Measuring Results

By Perry Rearick, Chief Editor, Follow Your Buyer

The final piece in the Follow Your Buyer framework for B2B marketing and sales is measuring results.

The way organizations measure results in the modern digital, data-rich environment requires a dramatic shift in thinking from one that measures ready-to-buy leads and closed sales to one that has valuable business intelligence as an outcome.   

Just about everything our client partners do has strategic intent and implications. Market research tries to identify long-term trends, new products and services are developed for tomorrow’s unmet needs, marketing plans are developed for the year, some even for two or more, and sales cycles can be 1-2 years long.

Yet so many of the same organizations measure marketing and sales success by a single event. And we are confronted with ”none of the leads you gave us converted to a sale, we’re not going to renew the program.” Do you see the gap here?

When measuring ROI, many B2B solution providers are stuck with a myopic, narrow perspective.

In today’s current digital environment, fueled by LSC capabilities, our clients have a treasure-trove of engagement data, valuable information that can be turned into business intelligence.

How does one transform information into intelligence? It starts by asking “so what” questions.

For example. A solution provider notices that a piece of content on the fragile nature of cells during transport attracted ten times more interest than a features video demo on the durability of the flexible plastic containers that they sell. So what? This could be an opportunity to position themselves as thought leaders regarding the safe movement of sensitive material in support of cell therapy processes, growing their brand awareness with a hard-to-define target audience. And ultimately, driving more business!

Basic engagement data becomes actionable intelligence.

Data bases with 1000s of audience engagements can be processed and analyzed this way. And our clients will begin to move beyond a lead-centric set of outcomes.