If there was ever a time to update or change old data sets, it’s now, especially when it comes to B2B market research. 2020 changed so much about how we not only do business but also our behaviors and buying habits. For marketers who don’t have the right tools in place to keep up with the pace of change, this could be a nightmarish situation. If you don’t understand consumers anymore, then how can you effectively market to them? 

We’re not saying that you need to get rid of all of your old data. We’re proposing that you enrich what you have and create a more in-depth profile of your customers using B2B data enrichment for market research. In this piece, we’re going to take a closer look at what data enrichment could do for B2B companies in a post-pandemic world.

Your current customer data sets are the equivalent of the first draft of a novel. Sure, the story is there and the bones of the work are good, but there is no way that this draft could be sold in bookstores. The novel needs to be fleshed out, researched more, and rewritten a couple of times before it can be read. Enter data enrichment: this is the equivalent of all of the rewrites and building and fleshing out, but in one fell swoop. 

Data enrichment makes your customer data readable and actionable by aggregating third-party data and combining it with what you already have on your customers, giving you a 360 view of who your customers are in the real world.

As mentioned earlier, consumer behavior has changed drastically over the last fourteen months. in the B2B space. When so many businesses closed or had to overhaul who they reach and how they work, the B2B marketer is in no enviable position. They are likely in a position of having to guess how to help their clients reach customers versus being able to rely on tried and true data sets.

With data enrichment, a B2B company has a much better chance of getting a full understanding of who their customers are in today’s world, versus who they were back in 2019. This is especially beneficial for market research. 

For example, let’s say that a market research firm is working with a commercial real estate (CRE) company that specializes in luxury office space. Their clientele usually consists of luxury retailers and car dealerships. The CRE company has just recently started seeing an increase in inquiries but not from their target market, and they are looking to determine if their market has shifted. The trouble is that the data only focuses on a specific target market and the strategies that they used previously aren’t working anymore. With retail and auto being two hard-hit industries during the pandemic, it’s possible that the old prospects are out of business or simply not ready to invest in some luxury commercial real estate. 

Knowing that updating all of this data could take years to gather with traditional research methods, the company hires a marketing research firm to provide them with new market data to enhance their current data. The firm conducts a trade area analysis with location intelligence to determine how old prospects are performing when it comes to foot traffic and consumer activity. This helps their client understand exactly how the market has shifted and where they should focus their efforts. The biggest upside to this is that it can actually help them find a new lucrative market elsewhere.

We know it’s not easy to conduct full-scale market research in 2021; it’s almost like starting from scratch. With data enrichment, market research firms finally have the perfect solution to helping their clients thrive. For more information on how your customer’s data could be enriched with location intelligence, contact us to speak with an expert today.