A BANT campaign is a lead qualification approach that focuses on four key criteria:
- Budget
- Authority
- Need
- Timing
Originally developed by IBM, BANT has been a go-to framework in B2B marketing and sales for assessing the likelihood of a prospect becoming a high-quality lead.
By evaluating leads based on these four factors, teams can prioritise accounts more effectively and personalise outreach, ultimately improving the efficiency and success rate of demand generation efforts.
How does BANT help with lead qualification?
- Budget helps to understand whether a potential customer has the financial resources to make a purchase, as this factor significantly impacts conversion.
- Authority identifies if the lead is able to make or influence purchasing decisions. Targeting leads who have the right level of decision-making power ensures that marketing and sales resources are allocated to those who can move the deal forward.
- Need determines if there is a clear business problem or opportunity your solution can address. This step focuses on understanding the pain points of the prospect, aligning your offering with their needs, and demonstrating value.
- Timing assesses if the lead has a timeline for when they intend to make a purchase. Timing allows teams to prioritise leads who are closer to the buying stage, ensuring resources are focused on prospects who are ready to act soon.
Running a BANT campaign in demand generation
By gathering insights on prospects' budgets, decision-making authority, pain points, and buying timelines, marketing teams can segment leads into high-priority categories and design tailored content and messaging to move them down the funnel more effectively.
It's worth noting that while BANT campaigns can be extremely useful for lead prioritisation, the data gathered during lead qualification can provide a limited view of the purchasing landscape within a business.