Developing a process by which the marketing team understands what prospects will be their best possible customers is no easy task. This eBook focuses on finding the “ideal” prospect, which often means understanding what makes for an ideal customer in the first place, and mapping this profile onto the identification of possible new customers.

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Determining What’s Essential
2 Align Sales and Marketing
3 Think Revenue
4 Meeting Has Changed
5 Effectively Measure Customers
6 Improve Database Marketing
7 Know your Obstacles
8 Identify Greatest Impacts on Marketing Programs
9 Elevate Information
Embrace Prospecting10
10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOURIDEAL PROSPECT

3. 10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOUR IDEAL PROSPECT
DETERMINING WHAT’S ESSENTIAL
programmatic advertising.
But the consensus is much more basic:
Those marketers who focus on the best
prospecting databases have an
enormous advantage over those who
don’t. Further, finding the “ideal”
prospect in that database often means
understanding what makes for an ideal
customer in the first place, and
mapping this profile onto the
identification of possible new
customers.
Marketing has many roles, and it is
imperative that these involve activities
that lead to revenue and sales.
1
Developing a process by which the marketing
team understands what prospects will be their
best possible customers is no easy task. In
particular B2B marketers face a rapidly
changing world of marketing necessities,
driven by a shifting array of customer and
prospect research habits. That has put
enormous pressure on marketing databases,
which are increasingly fluid, often out of date,
and in need of constant hygiene and
improvement.
In scrambling to keep up with the times,
many marketers focus on new, cutting edge
channels to reach out to prospects and
customers, such as social media or mobile,
or the dynamic world of retargeting and
Database accuracy, analysis, segmentation, targeting and appropriate
lead scoring will lead to revenue growth.
“

4. 10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOUR IDEAL PROSPECT
MAKE SALES YOUR PARTNER
2
For many companies, the key prospecting database resides in their CRM systems. These are generally overseen by sales, making the imperative for
sales-marketing alignment even greater. In working with sales, marketing can better determine what a “prospect” means, and develop methods for
finding and nurturing them for ultimate handoff to sales reps.
Working with sales, marketing can better determine what a “prospect” means.
“

5. 10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOURIDEAL PROSPECT
THINK REVENUE
3
For far too long marketing has been considered a cost center, rather than a
generator of organizational wealth. This does not have to be the case any
longer. Marketers should focus on cultivating leads that convert, and work
with sales to make conversions happen. Meld your goals to revenue, not
processes. Consider what marketing is all about: contributing to the bottom
line, and making the company successful.
Marketers can help make marketing a revenue producing center
and not a cost center, to benefifit the company and extend the
influence of marketing.
“

6. 10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOUR IDEAL PROSPECT
MARKETING IS CHANGING
4
Marketers are keenly aware that their
professional world has changed
dramatically over the past several years,
and this transformation is having a
profound impact on lead generation and
prospecting. Overwhelmingly marketers
indicate that the rapid changes in
marketing technology, Big Data
necessities, and such new channels as
social media and mobile have created a
marketing world unlike any in the past.
This has been matched, or exceeded, by
the changing ways prospects and
customers consider with whom to do
business.
HOW HAS THE WORLD OF MARKETING CHANGED OVER THE PAST 5 YEARS?
11.4%
Completely. Everything
has changed.
2.9%
Slightly, or not
at all.
29.1%
Moderately, as we
adjust to buyer’s needs.
56.6%
Very much. The
world has changed.

7. 10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOUR IDEAL PROSPECT
EFFECTIVELY MEASURE CURRENT CUSTOMERS
5
EFFECTIVE WAYS TO MEASURE CUSTOMERS, TO THE IDEAL PROSPECT
45.7%
17.3%
16.2%
49.1%
63.0%
38.2%
32.9%
20.8%
A major pain point for marketers is not being able to identify their best
customers, and the inability to map this profile to prospects. With all the
innovations in tools and analytics, social marketing, operations, content,
product marketing, etc., marketers need a better understanding of profiling
customers to understand their ideal prospect. Developing profiles and
personas differs depending on the goal.
In prospecting the focus might be on identifying buyers, decision makers,
pain points and what products will help those pain points.
A retention marketer might explore ideal profiles within the CRM database,
and expand it by adding other key account contacts. Whatever the goal, a
keen eye to existing customers is essential.
Among these,
of marketers said loyalty and repeat business defines the
“ideal” customer.
63.0%
They are loyal
repeat customers.
Quick Conversion Rate
They have high
customer life value
They recommend
you to others
They had been accepted
as lead by sales
Obtained a
Certain Score
Initially Spends
More Money
They were qualified by
marketing as a lead
Other qualities of good customers include:
high lifetime
value;
their recommendations
to others;
their acceptance by
sales as a lead;
and their quicker
conversion rates
49.1% 45.7% 38.2% 20.8%

