If you threw a party, would you care more about the number of people who showed up, or would you measure success by other standards – how much fun your guests had, for instance, or how long they stayed and chatted? Raw numbers are useful, but they only tell part of the story. With a skilled database manager and a clear set of goals in mind, your analytics can give you some surprising insights.
“Who’s out there?”
Discovering who your audience is rather than who you assume they are is one of the most important roles your analytics can answer. Database services that reveal more about your audience than the basics can tell you how best to approach them, which channels are most effective, and what content they want to see from you.
Your leads will tell you about themselves in time, but even before they share a name or email address, your site analytics can capture important information from anonymous data. IP addresses, for instance, open a window on your audience’s geographical location. Timestamps tell you when they’re most active and can indicate the best time to send email marketing messages.
“What motivates them to take action?”
When you know what spurs activity in your audience, you can trigger actions much more readily. Using tools such as A/B split testing, behavioral analytics, and response monitoring, you and your database manager can put together a sophisticated picture of how leads reach critical decision points in their buying journey. With insight into these pivot points, you’re able to tip the balance in your favor.
“What influences our influencers?”
In any marketplace, including B2B sales, some leads are ahead of the curve. They’re the first to ask questions on your blog, interact on social media, and provide referrals when they’re happy. If they become unhappy, you need to know about that immediately and address it quickly. You should also have a clear idea of what makes your most influential buyers take action so you can give them incentive to interact with you in ways that count. Pay attention to social media signals, buying patterns, and site visits to draw connections between your most influential customers and what they’ve been moved to buy.
“Why are we successful?”
Only when you know what creates success can you duplicate it. Analytics are invaluable for showing you precisely how you earned your most important wins and what you can do to secure more of them. Your database manager plays an important role in drawing straight lines between marketing activities and the revenue they generate. With a clearer picture of your ROI, you can then invest your time and energy in ways that pay off.
“Where do we find more leads?”
Lead gen is crucial to successful B2B organizations, but finding quality leads is a never-ending challenge. Analytics can suggest to you where the richest fields of leads are so you can drill down and find them.
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