Study Finds Top B2B Marketers Using Predictive Analytics Outperform Counterparts Using Traditional Data Analytics

A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Radius revealed B2B marketing organizations that strategically use predictive analytics outperform other organizations that use more traditional data analytics approaches to improve marketing execution and business results.

Radius, the B2B predictive marketing software company, commissioned Forrester Consulting to survey 106 B2B marketing executives and CMOs in the U.S. The findings revealed predictive analytics is going mainstream, with a majority of marketers (61 percent) using predictive analytics today, allowing them to anticipate outcomes with a significant probability of accuracy.

Published in September 2015, the study, “From Insight To Action: How Predictive Analytics Improves B2B Marketing Outcomes,” yielded three key findings:

• B2B marketers who use predictive analytics outperform their counterparts who do not.
  • Predictive analytics users are twice as likely to outperform non-users on several key business metrics, including the following:
    • Exceeding revenue growth target;
    • Exceeding marketing goals for revenue contribution;
    • Commanding a higher market share than competitors.

• Predictive analytics helps B2B marketers identify and address new markets.
  • According to the study, marketers’ top challenge is limited visibility into addressable markets, but:
    • 86 percent agree that predictive analytics help them evaluate new market opportunities;
    • 84 percent say that insights from these marketing-focused; analytics have become the primary driver in their go-to-market strategies.

• Predictive analytics impacts the entire customer lifecycle, not just pre-sales acquisition.
  • While most marketers (89 percent) see value in using predictive analytics to identify new opportunities and to better qualify leads, the more advanced users also realize upstream and downstream benefits:
    • 97 percent of predictive analytics users analyze their best customers and understand how/why they buy;
    • 92 percent of predictive analytics users optimize the marketing mix to reach the right types of buyers.

As the findings of this study prove, the best B2B marketers are predictive analytics users,” said Radius Director of Product Marketing John Hurley. “This is because they can pursue new market opportunities and attract, analyze and engage customers with insights backed by data science, not guesswork. Given our goal for this study was to evaluate the use of predictive analytics among B2B marketers, we were excited to find the majority of companies have already incorporated these systems into their marketing arsenals and are actively driving business growth. We’ve entered an age where technology and data science can deliver the power of analytics to marketers.”

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