Using Data to Drive Your B2B Marketing Plan: Best Practices and Tools

In the fast-paced, data-driven world, the ability for businesses to make informed decisions using data has become a prerequisite for success for any business, including for marketing a B2B business

Planning and executing a B2B marketing strategy can often be complex and multifaceted. This is why, to achieve optimal results, marketers must consider multiple variables, including but not limited to:

• Identifying and understanding your target audience
• Refining messaging
• Fine-tuning various marketing campaigns
• Leveraging various tools that are continuously evolving

Fortunately, by harnessing the power of data, we can tackle the majority of the challenges above, enabling us to create a more effective, targeted, and impactful marketing strategy that delivers better results.

In this article, we will explore the importance of data-driven B2B marketing planning and execution, as well as the overview of its benefits.

This guide will cover the following:

• Identifying and measuring key marketing metrics
• Refining marketing messaging and audience targeting
• Conducting A/B testing for optimizing campaigns
• Using data visualization and analytics tools
• Data-driven SEO strategies
• Leveraging marketing analytics tools to collect and analyze data
• Utilizing machine learning and AI in B2 B Marketing

By the end of this guide, you’d have learned how data-driven B2B marketing can help your business achieve its goals and how to implement it to ensure success.

Identifying and Measuring Metrics

A very important key when developing and executing a B2B marketing plan is to define your marketing goals and set the right KPIs (key performance indicators) so you can measure success against these goals.

The idea is simple: by tracking the metrics and KPIs that matter most to achieving your marketing goals, you can ensure that your marketing campaigns are effective and driving real results.

Yet, how can you identify the right metrics to track, monitor, and measure? While every B2B business is unique, here are some tips and best practices that can help you:

• Define goals: start by setting clear/specific, measurable, and realistic goals for your marketing efforts. Some common marketing goals for B2B businesses include:
  • Increasing website traffic
  • Generating more leads
  • Improving brand awareness
  • Supporting a product or service launch
  • Maximizing customer retention
  • Establishing thought leadership
• Identify KPIs: once you have identified your goals, identify the KPIs that can help you measure progress towards these goals. For example, if your goal is to increase website traffic, then your KPIs might include the number of unique visitors, traffic sources, and conversion rate, among others.
• Choose relevant metrics: choose metrics that are relevant to the identified KPIs and goals. Your resources and time are limited, so you don’t need to keep track of every possible metric. Prioritize and only focus on those that matter.
• Set up measuring tools: choose and set up the right tools to effectively measure and track the chosen metrics. For example, you can set up your Google Analytics account, social media analytics tools, etc.
• Review and update: as your business grows and your marketing goals evolve, review and update your KPIs/metrics as needed. This will ensure your B2B marketing strategy remains relevant.

Example:

Here we have a fictional B2B tech business called XYZ.Inc

Its marketing goal is to generate more leads by 20% in six months

For this example, the company identified the following KPIs and metrics:

1. Website traffic: the more people visit the website, the hope is that more of them will convert into leads. The business can track this metric using Google Analytics.
2. Visitors-to-lead conversion rate: the percentage of website visitors who convert into leads. This will be measured by measuring the number of visitors who fill out the lead capture form or take a desired action (i.e., downloading an eBook) on the website, then dividing it by the total number of visitors.
3. Qualified leads: the number of qualified leads generated. Measured by the number of leads that meet specific criteria (i.e., located in a specific geographic region, having a specific job title, etc.) with a CRM tool.
4. Marketing qualified leads (MQLs):  leads that have shown some level of interest in the product/service and are considered. The business can track this metric using a CRM tool or a marketing automation tool.
5. Sales qualified leads (SQLs): the number of leads that are considered ready to move forward in the sales funnel, verified by the sales team. The business can track the number of SQLs using a CRM tool.

Refining Marketing Messaging and Targeting

One of the most important aspects of any marketing strategy is to ensure that the marketing messaging is properly tailored to its target audience.

It’s not solely about getting your message in front of the right people but how you can craft a targeted message that resonates with these people so we can convince them to take action and convert.

This requires a deeper level of understanding of the business’s target customers, using data to segment this audience, and then crafting personalized messaging for each segment. For B2B businesses, we should also take the fact that each target company may have multiple decision-makers with a variety of roles into account.

