The Informed Marketer, as we covered last week, already has a solid grasp of their customers. And if they realize what’s to gain by learning more about their customer journey using accelerated business results, they’re likely to advance to the next stage of marketing sophistication: the Aligned Marketer.

If the uninformed marketer is unaware of its target audience’s interests and concerns and unprepared to effectively engage them about these things with marketing or with a buying experience for that matter, the informed marketer has many of those questions answered.

It’s not that surprising to hear that customer insights are the foundation of B2B marketing and sales success. What’s not as well known is how marketers can increase what they know about customers and use that information to drive their businesses.

No marketer wants to believe their marketing isn’t sophisticated. But there are definite signs to show just how capable some efforts are.

One is unimpressive B2B sales growth, as we discussed in the past. Another is a lack of alignment between customers and the organization. Marketers have to succeed in cultivating audience and customer insights and in using those insights to direct the organization.

Since the Great Recession, strength in the construction sector has returned: building activity is projected to further grow, industry wages have increased, and unemployment is at an all-time low. But the ranks of workers who left the sector in the wake of the financial crisis have not returned, and the industry is struggling to keep up with a growing workforce demand.