impact of your marketing efforts on qualified sales opportunities. These metrics, once aspirational, are now critical to developing and optimizing your marketing strategy.
To maximize the value of these metrics, it’s important to align them directly with goals—both in terms of revenue and, ultimately, the broader business. For growth marketers, this means focusing on metrics such as customer acquisition, retention, and the attributable revenue associated with both. For corporate marketers, similar logic can be applied to brand awareness and loyalty. By connecting metrics to your strategic objectives, B2B marketers can ensure that their efforts are making a meaningful and measurable contribution.
Capturing and Attributing Sales Data Throughout the Funnel
Capturing and attributing sales data through the entire funnel is essential for understanding marketing’s impact on the buyer’s journey and optimizing your efforts to increase velocity and generate closed deals. With multiple touchpoints across channels and devices, tracking and attributing data is critical for gaining a holistic view of engagement by prospects and customers who have the highest “conversion”.
Advanced attribution models, such as multi-touch attribution, enable marketers to connect audience actions to results by identifying the role each interaction plays in driving conversions. This level of insight allows B2B marketers to optimize their campaigns by focusing on the most effective channels and tactics.(See our SmartGuide for ways to leverage attribution to maximize B2B marketing performance)
One of the biggest challenges in data capture is ensuring proper integration to drive accuracy and consistency across marketing automation and CRM platforms. B2B marketers should invest in the necessary technology and ensure the implementation requirements enable seamless data collection and attribution across the board. Strong data governance practices are also essential for maintaining data quality and ensuring that insights are reliable.
Analyzing Data to Generate Predictive Optimizations
Once data has been captured and attributed, the next step is turning it into forward-looking insights that drive future optimizations. Predictive analytics plays a key role here, enabling B2B marketers to analyze past performance data and generate predictions to inform their next strategy. For instance, identifying certain trends in lead behavior that suggest a higher likelihood for conversion enables adjustment of targeting and messaging strategies to capitalize.
By leveraging analytics tools such as predictive modeling, machine learning, and AI, B2B marketers can streamline the process of data interpretation and reporting and generate greater optimizations compared to past approaches. These tools allow for more accurate forecasting, enabling marketers to anticipate shifts in customer behavior and market trends, and proactively adjust their strategies to stay ahead of the competition.
Conclusion
As B2B marketing continues to evolve, mastering analytics will be critical for staying competitive in an increasingly data-driven world. By focusing on the attainment of key metrics, capturing and attributing marketing-impacted sales data, and generating predictive optimizations—B2B marketers can build a strong analytics foundation that drives smarter, more effective strategies.