How to Get and Use Social Behavioral Data for B2B Sales

Most people are familiar with the idea of using data to target ads and improve marketing campaigns. However, behavioral data can also be a valuable tool for sales teams. By understanding the online behavior of potential customers, salespeople can target their outreach and dramatically improve their chances of closing a deal.

Let’s explore the world of behavioral data and how it can be used to improve your prospecting strategy.

What is Behavioral Data?

Behavioral data is information that tells you how someone has behaved in the past. This can include things like what websites they have visited, what content they have engaged with, and even what sort of interactions they have had with your or other companies in the past.

There are a few different ways to collect behavioral data. The most common method is through the use of cookies. Cookies are small pieces of code that are placed on a user's computer when they visit a website. These cookies track the user's activity and send that information back to the website owner.

Another way to collect behavioral data is through the use of pixel tags. Pixel tags are tiny images that are placed on a web page. When a user visits a page with a pixel tag, their browser will request the image from the server. This request includes information about the user, such as their IP address, which can be used to track their behavior.

Finally, some companies collect behavioral data through the use of log files. Log files are simply records of all the activity that takes place on a server. These files can contain information like what time someone accessed a certain page, what kind of device they were using, and where they were located when they made the request.

As I originated from the product management field, behavior data concept is well-known there.

In product analytics, user behavior data means everything. It tells you how people interact with your product, what features they use (and don’t use), and where they drop off. This data is essential for making informed product decisions that will help you build a better product.

User behavior data can be collected in a number of ways, including through web analytics tools, user testing, and surveys. Once you have this data, you need to analyze it to identify patterns and insights. This can be done through a variety of methods, including statistical analysis, data visualization, and qualitative research.

User behavior data is an incredibly powerful tool for product managers. By understanding how users interact with your product, you can make informed decisions that will help you build a better product.

This is how getting insights into product’s users behavior data looks like there:

It would work the same for sales purposes.

With one huge difference: you don’t have source data yet.

How Can Behavioral Data Help With Prospecting?

Behavioral data can be incredibly useful for sales teams. By understanding the online behavior of potential customers, salespeople can better tailor their outreach and improve their chances of making a sale.

There are a few different ways that behavioral data can be used to improve your prospecting strategy:

1. Finding leads:

One of the most common uses for behavioral data is lead generation. By understanding the online behavior of potential customers, salespeople can identify leads that are more likely to convert into paying customers.

2. Improving email campaigns:

Another common use for behavioral data is email marketing. By understanding how potential customers interact with your emails, you can make sure that your messages are being seen by the right people and that they're resonating with your audience.

3. Personalizing outreach:

Finally, behavioral data can be used to personalize your sales outreach efforts. By understanding the online behavior of potential customers, you can make sure that your sales pitches are tailored to their specific interests and needs. This will help you close more deals and build better relationships with your customers.

Let’s see how to extract a bit of behavioral data from social media.

4 ways to research prospects on LinkedIn

Sales prospecting is the process of identifying and researching potential customers. LinkedIn can be a valuable tool in this process, as it provides a wealth of information about professionals and companies.

There are a few things to keep in mind when using LinkedIn for prospecting. First, LinkedIn is a platform for professionals, so it is important to be respectful and courteous when reaching out to potential customers. Secondly, LinkedIn provides a lot of information, but it is important to use this information wisely. Researching a prospect too deeply can come across as intrusive, and it is important to strike a balance between getting to know a prospect and respecting their privacy.

Here are five ways to research prospects on LinkedIn:

1. Look at their profile:

LinkedIn profiles can provide valuable information about a person's work history, education, and skills. This can be helpful in understanding what they do and how they might be a good fit for your product or service.

2. Check out their company data:

LinkedIn can also give you insights into a prospect's company, such as size, industry, and location. This information can help you determine whether the company is a good fit for your products or services.

3. See who they're connected to:

LinkedIn shows you who your connections are connected to, which can be helpful in finding mutual connections that can introduce you to the prospect.

