Houston expert breaks down how B2B companies should leverage data for growth

guest column

How you can use your data to improve your marketing efforts. Photo via Getty Images

When focusing on revenue growth in business to business companies, analyzing data to develop and optimize strategies is one of the biggest factors in sales and marketing success. However, the process of evaluating B2B data differs significantly from that of B2C, or business to consumer. B2C analysis is often straightforward, focusing on consumer behavior and e-commerce transactions.

Unlike B2C, where customers can make a quick purchase decision with a simple click, the B2B customer journey involves multiple touchpoints and extensive research. B2B buyers will most likely discover a company through an ad or a referral, then navigate through websites, interact with salespeople, and explore different resources before finally making a purchasing decision, often with a committee giving input.

Because a B2B customer journey through the sales pipeline is more indirect, these businesses need to take a more nuanced approach to acquiring and making sense of data.

The expectations of B2B vs. B2C

It can be tempting to use the same methods of analysis between B2C and B2B data. However, B2B decision-making requires more consideration. Decisions involving enterprise software or other significant business products or services investments are very different from a typical consumer purchase.

B2C marketing emphasizes metrics like conversion rates, click-through rates, and immediate sales. In contrast, B2B marketing success also includes metrics like lead quality, customer lifetime value, and ROI. Understanding the differences helps prevent unrealistic expectations and misinterpretations of data.

Data differences with B2B

While B2C data analysis often revolves around website analytics and foot traffic in brick and mortar stores, B2B data analysis involves multiple sources. Referrals play a vital role in B2B, as buyers often seek recommendations from industry peers or companies similar to theirs.

Data segmentation in B2B focuses more on job title and job function rather than demographic data. Targeting different audiences within the same company based on their roles — and highlighting specific aspects of products or services that resonate with those different decision-makers — can significantly impact a purchase decision.

The B2B sales cycle is longer because purchases typically involve the input of a salesperson to help buyers with education and comparison. This allows for teams to implement account-based marketing and provides for more engagement which increases the chances of moving prospects down the sales funnel.

Enhancing data capture in B2B analysis

Many middle-market companies rely heavily on individual knowledge and experience rather than formal data management systems. As the sales and marketing landscape has evolved to be more digital, so must business. Sales professionals can leave and a company must retain the knowledge of the buyers and potential buyers. CRM systems not only collect data, they also provide the history of customer relationships.

Businesses need to capture data at all the various touchpoints, including lead generation, prospect qualification, customer interactions, and order fulfillment. Regular analysis will help with accuracy. The key is to derive actionable insights from the data.

B2B data integration challenges

Integrating various data sources in B2B data analysis used to be much more difficult. With the advent of business intelligence software such as Tableau and Power BI, data analysis is much more accessible with a less significant investment. Businesses do need access to resources to effectively use the tools.

CRM and ERP systems store a wealth of data, including contact details, interactions, and purchase history. Marketing automation platforms capture additional information from website forms, social media, and email campaigns. Because of these multiple sources, connecting data points and cleansing the data is a necessary step in the process.

When analyzing B2B data for account based marketing (ABM) purposes, there are some unique considerations to keep in mind. Industries like healthcare and financial services, for instance, have specific regulations that dictate how a business can use customer data.

Leveraging B2B data analysis for growth

B2B data analysis is the foundation for any sales and marketing strategy. Collecting and using data from multiple sources allows revenue teams to uncover gaps, trends, and opportunities for continued growth.

Acknowledging what’s different about B2B data and tracking all of the customer journey touchpoints is important as a business identifies a target market, develops an ideal customer profile, and monitors their competitors. Insights from data also single out gaps in the sales pipeline, use predictive analytics for demand forecasting, and optimize pricing strategies.

This comprehensive approach gives B2B companies the tools they need to make informed decisions, accelerate their sales and marketing efforts, and achieve long-term growth in a competitive market.

------

Libby Covington is a Partner with Craig Group, a technology-enabled sales and marketing advisory firm specializing in revenue growth for middle-market, private-equity-backed portfolio companies.

