Account-based marketing and sales strategies are all the rage right now — and for good reason. B2B deals tend to take longer to close and must be managed delicately to see a return on your efforts, and if you want to engage your prospects, you need to meet them where they are.
Fortunately, sales and marketing teams don’t need to guess which tactics will work thanks to account intelligence. Account intelligence platforms can transform B2B data into actionable insights that help identify high-value accounts, understand their specific pain points and priorities, and determine the best time to engage them.

What Is Account Intelligence?

What exactly is account intelligence? Account intelligence is the process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data about target accounts to gain insights into their needs, challenges, and buying behaviors. This information is then used to inform marketing and sales strategies, enabling teams to personalize outreach, improve engagement, and ultimately close more deals.
Account intelligence is the linchpin for strategically reaching valuable accounts with personalized messaging and offerings. When sales and marketing strategies are backed by account intelligence, go-to-market teams can:
  • Eliminate guesswork and hunches from strategies and campaigns
  • Make informed decisions about which accounts to prioritize and when to target them
  • Gain a unified view of each account’s significance and position within the buyer journey
This unified view empowers highly-tailored account-based marketing and sales strategies that lead to more conversions than cold, impersonal campaigns.

The Components of Account Intelligence

Account intelligence synthesizes first- and third-party data into insights that can shape your sales and marketing strategies. Typically, this compound data set provides an overview of an organization, ideal target contacts within that company, and unique behavioral insights tailored to those contacts.

The Power of First-Party Data

First-party data offers a direct window into the intentions, interests, and purchase readiness of target accounts. Though it can be more challenging to capture, first-party data is highly accurate and focuses on the details that matter most to your organization. Some of the most common types of first-party data include:
  • Customer relationship management (CRM) data
  • Marketing automation platform (MAP) data
  • Corporate email and calendar data
  • Sales engagement data
  • Website traffic data
  • Social media engagement data
A comprehensive account intelligence tool can integrate diverse types of first-party data from platforms like Google Analytics, your chosen CRM, and more. These sources collect information directly from people who engage with your organization and typically, first-party data is incredibly reliable.

Leverage Third-Party Data

Third-party data enriches accounts further by offering deeper insights into target accounts. Once you know from first-party data who is interested in your offering, you can zero in on those contacts’ day-to-day workflows and buying preferences. Key types of third-party data include:
  • Firmographics
  • Technographics
  • Intent data
  • Other insights essential for detailed account profiling
Enriching static account data with dynamic third-party data, including behavioral data and contextual insights, helps remove guesswork from account engagements. The actionable insights yielded by integrating diverse data streams enable sales and marketing teams to work cohesively, advancing prospects effectively through the buyer’s journey, thus enhancing their sales and marketing efforts.

How Marketing and Sales Teams Can Use Account Intelligence

Account intelligence can influence your marketing and sales strategies, helping you meet your revenue goals. Data allows you to pinpoint qualified accounts easily and reach them with poignant messages.

Reach the Right Audience

If your marketing efforts aren’t producing MQLs, account intelligence may be the resource you’ve been waiting for. With account intelligence, you can easily identify the types of content and campaigns your ideal audience is most likely to engage with based on what’s worked (and failed) in the past. Whether you’re looking to retarget potential leads or you’re marketing to people unfamiliar with your brand, first- and third-party data can help you know what to highlight and in what format.
You have a powerful message that’s worth sharing — account intelligence helps you amplify your voice where it matters most.

Prioritize with Precision

Few things are more frustrating than spending time on the wrong leads. Even if you hit all your marks and emphasize every tantalizing benefit your service offers, it won’t matter if you’re talking to the wrong person. Sales teams, including sales development representatives, can leverage account intelligence to pinpoint high-priority accounts that closely align with their ideal customer profiles (ICPs). With account intelligence, you can find organizations that would benefit from your offering. And to go a step further, you can easily identify who in your target organization holds purchasing power. When you know what leads to prioritize, your sales team can operate at an impressive level of efficiency without sacrificing close rates.

Tailor Your Sales Efforts with Account Intelligence

Account intelligence takes gathered data and paints a clear picture of who your buyers are and what they’re looking for so you can tailor customer interactions. Insights into accounts’ recent activities, like mergers or product launches, allow for you to address specific customer pain points. Comprehensive insights from account intelligence allow marketing teams to personalize their campaigns, from individualized outreach emails to custom pitches to engaging follow-ups.

Boost Retention

Chasing down new leads is invaluable, but your current customer base should never be neglected. With account intelligence, you can identify upsell opportunities and spot the signs of a dissatisfied client before they act. It can cost up to five times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing customer happy. Increasing efforts to better retain your clients can stabilize revenue, and with the right insights, you can flag potential problems before they have long-term effects.

Choosing the Right Tool for Account Intelligence

Eager to get started with account intelligence? We don’t blame you! Choosing the right tool is the key to success, and we’ll be honest — we think Predictiv Data is the best on the market. Within our platform, our clients have access to:
  • First- and third-party data that’s routinely audited for accuracy
  • Unified intent scoring so you can quickly zero in on your most promising prospects
  • Tens of thousands of technographics, firmographics, and intent metrics
  • A totally free, no-strings-attached subscription to get you started
  • And so much more
If you want to see the power of B2B intelligence in action, we’d love to show you around the Predictiv Data platform. Schedule a free demo today!