Data volume has never necessarily been an issue for marketers. There’s always been so much data at your fingertips. Traditionally, the challenge has been identifying the real insights from that customer data.

But there’s a difference between having plenty of data and the explosion of information that we’ve seen in recent years. Now, at least 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day (for reference, 2.5 quintillion pennies can cover the Earth five times if laid out flat).

As marketers, we don’t have to deal with that kind of volume of data. However, sometimes it feels like we do. That leaves us with one key question—can you ever have too much data?

The Big Data Problem for Marketers

At first glance, this data explosion seems like a boon for marketers and the sales teams they’re supporting. With so much data available, it should be easier than ever to pinpoint exactly who your ideal customers are, what they’re interested in, when they’re considering a purchase, and how best to convert them. That’s why it’s no surprise that 53% of marketers say that “you can never have too much data.”

The confidence that so many marketers have in their ability to handle big data is admirable. And yet, studies show that data complexity ranks as the biggest marketing challenge today. How can we take this abundance of customer data, turn it into actionable insights, and fuel business results?

More and more, big data analytics solutions are becoming the answer. Except the promises of big data solutions aren’t necessarily a silver-bullet solution for marketers. A Deloitte CMO survey found that, “While marketing analytics is on the rise, a lack of trained professionals as well as tools/processes to measure the impact of marketing analytics are the biggest obstacles to marketing leaders.”

Maybe we have to forget this idea that the more data we have, the better off we’ll be. Instead of focusing so heavily on data collection, it’s time to double down on our ability to find the right data—the kind that provides actionable insights to fuel marketing and sales strategies.

Making Big Data Work for Marketing and Sales

There’s no denying the importance of data for marketing and sales success. But if we get too obsessed with big data, we run the risk of treating customers and prospects like line items in spreadsheets. Data is only as valuable as our ability to use it to become known, liked, and trusted by our target customers. Understanding their pain points, buying status, demographics, and research behavior gives you everything you need to qualify and convert opportunities.

All of that information lies within massive sets of big data. Sifting through it all is the challenge—but that’s where third-party data providers can help. Instead of sinking all of your time, effort, and resources into big data collection and analytics, take advantage of third-party providers that have already done the hard work of identifying actionable insights about your target customers.

Big data is a massive opportunity for marketers and sales teams. In truth, it’s one of the most transformative things that has emerged in the industry in recent years. But when you spend all your time analyzing data, you lose time that could be better spent executing marketing campaigns and engaging in sales conversations.

Getting to the “why” of buyer behavior is critical. By tracking billions of daily web interactions, we’re able to generate insights into:

  • Awareness/Perception: Quantitative measurements of buyer awareness, familiarity, and perception of your brand relative to competitors will inform segmentation, positioning, campaign strategy, and content agendas.
  • Buyer Journey: Tracking online activity on your site and across the internet determines levels of active research ahead of sales opportunity creation, win-rate variance based on engagement, and more.
  • Buyer Pressures and Performance: Optimized research that focuses specifically on buyer pain points and pressures to help marketers align with what drives purchase decisions.

The question isn’t whether or not you can have too much data—it’s whether or not you can have too much bad data. When the data is actionable and accurate, you can never have enough. And that’s where intent data comes in.

To learn more about intent data, check out our report, Demystifying B2B Purchase Intent Data.