From Your Site Articles
Every situation is unique and deserves a one-of-the-kind data management plan, not a one-size-fits-all solution. Graphic by Miguel Tovar/University of Houston

Houston research: Why you need a data management plan

Houston voices

Why do you need a data management plan? It mitigates error, increases research integrity and allows your research to be replicated – despite the “replication crisis” that the research enterprise has been wrestling with for some time.

Error

There are many horror stories of researchers losing their data. You can just plain lose your laptop or an external hard drive. Sometimes they are confiscated if you are traveling to another country — and you may not get them back. Some errors are more nuanced. For instance, a COVID-19 repository of contact-traced individuals was missing 16,000 results because Excel can’t exceed 1 million lines per spreadsheet.

Do you think a hard drive is the best repository? Keep in mind that 20 percent of hard drives fail within the first four years. Some researchers merely email their data back and forth and feel like it is “secure” in their inbox.

The human and machine error margins are wide. Continually backing up your results, while good practice, can’t ensure that you won’t lose invaluable research material.

Repositories

According to Reid Boehm, Ph.D., Research Data Management Librarian at the University of Houston Libraries, your best bet is to utilize research data repositories. “The systems and the administrators are focused on file integrity and preservation actions to mitigate loss and they often employ specific metadata fields and documentation with the content,” Boehm says of the repositories. “They usually provide a digital object identifier or other unique ID for a persistent record and access point to these data. It’s just so much less time and worry.”

Integrity

Losing data or being hacked can challenge data integrity. Data breaches do not only compromise research integrity, they can also be extremely expensive! According to Security Intelligence, the global average cost of a data breach in a 2019 study was $3.92 million. That is a 1.5 percent increase from the previous year’s study.

Sample size — how large or small a study was — is another example of how data integrity can affect a study. Retraction Watch removes approximately 1,500 articles annually from prestigious journals for “sloppy science.” One of the main reasons the papers end up being retracted is that the sample size was too small to be a representative group.

Replication

Another metric for measuring data integrity is whether or not the experiment can be replicated. The ability to recreate an experiment is paramount to the scientific enterprise. In a Nature article entitled, 1,500 scientists lift the lid on reproducibility, “73 percent said that they think that at least half of the papers can be trusted, with physicists and chemists generally showing the most confidence.”

However, according to Kelsey Piper at Vox, “an attempt to replicate studies from top journals Nature and Science found that 13 of the 21 results looked at could be reproduced.”

That's so meta

The archivist Jason Scott said, “Metadata is a love note to the future.” Learning how to keep data about data is a critical part of reproducing an experiment.

“While this will be always be determined by a combination of project specifics and disciplinary considerations, descriptive metadata should include as much information about the process as possible,” said Boehm. Details of workflows, any standard operating procedures and parameters of measurement, clear definitions of variables, code and software specifications and versions, and many other signifiers ensure the data will be of use to colleagues in the future.

In other words, making data accessible, useable and reproducible is of the utmost importance. You make reproducing experiments that much easier if you are doing a good job of capturing metadata in a consistent way.

The Big Idea

A data management plan includes storage, curation, archiving and dissemination of research data. Your university’s digital librarian is an invaluable resource. They can answer other tricky questions as well: such as, who does data belong to? And, when a post-doctoral student in your lab leaves the institution, can s/he take their data with them? Every situation is unique and deserves a one-of-the-kind data management plan, not a one-size-fits-all solution.

------

This article originally appeared on the University of Houston's The Big Idea. Sarah Hill, the author of this piece, is the communications manager for the UH Division of Research.

Here's your university research data management checklist. Graphic by Miguel Tovar/University of Houston

Tips for optimizing data management in research, from a UH expert

Houston voices

A data management plan is invaluable to researchers and to their universities. "You should plan at the outset for managing output long-term," said Reid Boehm, research data management librarian at University of Houston Libraries.

At the University of Houston, research data generated while individuals are pursuing research studies as faculty, staff or students of the University of Houston are to be retained by the institution for a period of three years after submission of the final report. That means there is a lot of data to be managed. But researchers are in luck – there are many resources to help navigate these issues.

