B2B Data Finder: What Is It and How to Pick One?

Key takeaways:

1. B2B data finders provide contact, firmographic, intent, and technographic data to support sales and marketing.
   
2. Accurate B2B data enables focused targeting, improving lead quality and campaign personalization.
   
3. Use filters in data finders to segment and find the most relevant leads quickly and easily.
   
4. Pricing models vary; test freemium or usage-based plans before committing to find cost-effective options.
   
5. Look for providers compliant with GDPR/CCPA and offering helpful customer support for smooth adoption.

When making any kind of business decision, instead of guessing or going with their gut, modern companies rely on data. But where does that data come from? 

Well, companies could make use of the internal data provided by their tool stack, but that’s just one piece of the puzzle. To get a full picture of their audience and market, businesses eventually turn to external sources of relevant and reliable data – B2B data finders. 

With the constantly growing demand, there are now countless B2B data providers, varying in price, features, and the types of data they provide. Stick around for a quick rundown on B2B data providers, their use, common types, and how to choose the right one for your team. 

What is a B2B data finder? Why use it?

Simply put, a B2B data finder is an external provider of any relevant information about other businesses and individuals. This includes an array of various data points like prospects’ emails and company financials (usually extracted from the web, social media, and dedicated proprietary data sources). 

Whatever the case, sales and marketing teams are highly reliant on such data to implement effective strategies and make informed decisions. 

The right data helps businesses use their resources most effectively by targeting and engaging relevant leads, while the absence of data usually leads to a loss of opportunities and potential revenue.  

More specifically, accurate data helps businesses create accurate Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) and buyer personas to improve personalization with tailored sales and marketing messaging and engagement tactics.

Data also happens to be the backbone of account-based marketing (ABM), which is the preferred marketing strategy for 70% of firms in 2023.

Common Types of B2B Data Finders

There is no all-in-one B2B data finder – each and every one is specialized to some extent. And since new types of data providers come to life so often, we will focus on the most common ones. 

These types of B2B data finders would greatly benefit any business as they provide a solid foundation for a data-driven business. 

Contact data finder 

Number one on the list has to be contact data providers. Think of them as databases with contact information on all professionals and potential customers in the B2B space. 

Such B2B data finders are crucial for sales and marketing teams to grow their pipelines with targeted leads. In a time when breaking through someone’s inbox is harder than ever, having a steady supply of verified prospect emails is a game-changer.  

Data provided: 

• Name
• Job Title 
• Company name & Size
• Location
• Contact email 
• Contact phone number 

Firmographic data finder 

Firmographic data is similar to contact data, only it gives information on companies rather than people. From company size to budget, firmographic data finders can help B2B firms accurately analyze potential clients and competitors. 

Firmographic data is often used to create B2B partnerships and collaborations, study the market, or even identify investment opportunities. 

Data provided: 

• Company name and location  
• Number of employees
• Revenue and funding 
• Industry and partners 

Intent data provider 

B2B Intent Data refers to any signals from potential customers that show probable purchase readiness. Be it downloading your content or visiting popular review sites, companies can place custom triggers that would notify them of anything they find relating to an intent to purchase. 

Businesses using intent data tools can then prioritize leads and improve their outreach by reaching out at the right time with the right value proposition. 

Data provided: 

• Website visits (pricing pages/product demos) 
• Social media interactions 
• Website downloads 
• Company subscriptions

Technographic data finder 

And last but not least – we’ve got technographic data sources. B2B tools are designed for other businesses by nature, but how do we know if our product is relevant and compatible with potential clients? 

Besides simply giving you a glimpse of a prospective company’s entire tool stack, technographic data will also help create sales opportunities by targeting firms with a missing, expiring, or insufficient solution in your niche.

Data provided: 

• Software tools used by a business 
• How those tools are used 
• When those tools were acquired/will expire 

Key criteria for choosing the right B2B data finder

Rather than going down the Google rabbit hole exploring hundreds of data providers, make sure you know exactly what you’re looking for.

Follow these 7 key criteria to make the most informed decision when choosing the right B2B data finder:

1. Data focus

As discussed earlier, there are various types of data providers out there. Working with large chunks of irrelevant data will hinder any team’s performance, so don’t just go for the biggest data provider in the market.

Instead, companies should narrow down their search to the exact data they need. 

For instance, B2B sales teams wishing to increase their pool of leads should look for B2B contact databases, while sales teams aiming to better engage their prospects would probably go for intent data providers. 

2. Data accuracy  

Inaccurate data is not only unhelpful, it is also detrimental to businesses, which is why they have to ensure their provider’s data is of the utmost quality. This ultimately means that all information is accurate, verified, and fresh, in other words – up to date. 

Numerous B2B data finders have built-in validation and verification features to ensure the quality of the data and prevent making uninformed decisions.

3. Search filters 

Segmenting and customizing large chunks of data is vital for more precise targeting. 

Rather than doing it yourselves with tons of data, the top B2B data finders have an abundance of search filters to help users get the most relevant data from the get-go. This is especially valuable when building prospect lists. 

4. Pricing

Most data providers have appealing annual pricing plans. But prior to committing big bucks to any B2B data finder, it’s a good idea to test-run it with a freemium or cheap pricing plan. 

Similarly, startups may find usage-based pricing the most optimal option, whereas fixed plans could be more suitable for larger teams.

Note: It also makes sense to know the cost per 100 contacts to calculate the ROI this tool might provide. This will also allow you to understand whether this option is not only scalable but feasible in the long run.

5. Compliance 

Next on the list is compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR for the EU and CCPA for the US state of California. This is easy to check as compliant companies are very transparent regarding their data sources and collection methods.  

The last thing you want is to work with noncompliant data – it would be unethical at best and illegal at worst. 

6. Customer support 

Especially in the early stages, many businesses rely on prompt and helpful customer support to start operating B2B data finders effectively. 

The best way to get an idea about your chosen data providers’ quality of customer support is through review sites. 

7. Extra perks 

Luckily for all of us users, very few B2B data providers come without a few extra perks. Here are some awesome additional features to keep an eye on: 

• AI features that use algorithms to passively search for new relevant data and enrich your existing lists; 

• engagement features that allow users to act upon their found data with multichannel outreach (email, social media, etc.); 

• integration features that allow teams to seamlessly add their data finder to their existing tool stack, especially CRM and SEP, rather than exporting the data to separate files; and  

• Chrome extensions that are a handy addition to any B2B data finder that helps users capture relevant data on the go, for instance, an extension that captures LinkedIn users’ email addresses. 

Wrapping up

Adding the most suitable B2B data finder to your existing sales and marketing tool stack is the first step in building a data-driven team. 

Having data at the core of your sales and marketing campaigns will bring your team results you have yet to see due to the accuracy, relevancy, and personalization it provides. 

While it’s not rocket science, hopefully, this short article will help you make a more informed decision when committing to a data provider.   

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