Data quality plays a crucial role in content personalisation and campaign execution, but only half of B2B marketers are confident about their data and analytics efforts, according to a new annual study from Dun & Bradstreet.
Nine out of ten of the B2B professionals surveyed believe that data is a critical component in the marketing mix, helping brands to both engage with audiences in better ways and push consumers through the sales cycle more effectively. The importance of data quality has grown significantly compared to the previous study.
While data can be used to overhaul and optimise each stage of marketing and sales, including the creative process, many marketers are not happy with what they have at their disposal. This comes at a time when data is increasingly being viewed as a critical asset and a key differentiator in today’s competitive marketing and ad environment.
More worryingly, in terms of determining the impact and return of content marketing campaigns, B2B marketers are often falling short. Just a third said that they are confident about their ability to track a buyer during the journey from search intent and awareness, through to outreach and then the closure of a sale.
Dun & Bradstreet Executive Josh Mueller said: “By using data to connect sales and marketing activities, businesses can better identify new opportunities, focus on the right audience with the right message, arms sellers with the right intelligence, and provide learnings that enable them to continually improve their strategy. When done right, this is the winning formula for more personalized, efficient, and impactful marketing at scale.”
