Regardless of how large and established a company is, aligning marketing and sales teams is essential. If your company’s marketing and sales teams are not on the same page, using intent data won’t miraculously bring them together. But rather, intent data facilitates alignment instead of creating it. With 2022 upon us, it’s time to cover why marketing and sales alignment is crucial and the ways in which intent data plays a pivotal role.
Intent data is known to have a variety of use cases, and below are two examples:
- Identifies accounts with higher buying intent
- Provides insights about pain points organizations have, which helps when customizing content at every stage of a buyer’s journey
If brands choose to use intent data to only prioritize accounts rather than customizing their sales pitch according to their prospects’ needs, they aren’t using intent data to its fullest potential. Furthermore, companies that use intent data effectively should keep their sales leaders in the loop and share details with them well in advance.
Also, upper management team members should ensure that everyone involved in the sales process has an in-depth understanding of intent data, its use cases, and the value it can bring. It’s equally important for teams to understand how to properly use intent data, which starts with teaching them the reasons why intent data is utilized.
According to a recent Intensify intent data report, numerous B2B marketers have expressed their great experience with intent data despite possible altercations with their sales counterparts and outreach efforts. Within the same report, over 90 percent of marketers stated that intent data solves most of their digital marketing challenges. What’s your experience like when it comes to intent data?
How Does Intent Data Facilitate Marketing and Sales Alignment?
1. Strategically Share With the Right People
How many times have you heard the phrase, “sharing is caring”? Although this saying is a cliche, many B2B brands and marketers believe this is how it should be. When striving to align sales and marketing together, it’s important to understand who the key stakeholders are and then regularly keep them in the loop from the very beginning of the sales process. Make sure to leave no room for confusion, and even though the sales stage is at the end of the funnel, stakeholders should be a part of the strategy from the initiation stage and onwards.
2. Highlight the Right Data
In order for marketing campaigns to be successful, it’s crucial to share the right data with the right people at the right time. Nowadays, there is a great deal of data overload, and data leakage often occurs while handling it and sharing it with specific individuals.
Also, it’s vital to ensure the right stakeholders are reached at the right time. Brands can leverage automation and even set up report alerts to trigger contextually suitable actions. On a similar note, it’s worthwhile to notify sales teams of target account activity so they can help customer service teams with upselling opportunities.
3. Use Intent Data to Break Silos
One of the most underrated benefits of working with data is that it breaks silos. Data even brings different departments and teams together, which is multi-beneficial. When it comes to marketing and sales alignment though, sales teams can share their interactions with various prospects and customers. Then, a brand’s marketing team can leverage specific insights to optimize their campaigns. In turn, marketers are able to share their reports and content assets with their sales colleagues.
4. Gain Support From Upper Management
Gaining support from upper management is an integral aspect regarding the alignment of marketing and sales. As mentioned earlier in this article, intent data facilitates alignment, but it doesn’t create it. To operationalize intent data across both marketing and sales teams, it’s vital for upper management to be on board and on the same page as the brand itself.
5. Accumulate More Use Cases
Last but not least, it’s important to keep in mind that intent data isn’t limited to marketing and sales. Interestingly, brands can monitor key supplies, track their competitors, and leverage those details to build better relationships with the media and various online communities. After all, each of these factors is indirectly related to marketing and sales. When they are prioritized, it often results in the facilitation of a healthy relationship across several departments within an organization.
Overall, there is no denying the fact that intent data is a valuable tool. Conversions equate to business, and intent data helps brands effectively achieve this. However, for conversions to take place, brands should have conversations with their prospects. Authentic and meaningful conversations usually happen when a company’s marketing and sales teams are on the same page. With this being said, it’s in each company’s best interest to effectively leverage intent data and determine the best course of action. Don’t stop learning about intent data though–check out any of these informative Anteriad intent data articles today!
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