Metric Monday: Overutilization of Form-Fills, Underutilization of De-Anonymized Web Traffic

saraboostani

Happy (Metric) Monday, all.

If you've been following along in recent weeks, you'll know that we recently wrapped up a study investigating how teams identify buyers. The report spans a wide range of topics, from go-to-market strategies and budgets to common challenges, tools, data sources, and much more.

But what's the short answer to the question, "How are teams identifying buyers?" Website form-fills.

Website form-fill are the most relied upon indicator of buying intent. However, as we discussed in our last Metric Monday post, the average B2B form-fill rate is about 3.5% overall, and only 30% of buyers fill out forms on the websites of vendors they buy from.

To influence buyers earlier, revenue teams need to identify interest before form-fills occur. This involves two underutilized methods: de-anonymized web traffic and third-party intent data.

With the technology readily available today, typical B2B companies can identify the accounts from which half or more of their (non-bot) anonymous traffic originates. Doing so dramatically increases a marketer’s understanding of which accounts are showing interest. However, our survey found that only 31% of marketers de-anonymize their web traffic, with a mere 11% finding it useful. This indicates a profound gap in marketers’ understanding of the value of unmasking anonymous web visitors.

The second early warning system for marketers comes from third-party sources such as intent data, product reviews, and social media. While over 40% of marketers use leads from product review sites and social media, less than 25% find them useful. Despite being a rich intelligence source, only 30% of marketers use third-party intent data, with only 12% of users finding it useful.

@Kerry