Audience data provider Eyeota has provided a holistic look at B2B buyers at different stages, what influences them, and how marketers can use this data to reach this unique audience in the digital space.
The global map, released today, shows B2B data made up one third of audience data spend in 2017.
The areas identified as high on growth were IT software and hardware (3.7 times year on year), business services (two times year on year) and financial institutions (1.5 times year on year).
By market, Australia increased by 1.8 times, the UK increased by 3.3 times, Germany by 2.9 times, and the US by 2.5 times.
To understand the audience’s digital behaviours, Eyeota highlighted the dialogue outside of the office walls and found the top interest of business professionals falls into the categories of online shopping, health and fitness, sports, and entertainment.
However, the decision-making differed on a generational level. Millennial professionals aged 18 to 33 appreciate impactful content across devices and channels, seek peers’ opinions and look for insights and perspectives to give creative solutions to problems.
They are more likely to be into travel (2.9 times), technology (1.5 times), sport (1.7 times) and food (three times).
On the other side of the coin, the Baby Boomer/Gen X professionals aged 34 to 71 use a mix of channels for information, but prefer in-person contact.
They value a relationship with a vendor and rely on industry analysts. They are more likely to be into diet and weight loss (five times), TV programs and celebrity gossip (two times) and photography (three times).
Trending in 2017, B2B buyers are increasingly consuming content around IT and technology products, business and banking software, healthcare solutions and marketing tech.
Whereas with B2B marketers, account-based marketing campaigns with audience data doubled year on year in the first half of 2017. Key adopters were electronics and computer brands.
Commenting on the findings, Peter Hunter, general manager of Eyeota for Australia and New Zealand, said: “With B2B campaigns now representing one-third of our total audience spend in 2017, we have seen marketers and agencies leveraging not just thermographic data and vertical intent, but also the wider overlap of interest data outside of the office to better understand, segment and target decision-makers.”