8. 10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOUR IDEAL PROSPECT
IMPROVE DATABASE MARKETING
6
It might be surprising to some to see such strong concern about the lack of
database strength, since this has been a considerable concern for some time.
The assessment of marketers in this study reiterates that without a powerful
database, the competitive advantages gained by focusing on particular
channels will not be effective.
The bottom line for many marketers remains the lack of hard metrics, and not being
able to attribute incremental revenue directly to their programs. In fact, most survey
respondents suffer under the apprehension that their marketing departments are
generally or completely considered merely cost centers within their own companies,
and not revenue producing growth centers.
Better segmentation, targeting, scoring and qualifying of prospect
Improve quality and relevance of database
Improve data hygiene, removing inactive, inaccurate contacts
Gain real-time knowledge of prospects’ business events
Append current contacts with actionable info
Better understand the buyers journey
Analyze multiple touch points leading to a sale
Improve the size of our database
Implement better technology solutions
52.6%
42.3%
35.4%
32.6%
28.6%
28.0%
25.7%
22.3%
21.1%
Just 25% of marketers said they can attribute specific marketing
efforts to conversions and sales.25%
Only 7.7% of marketers said their analytics show that revenue is
attributable to marketing.7.7%
THE MOST PRESSING CHANGES NEEDED TO IMPROVE DATABASE
MARKETING
Most respondents to BtoB’s
survey said they could
improve their database
marketing efforts by
segmenting it better, scoring
prospects well, targeting
them with appropriate
messages and qualifying
them for the sales team.
52.6%
improving data hygiene; 35.4%
Other solutions include
gaining real-time knowledge
about prospects’ business events;
appending new intelligence
to current contacts;
and analyzing multiple touch points
leading to a sale, among others.
32.6%
28.6%
25.7%

9. 10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOUR IDEAL PROSPECT
KNOW YOUR OBSTACLES
7
As seen, 51.1% of marketers said they’re scrambling to
improve the depth and accuracy of their databases.
THE MOST IMPORTANT OBSTACLES IN REACHING OUT TO
PROSPECTS
The depth and accuracy of
our database is lacking
We lack technology to make
sense of data overload
We lack an approach to
defining personas
We don’t know where to
find good data
We’re not sure who our
ideal customer is
Sales and marketing are
not aligned
Can’t get a handle on
customer lifetime value
33.3%
20.7%
37.9%
51.1%
30.5%
24.1%
22.4%
Marketers are working to improve the depth and
accuracy of their databases, while targeting
prospect personas.
“
Other areas that are challenging to marketers in gaining a
handle on prospecting include the lack of database
technologies (37.9%), the understanding of prospect
personas (33.3%), the inability to find good sources of
data (30.5%) and—significantly—having little sense of how
to identify the “ideal” current customer. Doing so, in many
respects, will help map onto the best types of prospects
available.

10. 10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOUR IDEAL PROSPECT
IDENTIFY GREATEST IMPACTS ON MARKETING PROGRAM
8
AREAS OF GREATEST IMPACT ON MARKETING DEPARTMENTS
AND PROGRAMS
As seen to the right, it is noteworthy, however, that seeking a
better marketing liaison with sales falls far down the list.
Marketers are concerned about the sheer amount of information
available to decision makers from all sources, and that it will
overwhelm their own messages and drown out their presence in
the marketplace. In response, marketers agree, marketing
technology at the service of content distribution—at the right time,
to the right person—will help overcome this issue.
Better sales marketing alignment
are not viewed as important factors of change, compared with
other shifts in the marketing landscape.
24.6%
A focus on change and processes may not address
the holes in the prospecting process, and how to plug
the gaps.
“
and the necessity of supplying
sales with appropriate content 20.0%
40.0%
20.0%
40.6%
61.1%
37.1%
32.0%
24.6%
The degree of online information
available to decision makers
The growing necessity of
marketing technology
The use of content by
marketing to nurture leads
The surge in data
The shift of power from
brand to customer
The need for sales and
marketing to align
Use of content by
sales

11. 10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOUR IDEAL PROSPECT
ELEVATE INFORMATION
9
Analysis fuels technology.
“
Marketing technology is a means to an end, but not an end in itself.
Analysis fuels technology, with its ability to parse database information,
append fields who are lacking, segment prospects appropriately, and home
in on those prospects that are most likely to convert quickly and become
loyal customers.
In particular, real-time information— delivered as it happens—can offer
sales and marketing teams great leverage in converting prospects.

12. 10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOUR IDEAL PROSPECT
EMBRACE PROSPECTING
Find prospects that exhibit qualities that are
most likely to convert and become profitable.
“
Far too often marketing cedes the prospecting and lead
generation task to sales. Culprits here may be an excessive
focus on branding efforts, or an inordinate concentration
on trending channels such as social media and mobile.
A solution is to liaise with sales to embrace the
prospecting task; to work with the sales team to identify
their best customers; and to develop a plan to find
prospects that exhibit qualities that are most likely to
convert and become profitable.
10

13. INFORMATION PROVIDED BY
BtoB RESEARCH INSIGHTS FINDING THE IDEAL CUSTOMER
PROSPECT WHITE PAPER
10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOUR IDEAL PROSPECT