For years, people have been saying that data is the new gold. Well, we can tell you firsthand that having a robust database strategy is crucial for driving sales and marketing success. By leveraging advanced techniques and tools, you can refine your targeting, improve lead quality, and ultimately boost your bottom line. Let’s explore some cutting-edge strategies to elevate your B2B database game.

Crafting a Detailed Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

At the heart of any effective B2B database strategy lies a well-defined Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Your ICP is a north star, guiding your sales and marketing efforts toward the most promising prospects. Here’s how to create a comprehensive ICP:

1.  Analyze your best customers: Look at your most successful clients and identify common characteristics.
2.  Gather firmographic data: Include industry, company size, revenue, and geographic location.
3. Consider technographic information: What technologies do your ideal customers use?
4. Identify the personas involved in the buying process.: We recommend you assign common job titles for influencers, researchers, end users, decision-makers, financial authorities and blockers.
5. Understand pain points: What challenges do your personas face, and how does your solution address these challenges for each persona?

By creating a detailed ICP, you can focus your resources on prospects most likely to convert, increasing efficiency and ROI.
(https://salesleadautomation.com/resource/develop-an-ideal-customer-profile/)

Market Research

Not doing your homework or market research on what puts your ideal customer into a buying process is an awful idea. What will happen is a rollercoaster of events. Some campaigns will work, and others will fail. 

So, after identifying your ICP, you owe it to yourself to do some market research.
The easiest way to do this is to launch a survey. Simply asking your target market what puts them into an active buying process will save you from an awful roller coaster of success and failure.

Questions you need to know include:

• The typical job titles involved in the buying process.
• Their job levels: Manager, Director, VP, C-suite, etc.
• Their role in the buying process is that of influencer, researcher, end-user, decision-maker, financial authority, and blocker.
• What puts your company into an active buying process (What triggers?)

   

  Usually, companies don’t go into an active buying process unless they are experiencing one of these circumstances;
   

  

By identifying these key attributes, you will know how to craft relevant messaging for your campaigns.

Note: We will share more information about how to collect this data using survey tools, panel services, and telemarketing services here

Leveraging Industry Classification Systems

To further refine your targeting, make use of industry classification systems like NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) and SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes. These systems provide a standardized way to categorize businesses, allowing you to:

• Identify niche markets within broader industries
• Understand the competitive landscape
• Tailor your messaging to specific sectors
• Discover new potential markets

For example, if you’re targeting the manufacturing sector, you can use NAICS codes to drill down into specific subsectors like “336111 – Automobile Manufacturing” or “311811 – Retail Bakeries.” This level of granularity enables you to create highly targeted campaigns that resonate with your audience.

Note: Keep in mind these classification systems aren’t perfect.

For example, larger companies often have multiple products, services, and brands. Take Amazon as an example. They own over 100 different brands in different industries. That means they have over 100 SIC and NAICS codes. That is why we like to use SIC  NAICS codes in combination with Keyword searches.

Keyword Optimization for Precise Targeting

Keywords aren’t just for SEO – they’re also crucial for finding your target market.
For example, LGi had a client who sold a mobile application to collect rental payments. Their target market was owners and executives at apartment complexes and other multi-tenant dwellings. The problem was that the companies they targeted were often classified under the real estate industry. So they were sending a lot of cold emails to real estate agents, brokers, and mortgage companies that weren’t a good fit. Using keywords like apartment, apartments (Plural), condo, multi-family, and multi-tenant, found in the company name or their website meta tags, we could identify companies in the real estate industry that were ideal targets.

How does keyword targeting work?

Using these keywords, we could search for companies using these keywords in their company name, social profiles, and on their website meta tags. A company generally will not add a keyword to their website meta tags if those keywords aren’t relevant.


The results were better response rates, which improved email deliverability and the overall number of leads generated and closed sales.

Leveraging Growth Indicators for Timely Outreach

Staying attuned to growth indicators can help you identify prime opportunities for engagement. Monitor the following:


1. News feeds: Set up alerts for your target companies and industries.
2. Company announcements: Watch for press releases indicating growth or change.
3. Expansions: Track when companies open new locations or enter new markets.
4. Mergers and acquisitions: These events often signal a need for new solutions.
5. Leadership changes: New executives may be open to fresh ideas and partnerships.


Store or location closures: While seemingly negative, these can indicate a shift in strategy that your solution might address.


By incorporating these growth indicators into your database strategy, you can time your outreach for maximum impact. For instance, another client in the employee relocation industry struggled to find new clients. So, our first step was to do some market research and find out what puts an ideal company in an active buying process for relocation services. Our study uncovered the top five reasons: mergers, acquisitions, new leadership, expansion plans, and contract renewal. While we couldn’t tell when a company’s relocation contract was up for renewal, we could identify a company that announced a merger, acquisition, new leadership, and expansion plans. 



Results: We were able to craft better icebreakers by creating more relevant messages in our email campaigns. These campaigns are very personalized and appear to be written one at a time when, in reality, we were using advanced data strategies and automation tools to deliver these messages. This leads to higher response rates, more leads, and revenue for the client.

Harnessing the Power of LinkedIn for B2B Prospecting

LinkedIn has become an invaluable tool for B2B sales and marketing professionals. Here are some strategies to leverage this platform effectively:

1. Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator: This premium tool allows you to search for prospects based on detailed criteria aligned with your ICP.
2. Look for companies with high growth patterns, such as department headcount growth or company headcount growth, or who have active job postings on LinkedIn. These indicators can help you find potential companies “In Market” for your products and services.
3. Engage with content: Share industry insights and comment on posts to build your brand and attract potential customers.
4. Join relevant LinkedIn groups: Participate in industry-specific groups to network and identify potential leads.
5. Utilize LinkedIn ads: Target decision-makers with precision using LinkedIn’s robust advertising platform.

Integrating LinkedIn into your marketing strategy can enrich your prospect data and create more meaningful connections with potential customers.

Free Tools

Even if you don’t have much of a budget, if you take the time to research your target audience, some free tools can help you find companies potentially in-market for your products and services.  All you need to do is create a list of business triggers. 
Then you can use free tools like:

Google Alerts allows you to add keywords, and anytime that keyword is mentioned in the new Google, it will send you an email with an alert.

Google News allows you to search for specific keywords in news feeds, such as companies that announce expansion plans, and you will get a list of news articles. The downside is you have to read through the article to find what you are looking for, but heck, it is free.

Talk Walker will also send you alerts similar to Google Alerts.

LGi offers a free license of their sales lead automation platform. This platform provides data on companies with specific technologies, announces new funding, and includes intent data capabilities.

For example, you could target certain job titles at companies of specific sizes in certain industries using one intent topic for free. 

Paid plans allow for 6 to 12 intent topic searches. The platform also grades the level of intent from low to medium to high intent.
The LGi platform also allows you to connect two email accounts and send up to 100 emails a day for free. You can learn more

Putting It All Together

To implement these advanced database strategies effectively:

1. Invest in a robust CRM system that can handle complex data points and integrations.
2. Train your sales and marketing teams on leveraging these advanced database marketing strategies.
3. Continuously refine your ICP based on new data and market changes.
4. Do your market research!
5. Use automation tools to streamline data collection and campaign deployment.

By adopting these strategies, you’ll be well-positioned to identify and engage high-value prospects, nurture relationships more effectively, and drive sustainable growth for your B2B business. Remember, the key to success lies not just in having the right data but in using it intelligently to inform your sales and marketing decisions