Secrets to Finding your Best Customers. Smarter Data is Better Than Bigger Data. What Data and Analytics Could Help you Find Your Best New Customers?

Transcription

1 Secrets to Finding your Best Customers Smarter Data is Better Than Bigger Data. What Data and Analytics Could Help you Find Your Best New Customers?

2 CONTENTS Predictive Analytics : Key to Better Business Decisions Marketing Sales and Service Finance Operations Why Smart Data Is More Important Than Big Data Defining Smart Data Why Less Is More What s the Key to Happy Buyers? Strong Analytic Understanding Buyer Behavior Successful Forecasting Understanding What Consumers Expect Predictive Analytics: Get Ahead of the Game More profitable campaigns Enhanced user experience Better customer retention Improved up-selling and cross-selling Better lead management Build a Better Business with Automation and Analytics The Dark Ages The Enlightenment How to Get On Board hoovers.com 2

3 Predictive Analytics: Key to Better Business Decisions How can you extract value from big data? Predictive analytics provides some much-needed foresight into improving business decisions. In today s highly competitive marketplace, companies need to know what s happening now and what s likely to occur in the future before they can establish results-driven strategies. To gain that much-needed insight, many have turned to big data. In a study released by NewVantage Partners which surveyed Fortune 1000 C-Suite executives 88% of respondents report that their organization plans to spend more than $1 million on big data initiatives by While big data technologies help gather large data sets, many companies have yet to obtain value from their data that would enable them to be more competitive in the marketplace. While there s an endless amount of data available to businesses that can be used to make better, more profitable decisions, the most critical information is often hidden beneath layers of useless data. The companies that are able to navigate through complex data sets to find valuable insight are the most successful. How do they do it? Two words: predictive analytics. Best-in-class banks use it to predict and prevent credit fraud. Corporations use it to improve their supply chain. Midsized organizations use it to improve their go-to market strategies. Even sports teams use it to determine optimal ticket prices. But what exactly is predictive analytics? Predictive analytics is a specific approach to data mining that extracts information from existing data sets to determine patterns and predict future outcomes and trends. Compared to traditional business analytics which focus on providing information predictive analytics centers on improving the way in which decisions are made. Besides improving the decision-making process, predictive analytics help to better align resources with strategies, boost cost efficiencies, and allow businesses to quickly respond to market changes and user needs. Below are several ways that predictive analytics can be applied across the enterprise to help organizations make better, more profitable decisions. Marketing According to data from McKinsey, using marketing analytics can increase a company s ROI by 10% to 20%. Marketing analytics gives leaders insight into the characteristics and behaviors of buyers. This insight allows marketers to create campaigns with a higher impact via more accurate segmentation. Sales and Service Using predictive analytics, salespeople can better identify prospects that are most likely to buy based on their past purchasing history. What s more, hoovers.com 3

4 the department can prioritize sales-ready leads and improve forecasting with greater data insight. Finance Using predictive models, financial decision makers can align operational goals with the organization s strategic agenda, anticipate periods of slowdown, and proactively monitor changes in the financial strength of their customers. Operations Analytics give supply chain leaders greater visibility into supply chain operations and market activity so they can foresee challenges and respond proactively instead of reactively, increasing both efficiency and profitability. Why Smart Data Is More Important Than Big Data They say to work smart, not hard. So should be your company s mantra. Quantitative data is more valuable than qualitative data. As a marketer, when you hear the phrase big data, you either feel anxious at the thought of having to decipher it all or your heart races in anticipation of the insight you can get from using it for actionable business decisions. After all, big data is both a blessing and a curse. It can unlock a world of possibilities including company and industry insight but it can also make your blood pressure rise if you lack the tools to manage it effectively. No matter your reaction, half of organizations say big data has a major influence on their business performance, according to ZDNet s Big Data Priorities report sponsored by D&B. To make this a positive influence on your business, first off, rid your databases of data that is filled with fallacies and holes. We often hear that it s more important to work smart, not hard. The same idea is true of data: smart is more valuable than big. Let s take a look at what we mean by smart data: Defining Smart Data Simply put, smart data refers to the metrics and figures plucked from the available sea of information that is useful, digestible, and capable of driving and shaping business decisions. It s the relevant data the facts that stand out amongst the noise and clutter that can help you derive insight. So how do you uncover your smart data? To begin, ask yourself the following: What specific metrics do you need to better execute your next project? For example, if you re looking to launch an marketing campaign, it s important to assess open rates, not the number of website visitors. What do you need to confirm or reject? For instance, if you re setting out to corroborate or refute the fact that you think your company can start targeting buyers in Europe, you ll want to pay close attention to the number of enquires received from overseas clients and the market penetration/likelihood in such a new area. Who will touch this smart data? Specifically, if you need to uncover information about customer service practices, first ask who will need access to this data. Is it sales? Marketing? Both? Once you know what department will ultimately interact with the data, you ll have a better idea as to the specific quantitative information you need to collect. hoovers.com 4

