True Influence: The Cornerstone of Sales Technology

The sound of clinking glasses and jubilation was all around True Influence. The tenth anniversary of True Influence was indeed an occasion to toast, as founders, Brian Giese, and RK Maniyani, took center stage to announce with pride to their employees. “The relentless success that we have achieved today has been possible only because of the hard work that you have put in,” stated Giese, CEO, True Influence. Seeing that the company was started from humble beginnings a decade back and has transitioned into an established leader in the sales technology landscape today, it stands to reason why the duo attribute their success to their employees.

Although Giese’s and Maniyani’s initial plans for True Influence was to compete in the emerging B2B marketing automation software category, sooner than later, they recognized that there was a bigger fish to fry. “There was an enormous opportunity of dramatically expanding the reach, scope, and relevance of behavioral data used to identify and engage with in-market B2B prospects,” Giese mentions. Tapping into the opportunity, they began developing their intent monitoring technology in 2010, which eventually proved to be the foundation of their company.

They started collecting and cataloging a colossal volume of relevant information; not just a limited collection of publisher websites or their own online channels, but they managed to acquire key decision-makers’ content consumption from across the entire internet. They used this information, which Giese calls “intent data,” to identify and target decision-makers who are actively deliberating over a purchase decision. Coupled with their dedication to verify and deliver only the most accurate contact information, this new approach to behavioral data-targeting quickly moved True Influence to the head of the pack among B2B lead providers and the rest, as they say, is history.

"At True Influence, we believe successful B2B marketing and sales depend on reaching the right prospects, with the right message, at the right time"

The Journey toward Ultimate Success

As the developments on the underlying algorithm advanced, True Influence’s processes for gathering and analyzing online purchase intent signals matured to the point that they decided to name it. Giese says, “We called it the True Influence Relevance Engine^®.”The True Influence Relevance Engine analyzes B2B decision-makers’ online research activity, finding spikes of interest in more than 4,000 topics relevant to the client’s business.

While the engine continued to evolve and improve, it remained the key differentiator that set the company’s demand generation offerings apart. “It was in 2015 that we felt confident in the results that Relevance Engine forecasted, and we saw the potential in creating a customer-facing interface for our powerful market intelligence tool,” states Giese.

In early 2016, True Influence launched InsightBASE^®, a subscription-based Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) platform with an intuitive UI that had the capability to empower B2B marketers such that they can build intent-powered campaigns and deliver highly-qualified leads directly to their marketing and sales automation platforms. Further, the users also have access to a wide range of intelligence reports to optimize every aspect of their companies’ campaigns and account-based marketing (ABM) strategies. “We were proud of InsightBASE when we released it, and we’re even more excited about the 2018 release of Version 2,” states Giese. “At True Influence, we believe successful B2B marketing and sales depend on reaching the right prospects, with the right message, at the right time. This philosophy has driven us to become a recognized leader in demand-generation services and intent data technology that connects B2B sellers with in-market buyers who are ready to learn more about the product or solution.”
Due to the prowess that True Influence made in the following years, the company collaborated with SiriusDecisions, a key thought leader in B2B marketing in 2017, and designated Intent Monitoring as a category in SiriusDecisions’ marketing technology stack analysis. SiriusDecisions even cited it as a requirement in the Active Demand stage of its ABM Demand Unit Waterfall. “Other analysts have followed suit, and now, we find ourselves in the lead of a category we helped create. It’s a nice spot to be in,” mentions Giese.

One “True” Platform

The key elements that substantiate True Influence’s approach are its flagship InsightBASE DaaS platform and its proprietary True Influence Relevance Engine intent analytics. “Our algorithms help in finding businesses and locations where interest in topics that relate to the clients’ product or service is spiking,” says Giese. “A general topical interest in the clients’ product or service is indicated by strong bursts in intent signal activity. This also tells the clients about the likely timeframe for purchase. The ultimate goal of this process is to identify real, qualified, and interested leads—not just anybody you can send e-mails to.”

InsightBASE organizes this activity—web searches, read articles, and content download—around topics that are essential to the clients’ solutions and markets. InsightBASE’s advanced Relevance Engine analytics finds intent signals and trends that go beyond simple averages to help optimize every aspect of the clients’ campaigns.

The platform’s intuitive web-based UI also delivers advanced reporting to fuel every aspect of a brand’s marketing and sales programs, including Account- Based Marketing (ABM) strategies. Further, it powers the company’s ContentLEADS and TeleLEADS services, which target contacts at active accounts to generate highly-engaged leads. The extensive reach of the company’s content syndication network is combined by the ContentLEADS programs with the power of intent to help users find exactly the right audience for their content, at exactly the right time.

True Influence uses InsightBASE intent monitoring intelligence to deliver co-branded e-mail campaigns that may include white papers, webinars, or other valuable content, to contacts who are eager to learn more.

Covering all Grounds

Meanwhile, the TeleLEADS program leverages its expertise as a recognized leader in B2B demand generation, to deliver leads at every stage of the clients’ pipeline, whether it’s marketing or sales-ready. The company’s customer success managers work with the clients and craft custom qualification criteria and questions that add valuable purchase trigger intelligence to their program. In addition, “our exclusive TripleCheck^® lead verification process ensures you get only current and accurate business e-mail contacts—a promise we back up with a 100 percent on-target guarantee,” explains Giese. True Influence delivers leads at the volume that a particular client requires, at the pace they require, to keep every stage of their pipeline moving forward.

In one instance, a healthcare IT security firm incorporated intent signal monitoring from True Influence as a cornerstone of a successful overhaul of its marketing and sales processes, including the adoption of ABM strategies. Among other wins, intent monitoring helped them to identify a new opportunity for an account that’s now valued at $1.8 million and added new business to their ABM target lists. This engagement was recognized with the prestigious Return on Integration (ROI) Award in the category of demand creation and lead management at the SiriusDecisions 2018 Summit. When the client described the details of its award-winning ABM pilot, they highlighted True Influence’s role in their success: “This is essential to everything.” Giese elaborates 1Bon another example where they helped a division of GE, with a market size of $37.1 B to double their market. “More than 300 leading B2B companies trust True Influence to bring the power of intent to every aspect of their marketing and sales strategies. Our InsightBASE account acceleration platform and demand generation programs to get predictable and quantifiable results,” he informs.

Setting Out for the Horizon

In its ten years of operation, True Influence has created a unique niche for itself in the intent monitoring field. As space is getting more crowded and intent monitoring gains traction as a recognized essential for winning new business opportunities, the company plans to deliver more innovative applications in the space. “We believe intent is a cornerstone of data-driven B2B marketing and sales. We are proud to be a leader in this exciting category we helped create and will continue to develop innovative and intent-driven solutions to fuel our customers’ success,” says Giese.

Going ahead, True Influence will be aiming to add more services to their portfolio. “We are exploring services such as sales-ready leads which will be very beneficial for our clients,” says Giese. The company will also be moving into the self-service market soon, to enhance their proposition in sales services.