When B2B Goes B2B2B

In a world of incredible scale, the internet and its power to connect us is truly amazing. The connected world is now generating mind-boggling amounts of data every minute of every day – a breadth of available data that is vast enough to hold the power to predict user behaviors and market trends. Armed with this ‘Big Data,’ businesses are beginning to unlock the secrets to understanding how the market works.

With the shift in business’ approach to how to consume and digest data, marketing is becoming more of an exact science rather than an abstract art form. The more refined process of collecting, analyzing, and utilizing data to inform actions is causing many businesses to reassess and refine strategies to focus more clearly on what their customers want. The effect in terms of ROI can be extraordinary.

But what happens to this effect when it comes to businesses whose customers’ data isn’t directly accessible? Beyond B2C and B2B businesses, there are a wide range of companies offering products and services to other companies, which in turn pass them along to the consumers. In essence, these companies operate B2B2B, and may have little or no relationship at all with the people who ultimately drive demand for their work.  They are selling through a non-captive agent, leaving them without the abilities to measure effectiveness in the same way as the rest of their industry.

Regardless of these limitations, engagements for these companies must still begin with set expectations and key performance indicators in place. For these entities, business intelligence and inside-out knowledge of how their performance stacks up to their capabilities become incredibly important in achieving the same kind of measurement typically afforded by customer data. Without the value of marketing performance measurement, strong attribution management that looks beyond simple customer feedback is one of the best ways for these companies to twist big data into working for them.

We often talk about the “business of marketing,” and how marketers are looking for ROI and a competitive advantage from real time data. Taking a page out of the B2B2B playbook reveals that even when the standard facts and figures aren’t available, businesses can take alternative routes to design and execute better-informed strategy. The opportunity is out there for businesses who can best adapt to the information available to them.