B2B marketing has always been about getting the right message to the right buyer at the right time. But in 2025, that precision isn’t just a nice-to-have— it’s the difference between leading and lagging. And it all starts with data.
Our latest Pipeline360 research makes this clear as 79% of high performers say they’re “very good” or “excellent” at data handling, compared to just 14% of low performers. That’s the single biggest performance gap we identified in our research this year.
It’s no surprise then that U.S. B2B marketers are doubling down. Spending on data capabilities is set to accelerate from 0.5% in 2024 to 4% by 2027, surpassing $4 billion. With that kind of investment, choosing the right partners who prioritize quality, compliance, and accuracy is mission-critical.
Why Data, Why Now?
Data quality has always set top marketers apart. But in a tougher economic environment, it’s become a defining predictor of success. Only a third of CMOs expect bigger budgets this year, according to our research. Nearly half of U.S. teams saw little or no progress toward their goals last year. The pressure to do more with less has never been higher.
But performance starts with precision. Buying groups are bigger— often 10 to 20 people— and increasingly include new decision-makers like finance stakeholders who hold final approval. Yet only 41% of U.S. marketers feel confident identifying those individuals.
Meanwhile, buying journeys are longer and less linear. Seventy percent of U.S. marketers say sales cycles are stretching out. Buyers do their research invisibly, appearing and disappearing before ever talking to a sales team. Without strong data, you’re marketing blind.
And compliance can’t be an afterthought: Three-quarters of B2B marketers now rank it as a top priority. Among high performers, it jumps to 90%. With state-level privacy laws proliferating, minimizing risk is essential— but the smartest teams also see the upside.
Better Decisions, Better Results
Against this backdrop, data is the key to unlocking value and driving campaign performance improvements. It helps us improve our understanding of buyers, and deliver personalized content at scale. To engage and nurture leads through long, non-linear journeys and minimize compliance risk. And data can even improve sales and marketing alignment for better outcomes.
But high-quality data doesn’t just enable better decisions and better results; it helps marketing teams quantify their successes and justify spend. That’s increasingly important at a time of shrinking or static budgets.
Yet over half of global B2B marketers tell us they need to enhance their ability to collect, analyze, and interpret data. In the U.S., the areas highlighted as most in need of improvement are performance analysis (63%), reporting (46%), and data collection (42%).
Where to start? With a data audit. Understand where collection methods are falling short, where quality may be compromised, and where usage simply isn’t driving insight. Focus first on data that supports targeting buying groups and identifying individuals in those groups. And ensure it is accurate, compliant, and complete.
Choose Your Partners Wisely
No one wins this alone. Your third-party providers can make or break your strategy. Look for marketplaces built on high-quality, real-time data from verified sources. They should have rigorous processes for cleaning, de-duping, and validating leads while also prioritizing compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other regulations.
Top-performing demand generation partners are also leaning heavily into intent data to dynamically target accounts already researching solutions. A strong example: Branded Demand, which fuses content syndication with targeted display advertising. By combining intent signals with real-time analytics, marketers can reach buyers earlier in their journey and optimize continuously for better ROI.
Data isn’t the whole story, but it is the foundation of every high-performing campaign. Marketers who treat it as a strategic asset, not a back-office function, will be the ones who lead the next era of B2B growth.
Matt Hummel serves as the Chief Marketing Officer at Pipeline360, where he leads the development and execution of strategic marketing initiatives to enhance the customer experience, accelerate growth, foster cultural evolution, and deliver on the company vision. Drawing from his extensive experience as a multi-time customer of Pipeline360, Matt brings a unique perspective and a deep passion for delivering exceptional business and customer value. After starting his career in advertising and public relations, Matt found his passion for B2B marketing, spending more than a decade at leading global financial services organizations including Deloitte. Most recently, Matt led Digital Marketing at Demandbase, and prior to that had senior leadership roles at leading SaaS companies including RealPage, Social Solutions, and Thomson Reuters, where he built and led teams that consistently drove profitable growth. Matt is a graduate from the University of North Texas where he holds a degree in Marketing.
