What to Say Next: How B2B Marketers Can Turn Analytics into Actionable Buyer Insights

Dayna Rothman, VP of Marketing and Sales Development at BrightFunnel@dayroth

Marketing Attribution TrackingABM Analytics

Web Tracking and Ad Network IntegrationIndependent Platform Solution

Revenue Funnel AnalysisForecasting and Prediction

Data Validation and Process OptimizationSales Activity Analysis

Today’s buyer journey is complex. Interactions take place on multiple channels, in multiple different ways.

Marketers Do a Lot!Lead Generation:•Paid programs and ads•Events•Webinars/Virtual Events•Website/content•Social•SEO

Funnel Acceleration:•Database blasts•Email nurturing•Account-Based Marketing•Accelerator programs•Retargeting ads

Brand Awareness:•Social•Content•Events•Blog•Influencer marketing

The holy grail of marketing is turning the buyer journey into a science.

But…A Lot of Programs Are Based on Guesswork

#B2BMX

But, this seems hard. How do we, as marketers, get to the bottom of the customer journey??

Leveraging data to determine what marketing and sales touches work throughout your funnel enables you to better orchestrate your customer journey.

What Should You Track to Orchestrate the Buyer Journey?• First touch attribution—what brings people into your

funnel• Multi touch attribution—look at every marketing touch

to see what accelerates people through your funnel• Last touch attribution—what converts people to

become customers• Velocity—how fast a piece of content, a channel, or a

campaign moves people through your funnel• Full account analysis—how everything adds up in order

to determine the best path to sale

What Should You Say?

#B2BMX

Content marketing is the fuel for all of your demand generation campaigns.

So before you figure out when and where to communicate to your customers, you need to figure what you should communicate.

#B2BMX

But how do you know for sure that you are sending the right content and message? You need to test and measure.

What Content Brings People In?• First-touch attribution

for content downloads on multiple channels• Content that sources

pipeline and revenue• Website landing pages• Unique page views• Referral sources

What Content Accelerates People? • Multi-touch attribution

for content that moves leads through your funnel on multiple channels• Content that influences

pipeline and revenue• Content that converts

leads from MQL, SQL, and Opps

What Content Converts People to Customers?• Last-touch attribution for

content that moves leads to the bottom of your funnel• Content that converts

opps to closed

Is Your Content Still Relevant?• Always keep track of

content trends• Are people still

downloading your content?• Are the right people still

downloading your content?• Is your content still

relevant month over month and quarter over quarter

Where Should You Say It?

You Need to Look at Both Channel and Campaign• Marketing Channel:• Email• Content syndication• Physical events• Field events• Webinars• Advertising• Social

• Marketing Campaign• Specific email sent• Specific vendor and offer• Specific physical event• Specific field event• Specific webinar• Specific ad and offer• Specific social post

What Channels Source the Best Accounts and Leads?• What channels are best

for driving first-touch pipeline and revenue?• Is there a difference?• What channels source the

highest quality leads• Do leads that originate

from different channels move through the funnel at a different velocity?

What Specific Campaigns Bring People In?• What programs--across all

channels-- are the best for sourcing pipeline and revenue?• What programs should you

double down on for next quarter and what programs should you dump?• What is the ROI of each

program vs. what it is bringing in?

What Channels Accelerate People?• What channels perform best in the later stages of the funnel?• What channels accelerate leads through the funnel to become opps and deals• What channels influence the most pipeline and revenue?• Is there a difference between what works for mid-funnel and what works for top-of-funnel?• What channels move people through your funnel the fastest?

What Specific Campaigns Accelerate People?• What are the specific programs

that work for accelerating and engaging people in the middle and bottom of your funnel?• What programs are influencing

the most pipeline and revenue?• Is it different by segment?

Target account type? Company size, etc?• What programs move people

through the funnel the fastest?

When Should You Say It?

Now it’s time to put it all together to determine timing—what is the optimal order for your content and campaigns.

Remember, Everything Should be Mapped to Your Sales Funnel

• Make sure that you connect all leads and contacts to an account• Look at full journey—including all influencers in decision

cycle• Look at trends in:• The order of what content is downloaded• What channels and campaigns were effective in what areas of

the funnel (first-touch vs. multi-touch)• How fast certain campaigns move leads down the funnel• How sales activity integrates into the overall buyer journey

Opportunity and Account Analysis

Opportunity Example: Marketing ActivityExamine full deal engagement by looking at all of the marketing touches for each key contact:Findings•11 total contacts•First touch:

• LinkedIn Ad•Middle touches:

• Email nurture• Dreamforce booth• Infographic • ABM Guide

•Last touches:• Analyst Report: Attribution guide• ABM Theory and Measurement• Virtual Event

Opportunity Example: Sales Activity Examine all sales activity in a deal to see how it fits in with marketing activity:

Key Insights:•Email-centric focus for sales•Sales follow-up for each key marketing activity•Email asks for meetings•Email asks for meetings at tradeshows•Emails re: what prospect is missing out on•Emails with case studies•Closing emails

Opportunity Analysis: Channel EngagementWhat channels are engaging the most contacts within an opportunities

Key Insights:•30% of engagements with external vendor emails•26% of engagements with webinars•22% of engagements with internal emails

Opportunity Analysis: Decision TeamWhat are the titles of the people in an account that engage the most:

Key Insights•64% of engagement with marketing was with manager level employees•29% of engagement with marketing was with VPs or Directors•No engagement with CXO roles

Look At Channel Velocity

• Track engagement per account and segment • Know what works for bringing people in and accelerating

them through your funnel• Know what works for different roles and titles, and know

which roles and titles typically engage with what content, channels, and programs• Know the velocity of different channel types and

campaigns • Orchestrate the ideal buyer journey based on results• Constantly keep testing and optimizing!

Putting it All Together

Buyer Journey ExampleBased on 6 month cohort:

•First-Touch (TOFU):1. Content Syndication: ABM

Ebook•Multi-Touch (MOFU):

1. ADR Outreach2. Website Visit: Definitive

Guide to Multi-Touch Attribution

3. Email Nurture 4. Internal Webinar5. Email Call for Demo: $50

Amazon GC

• Multi-Touch (BOFU):1. Tradeshow: Sirius Decisions2. Direct Mail: Cookie Campaign3. Field Event: Dinner4. Content: Invoca Case Study

• Last Touch (BOFU)1. ADR Outreach2. Content: Buyer Guide

5 Key Takeaways1. The holy grail of marketing is turning the buyer journey

into a science2. Orchestrate your customer journey by leveraging data

and analytics3. Look at single-touch and multi-touch attribution to

know what to say and when to say it4. Determine the best path-to-sale by looking at full

account analyses across your target accounts and opps5. Constantly keep testing and optimizing for success!

Q&A