Personal Information can be difficult for B2B Marketers. The concept of crossing the B2C / B2B barrier may feel like you are crossing the Fourth Wall of Marketing – but it really is just an extension of a data enrichment policy most marketers are already using today. With that in mind, here are four ways to bridge the B2C / B2B gap to better engage your customers and prospects
- Append Professional Information from Personal Email Addresses. This may seem like the easiest way to get started. After all, you are a B2B marketer and an online form was completed with a personal email address alone. You need to qualify this person based on your ideal customer profile and there is no way to do this unless you find out more about this person using the only data you have on them.
- Append Social Profile Information from a Professional Email Address. This piece can also help bridge the gap especially if you are adding profiles from LinkedIn – which is mostly a professional social network. This is especially helpful if the form filler came from LinkedIn or another social site. By adding social profile information you can pass a lead to a (BDR) business development rep who can continue the conversation in the same median, follow that person, or connect with them.
- Move the Conversation to the Personal Email. This process is a lot easier than you may think. Today, most people view their email through their phone that comprises all of their email accounts in one view – so rarely do people initially associate an email to a personal inbox. However, savvy marketers will create content tailored for personal emails that is more informational, less formal, and designed to withstand the test of time. Think newsletter vs. demand generation or webinar vs. appointment or customer vs. prospect.
- Activate your Professional Data for Digital Advertising: When you decide to jump feet first into targeted display advertising, most companies need personal unique identifiers such a personal email address. Working with onboarding companies is expensive. Trying going directly to the source – like Facebook – and upload your audience. With this information already appended, you will realize a much more effective campaign across digital channels. We recently had a customer see a 4X improvement moving from Professional to Personal email addresses with this approach.
Once you have bridged the gap from B2C to B2B – you can also overcome some of the difficulties of data decay. B2B data expires at a 24% – 36% rate per year but personal email addresses and social profiles are closer to 2%. That will allow you to continue the conversation long after a customer or brand advocate has left their job and moved on to the next one.