{"id":21131,"date":"2022-12-05T22:18:11","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T22:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/05\/people-based-marketing-meet-your-customers-where-they-are\/"},"modified":"2022-12-05T22:18:11","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T22:18:11","slug":"people-based-marketing-meet-your-customers-where-they-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/05\/people-based-marketing-meet-your-customers-where-they-are\/","title":{"rendered":"People-Based Marketing: Meet Your Customers Where They Are"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As marketers, it\u2019s easy to reduce the recipients of our campaigns to ICPs, buyer personas, and target audiences. Yet the simple truth is that we\u2019re marketing our products and services to people,<\/em> just like you and me.<\/p>\n

Therefore, It\u2019s no surprise that personalized marketing<\/a> outperforms a more generic approach, and there are now entire marketing strategies focused on personalization, such as account-based marketing (ABM).<\/p>\n

People-based marketing, for instance, takes a similar approach to ABM, but with fundamental differences that set it apart.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dive deeper into what people-based marketing really is and how it can boost B2B engagement.<\/p>\n

What Is People-Based Marketing?<\/h2>\n

People-based marketing is hyper-personalized. Rather than targeting a broad audience or entire company, PBM targets individuals, resulting in a bespoke experience. This is made possible by collecting data from both online and offline sources to target your ideal customers\u2014wherever they happen to be\u2014with specific, relevant messaging.<\/p>\n

A Brief History of Cookies<\/h3>\n

Since the mid-\u201890s, small text or image files (\u201ccookies\u201d) have been in place to track online users across the web for advertising purposes. Initially, cookies were created by and limited to websites you visited to remember your and improve your experience of the that website. They didn\u2019t track activity beyond that specific website.<\/p>\n

Third-party cookies, on the other hand, can track your actions across various websites\u00a0and are used to target you with personalized ads regardless of what website you happen to be on. In short, they revolutionized online advertising,<\/p>\n

Global privacy regulation, however, has begun targeting and cracking down on the tracking of people\u2019s online activity and behavior. Because of this, major companies like Google (er, Alphabet) and Apple have been working with publishers, marketers, and regulators on plans to replace cookies altogether. Those plans keep getting delayed<\/a>, though, and online users these days have plenty of options when it comes to blocking cookies and other software tracking tricks of the trade.<\/p>\n

Even if third-party cookies go away, internet tracking won\u2019t<\/a>. It simply means that advertisers must look for more reliable options for collecting consumer data. Fortunately, other ways to monitor prospects to understand who\u2019s taking an interest in your brand already exist.<\/p>\n

\"Sometimes
Sometimes referred to as cross-device marketing, people-based marketing helps you target potential customers with relevant messaging across different channels, touchpoints, and devices.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How People-Based Marketing Works<\/h2>\n

People-based marketing relies on first-party data collected from your site visitors, prospects, and customers. Unlike cookies and tracking pixels, first-party data enables you to better understand buying behavior across any channel or device to identify trends and gauge interest level, making it a valuable strategy in a world without third-party cookies<\/a>, which will likely become a reality within the next couple of years.<\/p>\n

First-party data can be gathered from tools such as Google Analytics, which provides intel on the website content your customers interact with (and how they got there), the basic demographics of your audience, what type of devices they use to visit your site, and so on. You can also collect first-party data through forms on your website, such as \u201ccontact us\u201d forms or forms to request free quotes, trials, or demos. These simple lead generation forms can help you establish simple yet essential user info such as name, email, and even the reason a user is visiting your website.<\/p>\n

This online first-party data can be augmented by offline activities such as visits to your booth at a trade show or offline interactions with your sales team.<\/p>\n

All the data you collect can then be used to craft detailed profiles of your prospects, enabling you to target them with content tailored to their individual behavior. This creates a more personalized experience<\/a> for your prospects, which is an essential element of effective B2B marketing campaigns.<\/p>\n

Delivering personalized messaging to prospects at the right time via their preferred channel or device provides an individualized experience. And if your potential customers seamlessly pick up where they left off when switching from their cellphones to their laptops to their tablets and back again, that\u2019s a great customer experience. And better CX leads to deeper engagement, which leads to improved conversion rates, and, in turn, more revenue.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the Difference Between PBM and ABM?<\/h2>\n

Think of PBM as an evolution of account-based marketing. The two are closely related\u2014they both focus on personalization to optimize results\u2014but they differ in one key way: ABM focuses on targeting key accounts<\/em>, while people-based marketing goes one step further to target the specific people<\/em> comprising the buying committee within those key accounts.<\/p>\n

According to Gartner<\/a>, the average B2B purchase decision is made by a team of up to 10 people. It\u2019s not rocket science: It\u2019s easy to see how you\u2019d have a better chance of making a sale if you target all 10 of those decision-makers.<\/p>\n

Now, imagine how much better your chances would be if you were to target the six who have already interacted with your brand. That\u2019s where people-based marketing comes in. PBM uses behavioral data to target the people who have already shown an interest in your brand\u2014whether that\u2019s downloading a whitepaper, or engaging with a social post, or just spending significant time on your website browsing specific product pages.<\/em><\/p>\n

Think of it like this: Instead of targeting an HR title at GE, you\u2019re crafting and delivering a digital ad geared specifically to the payroll manager within the HR team at GE\u2019s North American operations who recently visited your website and downloaded a report.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the kind of hyper-personalization PBM offers.<\/p>\n

\"Using
Using your own first-party data to identify specific customers and their behavior will continue to deliver results long after third-party cookies are no longer in use.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why Try People-Based Marketing?<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/em>The difference between ABM and PBM may be subtle, but the results are more impactful:<\/p>\n