Buying data has become a new normal in the modern era as most of the firms out there have understood the importance of data. Whether it is about running a simple email marketing campaign or building a profile of leads, data is being used, processed, and analyzed in every industry domain.
But when you buy data, you need to understand that data is a big investment and this is why you should never buy data without knowing the source of data, the collection process, and the filtration process. A wrong database will not only make your marketing efforts less effective, but they will also hamper your firm’s reputation and end as a waste of resources as well.
With the increasing demand for data and giant companies becoming data-hungry, the number of data providers has increased dramatically, and this is what makes choosing the right data provider a bit tricky.
But you don’t need to worry as we have created this comprehensive guide that will help you in choosing an ideal data provider for your firm. In this guide, we will cover each and every aspect of data purchase for businesses of all sizes and types.
Understanding data types
All the data used in the B2B sector is basically a type of enterprise-focused information that is used for streamlining sales and marketing efforts. The B2B contact database that is used in the B2B sector has been divided into three types; intent, ft, and opportunity.
Before moving on to the section of choosing a data provider, it is necessary to understand the different types of B2B contact database first.
Intent Data
This type of B2B database is mainly used for identifying buying signals by keeping tabs on different sources. In this data, the focus is on activities that are totally dependent on the behavior like form fills and social media engagements. The level of engagement of the prospect is used to know the chances of the prospect buying the product.
Fit Data
By taking help from fit data, a firm can identify all those leads that are fit to become customers and this is why this type of B2B database is very crucial for the B2B sector. This type of data focuses on demographic aspects like industry, location, job titles, and much more.
Opportunity Data
Through opportunity data, a firm can find out suitable conditions for acting while sales prospecting. With useful data like acquisition, merger, new product launch, opportunity data basically gives a type of opportunity for many new businesses.
Now, after understanding the types of data used in the B2b sector, it has become essential for you to know about the different types of B2B data providers as well. So, here are the pros and cons of the most common types of B2B data providers.
Pros and cons of owned B2B data providers
Proprietary sources are used by owned data providers for data collection and all the data is sourced from the day to day business process.
Since the closer a data provider will be to the data, the more accurate the data will be and the same happens with owned B2B data providers. In addition to this, owned data providers are much more aware of their data gathering process and other details.
But if you start working with a data provider that sells his own data then there is no way you can avoid data decay. While choosing an owned data provider, make sure to ask them whether they verify their database with other sources or not.
Pros and cons of broker and resellers
These types of data vendors are more of a middleman than data providers. These types of firms basically source their data from different points and then sell the data to other companies.
One of the best advantages of working with brokers and sellers is that they offer you a long list of value-added services. From offering dedicated account managers to giving you tools for accessing, sharing, and analyzing data, brokers, and sellers will offer you many advantages. There are many brokers and sellers out there that will totally focus on niche markets and this will also help your firm.
But since these types of data vendors have no expertise in data, they will not be able to answer your questions and provide you any advice or support related to data expertise. Even the price charged by these data vendors is high.
Pros and cons of data aggregators
Both paid and organic data sources are used by data aggregators and some of these sources are websites, directories, and publicly available resources.
The volume of data offered by these types of data vendors can’t be matched with any other data vendor since they use multiple sources. In addition to this, they will offer you more information related to one firm and thus they have a broader database as well.
But with great volume comes great inaccuracy and this is one of the biggest disadvantages of working with data aggregators.
Finding the best fit
Here are some of the steps that you will need to follow in order to find the best fit for your firm:
· Conduct research- Before making the final decision, make sure to conduct proper research regarding all the options that you have.
· Communicate business goals- Sit down with all the potential data providers and communicate your goal with them in order to know their relevance.
· Go through features- Each data provider will have different features and add-ons and going through it is crucial.
· Never forget customer service- Never overlook customer service while choosing a data vendor.
Choosing an ideal B2B data provider might be a time-taking process but when you succeed in doing so, the B2B vendor will contribute directly to the growth of your firm.