5 Why Less Is More With the wealth of information out there, your initial reaction can be to aggregate it all. But less can be more in the case of big data because accurate, complete, and actionable information can be far more effective than outdated, incomplete, and nonsensical numbers. their chief milestones to ensure their clients derive timely insight. By zeroing in on the pertinent metrics, companies can reap significant benefits quickly. Although there s an influx of information, a good amount is dirtied and incomplete (think outdated addresses, incomplete company executive rosters, or inaccurate financial histories). Your job is to sift through the clutter and find the smart data. By teaming with a third-party provider, for example, you can access it expediently. Such providers comb through information on companies from their corporate lineage to their purchasing patterns to What s the Key to Happy Buyers? Strong Analytics The competition is fierce one bad customer service experience and you re out. Learn what consumers expect by measuring customer behavior with analytics. Thanks to technology, we no longer have to shoot blindly to determine how to craft exemplary buyer experiences. Instead, we can pinpoint which marketing or sales tactics are most effective, how our buyers feel about our brand, and what buyers want from our company. The ubiquity of qualitative and quantitative analytics has removed our blinders and, in so doing, allowed us to see our retention statistics skyrocket when implemented correctly. That s a good thing, considering just how scary the business climate has become. Just consider the following statistics from Salesforce: Service ranks as the #1 factor influencing consumer trust 92% of companies have experienced a decline in buyer satisfaction 89% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company after receiving poor service It takes 12 positive company interactions to make up for one negative experience 70% of buying experiences are based on how the consumer feels he or she is being treated The statistics say it all: Companies only have one chance to get it right, and a single seemingly innocuous hiccup can spell lasting disaster. Buyer analytics, however, go a long way in preventing these mishaps, as they give companies insight into which practices work well and those in need of improvement as well as overall consumer sentiment surrounding their brands. hoovers.com 5

6 Why then do 65% of companies consider their efforts in using analytics to improve customer service basic, according to a study by SAS? Because many don t understand the inherent value that comes with such data and need to beef up their capabilities. Let s look at three ways analytics give companies a leg up: Understanding Buyer Behavior: Understanding a buyers purchasing history including their preferred partners is critical. But you need to know more than just where they shop and what products they prefer. Today s businesses need a firm grasp on why and how company executives make their decisions. Examining data, such as how long buyers hover on a certain subpage and how often they forward an , gives unprecedented insight into where buyers are in the purchasing cycle, what resonates with them, and what additional collateral pieces they use before making a decision. For example, if almost every potential buyer downloads your whitepaper after the initial sales call and then starts following your social media accounts, it may reveal that your sales reps are not divulging enough information during the initial call. This realization could play a pivotal role in driving both your sales and marketing strategies. Understanding What Consumers Expect: When you understand the expectations of your target market, you re able to plan and make decisions expediently. We have the ability to ask questions that we ve never had the ability to ask before, Brian Vellmure, principal and founder at Innovantage/ Initium, contends in the SAS paper. And by asking better questions, we can find better answers. We re not relegated to finding just the answers that are sitting there in our s or in our ERP, CRM or transactional systems. When businesses know what consumers expect of them whether it s a new product or lower price they can do their jobs better. Listen to buyers. Don t be afraid of what they ll say, and be willing to amend and course-correct your sales and marketing strategy. Successful Forecasting: Budgeting and estimating are critical to business success, and knowing which marketing and sales tactics are most effective is paramount to successful forecasting. For instance, if your blog traffic far surpasses your marketing metrics, you can rest easy about investing additional funds to augment your blog. By taking a look at social media, video, sensor, and geolocation data, among other metrics, you can better predict consumer behaviors and manage experiences. Predicting what s next is crucial for remaining competitive, and the wealth of analytics gives you a quick snapshot into innovations on the horizon. hoovers.com 6

7 Predictive Analytics: Get Ahead of the Game Buyers find 3 pieces of content for every one piece that marketing or sales provides. Get ahead; use predictive analytics to identify opportunities early. Thanks largely to the Internet, the B2B sales process has completely changed, as today s buyers are more demanding and knowledgeable. In fact, buyers are anywhere from two-thirds to 90% of the way through their sales journey before they even reach out to the vendor, according to Forrester Research. What s more, today s B2B buyer will find three pieces of content pertaining to a vendor for every one piece that marketing or sales provides. So how can sales and marketing compete with today s more demanding and well-informed buyer? It s simple: they must inject themselves into the sales process early on when research first begins. With predictive analytics technology that pulls information from existing data to reveal patterns and predict future trends sales and marketing can get ahead of buyers and identify opportunities early. Instead of using traditional analytics, which provide a snapshot of the past, organizations can use predictive analytics to get an accurate depiction of the present and future. More profitable campaigns Stop wasting precious marketing dollars on unsuccessful campaigns. With predictive analytics, marketers can anticipate customer needs, preferences, attitudes, and behaviors to make informed marketing decisions. For example, they can use behavioral-based targeting to increase online advertisement clicks. Improved up-selling and cross-selling Is your sales team having trouble identifying opportunities to up-sell and cross-sell? Predictive analytics can help reveal these opportunities. By analyzing a buyer s spending habits, past purchases, and overall behavior, sales reps can make the appropriate suggestions based on concrete data. Enhanced user experience According to a recent survey from Janrain, 74% of respondents admitted they were frustrated when given content, offers, ads, and promotions that were irrelevant to their interests. With predictive analytics, marketing teams can deliver and offer more customized, targeted content to visitors based on their specific preferences. Better customer retention While customer retention is a top priority for organizations, retention incentives, such as discount offers, are costly. Instead of targeting consumers who have no intention of leaving (and essentially wasting money), predictive analytics helps identify buyers who are ready to jump ship. This way, you only offer discounts to those who are most likely to leave. hoovers.com 7

