• by Michael McLaren , Op-Ed Contributor, November 5, 2020

In the last week, we saw increased intent among brands for “lead-to-account matching.” As brands work to close out the year, they’re likely facing internal pressure to close active pipelines.

Matching new leads to existing accounts is a way to focus on customer retention and upsell. In absence of company-issued email addresses, brands need to find ways to map leads to businesses. Doing so can be challenging without the availability of company IP addresses, which don’t have a role in targeting remote workforces. 

Intent data shows a similar increase among brands for “predictive lead scoring.” As discussed in previous articles, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted buyer behavior, slowed the supply chain, and warped demand (both positively and negatively, depending on the industry and other factors).

Understanding an audience’s propensity to buy is more challenging than ever for most marketers, especially those in B2B.

Because B2B buying cycles are long and there is arguably more on the line for a large purchase capable of affecting many job roles, marketers have to be extra sensitive to the potential effects of economic fluctuations on buyer behavior.

Technology that can automate part of the effort is extremely valuable at a time like this. 

And “audience management platform” has seen a steady increase in intent among brands since mid-September, as measured by Bombora.

At this point, most brands understand the necessity of delivering a great customer experience across all marketing touchpoints, even if they aren’t doing it in practice. The ability to view an audience holistically across channels, data points, and marketing tactics is mandatory if a brand is to deliver the kinds of customer experiences that compel engagement.

Moreover, as we’ve discussed quite a bit over the past few months, audiences are changing.

This trend points to a theme that has dominated the marketing landscape for the year: the need to put customer centricity before all else.