Navigating the Sales & Marketing Data Maze: Strategies for B2B Marketers in 2024

In yet another proof point of our leadership in the third-party data space, OMI was included among an elite group in the recent Forrester report, “The Marketing And Sales Data Providers For B2B Landscape, Q4 2023.” Offering an overview of top data providers, the report brings to light some of the data challenges marketers face, underscoring why they need our support in achieving their business growth goals.

Today’s Marketers Are Looking for More Than Just Lists

In a 2023 Forrester marketing survey, data quality and data accessibility were cited as the most important challenges for B2B marketers (Forrester’s Marketing Survey, 2023). Above all, as Forrester says, today’s marketers are looking for more than just lists. Yes, they need high quality data, but they also need the insights to make sense of that data and maximize it to its potential. Choosing the right data partner is critical.

Here are five top marketing data challenges along with advice from our team on how to align with a data provider who can address them:

1. Accuracy: Inaccurate or outdated data can lead to wasted resources and ineffective marketing efforts. Continuous efforts are required to maintain the quality and relevance of data.

**Look for a data provider that has steps in place to maintain data accuracy and stands behind their word with a data guarantee. For example, at OMI we guarantee 95% email validity for the first 30 days.

 

2. Precision: Many marketers use third-party data platforms to "match" their data to additional identifiers, allowing them to reach the right targets with greater precision across channels. Probabilistic data strategies held a monopoly in data matching for years, but the market is now shifting toward deterministic strategies.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     **Look for a provider that has embraced deterministic data to give you improved precision and personalization for your marketing. For example, our deterministic intent data tool leverages it in combination with our own third-party B2BC data. The tool is purpose-built for display advertising, allowing advertisers to serve ads to prospective buyers who have already demonstrated a specific interest in their brand’s products or services. It works by using matching algorithms to uncover unique identifiers all the way down to the device ID level.

In addition, while probabilistic data can’t distinguish between individual users of a shared device, such as in a household, where a husband, wife, and adult children may live, deterministic data makes sure you’re targeting the right prospect for your offer in that household. By allowing you to anonymously identify individual decision-makers associated with shared devices, you gain a more complete view of the prospect, which supports improved personalization.

 

3. Segmentation: B2B segmentation in particular can be challenging, as it involves various criteria to accurately identify the right audience.

**Look for a provider with data that includes a variety of online and offline factors, including firmographic data, so you can enhance your audience building with another layer of precision targeting.

 

4. Deliverability: Even with high-quality data, many marketers face challenges with acquisition email marketing campaigns because their send platforms are not designed for these types of campaigns, resulting in low deliverability.

**Look for a provider with expertise in acquisition campaigns and a send platform designed to meet these needs. OMI’s proprietary acquisition email send platform is designed for B2B cold prospect emailing and offers distinct advantages over alternative platforms, including higher deliverability ratesand higher open and click rates.

 

5. Scale: For targeted and personalized campaigns, you need a lot of data to be able to zero in on the specific segment you want to reach.

**Look for a data provider with a large database that matches the industry you’re looking  to target. At OMI our massive B2BC database includes 145 million manager- and professional-level and above contacts with validated email addresses, spanning more than 18 million businesses. It covers 95 million small-and-mid-sized business (SMB) records and is one of the largest B2B healthcare email marketing databases, containing more than 1.5MM contacts with email.

 

Reach out to me or my team today to discuss how to leverage third-party marketing data to drive better sales and marketing outcomes in 2024.