Optimizing your B2B Sales funnel with AI, Account Based Marketing and Data to increase effectiveness and cost efficiency

In the world of B2B sales, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of the journey that potential customers go through as they move towards making a purchase. The sales funnel typically includes four key stages: awareness, interest, evaluation, and purchase. At each stage, your potential customers are learning more about the product or service and deciding whether it is a good fit. By using tools such as AI, account-based marketing, and data, your business can increase the effectiveness and cost efficiency of the B2B sales funnel by targeting marketing efforts towards the most promising potential customers and using data to optimize the funnel.

Your businesses’ model will be unique, but it should represent the various stages that a potential customer goes through as they move towards making a purchase with your company. The funnel typically includes the following stages:

1. Awareness: At the awareness stage, the potential customer becomes aware of the product or service and begins to learn about it.
2. Interest: As the potential customer learns more about the product or service, they may develop an interest in it and want to learn more.
3. Evaluation: At the evaluation stage, the potential customer begins to assess whether the product or service is a good fit for their needs. They may compare the product to alternatives and gather more information about it.
4. Purchase: If the potential customer decides that the product or service is a good fit for their needs, they may move to the purchase stage and make a purchase.

Using AI, account-based marketing, and data can help increase the effectiveness and cost efficiency of a B2B sales funnel by:

• Using AI to identify and target potential customers: AI can help identify potential customers based on their behavior and interests, and can be used to target marketing efforts towards those individuals.
• Using account-based marketing to focus on key accounts: Account-based marketing involves targeting marketing efforts towards specific accounts that are most likely to make a purchase. This can help increase the efficiency of marketing efforts by focusing on the accounts that are most likely to convert.
• Using data to optimize and improve the sales funnel: Data can be used to track the effectiveness of different marketing efforts and identify areas for improvement. This can help optimize the sales funnel and improve the efficiency of marketing efforts.

Overall, using AI, account-based marketing, and data can help increase the effectiveness and cost efficiency of a B2B sales funnel by targeting marketing efforts towards the most promising potential customers and using data to optimize the funnel. Here’s a few lead identification services that you can use with AI that help businesses identify and generate leads – that is, potential customers who are interested in the company’s products or services.

1. Clearbit: Clearbit is a lead identification and sales intelligence platform that offers a range of tools and services for identifying potential customers and generating leads. It provides detailed information about companies and decision makers, as well as tools for identifying and targeting key accounts.
2. DiscoverOrg: DiscoverOrg is a lead identification and sales intelligence platform that offers a range of tools and services for identifying potential customers and generating leads. It provides detailed information about companies and decision makers, as well as tools for identifying and targeting key accounts.
3. LeadFuze: LeadFuze is a lead generation platform that uses AI and machine learning to identify and target potential customers. It provides a range of tools and services for generating leads, including lead lists, email automation, and integrations with popular sales and marketing tools.
4. LeadGnome: LeadGnome is a lead generation platform that uses AI and machine learning to identify and target potential customers. It provides tools and services for generating leads, including lead lists, email automation, and integrations with popular sales and marketing tools.
5. ZoomInfo: ZoomInfo is a sales intelligence platform that provides a range of tools and services for identifying and targeting potential customers. It offers detailed information about companies and decision makers, as well as tools for generating leads and identifying key accounts.

At Mayven, we also use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to identify accounts and build relationships.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a tool that is used to help sales professionals identify, connect with, and build relationships with potential customers on LinkedIn. It provides a range of features and tools for finding and reaching out to potential customers, including advanced search filters, lead recommendations, and messaging tools.

Some of the main features and benefits of LinkedIn Sales Navigator include:

• Advanced search filters: LinkedIn Sales Navigator provides a range of advanced search filters that can be used to find potential customers based on factors such as industry, company size, job title, and location.
• Lead recommendations: LinkedIn Sales Navigator provides recommendations for potential customers based on the salesperson’s profile and search history, as well as the profiles and activity of their LinkedIn connections.
• InMail messaging: LinkedIn Sales Navigator includes a messaging tool called InMail, which allows sales professionals to send direct messages to potential customers on LinkedIn. InMail messages are more likely to be read and responded to than regular LinkedIn messages, as they are sent directly to the recipient’s inbox.
• CRM integrations: LinkedIn Sales Navigator can be integrated with popular CRM systems, such as Salesforce, to allow sales professionals to manage their leads and customer interactions in one place.

Making sure you have good tooling in place is crucial for your B2B sales funnel to be effective, but nothing will save you if your inbound leads are near zero — it can’t all be outbound! In our next posts we will dive deeper into creating the marketing engine to populate this b2b funnel with qualified leads.