Take inventory

Is your data…

  • Active (constantly changing) or Inactive (static)
  • Open (public) or Proprietary (for monetary gain)
  • Non-identifiable (no human subjects) or Sensitive (containing personal information)
  • Preservable (to save long term) or To discard in 3 years (not for keeping)
  • Shareable (ready for reuse) or Private (not able to be shared)

The more you understand the kind of data you are generating the easier this step, and the next steps, will be.

Check first

When you are ready to write your plan, the first thing to determine is if your funders or the university have data management plan policy and guidelines. For instance, University of Houston does.

It is also important to distinguish between types of planning documents. For example:

A Data Management Plan (DMP) is a comprehensive, formal document that describes how you will handle your data during the course of your research and at the conclusion of your study or project.

While in some instances, funders or institutions may require a more targeted plan such as a Data Sharing Plan (DSP) that describes how you plan to disseminate your data at the conclusion of a research project.

Consistent questions that DMPs ask include:

  • What is generated?
  • How is it securely handled? and
  • How is it maintained and accessed long-term?

However it's worded, data is critical to every scientific study.

Pre-proposal

Pre-proposal planning resources and support at UH Libraries include a consultation with Boehm. "Each situation is unique and in my role I function as an advocate for researchers to talk through the contextual details, in connection with funder and institutional requirements," stated Boehm. "There are a lot of aspects of data management and dissemination that can be made less complex and more functional long term with a bit of focused planning at the beginning."

When you get started writing, visit the Data Management Plan Tool. This platform helps by providing agency-specific templates and guidance, working with your institutional login and allowing you to submit plans for feedback.

Post-project

Post-project resources and support involve the archiving, curation and the sharing of information. The UH Data Repository archives, preserves and helps to disseminate your data. The repository, the data portion of the institutional repository Cougar ROAR, is open access, free to all UH researchers, provides data sets with a digital object identifier and allows up to 10 GB per project. Most most Federal funding agencies already require this type of documentation (NSF, NASA, USGS and EPA. The NIH will require DMPs by 2023.

Start out strong

Remember, although documentation is due at the beginning of a project/grant proposal, sustained adherence to the plan and related policies is a necessity. We may be distanced socially, but our need to come together around research integrity remains constant. Starting early, getting connected to resources, and sharing as you can through avenues like the data repository are ways to strengthen ourselves and our work.

------

This article originally appeared on the University of Houston's The Big Idea. Sarah Hill, the author of this piece, is the communications manager for the UH Division of Research.

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Houston-area NASA contractor plans Nasdaq IPO

going public

Webster-based NASA contractor Rothe Development Inc. has filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to go public.

Rothe, a minority- and woman-owned business, hasn’t yet identified how many shares it will sell and how much money its IPO might raise. Rothe plans to offer Class B common stock on the Nasdaq exchange.

CEO Karen Wheeler-Hall owns all of the Class A shares and would retain majority control after the IPO, according to the SEC filing. The company plans to use $2.4 million of the IPO proceeds so Wheeler-Hall can pay off a loan from the seller for her 2021 acquisition of Rothe.

From last December to this May, the company raised about $2.1 million in a pre-IPO private placement at $1 per share, the SEC filing shows.

Rothe runs NASA training lab in Houston

Founded in 1967, Rothe supplies engineering, technology, operations and technical services to NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, other federal agencies, commercial space operators, and regulated industries.

Rothe is likely best known for operating NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston. The lab trains astronauts for spacewalks and simulates space missions. It supports NASA’s International Space Station and Artemis programs.

Company sees room for growth

In the SEC filing, Rothe said it operates in several expanding markets driven by rising investments, including space exploration, national security, cybersecurity and digital infrastructure.

“We believe these market trends create significant opportunities for continued growth across both government and commercial sectors,” the company said.

Rothe generated nearly $126.4 million in revenue last year, up from $117.3 million the previous year. However, the company swung to a $700,000 operating loss in 2025 versus $1.8 million in operating income in 2024.

At the end of 2025, Rothe’s workforce comprised 385 employees and 25 subcontractors. The company also works in the cybersecurity, computer engineering, software development, multimedia and communication, and commercial calibration sectors, according to its website.

