• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, March 16, 2016

The data audience segments required to finely target business-related advertisements through programmatic media channels doesn't exist today, but Dell Computer VP of North America Commercial Marketing Bryan Jones said he'll keep pushing for the dream to come true.  

"The differences between B2B and B2C marketing no longer exist," Jones told Search Marketing Daily at South By Southwest Interactive. The Internet dissolved the distinction. Customers who make purchase decisions at their respective companies move in and out of their roles at work all day and all night long, so its seems unrealistic to believe that a targeted advertisement after work hours would not influence a purchase decision.

The biggest challenge for brands marketing to the business community has become the lack of niche data aimed at specific segments within a work environment such as software engineers in an IT department. The very specific data needed to target potential and existing business customers in search, social, or programmatic display media buys just isn’t available -- not in the same way it's available to commercial retail brands or automotive manufacturers.

Technology just hadn't caught up -- yet. "On the consumer side of programmatic I know you're looking for a tablet or phablet, but you cannot get that narrow for business-related purchases," Jones said.

Jones said the companies building the tech stacks -- social, search, display, video -- have yet to discover how to monetize the tools for specialized niche audiences. "There doing what happens in all areas of innovation," he said. "Companies start at the widest point possible because that's where they see the opportunity. I'm willing to pay to get narrower, but there may not be 10 companies where I can apply the same data."

An increase in direct targeting requires highly granular data. Andrew Arthur, SVP data partnerships and solutions at GfK Mediamark Research & Intelligence, doesn't have the solution, but said "it's more difficult to capture B2B behavior because of the size of data sets."

Nonetheless, Jones said he'll keep pushing the industry for the data that will enable Dell and other brands supporting companies with products and services to finely target advertisements through programmatic channels, and finally discard the stigma that B2B and B2C are not at all alike.