B2B Marketers Prioritizing Data and Technology to Succeed in 2023
A recent survey conducted by Ascend2 found that data and investing in technology are major focuses to help B2B marketers navigate an uncertain economy. The study found that 78 percent of large B2B marketing organizations experienced a growth of 10 percent or more in 2022 through a heavier reliance on digital channels and renewed spending from clients ready to move past the pandemic.
Now that so much buying has moved online, more B2B marketers are leaning on data and technology to deliver relevant messages. According to the study, 86 percent of B2B marketers plan to increase their investment in technology, with 36 percent planning significant increases and 50 percent planning on moderate increases.
B2B companies' focus on increasing their use of data was also revealed in the study, with first-party data and intent data being the greatest points of emphasis. B2B marketers reported that they expected to increase the use of zero-party data by 30 percent, first-party data by 26 percent, intent data by 23 percent, second-party data by 21 percent, and third-party data by 23 percent.
With a greater emphasis on data, B2B brands are also looking to increase their investment in optimizing that data. When asked about the top priorities for improving the utilization of data in the year ahead, the following was discovered:
- 46 percent said centralizing and unifying data
- 42 percent said adopting a data first culture
- 39 percent said updating their tech stack
- 38 percent said developing a data strategy
- 37 percent said creating data governance
- 24 percent said updating privacy policies and practices.
The focus on unifying data relates to creating a single source of truth across marketing channels, enabling for personalization and accurate measurement.
Action Steps
Build together — B2B enterprises looking to incorporate more data-drive practices into their marketing need to ensure that they involve their marketers in the process of selecting new technologies, and determining where and how they store and use data. Marketing leaders also need to create a centralized data-driven strategy to reach customers at every touchpoint, gain insights, and measure results.
Work to unify and normalize data first — Updated, clean data that's usable across every system is the key element to having success with data.
Prioritize flexible and transparent data architecture — A good data strategy enables companies to take advantage of both third-party and first-party data across internal data sources and with partners. B2B enterprises need to build for a variety of data types to be used across marketing channels
The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the ANA or imply endorsement from the ANA.
Dominick Fils-Aimé is a manager of editorial and content development at ANA.