the art of action: intent-based marketingthe art of action: intent-based marketing 02 for modern b2c...

THE ART OF ACTION: INTENT-BASED MARKETING

INTRODUCTION


02

For modern B2C marketers, it can sometimes feel like the mavens across the marketing pond (and

we’re talking about B2Bers, of course), always get the new shiny toys before we do. And there’s

some truth to that.

Excluding programmatic ad buys and shopping-cart retargeting, B2B seems to pave the way with

modern martech solutions. Predictive analytics, dynamic nurture, omni-channel programs: B2B folks

are engaging in some fairly complex tactics. So when you see posts about Intent Marketing, it’s

understandable that you might forego reading, assuming that you are not the intended audience.

Let’s set the record straight. Intent Marketing is absolutely a viable B2C tactic, and there are

approaches that are within reach. In fact, Intent Marketing is far more pragmatic than your typical

martech thought-leader would have you believe.

03


FIRST, A PRIMER ON INTENT MARKETING

In essence, Intent Marketing is all about understanding customer intentions—what

some refer to as digital body language—and responding in real-time. This is far

more difficult than it sounds. Let’s break down that seemingly simple description

above into the five steps that make up Intent Marketing.

Know your customer

No, we don’t mean create some boring, highly theoretical buyer persona (“Jenn

is a go-getter” nonsense). You need to have rich data on who your customers are

(demographics) and where they are (channels).

Define their intentions

When it comes to digital interactions, not all engagement denotes the same intent.

Search terms, web pages, app activity, post-purchase activity: All these actions are clues

STEP

1

STEP

2

that can lead us to what result a customer was “intending” to occur. We have to categorize and

define the signals we think most capture a person’s intent.

Identify ways to measure intentions

Once we have definitions of potential “intents,” then we have to figure out ways to

measure those moments. Do we have the ability to see these signals in real-time? What

are the tangible signals to measure and how do we actually know when they’re happening?

Develop response strategies

Identifying the intent is only half the equation. What are we going to do when the

customer exhibits intention? Tip: Our response can’t feel like a bait-and-switch maneuver.

The strategy behind our responses need to connect what the customer wants and what we want of

the customer. If we’re only considering one party, the strategy won’t succeed.

04


STEP

3

STEP

4

05

Deploy, measure, and optimize

This isn’t the time to set-and-forget. Once you have implemented your Intent Marketing

programs, keep a close eye on your conversion rates. If something is amiss, adjust as the

program runs, measure again, repeat.

DATA: THE LYNCHPIN OF INTENT MARKETING

It should come as no surprise that bringing the aforementioned steps to life

requires robust access to data. Unfortunately, the data you have to leverage

for Intent Marketing comes from multiple, sometimes disparate sources.

You could invest untold sums of money to bring this all together, but before

breaking out the company checkbook, let’s go over some data sources you can potentially use

today.


STEP

5

B2C Intent Marketing data:

Point of sale data—Where are purchases happening and when?

Demographic info—Who is purchasing what products and how should we segment them?

Chatbot queries—What questions are customers or prospective customers asking chatbots

in social feeds and on your website or apps?

Engagement metrics—What pages do purchasers visit, what communications do they open,

and what activity can you track when they leave?

Post-purchase-activity data—What steps have purchasers taken on assets into which you

have visibility? Does a particular purchase make the likelihood of a subsequent unrelated

purchase increase?

In many cases, your customer engagement or post-purchase-marketing strategy should already be

accessing and analyzing the above data sources.


06

BEDFELLOWS: POST-PURCHASE STRATEGY AND INTENT MARKETING

Like most modern marketing tactics, there’s really no limit to what an

organization can spend on media, software, agency fees, and internal

resources. Unfortunately, the results don’t always justify the price tag.

So how do you begin dipping your toes into Intent Marketing without

having to shell out for a multi-million-dollar program?

That’s where your post-purchase strategy comes into play. Right now, high-end appliance brands

and electronics manufacturers are sitting on a wealth of potential data sources and channels that

can be leveraged for a series of Intent Marketing programs.

Data

Through a smarter approach to product registration, brands can collect quality demographic and

purchase data from customers. This doesn’t require collaboration across all your retailers. There are


07

08


easy-to-implement, low-friction product registration tactics that exist today that can serve as both a

data source and a customer-engagement channel if used properly.

Channels

Once customers register products, you can enter them into your ongoing customer-engagement

programs. Using your defined signals (step two, above), you can begin testing your hypotheses with

this audience. You’ll need a few digital channels in the mix to get this right. These channels should

be made up of always-on digital tactics (email campaign, chatbots deployed in social messaging

apps and your website, and retargeting).

Analytics

While you let your programs run, you’ll need rich engagement and conversion analytics to

review in order to optimize your tactics and scale what’s working. There are vendors that can

supply the platform through which your customers register. Some of these platforms can even

store the demographic and purchase data, deploy digital messaging, analyze data, and make

recommendations for further campaigns and programs (in a nutshell, this is what we do at

Registria).

WHAT TO TEST AND WHY

Nearly every marketing guide espouses the value of testing but get fuzzy

in identifying what to test and why it should be tested. We won’t do that to

you. When it comes to Intent Marketing, you could spin your wheels watching

ever metric that flows into your system. And if your program reaches a

large enough scale, that’s likely what you should do. But when you first get

underway, we’d suggest sticking to the following testing plan:

Channel richness—Are the right people being accessed through your channels? What’s the quality

of your audience? Where haven’t you looked? While it’s good to follow your hunch based on

demographic and purchase data, you should try and have at least a few wildcard channels in the

mix (allocate a lower budget to these, of course). You may stumble on a very effective and under-

09



10

saturated channel in the process and get a jump start before competitors begin flooding it with their

messaging.

Messaging effectiveness—The purpose of Intent Marketing is to deliver the right message at the

right time. But what’s the right message? Your audience will tell you. But you only learn what

resonates if you test multiple messages. Engagement and conversion metrics will allow you to

pick winners from your messaging tests. Out of the gate, you should probably have no less than 3

alternative responses to each signal you define. Once you get enough data, you can drop the losers,

but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t serve up another round of testing. Make sure your winning

messages are routinely challenged. An effective message can inexplicably stop resonating at any

moment. Be proactive and test often.

GETTING STARTED

Every brand is in their own unique position when it comes to the mix and maturity of marketing

strategy. But no matter where you’re at, Intent Marketing is within reach. There are small and safe

bets to be made today on targeting intent and delivering actionable messaging to your customers

and prospects.

We know post-purchase. We know Intent Marketing.

At Registria, we live and breathe post-purchase marketing. Our platform covers multiple steps in

the post-purchase customer lifecycle, from product registration and engagement tactics, to data

storage, analytics, and marketing strategy. If your brand is ready to enter the Intent Marketing

world, or if you’re looking to scale your current programs up, please click below and let’s start the

conversation.


11

Registria is an award-winning revenue-as-a-service company that enables more than a hundred of

the world’s leading product brands to deliver a powerful ownership experience. Purpose built for

manufacturers, Registria integrates technology with digital marketing to connect a brand’s sales,

marketing and service capabilities into a comprehensive solution. We enable brands to better un-

derstand their buyers, and for buyers to engage directly with the brands they buy throughout the

ownership lifecycle. Registria’s mobile registration solution, PhotoregisterSM, provides the fastest way

for consumers to register new product purchases via text, email, web, or social messaging.

For more information visit us at registria.com

the art of action: intent-based marketingthe art of action: intent-based marketing 02 for modern b2c...

Documents