4. Look at their activity:

Checking out a prospect's activity on LinkedIn can give you insights into their interests and what they are talking about. This can help you craft more personalized messages when reaching out.

When used correctly, LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for sales prospecting. By following these tips, you can research prospects effectively and efficiently on LinkedIn.

For example, this is how my activity feed looks like.

Twitter-based behavior analytics looks a bit different.

5 ways to research prospects on Twitter

Whether you work for a B2B or B2C company, Twitter can be a valuable platform for conducting research on your prospects.

Here are 5 ways to get started:

1. Check out their tweets

What kind of content are they sharing?

• Are they promoting their own products/services?
• If so, how do they position themselves in the market?
• What kind of language do they use?

All of this can give you valuable insights into their business and what they’re looking for.

2. See who your prospects are talking to

I do definitely agree with some of Andrea's thoughts.

Questions to lead you in right direction are:

• Are they mostly talking to other businesses or consumers?
• What kind of interactions are they having?
• Who influences them?

This can give you clues as to their target market and what kinds of needs they have.

3. Check out the hashtags prospects use

Tags are the easiest way to understand topics of interest.

• What topics are your prospects interested in?
• What kind of conversations are they having around these topics?

This can give you an idea of their priorities and what kinds of issues they’re trying to solve.

4. See who mentions them

• Are there any influencers or thought leaders in their industry mentioning them?
• If so, what do they say?

This can give you an idea of the kind of reputation they have and how others view their business.

5. Look at the context around their tweets

• When do they tweet?
• Who do they follow?
• What kind of Twitter lists are they on?

This can give you an idea of their interests, the kinds of people they associate with, and the type of information they consume.

Seems like a huge source of information for qualifying and tailoring your outreach tactics, isn’t it?

But there are some challenges. Identifying signals in an ocean of noise is one of them.

Behavioral Signals vs Noise

Sales experts know that one of the most important aspects of B2B prospect research is identifying signals in behavioral data. But what happens when there's too much noise in that data?

It can be difficult to identify the signals amid all the noise, but it's important to try. After all, those signals could be the difference between a successful sale and a missed opportunity.

There are a few ways to go about identifying signals in noisy data. One is to use intent identification, which looks at factors like the keywords a prospect is searching for or the topics they're interested in.

For example, there are some of signals to look for on Twitter:

• Prospect is talking about relevant pain points
• Prospect is talking about your product or service
• Prospect is talking about a competitor's product or service

Another approach is to look at sales data and try to identify patterns that emerge. This can be tricky, but it's often worth the effort. After all, those patterns could be indicative of larger trends that could be useful for your business.

No matter what approach you take, it's important to remember that noise can often mask the signal.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when trying to identify signals in behavioral data:

1. Look for patterns: Is there a consistent pattern of behavior over time? Or is it sporadic and random? Consistent patterns are more likely to be meaningful signals.

2. Consider the context: What was happening when the behavior occurred? Was it in response to a specific action or communication? That can be a strong indication of interest.

3. Compare against other indicators: Is this behavior corroborated by other data points? For example, if someone visited your pricing page but didn't view any other pages, that could be a sign that they're just price-shopping. But if they visited your pricing page AND your product page, that's a stronger signal of interest.

By keeping these things in mind, you can start to sift through the noise and focus on the behavioral signals that are most likely to indicate genuine interest.

Conclusion

In order to be successful in sales, it's essential to be able to quickly and accurately identify potential leads. However, manually sifting through data can be time-consuming and frustrating.

Luckily, there are now tools available that can help automate the process of getting behavioral data for prospect research. By using intent identification and lead generation software, sales teams can quickly qualify leads and get the information they need to close more deals.

This type of automation is particularly useful for B2B sales teams, as it can help them save time and increase their efficiency. In addition, automating prospect research can also help sales teams improve their accuracy when it comes to identifying qualified leads.

If you're looking for a way to improve your sales process, consider automating your prospect research. With the right tools, you can save time and close more deals.

And Norns AI is one of them.

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