Houston university ranks No. 10 best in the U.S. in new 2027 report

Rice Ranking

Education ranking and review website Niche has released its 2027 rankings of the best colleges in the U.S., and Rice University leads as the No. 1 best university in Texas, and No. 10 best nationwide.

Niche's annual rankings compared over 4,000 colleges and universities based on their academics, value, student life, career preparation, and more. Schools receive letter grades across 14 metrics, which were expanded this year to include Student Wellness and Future Readiness.

Also new to this year's rankings, Niche implemented an "Institutional Success Score" that "places every college into one of 10 mission-based categories" and compared each school against "outcomes aligned with that mission," which included research institutions, social mobility-focused colleges, and religious institutions, among others.

Rice University ranked 10th in three national lists: Best Colleges in America, Top Private Universities, and Colleges with the Best Professors.

Rice also received the following top-100 rankings:

  • No. 11 – Most Diverse Colleges
  • No. 14 – Best College Campuses
  • No. 15 – Colleges With the Best Academics
  • No. 20 – Colleges With the Best Student Life
  • No. 23 – Hardest Colleges To Get Into
  • No. 27 – Best Colleges for Student Athletes
  • No. 69 – Best College Dorms
  • No. 70 – Best Value Colleges
  • No. 74 – Best College Locations
  • No. 89 – Best College Food
On the local front, University of Houston and two of its branch campuses also ranked among the top 20 best universities in Texas. UH ranked a respectable No. 7 in the statewide list, and it ranked as the 123rd best university in the U.S. It fared better in the nationwide list of the Best Big Colleges, appearing at No. 53, and ranked 54th in Niche's Top Public Universities list.


The University of Houston-Clear Lake branch ranked as the 11th best Texas university and came in at No. 192 overall. It's the 33rd Best Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), the 69th Best Value College, and it ranked 89th in the Top Public Universities list.

University of Houston Downtown is the 13th Best Online College in America, the 15th best university in Texas, and it's the 49th Best HSI in America. In the overall list of the best universities, UHD ranked 231st.Top education institutions across Texas

Three other Texas universities outside Houston excelled on Niche's list of the 100 Best Colleges in America.

The University of Texas at Austin ranked second statewide and 30th nationwide, and topped the list of Colleges With the Best Student Life. UT Austin also racked up top-10 acclaim in the separate lists of the Best College Locations (No. 4), Top Public Universities (No. 5), Best Big Colleges (No. 6), Best College Campuses (No. 10), and Best Colleges For Student Athletes (No. 10).

Texas A&M University in College Station and Trinity University in San Antonio round out the remaining Texas institutions that ranked among the top 100 overall. The Aggies ranked 52nd nationwide, and the Trinity Tigers ranked 65th overall.

---

This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

10 can't-miss events at Houston Energy and Climate Week 2026

HECW lineup

Editor's note: Houston Energy and Climate Week returns for its third year, Sept. 12–18, with panels, happy hours, pitch days and tours focused on the energy transition.

The Ion District will host many of the week's events. Here are details on some can't-miss, signature events and how to register. Find the full schedule here. Please note: this article may be updated to add more events.

Sept. 13 — The & Awards

Kick off the week by celebrating Houston honorees leading the future of energy at the & Awards. The & Awards will honor Zay Zeidman, chairman of Houston First and managing partner of Altitude Ventures; The University of Houston's Renu Khator and Ramanan Krishnamoorti; Maryanne Maldonado, CEO of the World Affairs Council; and Fervo Energy co-founders Tim Latimer (CEO) and Jack Norbeck (CTO). The inaugural posthumous Lifetime Ambassador Award will honor former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, and this year’s Allies in Energy grant recipients will also be recognized. The evening will include a fireside chat, an immersive gallery, live music, passed hors d'oeuvres, Champagne and plenty of networking opportunities.

This event is Sunday, Sept. 13, from 6-9 p.m. at ARTECHOUSE Houston. Register here.

Sept. 14 — Brews on the Bayou

Head to Saint Arnold Brewery for a more laid-back kickoff event. Grab a beer and take in a live conversation with Paul Hobby, managing director of Genesis Park, and Katie Mehnert, CEO of The Bee Suite and co-founder of HECW. Rice University's Aaron Pomerantz will moderate the discussion. Then hear a live performance from AY Young.

