How Do You Solve a Problem like EMEA Demand Generation?

By Judith Niederschelp On Oct 24, 2019

Delivering effective demand generation for the EMEA market is far from easy. With 24 languages spoken across the EU alone, translation services are useful, but they can only take you so far. You also need to consider cultural nuances and permitted variations to data and marketing regulations such as GDPR. And for B2B Marketing to be truly effective, you need to prioritize contacts that are in-market for your offering.

Unless your team has the skills and capabilities to meet these requirements, you risk a lackluster EMEA performance. Yet this territory represents a significant part of any global brand’s footprint. So, what does it take to get it right? With an effective blend of traditional skills and innovative Marketing Technologies, you can steal a march on the competition. Here are three factors that can boost success.

Build (Or Outsource To) a Talented Multilingual Team

Native language skills are a vital component of EMEA Marketing. Translation services might be adequate for email communications and online content. But if you can’t nurture prospects via a dedicated, educated telemarketing team that understands your offering and how it solves buyers’ challenges, you’re at a disadvantage.

Whether your focus is on inbound or outbound demand generation, being able to build a rapport with prospects remains central to B2B Marketing success. And if you want to enrich or augment your data with compliant contacts and information, the ability to understand local regulatory variations and conduct natural, unscripted conversations is a must.

With a territory as diverse as EMEA, all multilingual activity – from telemarketing to copy translation – benefits from a centralized approach. Having one department or partner to coordinate everything can help overcome some of the complexity. For instance, it’s a good idea to keep product and service propositions simple, with cross-market appeal. Focusing on similarities across multiple markets avoids the over-complication that can arise when you drill too far into regional differences.

Use Intent Data to Prioritize Marketing Activities

With competent native speakers on hand, it’s possible to build dynamic EMEA account lists and nurture them strategically. Coupling this with intent data enables you to focus multilingual demand generation efforts on the right people at the right time.

Intent data doesn’t just reveal insights to help personalize Marketing messages. It also enables you to score accounts’ readiness to purchase by comparing online research activity to a baseline established over the 52 weeks prior.

A score slightly above the baseline indicates that an account is in the research phase of the buyer journey. It may convert sometime in the future, but there’s little point investing much time or effort in the short term.
An account gradually increasing from the baseline may not be ready to convert yet. However, contacts are likely to respond well to high-level messaging that addresses business problems.
A noticeable surge above the baseline indicates that an account is coming closer to making a purchase decision. It’s worth investing significant resources in presenting your product as a solution to their needs.

For the best results, you need to continuously monitor changes in account behavior. With intent data, you can dynamically assess intent signals, then adapt EMEA demand generation efforts accordingly.

Identify Accounts That Aren’t on Your Radar

Do you have a handle on your total active market for EMEA? The chances are that you don’t. Even if you’ve created a detailed list of target accounts, potential prospects can still fall through the cracks. This is another area where identifying prospects in terms of purchase intent can be beneficial, enabling you to extend your list with lookalike companies.

For instance, you may have a target account with a mid-range intent score that is steadily rising. If you know how many people work there, current solutions they have in place, their financial situation etc. you can search for additional companies with similar profiles.

You might not always find a 1:1 match between rising-intent accounts and lookalikes. They might operate in an entirely different category or be based in a different country. However, if they’re in a similar stage of growth or development, they’re likely to be facing similar challenges that your product or solution might address. This is an effective way to reveal potentially lucrative prospects that wouldn’t otherwise be on your radar.

The Key to EMEA Demand Generation

EMEA is the Achilles heel for many global B2B brands. But combining the interpersonal and interpretive skills of native speakers with the latest approaches to intent data can unlock a rich seam of in-market buyers. Speak their language, address their problems and watch conversions soar.