Customer Research and Segmentation

As discussed, a deep understanding of your target audience should be the foundation of your messaging and targeting strategy.

So, start by conducting research to learn more about your customers’ needs, goals, pain points, and preferences. This can be done via various different methods:

1. Surveys: surveys are a great method to collect quantitative data on your target audience’s behavior, preferences, and demographics. You can conduct online or offline surveys to gather information from existing customers or clients. You can use tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms, emails, phone, or even invite the customer/client in person.
2. Focus group discussions: you can invite multiple customers/clients into a focus group discussion led by a moderator or facilitator. Specific to B2B marketing, you can conduct focus group discussions by inviting stakeholders or decision-makers from your target company to gain insights into their needs, goals, and pain points. Especially effective for gathering qualitative data like opinions, attitudes, and experiences.
3. Interviews: one-on-one interviews with stakeholders or decision-makers from the target company can provide B2B businesses with valuable insights into the customer’s perspectives and experiences. You can conduct interviews in person, over the phone, or online (i.e., via Zoom.) Especially useful for gathering qualitative data on your target audience’s preferences or feedback on your products/services.
4. Social media listening: B2B businesses can monitor social media conversations by leveraging social media monitoring tools (i.e., Hootsuite) to gain customer insights, feedback on their products/services, industry trends, competitor activities, and more.
5. Sales team feedback: The sales team can be a great source of information regarding customer needs, preferences, pain points, and obstacles/objections. B2B marketers should regularly interact and gather feedback from the sales team through regular meetings or surveys.

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, and you can use other methods and techniques to perform customer research.

Once you have a better understanding of your target audience, you can start segmenting the target audience based on various criteria in order to create targeted messaging for each segment.

Some common audience segmentation methods include:

• Industry: if your B2B business targets companies from varying industries, then you can segment them by grouping businesses that have similar goals, needs, challenges, or purchasing behaviors.
• Company size: another popular way is to segment target businesses by their size. This can help B2B businesses to personalize their messaging according to the unique needs of larger enterprises versus small to medium-sized businesses.
• Location: if your B2B business is targeting companies in multiple geographic regions, then you can segment your customers by location to address regional differences in preferences, purchase behaviors, or needs
• Decision-makers: in B2B marketing and sales, there are often multiple stakeholders and decision-makers involved in the purchasing process. You can segment customers by their job titles and role in the decision-making process to help you tailor messaging that resonates with each decision-maker/stakeholder.
• Purchase behavior: you can segment customers based on their past purchase behavior to identify opportunities to encourage repeat purchases, upsell/cross-sell, or retain specific customers.

Segmenting its target audience would enable the B2B business to develop personalized messaging and marketing campaigns that resonate with each target segment. In turn, this can help the business drive more qualified leads that may convert into actual customers.

Develop Unique Value Proposition

A unique value proposition (UVP) is a clear statement that explains the unique benefit of your B2B product or service specific to its target audience.

To develop a strong UVP, you need to understand the target audience’s pain points and how your product or service can solve these pain points. Here are the basic steps to do so:

1. Step 1: Understand your target audience’s pain points: use the data you’ve collected during the customer research phase above to identify your target audience’s common pain point(s). You can use techniques like surveys, focus group discussions, or interviews for this purpose.
2. Step 2: Identify your UVP: by analyzing this data, determine how your product or service can solve these pain points that your competitors can’t do. What makes your product or service unique? It could be that you simply offer higher quality, exceptional customer service, or unique features not offered by others.
3. Step 3: Develop a UVP statement: based on your discovery, develop a concise statement that properly explains the UVP. Focus on how your product or service can benefit its target audience rather than simply listing its features. Make sure the statement addresses your target audience’s pain points.
4. Step 4: Test and refine: Share your UVP statement with your internal team and your target audience to see if it works. You can conduct another survey or focus group discussion to gather feedback and refine the statement as needed.

When developing your UVP, don’t forget to take customer/client segmentation into account. You may need to develop multiple UVPs for each segment, tailoring your messaging to the specific pain points of each segment. This may lead to better engagement and conversions, especially for B2B businesses targeting larger companies.

