About the Session
In this episode of Science of B2B, Kerry Cunningham delves into the concept of triangulation in the context of B2B buying signals. He emphasizes the importance of combining various types of intent data—such as anonymous website traffic and third-party intent data—to create a clearer picture of in-market accounts. By merging these weak individual signals, businesses can identify high-quality leads and target their marketing efforts more effectively.
Takeaways
Takeaway 1: The Flaws of Isolated Buying Signals.
Individual signals like anonymous website traffic and third-party intent data are weak and unreliable by themselves, often leading to wasted efforts by sales teams.
Takeaway 2: Triangulation for Stronger Signals.
Individual signals like anonymous website traffic and third-party intent data are weak and unreliable by themselves, often leading to wasted efforts by sales teams.
Takeaway 3: Understand the Buying Process.
Recognizing that buyers avoid vendors until they have made decisions allows marketers to shift focus to intent data and triangulation for influencing decisions early on.
Takeaway 4: The Reality of B2B Buying.
Buyers engage with vendors only 70% of the way through their buying journey. By then, more than 80% have already made key decisions, making early engagement essential.
Insights Surfaced
- Triangulation is similar to the concept of multi-question psychological tests (like the Myers-Briggs). Each question on its own offers little insight, but together, they form a much clearer picture.
- Companies need to combine various weak signals to identify the accounts that are genuinely in-market for their solutions.
Key Quotes
“When you put them together and see that they’re pointing at the same set of accounts, now you’ve got a really strong signal.”
“Third-party intent is terrible by itself… It’s only when you combine it with other signals that it becomes useful.”
“If you’re waiting for people to fill out a form and say contact me, that’s too late to influence the buying journey.”
Future Topics
The next episode will continue the discussion on how to effectively use intent data for marketing and sales, focusing on when to take action based on the signals detected. Upcoming episodes will dive deeper into specific use cases and tactics for leveraging intent data to drive marketing and sales success.