This event is Monday, Sept. 14, from 6-9 p.m. at Saint Arnold Brewery. Register here.

Sept. 14–18 — Sip For Sustainability

Enjoy a signature cocktail at five H Town Restaurant Group spots each night of Houston Energy and Climate Week. A portion of every purchase will go toward Allies in Energy, which supports education, collaboration, and community programs that drive a more sustainable future. Participating eateries include Hugo's, Xochi, Uber, Zaranda and Caracol.

These events begin Monday, Sept. 14, from 3-5 p.m. Find more information on each day's happy hour here.

Sept. 15 — HTX Tech Tours

HECW will present two Tech Tours this year, offering attendees a closer look at the region's climatech scene. The Metro Innovation Tour & Market will visit Sugar Land Town Square, Shell Technology Center Houston, SLB West Houston Campus, University of Houston at Sugar Land, Ambrosia Space, NanoTech Materials and Syzygy Plasmonics. The Bay City South Innovation Tour will visit Sugar Land Town Square and Erthos Project Bravo in Matagorda County. Both tours will head to Astros Night at Daikin Park to wrap up the day.

These events are Tuesday, Sept. 15. Find more information here.

Sept. 15 — Meet the Activate Houston Cohort 2026 Fellows

Meet Activate's latest cohort, which was named this summer, and learn more about their hardtech and climate-focused solutions. Also meet founders from the organization’s 2025 cohort during Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week.

This event is Tuesday, Sept. 15, from 5-7 p.m. at the Ion. Register here.

Sept. 15 – Cypher Pilotathon and Startup Showcase

Grab coffee and take in keynotes and panels featuring leaders from Amperon, Aramco Ventures, New Climate Ventures, Syzygy Plasmonics and many others during this signature event, this year under the theme “The NEW Energy Industrial Revolution.” After lunch, hear pitches from 31 ventures during the Pilotathon. This year's event will also feature a startup showcase with interactive booths where attendees can meet founders and see demonstrations, plus an industry hub where corporates and investors can engage with emerging technologies and identify the pilots they want to move forward with.

This event is Tuesday, Sept. 15, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at POST Houston. Get tickets here.

Sept. 15 — Houston Astros Energy Night

Catch a game and chat with fellow clean energy enthusiasts during Houston Astros Energy Night. The 'Stros take on the Kansas City Royals. A bonus? Dollar Hot Dog Night at Daikin Park.

This event is Tuesday, Sept. 15, starting at 7:10 p.m. at Daikin Park. Get tickets here.

Sept. 16 — Greentown Labs Climatech Summit

Entrepreneurs, investors, corporate leaders, policymakers and philanthropists will head to Houston this month for the annual Greentown Climatetech Summit. Hear from Greentown CEO Georgina Campbell Flatter and keynote speaker Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Houston geothermal unicorn Fervo Energy, plus numerous other engaging panels at the Ion. Then head to Greentown Labs for an open house and startup showcase, where attendees can meet some of the climatech incubators' members, before taking in the startup pitch competition followed by happy hour over at the Continental Club.

This event is Wednesday, Sept. 16, from 8 a.m.–9 p.m. at multiple locations. Register here.

Sept. 17 — Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum

Hear from clean energy startups from around the world at the 23rd annual Energy Tech Venture Forum. In addition to the pitches, this event will also host keynotes from Sean Maher, chief economist at Phillips 66, and Ira Ehrenpreis, founder and managing partner of DBL Partner. Panels will focus on technologies, infrastructure and commercialization strategies needed to deploy breakthrough innovations at scale. Following the event, the Rice Alliance will also name its annual “Most Promising” startup.

This event is Thursday, Sept. 17, from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business. Register here.

Sept. 18 — Halliburton Labs Finalists Pitch Day

Hear from Halliburton Labs' latest cohort of entrepreneurs. The incubator aims to advance the companies’ commercialization with support from Halliburton's network, facilities and financing opportunities. Its latest cohort includes one company from Texas.

This event is Friday, Sept. 18, from 8 a.m.-noon at The Ion. Register here.

---

This article originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

View All Listings