Why South-East Asia?
B2B Database in South-East Asia – South-East Asia is projected to be a huge emerging market in the coming year/ decades as the region is expected to contribute up to 70% of the world’s new consumer population with tech-savvy millennial and Gen Z consumers expected to make up 75% of the region’s economy by 2030.
Data released by Google and Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek during the “business SEA” event in May 2016 in Singapore also suggested that Southeast Asia is the world’s fastest-growing internet region with a current user base of 260 million with it expected to rise to 480 million users by 2020.
Thus, having a quality and reliable B2B database for the region of South-East Asia should be a must for any established or aspiring business looking to expand to the region as it allows them to carry out an effective B2B database marketing strategy for their customers. So the main question that should be asked is how to get started in building this quality and reliable B2B database. Before getting started on building a B2B database within the region, we must first understand what is the importance of having this database for a business.
Database Marketing
As stated previously, one of the main reasons for a business to have a B2B database is so they can carry out database marketing, which is a form of direct marketing that involves collecting and analysing data such as names, addresses, emails, and phone numbers. This data is then used in creating lists of existing and potential customers and creating outbound messaging campaigns. Data is crucial in the process of creating outbound messaging campaigns as it allows businesses to better resonate with their current and potential customers as they create more relevant marketing messages for their audience. So, the question now is what are the steps that should be done in building this B2B database?
Steps into Building a B2B Database
1) Analyse your Target Market
This is an important part of building a B2B database as identifying and determining your target audience ensures that all of your time and resources are being used effectively as you focus on prospects who have a real need for your product/service. So the question we have now is how do you start determining your target market?
The first step in doing that is analysing your current customers and their behavioural patterns as well as the unique characteristics of your target group. This information would enable you to create a list of likely potential customers as they have similar unique characteristics to your already existing customers.
If however, you are new to an industry or don’t have an established existing customer base, doing some market research on your potential audience should be the way to go as you aim to get some customers in.
This is an important step for any new business as each country in South-East Asia has an average of 1296 publicly listed companies with the major sectors being electronics, information &communications technology (ICT)and textiles & apparel. This statistic does not take into account the region’s private companies, partnerships and sole traders. Thus conducting market research is a must for any new business looking to enter the market as you aim to find the best potential audience and get a better read on them for your future endeavours.
2) Building your Lead List
After analysing your target audience, the next step is to build your lead list. To carry out this step, you would need a good source to get those leads. For more established businesses with an already existing customer base, it may be wise to use your internal marketing database or CRM as a source for these leads.
Alternatively, if you are tight on time or are new to an industry and don’t have an existing customer base, it may be wise to instead buy a lead list from a third party to carry out this step. It is worth noting that you should always analyse the effectiveness of a lead list before purchasing one.
3) Segmenting your Lead List
After obtaining a lead list, the next step that should be carried out is to segment your prospects from that list. This is done as it allows you to identify possibly a more lucrative and profitable group within your lead list which would enable you to effectively target those segments by producing an experience that is more specifically focused on them. It would also allow you to better identify where to allocate your resources to gain maximum profits. This would lead to more conversion rates for your products as you produce more effective promotions for your product/service.
4) Organising Data
The final step in building your B2B database is to organise the data of the leads you have compiled. When organising the data of your leads, it should contain important information such as title, first name, last name, phone number, email, location, lead source, and notes. Now you may be wondering, how do I organise all this information?
The answer to that may surprise you as to how simple it is as using spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel would be the best default option for compiling and organising the data to build a quality B2B database.
If however, you are a larger company that has a CRM solution, it is recommended that you import that spreadsheet with all the organised information into your CRM to gain better efficiency.
Alternatives to Building a B2B database
If you don’t have the time or resources to build your own B2B database in south-east Asia, a solution to that would be to use third-party software to obtain a B2B database. In terms of South-East Asia B2B databases where it is a rising market and information may be a bit more scarce when compared to regions such as North America and Europe, WaveLeads.io is the solution that you are looking for.
WaveLeads.io is a B2B Sales Prospecting Platform and a data provider that provides relevant information. The difference between WaveLeads.io and any other B2B Sales Prospecting Platform is that it is specifically made to target the South-East Asian and Hong Kong markets which would enable a more seamless expansion to the region if you were looking to begin expanding to the region.
Conclusion
In conclusion, having a B2B database in south-east Asia for any business is crucial in this day of age as it allows for a business to better strive in today’s world with more relevant data and information that would enable better promotions of products/services on the business’s side.
This importance would be further emphasised in a rising global market such as SouthEast Asia with its high potential growth and rise in internet users by exponential numbers in the coming decade. Thus having a strong and quality B2B database is a must for any
business looking to expand to the region of South-East Asia.
