Executive Summary The B2B buying process has changed in recent years, with customers doing more research on their own and delaying engagement with sales teams until late in the purchase cycle. This has increased the need for marketers to reach customers early in the buying cycle and to provide more information as their research progresses. The effort has multiplied further as the number of interaction channels expands. In this new environment, effective data management is essential for success. Balancing multiple opportunities to find the best marketing investments relies on data as do finding and delivering the most effective treatments for each prospect. The sheer number of choices means that only a data-driven approach can produce the right decisions. Good data management isn’t easy. Data comes from many sources in many formats. It must be acquired, assembled and analyzed to make sound marketing decisions. Then, the data must be made available to customer-facing systems in order to execute those decisions on a one-to-one basis. This How-To Guide will help you organize your data management efforts. You will learn how to define goals, specify requirements and build a plan to meet those requirements. Then, you can begin your journey to data management success. This brief 12-page How-To Guide is designed to provide practical advice for B2B Data Management and outlines the following: - Executive Summary - B2B Data Management Best Practices - B2B Data Management Maturity Levels - Taking Advantage of B2B Data Management - When Data Enhancement Makes Sense - Action Plan - Bottom Line

1. B2B Data Management:
Best Practices & Insights
© 2015 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
How-To Guide
By: David Raab, Research Associate – Demand Metric
August 2015

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Executive Summary
B2B Data Management Best Practices
B2B Data Management Maturity Levels
Taking Advantage of B2B Data Management
Action Plan
Analyst Bottom Line
Table of Contents
11 About the Analyst

3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
How-To Guide: B2B Data Management
The B2B buying process has changed in recent years, with customers doing more research on their own and delaying
engagement with sales teams until late in the purchase cycle. This has increased the need for marketers to reach customers early in
the buying cycle and to provide more information as their research progresses. The effort has multiplied further as the number of
interaction channels expands.
In this new environment, effective data management is essential for success. Balancing multiple opportunities to find the best
marketing investments relies on data as do finding and delivering the most effective treatments for each prospect. The sheer number of
choices means that only a data-driven approach can produce the right decisions.
Good data management isn’t easy. Data comes from many sources in many formats. It must be acquired, assembled and analyzed to
make sound marketing decisions. Then, the data must be made available to customer-facing systems in order to execute those decisions
on a one-to-one basis.
This How-To Guide will help you organize your data management efforts. You will learn how to define goals, specify requirements
and build a plan to meet those requirements. Then, you can begin your journey to data management success.
© 2015 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

4. ABOUT THE RESEARCH ANALYSTS
David Raab, Research Associate – Demand Metric
With an MBA from Harvard, David is an expert in both B2B & B2C marketing strategy & technology. He has advised
The Gap, JC Penney, Lowe's, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Williams-Sonoma, Scholastic, Unisys, Sprint and Verizon
Wireless. He also publishes the Raab Guide to Demand Generation Systems and the Marketing Performance
Measurement Tool-Kit.
© 2015 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
How-To Guide: B2B Data Management

5. © 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
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How-To Guide