When Apple announced the 2014 versions of the iPhone, the shift toward larger screens and devices became the norm. It didn’t take long for people to realize that there was something wrong.
According to one writer in an article for The Atlantic, “I wasn’t as put off by the larger dimensions as everyone else in the technosphere seemed to be. But I was, as usual, put off by one thing that both the Apple product and its archnemesis from Google shared: the unpocketability of the phone, particularly by females.”
The fashion industry hasn’t kept pace with ever-growing smartphone sizes, leaving so many women to wonder why jean pockets can’t be bigger. But researchers took things a step further by conducting a study comparing men’s and women’s pocket sizes. Now, there’s a data visualization that sheds light on what women have known for years.
But what does any of this mean for B2B marketers? You might be surprised what you can learn from this data visualization on pocket sizes.
Visualizing the Pocket Size Problem
In August 2018, Jan Diehm and Amber Thomas conducted a study to measure the pockets in both men’s and women’s pants across 20 of the most popular brands in the United States. Once the data was compiled, they drew out what the average pocket size looks like for both genders:
You don’t have to look too closely to see what the researchers found—women’s pockets are ridiculous.
The study goes on to show how various items (smartphones, notebooks, hands, etc.) fit in these average pocket sizes. No matter what you look at, 100% of men’s pockets can fit modern smartphones whereas just 40% of women’s pockets can fit an iPhone X.
The obvious solution for fashion designers is to base pocket sizes on the smartphones that we carry around every day. This kind of data visualization proves just how ridiculous it is that this problem persists.
And this is where B2B marketers can learn a lesson. There might be obvious issues with your marketing tactics that have gone unnoticed because they’re part of the status quo.
Break Out of the B2B Marketing Status Quo with Intent Data
The pocket size issue comes down to the fact that fashion designers have maintained a status quo despite the fact that consumer needs have changed.
Many B2B marketers face this same kind of problem. In the earliest days of inbound and content marketing, high-volume lead generation tactics may have been the most effective strategy. Now, we’ve reached a level of saturation with digital content that makes engagement increasingly difficult. If you’re maintaining the status quo of marketing and focusing on filling the top of your funnel with high volume leads, you might not recognize this strategy is the reason for diminishing returns. Account-based marketing strategies are proving more effective because they focus more on personalizing marketing efforts to the specific needs of in-market buyers.
This is where intent data comes into play. Just like the pocket sizes study reveals an obvious consumer preference, third-party intent data can keep you from making clear mistakes like wasting your marketing budget on an account that isn’t in the market to buy. Not only that, but you can gain deep insight into the preferences and needs of individual target accounts.
Quality data is the key to making marketing decisions as obvious as the need for deeper women’s pockets. The more insight you have into the preferences, behaviors, and needs of target accounts, the easier it will be to adjust your marketing strategies and close more deals. But don’t just stop at compiling the data. Intent data visualizations will reveal more subtle insights that you might otherwise miss if you’re just scrolling through a massive database.
