B2B Marketers Look to Improve Data Acquisition to Achieve Goals

As B2B marketers reap the benefits of data and analytics, new research suggests that they intend to refine their database solutions and strategies in the coming months.

According to the second annual “Database Strategies and Contact Acquisition Survey” from Demand Gen Report, about 65 percent of marketers intend to target specific segments in the future for better engagement. Approximately 37 percent intend to grow their database in the near future to add as many new accounts as possible.

At the moment, half of marketers (51 percent) claim that they have a data acquisition strategy, but there is “room for significant improvement.” Thirty-three percent said there is at least room for “minor improvement.”

As B2B marketers look to dive deeper into their data, 54 percent stated that they want to collect more budget information on their contacts. Thirty-four percent want more data on their company revenue, while 33 percent want additional insight into their industry vertical and/or company size.

In terms of challenges, most marketers (83 percent) claim that their data is old/outdated. Nearly 71 percent claim that they don’t have the time/resources to implement an effective process.

Data Quality and Marketing Challenges

This is not the first report to cite data quality as a problem for marketers. According to the “Marketing Data Quality Trends” report from Ascend2, the majority of marketers (62 percent) claim that improving data quality is the most important objective of a successful marketing data strategy.

About 46 percent stated that improving marketing data quality is a challenge to data strategy success. Nearly 49 percent of marketers agree that the most effective tactic for improving data quality is validating contact data as it’s collected from online contact forms.