Over 3000 B2B marketers converged recently at the SiriusDecisions Summit in Las Vegas. One of the big announcements there was the introduction of their new and improved SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall™.
A great many articles and posts that have been written over the past couple of weeks around this new Waterfall and what it means for B2B marketing. You can catch SiriusDecisions’ own Overview of their New Waterfall here.
What Is the NEW SiriusDecisions Demand Unit Waterfall?
Earlier versions of the Demand Waterfall were all about leads (or individual buyers in a B2B buying team) who raise their hands and the progression of those leads down the demand funnel. The new Demand Waterfall recognizes the broader trend to an “account-based” or “account-centric” approach to B2B marketing. It moves the focus from leads to “Demand Units” – where each Demand Unit represents a group of Buyers within the enterprise with a clearly defined need, staff resources, budget and are seeking solutions from a tech or services provider.
How Does Kwanzoo and ABM Display Fit into the New Waterfall?
Here at Kwanzoo we specialize in ABM Display Advertising & B2B Retargeting to drive demand at mid-to-large B2B enterprises and high tech startups. Where does ABM display fit into the new Demand Waterfall? How can marketers map their current demand gen processes to the new Waterfall, while they also effectively allocate their budgets for ABM display programs?
The Active Demand Stage of the New Waterfall
In this stage, it’s primarily about aligning marketing resources and spend with the Accounts and Demand Units (within the Account) that are most likely to be “In-Market” and open to purchase of a product or solution that meets their needs. When it comes to ABM display, it’s about spending ABM display media budgets on those accounts that have been identified as “In-Market” by Intent Data or Predictive tools – further coupled with insights as to which of the Accounts are even reachable through ABM display ads.
Mapping Out Engaged Demand for the New Waterfall
Prior version of the Waterfall was centered around leads or form fills for measuring the level of Engaged Demand. The new Waterfall recognizes the behavior of today’s B2B buyer. For every site visitor that fills out a form, there are anywhere from 7 to 17 other individuals who are part of the same Buying Group, and represented in the same Demand Unit, who may not ever raise their hand through a form fill! It’s now super critical to gain as much insight as possible on not just Known Contacts and Leads, but also the Anonymous Visitors from target accounts, who leave digital footprints or signals with your Brand through different channels, from ad clicks, to website visits, and more.
Understanding Prioritized Demand in the New Waterfall
It’s now time to arm your Sales Teams with all the insights on your Target Accounts and Demand Units, across both Known Contacts and Leads (where you know exactly who they are) and Anon Visitors (where you know a lot about who they are, short of their exact personal identity – you are able to share their Account, Job Level, Job Function, Geo Location and specific actions such as Ad Message of interest, or Website content consumed). By putting it all together in an easily consumable way, your Sales Team’s efforts can be a lot more effective and truly drive pipeline.
The More You Know, The More You Want To Know
As you review the New Waterfall and start to implement the Waterfall at your B2B company, many questions will come up. But that’s no reason to hold back. Start where you can, and understand that it’s a journey. It will very likely take you from several quarters to a couple of years to move over completely from the older lead-based Waterfall to the New Demand Unit Waterfall. It may make sense for you to start instrumenting for the New Waterfall while you continue to report per the old Waterfall as well to your Revenue Leaders. No matter what path you take, ABM Display Advertising & B2B Retargeting can help you pro-actively reach and engage Buying Groups at your Target Accounts (and Demand Units).
Questions? Drop us a note here. And download your own copy of our visuals here.
Best Regards,
The Kwanzoo Team