Are you one of those B2B companies or sales teams struggling to pinpoint which companies are struggling with digital transformation? Do you want to get better insights into it? Well, let us burst your bubble! More than 70% of companies have implemented a strategy to offer digital service to their customers and have employed solutions, creating or actively implementing them. Read more to learn how you can convert your leads through data and make your audience your loyal customers!
What are Technographics?
Technographics stand for technographic segmentation which provides information regarding a company’s use of technology; when did they first start using it and for what purposes are they using it?
What is Technographic data?
It is the information about a business’ current technology stack. This information can be used to study, segment, and target specific organisations in the market. In addition, it provides information regarding a company’s technological adoption rate and the challenges they present for firms.
How to collect Technographic data?
There are various methods to collect technographic data at the company’s disposal:
1. Cold Calling :
A classic method to collect the aforesaid information is through surveys or cold calling the companies you want to target directly. Unfortunately, most companies don’t respond to it nowadays.
2. Website Scrapping:
Another method is to hire a technical expert to do website scrapping. Website scrapping will help extract useful information about the technology and services they use from the company’s website. However, security control may limit the extent to which anyone can extract information using this method anymore.
3. Social Media Posts:
If companies keep a close eye on their potential customers, they can analyse, through their social media activity, the current state of their technology. For example, if the potential client company is looking for a new Creative Director, this signals that they will be heavily investing in marketing tools to support this division.
4. Data vendors:
One last way, which is also the best one, is for companies to purchase technographic data from data vendors. Data vendors collect the same through methods like Source code, NLP scraping and manual verification. However, for the companies to comply with local and global laws, the private data needs to be anonymised.
Why is technographic data important?
Technographic data provides valuable insights into a company’s technology stack. This information is utilized to leverage an upper edge in the market. Some of the advantages of using technographic data are:
1. Better Segmentation:
If companies have accurate and precise information about their targeted customer’s technology stack, they can utilise it to see which companies solve their value proposition in the best way possible. The segmentation and targeting will become more focused. For example, one may observe that most of the clients utilise marketing automation platforms such as Marketo and Eloqua. This information not only tells the brands what they are associated with but also indicates their budget. How, you ask? Marketing automation requires a significant commitment of time and money. When comparing the two tools, each offers separate areas of distinction regarding functionality and usability. Technographics can also represent the company’s size and the sophistication of its marketing and IT staff.
2. Customised Marketing:
You can improve your content and strategy for initial contact after you know your prospect. Only then you will be able to target businesses based on their technology stack and generate advertisements or emails that correspond to what your prospects want to hear. The more you discover about your prospects, the more time you may devote to pursuing the most qualified leads. This increases your chances of positive reactions since it reveals that you tried to study their challenges. Making them feel special and focused will yield the company better results. The technographic data will also provide the companies with data that will help them reveal new opportunities like penetrating new markets.
3. Improved Sales:
Deploying effective tools to extract technographic data gives you manifold benefits.
- It helps the outbound team to identify the right outbound lead. Once you get in touch with the lead, you know from the information you have the possible questions they could pose and hence be prepared for the same beforehand.
- Next, you can customise your sales pitch according to their current technology stack and future needs to convert them, developing better outreach campaigns altogether.
- Once they become your customer, you can keep track of their needs, and when they need to upgrade their technology, you provide them with special offers of add-ons.
CONCLUSION
This is a world where people do not like to shoot aimlessly; people want to hear everything or anything if data backs it up. This is true for B2B marketing as well. As consumers’ expectations of sellers continue to rise, understanding each prospect’s current toolkit is critical to marketing and sales’ success.
