It is not unusual for B2B brands to encounter a significant churn rate in their sales and marketing strategies. According to CoSchedule, 74% of B2B marketers set goals but only 3% consistently achieve them monthly.
HubSpot found that 61% of B2B marketers agree that generating traffic and leads is their top challenge. While the reasons behind this conclusion may be too broad, inaccurate prospect records and messaging failing to resonate are some of the most significant issues. B2B intent data providers can solve both.
Nowadays, it has become imperative for B2B vendors and advertisers to leverage buyer intent data tools to find the best-fitting prospects. InboxInsight research shows that 26% of B2B marketers use only first-party data, 19% use only third-party, and the remaining 55% use a combination of both.
Buyer intent software leverages different algorithms to identify, collect, and process users' web content consumption. This means that whenever a particular user triggers a buying signal, it is possible to determine if the prospect meets the desired criteria to become a profitable client.
Let's analyze what it means to be a B2B intent data provider and how marketing and sales teams can leverage them to boost conversions.
Intent data providers are sophisticated software platforms capable of dissecting IP addresses and browser cookies from website users all over the internet. By analyzing users' online search behavior, they can score leads with a clear intention to acquire a solution for their needs.
Professional B2B intent data providers are bound to follow privacy laws depending on where they and their clients operate. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Privacy Act (CCPA) are great examples of organizations protecting American users' data footprints.
Advanced intent software can extract information such as:
By hiring the services of B2B intent data providers, companies can gain a deep understanding of what topics are most relevant to their prospects, what competitors are being considered, and what lead generation strategies could be added.
Working with intent data can be challenging for companies not experienced in data exhaust practices, which consist of analyzing every single online action deployed by a user. These include log files, cookies, temporary files, and even stored information for every digital transaction.
Therefore, it is advisable to hire a B2B intent data provider specializing in first-party or third-party data, depending on the company's objectives. Here are some significant differences between the two intent data sources:
First-party intent data, or internal intent data, refers to all the information collected directly from your website. IP addresses, submitted forms, and other first-handed data from online visitors can be accessed through specific platforms and plugins.
While first-party data is precious, it is also limited. Even with the help of active sales and marketing efforts, only 5% of B2B prospects are ready to have an open conversation about buying a solution when navigating through a provider's web page.
External intent data, or third-party intent data, involves information that is collected across the internet. B2B prospects will visit several websites, blogs, webinars, case studies, and product reviews before buying. Third-party intent data providers share these data points with their partners so that they can integrate them into their tactics.
Gartner found that B2B technology providers were 2.09 times more likely to have a positive impression on possible buyers when they used third-party intent data for their digital marketing.
Top-notch intent data platforms allow their partners to have a clear view of their website visitor's employee size, revenue, industry sector, and many more features. They also assemble ideal customer profile (ICP) targeting research, validate the freshness of prospect records, and provide insights on how to address each lead.
Here are some of the most relevant effects of deploying intent-based marketing tools in your daily prospecting efforts:
Businesses may visualize their target audience by considering firmographic, technographic, demographic, and other prospecting filters. This helps sales and marketing teams to determine if a lead is worth pursuing or if it's wiser to concentrate efforts and resources on more appealing possible buyers.
Advertisers can create outbound marketing campaigns that address the buyer's essential needs, which enhances lead conversion. Data segmentation techniques make it possible to work with the target account lists (TALs) with a higher success rate.
Personalized messaging is a powerful tool for increasing B2B lead conversion rates. Prospects addressed by name, position, and context will be more likely to respond positively to content, emails, and CTAs that almost seem tailor-made for their current situation.
A company can leverage intent data to understand better a customer's purchasing patterns, select products, and shifts in behavior. This guarantees that assistance is tailored for each consumer, improving satisfaction at each buying cycle stage.
The performance of an intent data tool is directly related to the objectives it is meant to accomplish. However, only some providers are suited to the needs of B2B companies. For this reason, brands should confirm that the intent data provider they wish to work with possesses the following traits:
Top 14 Best B2B Intent Data Providers
With so many great options in the market, for both first and third-party intent data, selecting the perfect intent data provider is a challenging task, to say the least. The following intent data platforms are among the best-ranked alternatives in the B2B arena. Be sure to consider them in your decision-making process.
CIENCE analyzes billions of intent data signals from verified users. MemoryAI Technology matches companies' IP addresses and tracks underlying buyer intent topics across the web. It also determines the semantic meaning of the most searched website pages by targeted ICPs.
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Bombora's data platform aligns marketing and sales teams, enabling them to base their actions on the knowledge of which businesses are actively researching what products and the intensity of that research.
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Demandbase is an account intelligence platform that integrates third-party marketing intent data into advertising processes, account-based experiences, and sales intelligence analytics.
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6Sense uses AI-driven insights to predict buyer intent and engagement, allowing sales and marketing teams to focus on leads most likely to convert. The platform's predictive capabilities help businesses optimize their outreach strategies and improve ROI.
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Datarade aggregates and provides access to a vast array of third-party intent data from numerous sources across the web. This platform allows businesses to purchase and integrate highly specific data sets that align with their target audience.
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Lead Forensics identifies anonymous website visitors and provides actionable insights, such as company names and contact information, helping businesses capitalize on interest from potential clients who have already engaged with their content.
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DemandJump is a sales and marketing solution allowing clients to enter their competitors' websites to analyze their content, ads, and traffic. The platform also displays actions taken by online visitors.
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Leadfeeder identifies the names of the companies that visit a website. The platform can access data from anonymous traffic and is able to match static and dynamic IPs through its own database.
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KickFire is a first-party intent data provider. The tool allows clients to segment and prioritize their most engaged visitors and discover what content resonates with their audience. The platform can be integrated with several other tools.
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RollWorks is an account-based marketing platform designed for B2B marketing and sales. It helps companies identify their ideal customer profiles, run cross-channel campaigns, select target accounts, and find key contacts.
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SalesIntel provides human-verified contact information and buying-intent signals. The platform includes several filters, including technographic, firmographic, and type of company so that clients can find new contacts and company accounts.
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The Priority Engine product provides direct access to active prospects of in-market accounts. This platform can prioritize, rank, and score leads based on their recent and relevant online research behavior.
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Terminus is a first-party data tool that engages buyers with distinctive multichannel experiences. The platform helps marketing and sales teams to craft target segments and create personalized customer journeys.
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ZoomInfo can map ICP profiles against its database to uncover sales-ready prospects searching for topics and keywords related to specific industries. It can be integrated with many other tools, including CRMs, and offers an extension for Google Chrome.
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The current state of the B2B lead generation process demands intent data solutions. Most prospects only present a small opportunity window for solution providers, as they must fulfill their needs as soon as possible. Advertisers and vendors are bound to launch the perfect message, at the right time, through the most effective channel.
By integrating B2B intent data tools into their daily reach-out efforts, business development teams are better prepared to target only the best-fitting possible buyers. As prospects receive only the most appealing offers and providers connect with interested potential buyers, intent data presents a pleasant tailwind for both parties.