What is B2B Data? Expert Purchasing Guide

News flash—doubling emails and cold calls isn’t going to double your results. Your team needs higher-quality B2B data solutions for higher conversion. The leaders who understand this and integrate different types of B2B data sets into the sales process enable reps to generate revenue more effectively and more efficiently.

Achieving unbelievable revenue results next quarter is all about:

  • Signal-based, intent-selling to discover and prioritise your best prospects.
  • Clean, verified, compliant B2B marketing data to reach them.

Understanding B2B Data

Business-to-business data (B2B data) is any information that benefits B2B companies, especially their sales, marketing or revenue operations teams. It includes the account and contact information for company decision-makers with purchasing power.

Companies collect first-party B2B data from their audience directly (i.e. email subscriptions, social media followers, and current customers). User-submitted business data may not always be correct and becomes stale after a while as people change companies, roles, email addresses, and phone numbers.

That’s why companies turn to third-party B2B data vendors that supply these key resources in an automatic and scalable way. They gather sales and marketing B2B data from various public and private sources, clean it using proprietary methods, and redistribute it.

Redistribute how?

  • Old school way—you get a massive .csv file for download with static B2B data that needs to be manually refreshed and uploaded to your CRM.
  • Modern way—you get access to a sales intelligence platform like Cognism with dynamic B2B data that’s refreshed automatically and easily syncs with your other tools. Sounds great, right?

Unfortunately, third-party data comes with challenges, too. Some providers have a more relaxed approach when it comes to data accuracy, completeness or compliance than others. So, it’s important to vet providers and test their data. Luckily, the sales intelligence market is growing fast, providing plenty of options.

Why Cognism’s B2B Data?

Cognism’s B2B data is highly regarded due to its commitment to quality and compliance. Their dataset includes phone-verified mobile numbers, GDPR and CCPA compliance, and notifications for B2B email addresses. This ensures that sales and marketing teams have access to reliable and legally compliant data to drive their outreach efforts.

Types of Important B2B Data

  1. Contact Data: This includes fundamental demographic details such as name, email address, phone number, location, and role within a company. This information is crucial for initiating and maintaining effective communication with potential leads.
  2. Firmographic Data: Firmographic data provides insights into a prospect’s company, including its name, location, industry, number of employees, and revenue. This information helps in segmenting audiences and evaluating market opportunities.
  3. Technographic Data: Technographic data reveals the technology stack used by a prospect’s company, offering insights into their workflows, pain points, and potential compatibility with your offerings. Understanding a prospect’s tech environment can inform personalized sales pitches.
  4. Chronograph Data: Chronograph data consists of sales trigger events such as company relocations, leadership changes, funding rounds, or acquisitions. This information helps sales teams identify timely opportunities and prioritize outreach efforts.
  5. Intent Data: Intent data indicates a prospect’s interest in purchasing based on their online behaviors. Leveraging intent data allows sales and marketing teams to engage with prospects at critical stages of their buying journey, increasing conversion rates.

Verifying and Cleaning B2B Data

Maintaining data quality involves verifying vast amounts of data points using advanced algorithms and machine-learning models. Providers like Cognism employ dedicated research teams to manually verify mobile numbers, ensuring a high standard of data accuracy. Additionally, advanced data enrichment technologies help clean and enrich existing CRM records, ensuring data completeness and relevance.

Legal Considerations

Collecting, storing, and using B2B data must comply with stringent regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. Companies must obtain explicit consent from prospects before using their data and implement robust data protection measures to prevent unauthorized access or misuse. Adhering to legal requirements ensures data privacy and minimizes the risk of regulatory penalties.

Use Cases of B2B Data

High-quality B2B data plays a critical role in various sales and marketing activities, including:

  • TAM Identification: Defining the Total Addressable Market (TAM) by identifying potential prospects within the target market.
  • ICP Development: Creating an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) based on demographic, firmographic, and technographic data to identify and prioritize ideal customers.
  • Lead Generation: Using accurate contact data to source leads and initiate targeted outreach campaigns.
  • Outbound Sales: Engaging with prospects via personalized phone calls, emails, or social selling techniques.
  • Demand Generation: Utilizing B2B data to attract new buyers through content marketing, email campaigns, and PPC advertising.
  • Analytics: Tracking sales and marketing metrics to optimize performance and improve ROI.

Conclusion

The strategic use of high-quality B2B data is crucial for B2B companies seeking to optimize their sales and marketing strategies. By harnessing accurate and compliant data, organizations gain the ability to identify and target prospects more effectively, enabling personalized outreach efforts that resonate with specific audience segments. This targeted approach not only enhances lead generation and conversion rates but also contributes to building stronger customer relationships. Ultimately, leveraging reliable B2B data empowers businesses to increase revenue, expand market share, and maintain a competitive edge in their industry.