Identifying and nurturing high-quality leads is key to driving growth and revenue for marketing. However, basic lead scoring models may not be enough to accurately capture the complexities of the modern B2B buying process. That’s where buying group scoring comes in.
What are common scoring elements?
Scoring elements can be used to prioritize leads based on different factors. They allow you to rank, segment, and organize your prospects to help you determine where they are in the buying process and how you should engage them to move them down the funnel and ultimately get them to convert. We recommend that marketers use a combination of scoring methods to help best approach your leads.
Some commonly used scoring methods are:
- Engagement scoring: This method measures which prospects are engaging and showing interest in your content. By knowing who is most engaged and what they’re engaged with, you can tailor your outreach based on what’s working.
- Lead scoring: This allows you to pinpoint where an individual lead is in their buying journey. Knowing how close a lead is to a purchase decision can help you optimize your next outreach.
- Account scoring: This scoring element breaks down each account and gives you a deeper understanding of the buying potential of the company. With this information, you can determine how to prioritize your marketing and sales efforts for each account.
- Buying group scoring: This helps you track who is part of a purchase decision and identify the key decision-makers within a target company. Knowing who is involved in a purchase decision and their role in the process can help you provide the right content at the right time to get them to convert.
In our recent study, The 2023 Marketing Data Impact Report: B2B Marketers Under Pressure to Prove It or Pull Their Hair Out, we asked marketers which scoring elements they were using and found that 57% use engagement scoring, 56% use lead scoring followed by buying group scoring at 40% and account scoring at 36%.
What’s interesting here is that when we looked at the data, we saw buying group users were seeing some major benefits the rest of the data set wasn’t.
What sets the buying group users apart?
Better results
Buying group users are seeing real outcomes that prove what they’re doing is working: better metrics and higher revenue.
Improved metrics
From increased click-through rates to better lead velocity—buying group users are performing better than their peers. Those who have implemented buying group scoring have reported significant improvements in their key marketing metrics when compared to those who have not adopted this strategy.
When it comes to converting their audience, they drive more considerable impact. They’re seeing 1.6X campaign conversions compared to those who don’t use this scoring method.
Increased revenue
Buying group users are driving higher revenue growth. They reported a significant increase in revenue at a rate 1.75x more often than the rest of the data set.
More likely to meet goals
These marketers are seeing real results and they expect to continue down this path. They’re more confident than their peers that they will hit their goals for the next quarter.
By scoring leads based on the collective behavior of decision-making groups, these marketers can better identify high-quality leads and tailor their marketing strategy to specific groups of decision-makers. This helps them refine their campaigns and optimize their efforts, like running more effective lead nurture programs.
More able to prove value
Buying group users are confident in their ability to prove the value of their efforts. When compared to their peers they reported they were able to prove value significantly more across each category we surveyed them on.
With 41% of marketers reporting the pressure to prove the value of their efforts was too high, knowing buying group scorers were better able to prove value is not an insignificant finding. If you’re feeling the pressure to prove your value, start by building out a buying group scoring strategy.
The right data
Buying group users are more likely to be using the right data. They know they’re using the right data to convert audiences because it’s proven in their pipeline. This “right data” isn’t going to be the same for every organization, but it concerns how you use your data and, as a result, the outcomes you’re able to produce.
These marketers report they are using the right data nearly 2.5X as often as their peers. This is a huge gap between buying group users and the rest of the data set. Having data that allows them to score for the buying group helps them better understand their audience and improve conversions.
More want to improve buying group scoring
Buying group users want to improve their existing buying group scoring process. Interestingly, they’re significantly more concerned with improving this than the rest of the data set is with any of their scoring methods. With 60% of buying group users saying they feel they need to increase or improve their buying group scoring elements, this means that they are recognizing the benefits and want to build on their success.
Start using buying groups
If you are purely doing traditional lead scoring, it’s an ideal time to start sophisticating your scoring methodology. While there are benefits to all types of scoring and they complement each other, buying groups scoring has emerged as the leader of the pack. It’s the most impactful and modern approach that marketers are reaping the benefits from. Buying group users see better results, drive more revenue, and are more confident in their ability to prove the value of their efforts.
Ready to learn more about buying groups and how to use them in your B2B marketing strategy? Read our blog How to Identify and Evaluate B2B Buying Groups.