Messaging Development

Once you’ve identified and developed your UVP statement, you can expand the UVP to develop your B2B business’s marketing messaging.

An ideal marketing messaging is one that speaks directly to the target audience’s needs while staying aligned with your business’s UVP. In this section, we will discuss how to achieve this.

Here are the basic steps to follow when developing your marketing messaging:

Step 1: Understand your target audience’s needs

As the basic foundation, the development of effective messaging should be data-driven.

To effectively communicate with your audience, it’s crucial to thoroughly understand their needs, challenges, and pain points. Refer to the customer research you previously conducted to identify these factors, allowing you to craft messaging that directly addresses their concerns.

Use data collected from customer research, feedback, competitor analysis, and market trends, among other sources, to inform your decision. This would allow you to craft messaging that directly addresses their concerns and drive better results.

Step 2: Align your messaging with your value proposition

Besides catering to your target audience’s needs, your messaging should also stay aligned with your business’s unique value proposition (UVP). Use your value proposition to guide your messaging, which at the same time will also ensure your communication effectively connects with your target audience and addresses their pain points.

Aligning your messaging with your UVP will also allow your B2B business to, establish a consistent brand identity and help your brand stay top of mind with your target audience.

Step 3: Test and refine

Once again, data is your most valuable tool when developing effective messaging.

Test your messaging to your audience, and look at their feedback. This can be done through focus groups, surveys, interviews, A/B testing, or other market/customer research method

To further improve your messaging, you can also consider assessing how it compares to your competitors by conducting a competitor analysis. Last but not least,  staying updated with the latest market trends may reveal new messaging opportunities for your B2B business.

A/B Testing and Optimization

A/B testing is a very important aspect of using data to improve your B2B marketing results.

Simply put, A/B testing involves testing two different versions of a marketing element (i.e., 2 different versions of a page, 2 different ad versions, etc.) to determine which version performs better.

In most applications of AB testing, one version remains unchanged (the control), while the other version is modified in one way or another, such as different image, different copy, different headline, different CTA (call-to-action), etc. By comparing the results of both versions, you can identify which elements of your marketing campaigns and assets are working and which ones can be improved.

This will allow us to make data-driven decisions on how to optimize the marketing campaigns, and when executed correctly, can lead to:

• Identification of variables that have the greatest impact on click-through rates, engagement metrics, conversion rates, and customer behavior
• Optimal refinement of marketing messaging
• Significant improvements in campaign performance
• Increase in marketing campaigns’ ROI

To plan and execute optimal A/B tests for your marketing campaigns, you can follow these best practices:

1. Define clear objectives: define the objectives of the A/B tests and how you will measure success against these objectives. For example, you may want to improve the conversion rates of your landing page. In this case, you will especially measure the conversion rate when performing the A/B test.
2. Choose variables to set: once you’ve defined your objective, choose the variables that are relevant to this objective. Also, you must have the ability to modify this variable. For example, if it’s a landing page, the variables can be headlines, images/photos, headlines, or calls–to–action, among others.
3. Determine sample size: A sample size is the number of individuals who will participate in the set. it’s critical to have a sufficient sample size for each variation so the results are reliable. The larger the sample size, the more reliable the results will be. Generally, a sample size of at least 100 participants is recommended.

Here are some examples of practical A/B testing in B2B marketing:

• Call-to-action (CTA) buttons: you can test two different CTA buttons on the landing page or website, and measure which version results in more clicks and conversions.
• Email subject lines: the B2B company can test two different subject line variations and measure which version gets a higher open rate.
• Ad copy: a pretty common practice is to display two different ad variations and check which one results in a higher click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate.
• Pricing: evaluating two different pricing strategies to see which one results in more sales conversions.
• Content: you can compare two different content formats (i.e., blog post vs. infographic) or elements of content (different headline versions, different structures, etc.) and measure the engagement metrics of each.
• Design: testing two or more different designs (i.e., for a webpage) to check which is more visually appealing and leads to more engagement.

Of course, this is a non-exhaustive list, and you can apply A/B testing in many other elements of B2B marketing as you see fit.

Leveraging Data Visualization Tools

As with A/B testing, data visualization can contribute a crucial role in optimizing B2B marketing.

