This is the second in a three-part series highlighting the importance of relationship data and its value to businesses.

Technology and data have become invaluable resources in our industry. 

And are critical determinants in whether you win the customer or lose them to competition. It all comes down to who’s better at leveraging data and existing technology to build relationships.

Let's look at the types of data you should focus on, their benefits, and how you can combine these data sources to drive growth. 

Let’s start with intent data.

A brief re-introduction to intent data

Intent data is an aggregation of the data created every time a buyer searches the internet for information to help them make a buying decision. 

Intent data is a powerful tool to have in your arsenal. It enables you to:

• Paint a clear picture of the buyer’s pain-points
• And what kind of solution they are seeking.

This boosts your sales efforts. And enables your revenue team to achieve higher levels of effectiveness and efficiency. 

And can be sourced from (but isn’t limited to):

• Content downloads (e-books, white papers, checklists)
• Blogs, articles, online reviews read, videos watched, websites visited
• Other content consumed on specific topics

So, how does this benefit your ABM strategy?

7 benefits of intent data for your ABM campaigns

• Intent data highlights which buyers are researching your product category. Save yourself time chasing buyers who have only expressed a vague interest in buying and focus your resources on capturing buyers who have shown a readiness to buy.
• Intent data simplifies content creation and curation. When you have a clear idea of what your target buyers are interested in, it’s easier to craft your content in a manner that will directly appeal to them.
• Intent data makes it easier to segment buyer accounts. Intent data makes it easy to deduce what each buyer wants so you can improve messaging and outreach for your buyer segments.
• Intent data makes it easy to determine the best channels to use to deliver your content. What channels are buyers relying on the most for their research information? Those are the channels you should also target.
• Intent data makes it much easier to identify buyer needs. The buyer's search information is a treasure trove of data that clarifies what the buyer needs.
• Intent data enables your organization to develop a customized approach to individual accounts. Personalizing your product or service specific to individual buyers is much easier to do with the results of intent data analysis.
• Intent data helps you minimize resource use and maximize profits. Intent data makes it easy to focus your efforts and resources on the readiest buyers, which effectively raises your ROI.

Now to relationship data.

A brief introduction to relationship data

Relationship data highlights which buyers are most likely to buy based on whether they – or someone they know – are already familiar with your product. 

Just like how human relationships work in real life, relationship data offers a warmer path for sales and marketers to reach their buyers and break into their target accounts. 

It’s drawn from multiple relationship touchpoints that your company has with the buyers and users:

• Yourself
• Your coworkers
• Your executives
• Your investors
• Your customers

Similar to intent data, relationship data also helps you develop a personalized approach when reaching out and prioritizing resources to maximize outcomes.

4 benefits of relationship data for your ABM strategy

Here are four reasons why relationship data should play a key role in your ABM strategy:

• Prioritize target accounts with previous customers/prospects. Especially if they recently joined the company and therefore are in a buying window for new tools and services. According to the authors of Marketing Metrics: The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance, repeat customers have a 65% chance of converting, versus 13% for new customers. 
• Lower upfront customer acquisition costs. Serving repeat customers is very profitable due to the lower associated costs than acquiring new buyers.
• Loyal buyers are easier to upsell or cross-sell. This enables you to attach products or services with higher margins to your primary offering—the result is higher profits over time. Repeat customers spend 67% more than new customers. 
• Relationship data compounds over time. This leads to a better understanding of the buyer. And allows you to tailor your offering with precision, leading to buyer satisfaction and fierce buyer loyalty. 

How to accelerate your ABM campaigns using the intent & relationship data cocktail

Here are a couple of ways you can take advantage of your intent and relationship data.

Set up a command center

First off, create a centralized "command center." 

Your command center gathers, analyzes, and deduces valuable insights from all the data (intent & relationships) sourced from your customers for the benefit of your organization. 

Focus on the right insights

To use intent and relationship data, I typically focus on: 

• The right channel to engage the target companies
• The right product benefit
• The right marketing touchpoints and content
• The right people to contact (prospects)

Finally, reach key decision-makers and their buying committee

Your ABM campaign needs to court everyone involved in the buying decision process if your goal is to build a secure sales pipeline. Use these insights to improve your multithreading tactics. 

This sometimes also includes end-users who are individual contributors. As more executives look to their teams for product recommendations, your targeting strategy might need to be both top-down and bottom-up.

The reality is your prospect can’t finalize a buying decision until everyone behind-the-scenes who has a direct or indirect is convinced that you are the best choice.

Final thoughts

Relationship data combined with intent data goes beyond enabling you to determine your customer needs. You also understand who calls the shots or who you need on your side to win the deal.