Cross-device marketing is all the rage – and for good reason.
It’s as simple as it sounds.
When a consumer wants to buy something, they might first hear about the product from a coworker or friend. From there, they might look the item up on their smartphone. After that, if they don’t immediately make a purchase, they might view that same product on their work computer, then later their tablet at home.
So what?
A marketer that isn’t using cross-device marketing will never connect the dots between a customer who viewed a product on one device and viewed the same product later on another device.
The average digital consumer has 3.64 connected devices. This means there are missed opportunities for marketers. Armed with the information of which person uses which devices, marketers can send out targeted, cross-device messaging to users across their 3+ devices.
How does it work?
In B2C, there are two methods used to establish user identity across devices. They are deterministic and probabilistic.
Deterministic takes known user data and matches it together to identify a user. This is typically done by matching a common log in across devices. This could be a user’s Facebook account or their email account.
The probabilistic approach works by taking anonymized data and matching it with users. Data like IP address, operating system, browser, location, etc.
These two approaches are increasingly being used in combination by companies like Oracle to match up with companies like Facebook and Google who are easily able to link user experiences across devices.
But what about B2B?
While it might be valuable to have some insight regarding the behaviors of individual users across devices in B2B, there are even more valuable ways that users can be connected.
In B2B, purchase decisions are often made by multiple stakeholders. This means that is valuable to know which users are connected to which devices at which company.
This would mean that after one person at an organization researches a product, it would be possible to target content to the relevant users at the company, therefore pushing a consensus on the product.
This is achieved by combining cross-channel marketing with tactics like linking users via email or IP to identify them as part of the same organization. The end result of this is account-based marketing (ABM).
How does account-based marketing work?
Account-based marketing works by linking the data of accounts together and sending relevant content based on the information you have about the organization.
It is often combined with a CRM or marketing automation software to run campaigns.
What makes account-based marketing work so well is that you influence key decision makers together as a group, instead of approaching each individually.
Why do marketers like both cross-device marketing and ABM so much?
Better Purchase Experience
By using cross-device marketing and ABM effectively, customers are made happier throughout their journey through the pipeline.
In the case of ABM, more stakeholders are given more resources that push them towards the sale, meaning that everyone involved is better informed about the offering and the education behind it.
Shorter Sales Cycle
Both ABM and cross-device marketing make the path from initial exposure to consideration to purchase a shorter one. This results in a faster turnaround for sales teams, which, in turn, leads to more revenue.
As both cross-device marketing and ABM continue to evolve and change, the expectation of consumers evolve with them.
Customers now expect to have great, hyper relevant advertisements and offers served to them regardless of device or channel. Exceed these expectations by creating a strategy that uses account based marketing as its backbone.
How do you use cross-device marketing and ABM to improve your audience’s experience? Has it shortened your sales cycle? Let us know in the comments section.