8 Better lead management Prioritizing and nurturing leads is a challenge. Some prospects may be ready to buy right way, while others are more hesitant. With predictive analytics, sales and marketing departments can better manage leads, identifying low-priority ones that require nurturing and high-priority prospects that can be pushed down the funnel. According to an infographic from Prelytix, organizations using predictive lead modeling improve conversion rates by 79%. Best-in-class organizations don t rest on their laurels. Rather, they re always looking to improve their business operations by predicting what will happen next. With predictive analytics, data can be turned into actionable intelligence that can help businesses make more profitable decisions and gain a competitive advantage. Build a Better Business with Automation and Analytics Need to refine your business? Automation and analytics tools enable you to do your job better and simplify the process of marketing and sales alignment. Predicting customer behavior used to feel like a game of Russian roulette; the odds were stacked against you and the money you put on the table was often lost with no reason why. But with marketing automation and analytics software, the advantage has left the house and moved back into your wallet. As a marketing executive, your task is to constantly put your strategy under the microscope and search for ways to refine and improve existing tactics. Thankfully, automation and analytics tools help salespeople find better qualified leads, enabling your marketing team to bolster productivity and simplify the process of marketing and sales alignment. The Dark Ages Before such tools, marketers were shooting in the dark casting a wide marketing net with little indication as to which efforts were a success and which proved futile. Much like a child trying to hit the piñata while blindfolded, marketers would stumble through a series of tactics and tools from billboard campaigns to print advertisements to cold calling all in the hopes of putting forth a message that would resonate with consumers. In addition to spending precious marketing dollars on prospects who were unlikely to convert, marketers spent a great deal of time figuring out the best way to reach customers instead of just directly interacting with them. The Enlightenment Fortunately, your team today has a wealth of data and metrics to comb through to analyze customer behavior and determine the best way to move forward with your marketing strategy. In fact, 95% of companies that use predictive analytics have reported some benefit from implementing marketing automation tools, such as better leads, greater sales, and heightened efficiency, according to an Infographic compiled by Lattice Engines. The infographic also suggests that: 59% of CMOs believe implementing automated marketing solutions will increase the effectiveness of their marketing strategies hoovers.com 8

9 Businesses that embrace marketing automation as part of their lead nurturing campaign experience a 451% increase in qualified leads Companies find 20% more sales opportunities when using marketing automation and a 225% increase in the volume of prospects who convert to sales How to Get On Board There are a variety of marketing automation and analytics tools to help you glean insight and make more profitable decisions. Automation and analytics software comes in all shapes and sizes to automate a variety of business processes, from lead generation and nurturing to campaign management and marketing. The right automation software, for example, can help you with resource management, prediction/scoring, marketing programs, and landing pages all without you having to invest in additional staff. Analytics tools equip you with the quantitative proof that your marketing efforts are working. Being able to sift through marketing analytics such as click through open rates, number of retweets, bounce rates, and whitepaper downloads allows your team to better assess which marketing venues are showing the greatest ROI. Moreover, your team can take critical steps toward fostering relationships with your most loyal customers, become more accessible and open with prospective customers, and get an edge over the competition. hoovers.com 9

10 About Hoover s Hoover s Inc., a subsidiary of The Dun and Bradstreet Corporation (D&B), offers proprietary business information through our online platform and integrated workflow solutions. Whether you are looking for leads, companies, or industries, our data on more than 85 million corporations, 100 million people, and 1,000 industries fuels powerful data cleansing, analysis, list building, and corporate linkage capabilities that accelerate your sales and marketing cycles. Hoover s Inc Airport Blvd. Austin, TX About Dun & Bradstreet Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) is the world s leading source of commercial information and insight on businesses, enabling companies to Decide with Confidence for 172 years. D&B s global commercial database contains more than 225 million business records. The database is enhanced by D&B s proprietary DUNSRight Quality Process, which provides our customers with quality business information. This quality information is the foundation of our global solutions that customers rely on to make critical business decisions. Dun & Bradstreet, Inc All rights reserved.