One Thing Intent and Predictive Algorithms Can't Do
There are a lot of data-driven, algorithm-fueled approaches today for trying to figure out who’s in the market for your solutions.
They use behaviors and signals to build models to identify and engage with likely targets. These are great technologies that can help you detect trends and focus efforts on a few key areas, such as build target lists for your account-based marketing (ABM) initiatives. But there’s another way to get valuable information about what prospects need, when they need it, what their budgets are, and more.
You ask them.
It’s simple, but it’s not easy. It takes a lot of time to get busy prospects on the phone. And once you do, it takes a certain skill to get answers to the questions you care most about. And it’s exactly what BAO’s Opportunity Identification (OppID™) service is designed to do.
The above is a long heading, so let’s break it down.
Algorithms are really good at crunching big volumes of data to identify trends and predict behaviors. What you get from them is infinitely better than a guess based on gut feel, but it is still a guess, albeit a data-driven one. It’s a fantastic starting point, but it’s still the starting point, not the end result.
David Ogilvy famously said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.” There’s a modern corollary that says half of the data you get from predictive technologies is spot on, the trouble is you don’t know which half. Maybe it’s one-third or three-quarters—you pick the number based on your experience—but the analogy holds.
Think of your machine output as phase one. It does a great job of quickly creating a good candidate list of potential customers—these are your possibles. Even if it’s a manageable sized list—and too often it isn’t—you don’t want to just start throwing all your account-based marketing resources at it. OppID is phase two, providing you with a blueprint of that market and showing you where the right-now potential deals are—the probables—versus who should be nurtured for longer-term opportunities. Now you have a solid ABM list to work with. And, it gives you highly detailed, highly relevant, live-confirmed information about each account, so your sales and marketing teams have intelligence—for smart prospecting and effective account-based marketing programs—that your competitors don’t have.
Find out how BAO’s Opportunity Identification service can narrow your slate of possibles to an intelligence-rich list of probables to improve your ROI on predictive systems, increase the efficiency of your account-based marketing resources, and ultimately grow your pipeline.
Speak with a pipeline expert to build a program that meets your needs.