What Are Demand Units?

Demand units are groups of stakeholders within an organization who collectively participate in the decision-making process to purchase a product or service. This concept goes beyond targeting individual leads by focusing on the collective needs and actions of a buying team that shows intent and potential for a purchase. If you are B2B based company, this is a buzz phrase that your most likely hearing across many channels.

How Demand Units Differ from Traditional Lead Scoring

Traditional lead scoring focuses on individual actions, such as a single person downloading a Whitepaper or attending a webinar. In contrast, demand unit-based scoring aggregates these interactions at a group level, recognizing patterns across multiple stakeholders within the same potential buyer group. This provides a more holistic view of an account’s engagement and readiness to buy.

Five Reasons Why Demand Unit-Based Scoring Is Better Than Traditional Scoring

1. Comprehensive Insight: Captures collective engagement of all decision-makers, offering a fuller picture of an account’s interest level.
2. Enhanced Precision: Improves the accuracy of predicting purchase readiness by observing interactions across a group, not just an individual.
3. Increased Efficiency: Focused efforts on groups that exhibit strong collective buying signals can lead to more efficient use of marketing resources.
4. Better Alignment with Sales: Helps align marketing efforts with sales strategies by targeting accounts with higher potential for conversion.
5. Higher ROI: Potentially higher return on investment as marketing efforts are concentrated on more qualified, ready-to-buy demand units.

Situations Where Demand Unit-Based Scoring May Not Be Needed

• Low-Value Transactions: For businesses dealing primarily in low-cost, high-volume transactions, individual lead scoring might suffice.
• Consumer Markets: In B2C markets where purchases are typically made by individuals without a buying committee.
• Early-Stage Startups: Startups in early stages might not have the resources or the customer base size to effectively implement and benefit from demand unit-based scoring.
• Lack of Data: Companies with insufficient data on buying groups and their behaviors may struggle to effectively implement this approach.
• Simple Sales Cycles: In industries with straightforward, short sales cycles, the complexity of demand unit-based scoring might not add significant value.

Implementing Demand Unit Marketing in Marketo

1. Segmentation: Start by using Marketo to segment your contacts into demand units based on shared characteristics such as job functions, pain points, and prior interactions. Marketo’s advanced segmentation tools allow for precise grouping, which is crucial for tailored campaigns.
2. Targeted Campaigns: Once you have identified your demand units, deploy targeted marketing campaigns designed to meet the specific needs of each unit. Marketo enables the automation of these campaigns, delivering personalized content at scale.
3. Lead Scoring Adjustments: Adjust your lead scoring model to aggregate scores at the demand unit level instead of individual scoring. For example, if several individuals from the same unit engage with a key piece of content, the entire unit’s score increases, providing a more accurate picture of intent and readiness to buy.
4. Analytics and Reporting: Utilize Marketo’s comprehensive analytics to track and measure the effectiveness of your demand unit-based campaigns. Insights gained can help refine strategies and allocate resources more efficiently, ensuring that your marketing efforts resonate with the right groups.

Conclusion

For marketers new to this approach, implementing demand unit-based marketing through Marketo can seem daunting. However, by focusing on segmentation, targeted campaigns, tailored scoring, and detailed analytics, businesses can enhance their marketing strategies to be more aligned with the real dynamics of B2B buying processes. This leads not only to increased efficiency but also to higher conversion rates as marketing efforts more closely match the collective needs of potential buyers.