Data visualization especially allows marketers to effectively communicate large and complex data insights in a more user-friendly way to stakeholders, which will translate into more effective and accurate decision-making.

There are many different data visualization tools available for B2B marketers, and in this section, we will explore some of the most effective ones, as well as the best practices when using them.

Importance of Data Visualization

The basic benefit of utilizing data visualization is the fact that the visual presentation of data makes it easier to understand—even for non-technical stakeholders—so it’s also easier for them to act on the insights.

With that being said, some of the benefits of data visualization in driving B2B marketing are:

1. Easier data presentation to stakeholders: data visualization tools like dashboards graphs, and charts allow marketing teams to present their findings and data insights in a more user-friendly format that is easier to comprehend. Thus, it’s easier for stakeholders to understand the presentation.
2. Identify trends and patterns: visualizing data makes it easier to marketers or data analysts to identify patterns and trends that may not be immediately visible when analyzing raw data. This may provide businesses with an easier time extracting insights from the data to help make more informed decisions.
3. Highlight KPIs: data visualization allows marketers to highlight and keep track of KPIs over time. This allows the B2B business to monitor its progress toward its goals, identify areas for improvement, and make the necessary data-driven decision to improve its strategy.

Effective Data Visualization Tools

B2B marketers and businesses can choose from a wide variety of data visualization tools, some of the most popular and effective ones are:

• Charts: pie charts, bar charts, line charts, and scatterplots.
• Graphs: Histograms and box plots are useful graphs for showing distributions and identifying outliers.
• Dashboards: can be used to compile multiple data sets into an easy-to-use interface for marketers.
• Heat maps: use colors to represent varying levels of data intensity to provide a visual representation of data.
• Infographics: are designed to be easy to read and understand, providing a visual representation of data.
• Interactive visualization tools: help users interact with data in real-time for deeper exploration and analysis.
• Specialized software: such as Tableau and Power BI, can help marketers create sophisticated visualizations and dashboards.

Using a combination of these tools would enable the B2B business to create user-friendly and comprehensive visual representations of their data. However, it’s still important to follow the best practices in using these tools to ensure that the visualizations are used effectively and accurately.

Best Practices for Using Data Visualization

B2B marketers can consider the following tips and best practices for using data visualization:

1. Know your audience: consider who the data visualization will be presented to. If you are going to present to non-technical stakeholders, you should focus on making it easier to consume. However, if the data visualizations are mainly going to be used for analysis purposes by technical users, you should focus on accuracy and usability.
2. Keep it simple: in many cases, less is more. Use clear and to-the-point visualizations to avoid misinterpretation and confusion.
3. Provide context: provide context for the data being visualized/presented. Include units of measurement, timeframes, and other relevant information.
4. Use colors effectively: you can use different colors in your charts or graphs, among other tools, to highlight distinctions between variables/data sets and emphasize key data points.
5. Implement storytelling techniques: especially when presenting data to non-technical stakeholders, use the visualizations to tell a story.
6. Use interactivity: when possible and appropriate, use interactive visualizations to help users gain deeper insights by exploring the data with more details.
7. Keep it up to date: update the visualizations regularly as you have more data available in the pool.
8. Maintain consistency: use a consistent style in design and style to facilitate easier interpretation.
9. Test and iterate: use A/B testing and other testing methods to identify ways to improve the visualizations and optimize them over time

To summarize, data visualization can help B2B marketers turn raw data into actionable insights, driving business growth and success.

Leveraging Analytics Tools

For any modern marketing campaign, analytics tools are becoming increasingly important, enabling businesses to gain insights into traffic sources, marketing campaign performances, user behavior, and other important metrics.

Here are some popular marketing analytics tools you can leverage:

1. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free tool provided by Google, and is designed to track and analyze various metrics related to website traffic and visitors’ behavior.

With Google Analytics, you can:

• Set up conversion tracking to measure the effectiveness of different marketing campaigns.
• Create custom reports to analyze specific metrics and KPIs
• Utilize segmentation to study different user groups and their behavior
• Set up goals to track specific actions on your website (e.g. form submissions, product purchases)

2. Adobe Analytics

Adobe Analytics is a paid tool offered by the tech giant Adobe, providing advanced analytics, data tracking, and reporting features.

