We are all too well aware of the heavy emphasis that has been placed on price, free upgrades and the general trend towards business-to-business data being treated as a commodity purchase.
And even though business data is more costly to maintain, there remains a strong trend in the market of suppliers selling data on volume, instead of charging based on the quality of the product.
In comparison with consumer data, business-to-business involves smaller volumes of data and is much more complex and, therefore, more difficult to collect and maintain. For example, a company can be involved in a number of activities and have numerous branches, making it difficult to classify.
One individual at a business can also be responsible for numerous areas or be a director of multiple companies, again making the collection and selection processes more complicated.
Moreover, with such a high rate of decay for business data (around 33%) due to people changing jobs and companies moving or closing, keeping a file up to date is both costly and time consuming, but is vital if the data is to be employed effectively to achieve good results.
The shift towards the commoditisation of business data will have serious consequences for campaign performance. If the emphasis is on high volume at the lowest price and not on the quality of the data, the response rate for the campaign can potentially be reduced from the outset. Furthermore, the goneaway rates and, therefore, wastage costs, will soon start to increase.
Without adequate investment by data suppliers to keep their lists current and fresh, they may be able to sell at a low price, but they aren't necessarily supplying the best data.
Also, the competitive pressure to reduce prices will continue to undermine what should be regarded as an extremely valuable resource, and could potentially cause many suppliers to struggle to reinvest in their data in the long term.
If a supplier focuses on nothing more than shifting volumes of data, there is a lack of data intelligence provided to customers. Without any consultation with the client to ensure they select the right data for their needs, there is the risk that the wrong data will be used.
At the planning stage, marketers need to be able to scrutinise and understand their existing data, so they can identify which are their current successful markets and customers and translate this intelligence into the brief for their next campaign. Once this is done, the right data can be supplied at the right price.
While B2B is a developing area, data and intelligence is available to help marketers with their B2B campaigns. For the sector to continue to innovate and improve its offering, there needs to be continued investment and drive from within.
This can't happen if data, the fuel that drives a campaign, is treated as a commodity purchase. Clients also need to ensure they choose a supplier that can add value to their purchase, giving them the business data that is most relevant to their needs and most likely to achieve a high response, even if that means ultimately selling fewer records.
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