Propensity modelling scores a hattrick for today’s lead gen marketers

Three goals in a single game.

There’s some childlike magic for me around the concept of a hattrick. It feels heroic, it makes the crowd go wild. And it’s not something you see every day.

When we trialled propensity modelling for our financial services client we knew we’d get a result – but no-one expected a hattrick.

I’ve written this blog for people that are short on time and want to get straight to the point.

If you prefer deeper explanations on how propensity modelling works, then click here for our 14 page Guide to Propensity Modelling.

This trial delivered more prospect data, double the conversion and 2.5 times as many customer wins

In the spirit of getting straight to the point, I’m starting at the end - where I share the results. The real numbers.

Our client had been selecting their campaign prospect data the way most of us have done for years, using criteria-based rules like industry, size, turnover and job title.

I’m going to call this “the old way”.

We’d worked together for a while, and they trusted me. Campaign data is my forte, so I persuaded them to run a trial using “the new way – propensity modelling” side by side with the “the old way” as a comparison.

The old way delivered 135 customer wins.
The new way delivered 347 customer wins.

The success comes from the hattrick of:

1. more volume,
   
2. combined with a better conversion rate
3. increased wins (as shown below)

This isn’t widely used (yet) so you can get ahead now

Technology has made propensity modelling available to marketing teams of all sizes.

I imagine it won’t be too long before it becomes the mainstream method for data selection.

So long as you have 500 plus records in your existing customer file to base the analysis on, you can get good results.

It’s not expensive or complex either, unless you’ve got multiple segments to model or you need detailed reporting. So, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a big or small marketing team – everyone can use it.

That might be enough for you. Or you might need me to explain what’s wrong with “the old way”

Propensity modelling finds prospects that mirror your best existing trading customers more precisely.

It’s based on current evidenced trading trends rather than persona research or good old fashioned gut feel.

It works on a scoring system based on how much each individual record resembles your customer data, and it uses a greater number of niche variables to build that profile to give greater precision.

The first step is to build a scored model of your customer data. This is then compared against the universe of UK businesses to find matching new prospects.

The importance of a rich, deep and accurate database plays an important role. Thankfully, these days there are databases built specifically for B2B marketers, but these aren’t always automatically offered so make sure you ask when enquiring.

Introducing a new indicator for you: “Positive Propensity to Convert (PPtC)”

With “the old way” how many times are you left trying to squeeze more volume by compromising your criteria? Data vendors convince you to widen your scope which ends up feeling like one big generic net trying to catch a fish.

Selecting your prospects using PPtC finds more people that are likely to receive your message well, and behave just like your best customers.

At every important stage, your data outperforms the old way.

About Me

I’m Dave, Operations Director at Data HQ. Sometimes more colloquially known by our team as The Oracle. Data HQ has been like rocket fuel for people’s sales & marketing campaigns since 2001 and I’ve been behind the wheel for almost all that time. I’m a numbers man at heart and I love how the combination of analytics, propensity modelling and good data can help clients achieve their goals. I’m always available for a chat if you need a hand with your lead generation work.

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About Data HQ

We've been giving sales & marketing campaigns more commercial oomph since 2001. We help you to reach your audiences, enter new markets and uncover hidden customers. The way we do it is to wrap the very best data and technology in brilliant ideas. Together, we make multi-channel marketing and lead generation simpler and better.