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Are You Using Data to Prioritize the Right Buyers for 5G Solutions?

Melody Selby
June 20, 2024 7 MIN Blog

The promises of 5G technology are rapidly changing the tech landscape with the global adoption of 5G expected to increase to 5.3 billion in 2029. Recent ML Insights data shows a significant 130% year-over-year (YoY) increase in research into 5G solutions by XXLarge companies with 10,000+ employees. This growing interest highlights the compelling benefits 5G brings to enterprise organizations. Gartner’s research backs this up with findings that show that the share of enterprise sites using 5G as a primary or backup fixed wireless connectivity option is expected to grow from 2% in 2023 to 15% in 2027.  

Competition to reach these buyers is stiff in the 5G market. Leveraging precise data and insights is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. Our data provides a deeper understanding of the behaviors and preferences of these buyers, offering valuable information that you can use to optimize your account-based marketing (ABM) strategies.  

Key Findings about 5G Buyers 

By identifying the right accounts and engaging the relevant buying committee personas, you can ensure your B2B marketing efforts are both targeted and effective. Understanding the specific needs and interests of these buyers allows for the creation of highly relevant and personalized content, ensuring each interaction adds value and moves them further along the purchase journey. Equipped with this knowledge, you can craft ABM campaigns that resonate with and convert these high-value prospects with a great and immersive user experience, driving growth and innovation in the 5G era. 

Account Insights 

Region 

By region, North America leads with high buyer research and engagement with 5G-related content. Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) buyers show declined research and engagement with 5G topics and content. Asia-Pacific (APAC) could be an area of opportunity for 5G solution providers as they show increased engagement with 5G-related content but aren’t researching as much. 

Your Outreach Strategy: 

Keep targeting and engaging with North American buyers and reduce outreach to EMEA buyers. Targeting APAC buyers with 5G content is essential due to the region’s rapid technological adoption and diverse market needs. Countries like China, Japan, and South Korea are leading in 5G infrastructure investment and consumer readiness, driven by objectives to enhance smart city initiatives, industrial automation, and IoT advancements. Providing content focused on specific national goals will engage APAC buyers more effectively, driving them to explore and invest in 5G solutions tailored to their local context. For more rural areas that show increased mobile device adoption, like India, highlight how 5G connectivity will speed up digital transformation efforts in industries like healthcare, agriculture, and logistics and improve telecommunications. 

Company Size 

While XXLarge organizations show increasing interest, we see lower research activity by medium-small companies in 5G services. This is most likely due to cost considerations and limited use cases. Smaller companies typically need new hardware and may lack the more advanced mobile devices that can use 5G effectively. 

Your Outreach Strategy

You should seize the growing interest in 5G among larger organizations by highlighting innovate use cases like edge computing for real-time analytics, low latency for sectors needing instant responsiveness, and private 5G networks for enhanced security and connectivity to Internet of Things (IoT) devices. By showcasing how 5G can revolutionize digital transformation operations and deliver competitive advantages, you can more effectively engage these high-value prospects and drive adoption. 

Verticals 

While there’s strong interest growing from the transportation vertical for 5G solutions, our ML Insights data shows that manufacturing interest in 5G is declining—perhaps this is due to budget constraints, reliance on existing technology infrastructure, and a perceived lack of immediate applicability or benefits for their operations. 

Your Outreach Strategy 

Reduce your outreach to accounts in manufacturing and consider more targeting to the transportation industry. Engage these interested buyers by highlighting 5G’s benefits like ultra-low latency, high bandwidth, and reliable connectivity for real-time data exchange, improved vehicle communication, traffic management, and support for autonomous vehicles. Tailored content such as case studies and webinars showcasing these advantages and providing practical insights will help drive 5G adoption in the sector. 

Buying Committee Insights 

Department 

While our data shows an 88% YoY increase in engagement with 5G-related content by engineering roles, IT and operations continue to be the most prominent departments researching and engaging with 5G-related content. 

Your Outreach Strategy 

The substantial growth in interest from engineering roles indicates a heightened focus on understanding how to leverage 5G technology for product development and innovation. Amplify this interest with technical content that delves into the engineering aspects of 5G, including detailed use cases of successful rollouts, technical specifications, and integration strategies to cater to this audience’s advanced needs and curiosity. 

Seniority 

We see that manager roles leading the research process for 5G solutions while professional roles increased their engagement by 80% over the last year despite lower targeting for 5G-related content. 

Your Outreach Strategy 

Seize a competitive opportunity by expanding your outreach to include decision-makers in professionals showing an increased interest in 5G solutions. These end users typically care about functionality, ease of use, and technological support. Providing detailed, practical content that addresses their specific needs and interests, such as technical insights about mobile broadband, implementation guides, and industry-specific use cases will engage this group the most. 

5G Buyers and How to Win Them Over 

Winning over 5G buyers requires a strategic approach that not only highlights the transformative benefits of 5G technology but also addresses individual buying committee member concerns about how 5G solutions meet their specific industry challenges. Here are a few tips to help you do it: 

  • Highlight Tangible Benefits: Address unclear benefits perceptions that lead to regret by showcasing how 5G enhances operations with real-time data processing, automation, and innovative services, backed by case studies and ROI analysis. Use content that highlights how your solution has helped similar accounts overcome connectivity issues to increase productivity and delivered real-time insights for faster decision making through case studies and ROI analysis. 
  • Tailored Solutions: Meet buyer expectations by customizing your 5G content and messaging for industry-specific challenges and goals associated with 5G deployment. For instance, when targeting transportation organizations, provide case studies, white papers, and insights that demonstrate how real-time communication solutions powered by 5G improve supply chain operations and mitigate driver risk.  
  • Address Integration Concerns: Research shows that 37% of B2B respondents worry about integrating 5G with their existing technologies and ecosystem. Quell anxieties around integration and methodology concerns with white papers and reports that link your 5G offerings to wider emerging technology needs to demonstrate how the benefits greatly outweigh the challenges. Further reinforce your commitment to seamless integration, convergence, and long-term reliability with informative technical guides that outline compatibility requirements and messaging around your robust business support offerings.  
  • Build Strategic Partnerships: Competition in the 5G market is heating up as providers battle to capture market share as the mobile network of choice. With two-thirds of buyers saying that interactions with telecom service providers is too tactical and transactional, there’s an opportunity to build lasting customer relationships with reputation-building content that positions your brand as a trusted advisor and partner. This not only highlights your ongoing commitment to positive business outcomes, but also lays the groundwork for more effective customer expansion opportunities.  

Strengthen Account Engagement with Data-led ABM Strategies 

While it might be tempting to activate wide-approach marketing tactics aimed at the accounts your company thinks are best-fit, the truth is that you need a data-led approach to identify in-market accounts, buying group personas, and the content most likely to convert to succeed.  

Brands that use data achieve more success with their outreach campaigns; When the T-Mobile for Business team needed to increase engagement and create more opportunities for sales, they turned to Madison Logic for help with targeting decision-makers and buyer personas with more relevant and personalized content that would move them through the funnel faster. This transformation from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more personalized content strategy helped the team align their content to buyer needs, resulting in deeper connections across the buying journey. Through the use of intent and account data from ML Insights, they achieved 3X and 5X increases in appointment rates for two of their key segments.  

Looking for more insights into these buyers? Our newest resource, ABM Buyer Intent Guide: 5G, offers practical insights into the most promising accounts and personas for your campaigns and the content topics you should be using to engage them. Use it to determine whether your strategy is reaching the right audience and contact us to learn how we can help you put it into action.