Closing the Gap: How Data Unites B2B Sales and Marketing

In some cases these types of disagreements are due to a perception by sales that marketingamp8217s function is primarily sales support that they are responsible for developing communication materials and planning sales events or else that marketing is just responsible for brand health and management Moreover marketing can be viewed by sales as just a provider of qualified leads These are all without a doubt misguided notions as marketing has a much more strategic role in the firm and could do better helping sales in this manner in addition to the ones previously mentionedOne way to increase collaboration between sales and marketing teams is datarelated Marketing and sales often use different systems and databases causing poor visibility and collaboration Siloed data and processes hinder datadriven decisions and campaign optimizationIn a previous article we discussed the sections in the ANAamp8217s B2B Data and Analytics Playbook on finding B2B decision committees which are comprised of target and hidden buyers We identified that there is a huge opportunity in the B2B market to enhance the collaboration between marketing and sales by using the combined data to identify these important groups The identification of the decision committees can then be taken to the next level by developing relationship intelligence which is the use of advanced models and synthetic data to create individual profiles that sales and marketing can use to help create better relationships with prospects or customersIdentifying the decision committees and developing relationship intelligence enables marketing and sales to address another typical point of contention which is the failure to align on the right target accounts This failure is especially problematic when marketing and sales are working on an AccountBased Marketing ABM program ABM works largely under the premise that the combined power of marketing and sales hyperfocused on the accounts with the highest potential drives better outcomes Failure to get in line with this foundational element and all the enterprise tactics will be in vainThe blogamp8217s author described work in one firm where they set a lead score for prospects and made it a management directive that everyone needed to follow the topscoring prospects when utilizing resources to acquire new clients and business customers This example highlights how aligning sales and marketing processes can improve consistency and focus across teamsThe above case is another area in which collaboration between B2B sales and marketing can be enhanced with data specifically through the creation of an intentdriven B2B leadscoring model Leadscoring models sit within the family of propensity models They have an important role in B2B sales and marketing due to the fact that on average approximately 73amp8239percent of qualified leads are not ready to buy a firmamp8217s product or service Salesmate when they first engageIf sales and marketing reach out to these leads randomly they may miss an opportunity to contact those who have a high chance of conversion This is where intentdriven lead scoring comes to the rescueIntentdriven lead scoring can be used to prioritize qualified leads by ranking them based on their unique needs intent to purchase propensity to convert and the potential value they bring This score can also bridge that important gap between marketing and sales so that the teams can focus on the highestquality leadsThus having accurate and shared data and analyzing and using it to its full potential can help to alleviate the tension between marketing and sales generated from not having the right target accountsOverall the entire firm benefits when the sales team views the marketing team as a trusted ally on a strategic mission together as one team When sales and marketing share similar objectives they can then collaborate around a common goal The first step is sharing data and codeveloping various strategies including ABM and B2B marketing and advertising which can help them to work together as parts of a coled account teamIt cannot be overstated that data is the key here as marketing and sales both have their own data that can be combined to produce the best prospects and accounts to target customized messaging and content optimized execution strategies and lastly metrics to properly evaluate successThe B2B Analytics Playbook recently published by the Association of National Advertisers and titled Using Data to Supercharge B2B Marketing has specific sections on all of these opportunities on how to align marketing and sales based on shared dataCreating the various amp8220data productsamp8221 with combined marketing and sales data which were discussed in this article will enhance marketing and sales team collaboration and target the right accounts leading to more effective marketing campaigns and outbound sales and prospecting activities Aligning sales and marketing is crucial for maximizing your business39s potentialTo learn more download the B2B Playbook Using Data to Supercharge B2B Marketing An ANA B2B Data and Analytics Playbookamp160amp8212 and start identifying hidden buyers modeling decision committees and turning insights into impactFor a deeper dive join us at the ANA Masters of Data Conference and attend the inperson B2B Data Excellence Lab focused on applying decision committee insights to real marketing strategiesReferencesBuan Christine 2024 May 23 A Mythical Divide Why Sales and Marketing Teams Often Clash DemandScience httpsdemandsciencecomresourcesblogaligningsalesandmarketingteamsData Axle USA nd Lead generation statistics you need to know Data Axle USA httpswwwdataaxleusacomblogleadgenerationstatisticsEdelman ampamp LinkedIn 2025 B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report Edelman httpswwwedelmancominsightsb2badvertisersthoughtleadershipKotler P Rackham N ampamp Krishnaswamy S 2006 JulyAugust Ending the war between sales and marketing Harvard Business Review httpshbrorg200607endingthewarbetweensalesandmarketingPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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Closing the Gap: How Data Unites B2B Sales and Marketing

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