With Adobe Analytics, you can:

• Gain insight into the impact of different marketing channels on conversions through attribution modeling
• Analyze large sets of data to identify patterns and trends using data science techniques
• Communicate findings and insights to stakeholders through effective data visualization
• Optimize campaigns based on user behavior using the built-in machine learning capabilities to meet specific goals.

3.  Mixpanel

Similar to Google Analytics, Mixpanel offers insights into various metrics related to website traffic and user behavior. However, MIxpanel is a paid tool and is more focused on event tracking, keeping track of specific user actions (events) such as clicks or purchases.

Some best practices in using Mixpanel:

• Event tracking can help you keep track of user actions and behaviors.
• Creating user cohorts can provide insights into user behavior over a longer period of time.
• Funnel analysis can identify where users may be losing interest in the conversion process.
• A/B testing allows you to experiment with different user experiences and measure the impact on conversion rates.

4. SEMrush

SEMrush is a paid tool that provides insights into metrics related to search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search campaigns.

You can use SEMRush to:

• Utilize the keyword research tool to identify the most relevant and effective keywords for optimization
• Keep an eye on competitor activity to identify opportunities and areas for improvement
• Analyze website traffic data to identify content gaps and opportunities for optimization
• Use the paid search tool to monitor and optimize your paid search campaigns

Of course, SEMrush isn’t the only option out there. Ahrefs and Moz are two other great SEO tools that offer unique features and benefits. Take some time to evaluate your needs and marketing goals before choosing the tool that’s right for you.

Machine Learning and AI in B2B Marketing

As the use of data in marketing and business continues to grow, AI and machine learning have become increasingly popular tools for marketers to optimize their campaigns, especially after the rise of ChatGPT into mainstream popularity.

A wide variety of AI tools now offer marketers the ability to process a large amount of data in a matter of minutes, even seconds. In practice, this allows marketers to gain more insights into how to develop and optimize more targeted and effective marketing campaigns.

Here is an overview of how machine learning and AI can be used in B2B marketing and some real-world examples of successful implementation:

1. Personalization: to improve marketing efforts, machine learning can analyze customer behavior and preferences by using data. This can be achieved through various techniques, including:

• Predictive analytics: anticipate customer behavior and preferences by analyzing historical data
• Natural language processing: analyzing customer interactions and feedback, helping you better understand their needs and preferences
• Chatbots: utilizing natural language processing and machine learning to provide personalized interactions with customers, enhancing their experience with your brand.

2. Content creation: AI can assist in the creation and optimization of content for B2B marketing purposes, which encompasses:

• Content optimization: Utilizing AI to enhance content by analyzing data insights, including keyword usage and engagement metrics, can greatly benefit B2B marketing efforts.
• Automated content creation: AI can be used to quickly generate content, such as product descriptions, blog posts, social media posts, and scripts.
• Image and video recognition: utilize machine learning to recognize and label images and videos, enhancing their accessibility through improved search capabilities.

3. Lead generation and scoring: by using machine learning, it is possible to identify and score potential leads more accurately. This is done by analyzing their behavior and demographic data, which enables more effective lead nurturing. Techniques such as these are utilized for this purpose:

• Predictive lead scoring: by utilizing machine learning, we can analyze past data to predict which leads are most likely to convert.
• Behavioral scoring: Scoring leads based on their behavior, such as website activity and email engagement.

4. Predictive analytics: by analyzing past data, machine learning can predict future trends and outcomes, which can lead to better decision-making. This is one of the benefits of machine learning.

• Sales forecasting: utilize machine learning to forecast future sales by analyzing past data and market trends.
• Customer churn prediction: predict which customers are most likely to leave based on their past behavior and demographic data.

Conclusion

Data is increasingly becoming a critical asset for B2B businesses and marketers in today’s digital world. By leveraging data, marketers can continuously improve their marketing campaigns, achieve better and faster results, and grow the B2B business.

In today’s competitive marketing landscape, businesses that don’t take advantage of technology and data are at a significant disadvantage. It’s highly critical that B2B marketers adapt their strategies and stay up-to-date with the latest trends, so they are able to leverage the latest tools and technologies and take advantage of data analytics, visualizations, and even AI/machine learning.