B2B marketing surveys have always had a lot of value in my opinion. When done correctly, they capture the zeitgeist of current problems, possibilities, trends, etc.
And during the past few years, there have been a few good surveys of intent data. However, they have largely only addressed the surface of crucial issues, staying at a high level. This is a little comprehensible. Technology that uses intent data is still in its infancy. So it may have been premature in the past to dive into the weeds.
I had this conversation with Todd Lebo, CEO of Ascend2, a few months ago. We both felt that it was time to dig deeper than the traditional “Are you using intent data?” question because so many B2B marketing organizations are now using or planning to use intent data (70%). and
So we started working. The outcome is new research that asks B2B marketing leaders questions about how they use intent data and their successes and setbacks with reference to particular use cases. Additionally, we made care to relate these insights to their broader marketing aims and even compared the outcomes for intent users to those of the survey’s non-intent users. We made some fairly insightful discoveries.
Pie charts comparing the effectiveness of marketing strategies for users with intent against non-users.
Several report conclusions
Users of intent data believe their overall B2B marketing strategy is more successful than non-users (70% vs. 33%, respectively).
While intent non-users continue to deal with more fundamental issues like cross-functional collaboration and attempting to reach target audiences, marketers who reported the active use of intent data are most concerned with growth and fine-tuning strategies and tactics (e.g., scaling program results).
Although the majority of respondents (93%) believe that intent data is effective, almost six out of ten B2B marketers report that employing intent data has introduced new difficulties.
But much more is covered in the new research, “The B2B Marketer’s State of Intent Data.” The report’s findings, which were derived from the perspectives of 289 B2B marketing professionals from companies with over $10M in yearly revenue and seniority levels ranging from manager to C-level, include Pie chart and bar graph demonstrating intent power user insights.
Intent users’ comparative strategic victories against non-intent users
Critical issues facing B2B marketers today and the effectiveness of intent data in addressing these issues
The precise uses of intent data by B2B marketers, including the quantity and variety of intent sources
The most significant use of intent data
The major obstacles to leveraging intent, together with their associated costs
The average amount of time needed to get ROI from intent data, as compared to expectations
comments made by sales colleagues on the usage of intent, among other things.
The latest “The B2B Marketer’s State of Intent Data” study is available here for free.
