Data-Driven Content Delivers Supercharged Buyers

By Gus Blanchard, Chief Marketing Officer, ADP

As marketing and sales leaders, we have been navigating constant change in today’s business environment. The confluence of that change -- from the global pandemic accelerating digital transformation, to the convergence of better technology and stricter data privacy – has demanded our adaptability. But perhaps the greatest change we now face is the shift in buyer behavior. In today’s digital-first world, buyers are more likely than ever to seek out product knowledge on their own before ever engaging with a salesperson.

This buying behavior didn’t begin with the pandemic, but it was certainly accelerated by it. B2B buyers now expect the same ease in purchasing that they experience as consumers, like being able to research and learn about competing solution providers, their products, and customer advocacy considerations while sitting at their laptop or smart phone. This is particularly true for millennials, the first digital native generation. 

B2B buyers are spending less time speaking with vendors during the buying journey, and we’re seeing a rise in B2B sales interactions taking place digitally. Gartner reports that B2B buyers spend only 17% of the buying journey speaking with vendors. They predict that by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions will take place digitally. To satisfy this shift in buyer preference and prime buyers before they reach the seller, marketers will need to engage these buyers earlier in their buying journey with much more compelling and informative content that supports the progression of their journey and ultimately, sales growth.

Buyers want to better understand the challenges they’re looking to solve for and the brands that can help solve them before directly engaging with a salesperson. This means marketing must serve this content up in a way that allows buyers to get to know your brand and what other customers are saying about your services and values. That process begins and evolves with data.

Drive Content Design with Data

Prior to my current role as chief marketing officer, I had the opportunity to lead several of ADP’s individual salesforces across different areas of the organization, seeing first-hand the significant impact marketing can have in increasing seller productivity. Unlocking that potential should be a core focus of marketing in today’s digital environment.

For both prospects and existing clients, we need to create resources that address the unique needs of each buyer so they can make better and more timely decisions. From content that illustrates a brand’s purpose and values to content that dives deep into product features, these resources can all help to supercharge buyers, when each step of the content creation process is rooted in data.

For prospects, this means focusing more on optimizing search marketing and partner channels to bring buyers to the front door in a very targeted way. B2C marketing has shown how powerful product demos and virtual experiences are in making sales, and now it’s time for B2B to up their game. While business products are more complex than most consumer products, marketing and sales must modernize product demos.

These tools can enable buyers to explore the product – “play with it” – without immediately engaging with a business or salesperson. Buyers want content-rich, personalized experiences, like how the product will work specifically at their company. If properly executed, the demo can push them to want to know more, which can lead to engagement with a salesperson and on to the next stage of the buying journey.

For existing customers, marketing and sales must better understand how they currently use products and services, and this data should be available. Unfortunately, the challenge in many organizations is that it’s trapped in data silos. The first step is to collate this information because it will help identify pain points and unfulfilled needs of current customers.

The next step is to take advantage of AI and machine learning tools that can process the data quickly, delivering actionable insights. For example, software user data can show precisely where a customer goes or doesn’t go, features they use and those that remain undiscovered. With this data, marketing and sales can effectively target in-product marketing to meet clients’ evolving needs. 

Validate the Impact of Data-Driven Marketing

While buyers are relying more than ever on digital channels to research buying decisions, the good news is that these digital interactions can be effectively measured. This makes it easier for marketing and sales to see what buyers are looking for, and where they are in the buying journey. With this data in hand, marketing can create the right content and answer a buyer’s most pressing questions in the moment of need.

Examples of useful content metrics include page views, total articles, total impressions, number of social shares, an increase/decrease in mentions, article share of voice against the competition and the impact of paid amplification vs. non-paid. When it comes to digital performance metrics, marketers can examine cost per lead, conversion rates, and return on ad spend. Finally, at the brand awareness level you can measure aided vs. non-aided awareness as well as consideration through brand health and ad lift studies.

Drive Continuous Action

Having data at every step of the buying journey creates an iterative process, where marketing and sales can further refine and support the buying decision, offering content that serves every step in the funnel. While solid data can help drive better sales, it also offers an opportunity to design better products. Data from product demos and current customer behavior can show things like where users drop off.

The shift in buyer behavior will continue to influence the industry’s path forward. We’re going to see a greater reliance on data in a way that anticipates the trends of the market and helps us to better inform buyers. We’ll see more creative solutions to address the hyper-focus on flexibility and the demand for trusted insights and expertise. 

When it comes to the future demands of global business, marketing will be an integral driver of sales productivity. By providing the information buyers need when they need it, marketing can deliver supercharged buyers and serve as a clear catalyst for business growth.