• by Ray Schultz , May 4, 2018

B2B marketers whose email is tanking should stop blaming their copywriters and look at their data processes. These firms may be among the data laggards, judging by Th,e B2B Activation Priority a study conducted by Forrester Consulting for Dun & Bradstreet.

Of the firms surveyed, only 52% base marketing decisions on data rather than on personal intuition and experience, the study found. And 80% struggle to manage the three V’s of data management — volume, variety and velocity.

In addition, a disappointing 49% have data that they fully trust to be complete and accurate. And 48% are effective at using customer data to activate marketing and sales initiatives at scale.

The firms identified as leaders are way out front. For example, 75% of the leaders measure lifetime value, compared with 45% of the laggards. Of the leaders surveyed, 77% active data for "accurately identifying and attributing campaign success." A spokesperson notes that, "without question, email would be a “campaign” type included in respondents’ responses." And many employ personalization.  

Leaders are also more likely to measure the sales conversion rate (77%, vs. 49%), return on marketing spend (73% vs. 47%) and average deal size (73%  vs. 42%). Overall, 77% of the leaders can accurately attribute campaign success, and 32% of the laggards.

Of course, even laggards are big on measuring company revenue (70%, vs. 81% of the leaders). But only 44% are skilled at personalizing the customer experience, compared with 79% of the leaders.  

Even the leaders could do better in some areas: Only 51% employ artificial intelligence (AI) for marketing and sales, although they are way ahead of the laggards, who have a rate of 18%.

Failure to adopt machine learning hampers them from breaking content into small bits for use in email, digital ads and social media, based on the study. One could guess that it also impedes automated transaction emails.

Marketers face serious challenges in getting their data houses in order. For example, of the many that find it difficult to share data and insights, and 43% say it is very or extremely challenging.

That’s no small issue, given apparent siloization at some firms. Forrester observes that “siloed insights teams typically over-focus on low-value customer behavior measurements such as site visits or email opens that without context, don’t provide sum client insight for building true customer connection.”

 Here’s the full list of obstacles:

• Managing data and insight sharing across business areas — 82%
• Managing the volume/variety/velocity of data — 80%
• Taking actions quickly from data and insights — 80%
• Developing actionable insights — 80%
• Defining shared metrics to measure success — 79%
• Maintaining adequate data management capabilities — 76%
• Accessing technology/tools for real-time data and insights — 76%
• Personalizing experience across channels (web, mobile, offline) — 76%
• Attributing campaign performance to individual programs, campaigns, etc. — 76%

Derek Slayton, general manager of the sales and marketing business at Dun & Bradstreet, concludes that “expectations are changing in the B2B buying process and sales and marketing teams need to adapt. B2B customers are looking to have more consumer-like experiences and take more control of their buying processes.”

Forrester surveyed 500 professionals, 91% of them at firms active in B2B. Some question results are based on subsets. Of these respondents, 20% work in  marketing departments. A spokesperson estimates that 100% use data to drive email.