Marketers were faced with the loss of cookie data, but the move to a cookie-free world was then shelved. Meanwhile, an increase in ‘opt out’ laws has led to a reduction in the amount of data available to drive B2B marketing strategies and marketing campaigns.
Jon Clarke, Founder and Product Manager of Cyance, Europe’s leading intent data provider, took a look at the current landscape and shared his thoughts on how the data landscape will change change in 2022 and how B2B marketers can take advantage.
As tracking cookies continue to fall, the big question on marketers’ minds is ‘what do we do now?’. How must we understand our customers and future-proof our marketing and technology strategy?
The good news is that, despite all the changes and uncertainties, 2022 will bring plenty of opportunities for B2B marketers to redefine their use of data, driving better interactions with customers. leads and optimize their campaign performance.
Cookies will be the technology of yesterday by the end of 2022
While the deprecation of cookies has been delayed, more and more people are refusing to use cookies. Firefox and Safari already block tracking cookies by default, and Google itself has announced that it will not be rolling out alternative user-level advertising identifiers as an alternative to third-party cookies. Make the cookie a nullable entity, long before its expiration date.
As a result, B2B marketers will turn away from cookies in the coming months and will need to look to MarTech and AdTech to provide a more permanent solution that generates similar, if not as good, insights more about customers and potential customers. One of those solutions is Universal ID.
B2B marketers will realize the potential of unified IDs
Unified ID provides an opportunity for the marketing industry to thrive in a cookie-free world by building a unique ID for users that can be tracked across the entire digital ecosystem without syncing supplementary chemistry. A Unified ID represents a static, exchangeable, personal identification number for each user, taking into account their multiple touchpoints.
We’ve seen innovative B2B marketers exploit the many advantages that Unified IDs have over cookies. First, they have a longer shelf life than cookies, making it much easier to build audiences, identify behavioral trends, and measure activation outcomes over time. Additionally, Unified ID works in a way that is multi-channel by definition, and I expect to see an expansion of data sources beyond traditional channels and to include more modern channels like SmartTVs and wearables. Okay. Ultimately, I predict that increased use of Universal ID will translate into much more accurate and reliable data for marketers, providing a broader picture of intent.
An earthquake towards Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
2021 has seen a significant shift to Account-Based Marketing (ABM), with 70% of marketers reporting that they use ABMs, up from 15% in 2020. But I expect Expect to see this momentum accelerate even further over the next 12 months.
More and more B2B marketers are experiencing the benefits of a personalized and targeted approach in their campaigns. We now have the necessary technology and the right data – it’s only a matter of time until we reach 100% ABM in B2B.
ABM offers a much more personalized marketing method that incentivizes both marketing and sales teams to associate and, as a result, it shortens the sales cycle. ABM is much more accurate and measurable than traditional approaches, delivering clearer and more effective ROI across marketing and sales teams.
ABM is also a more appealing solution for marketers because marketing spend, as a percentage of revenue, is at its lowest level in more than a decade. Marketers are looking for solutions that do more with less. ABM does just that, its targeted and effective approach leads to less waste than traditional mass advertising and less targeted digital strategies.
Quality over quantity in B2B data
For many years, the sales and marketing industry has taken the view that, when it comes to data, more quantity is better, better quality! This is especially true during the pandemic, where many businesses have tried to compensate for sales by phone and in person. Instead, choose to reach through digital channels and content without really appreciating the buying stage or digital journey of the modern B2B buyer. As a result, we’re finding that buyers are feeling overwhelmed with messages that lack context and relevance.
So, as B2B demand generation teams become aware of this, I expect to see the necessary attitude shift by 2022, with marketers looking to phase out their data usage to only focus on the most useful, relevant, and accurate insights. By removing the data noise that has become so distracting in recent years, marketers can instead focus on getting a clear view of buyer intent and where they stand. in their buying journey. Nothing else really matters and this is something a greater number of B2B marketers will realize in the next 12 months.
Marketers will integrate data to get a complete customer view
Finally, in line with a streamlined set of data points, I also expect marketers to consider eliminating data silos and integrating all of their insights into one unified platform. Best. This will allow them to create a much clearer and more accurate picture of their audience.
In particular, I expect more integration between different data sources, such as first- and third-party intent data. This in turn will be layered with deeper insights like engineering and dynamic data. In doing so, B2B marketers will begin to gain a full view of the customer.
B2B marketers who embrace these changes in the data landscape and adjust their strategies and campaign triggers accordingly, are sure to be at the forefront next year.
