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12 Best Intent Data Providers for 2023 | CIENCE

Written by Emanuel Valdés | Nov 18, 2022

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.

What Are Intent Data Providers?

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:

  • Users' names, positions, and companies they work for
  • Technologies they use at the moment 
  • Their geographic location
  • Keywords they use in their queries
  • Preferred websites

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.

Different Types of Buyer Intent Data Tools

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 providers

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.

Third-party intent data providers

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.

Why Do You Need Intent Marketing Tools?

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:

Boosts target profiling

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.

Increases the effectiveness of campaigns

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.

Enables personalized strategies

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.

Improves customer support

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.

How Do You Choose a B2B Intent Data Provider?

The performance of an intent data tool is directly related to the objectives it is meant to accomplish. However, only some providers are suited for the necessities of B2B companies. For this reason, brands should confirm that the intent data provider they wish to work with possesses the following traits:

  • Data veracity. The best way to confirm that prospect records are accurate is to validate them in real life. The best intent data providers deploy human and AI-powered actions to keep phone numbers, email addresses, and personal information from prospects as fresh as possible.
  • Channel sources. Users rely on various digital resources when searching for a solution to their needs. For this reason, intent data tools must track a wide range of online behaviors to capture the whole picture. From white paper and e-book downloads to podcast and webinar attendance, the more analyzed channels, the better.
  • Data privacy. Decision-makers are more aware than ever of how companies leverage their data trail. When looking for an intent data solution, they must be responsible for having full transparency toward the users that decide to share their data. If a provider is not committed to data security, your sales reps might struggle to access leads.
  • Trustable insights. Trying to engage cold prospect records is exhausting and time-consuming. Because some intent data providers deploy their sales forces to validate leads, they are able to share insightful knowledge of how to approach each prospect.
  • Connectivity. Nowadays, to have the possibility of integrating a digital tool with other platforms is an absolute necessity. Make sure your chosen intent data provider can connect with customer relationship management (CRM) tools and any other technology you need to meet your goals.

Top 12 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.

1. CIENCE GO Intent

CIENCE GO Intent analyzes billions of intent data signals from verified users. The GO Intent tool 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.

Key features:

  • 10,000+ B2B-specific topics
  • Provides new intent results every four hours
  • Offers advanced click-tracking AI
  • Downloadable in-market buyer lists
  • Grants access to buying-window data for sixty days
  • Integrates page-level heuristics 

    Pricing:
  • Topics available by request
  • Part of CIENCE GO Data (included in license)

2. CIENCE GO Show

CIENCE GO Show is perfect for first-party intent data gathering. It uses tracking pixel technology to generate a detailed profile of all website visitors. Through our visual ID system, you'll be able to identify the anonymous traffic happening live on your landing pages and enhance your existing ICPs.

Key features:

  • Shows employee size, revenue, industry sector, and more attributes
  • Filters the results through a customized criteria system
  • Provides anonymous traffic detection
  • Creates instant integrations into your revenue team pipelines
  • Applies proprietary real-time lookups
  • Bot traffic is automatically removed
  • Offers full reporting of campaign attribution
Pricing:
  • Available by request
  • Part of CIENCE GO Data (included in license)

3. Bombora

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.

Key features:

  • Integrates with the market's leading B2B intent software
  • Implements industry-standard consent mechanisms
  • Provides a holistic view of the buyer's intent
  • Measures the target account reach
  • Creates custom segments based on marketing intent data
Pricing:
  • Available by request

4. Demandbase

Demandbase is an account intelligence platform that integrates third-party marketing intent data into advertising processes, account-based experiences, and sales intelligence analytics.

Key features:

  • Deciphers data context and minimizes irrelevant activity
  • Delivers rich keyword sets for content
  • Shows historical intent, rending intent, and keyword quality
  • Extracts intent from the web page content
  • Removes problematic keywords automatically

    Pricing:
  • Available by request

5. DemandJump

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. 

Key features:

  • Automates SEO keyword and competitive research
  • Allows content planning
  • Provides automated one-click SEO briefs
  • Offers pillar-page topic solutions
  • Prioritizes the list of content to be created

    Pricing:
  • Available by request
  • Free trial

6. Leadfeeder

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. 

Key features:

  • Allows integration with tools like HubSpot and Mailchimp
  • Provides firmographic data from users
  • Supports compliance with data privacy laws
  • Enhanced through machine learning
  • Offers chatbot software

Pricing:

  • Lite: Free
  • Premium: $79 per month with free trial

7. KickFire

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.

Key features:

  • Enables data crossing between sales and marketing platforms
  • Optimizes ad spending across campaigns
  • Prioritizes leads based on intent signals
  • Offers a Chrome extension
  • Human-verified data

    Pricing:

    • Available by request
    • Free trial

8. RollWorks

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.

Key features:

  • Provides ready-to-go ABM planning templates
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  • Deanonymizes website traffic in real time
  • Shares firmographic traits for prospects in pipelines
  • Grants access to their internal database

    Pricing:
  • Starting price: $975 per month

9. SalesIntel

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.

Key features:

  • 90-day data verification
  • Human-verified direct dials
  • Allows CRM integration
  • Offers a free Chrome extension
  • Boosts email deliverability

    Pricing:
  • Available by request
  • Free trial

10. TechTarget Priority Engine

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.

Key features:

  • 100% of the leads have consented to be contacted
  • Promotes content to prospects based on their recent activity
  • Enhances content ads to promote additional resources
  • Combines email and social media signals
  • Provides guidance and coaching on specific elements

    Pricing:
  • Available by request

11. Terminus

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.

Key features:

  • Supports departmental and title targeting
  • Offers AI-powered engagement models
  • Measures the results of multichannel ABM programs
  • Shares persona-based dashboards
  • Provides a 360-degree view of the revenue journey

    Pricing:
  • Available by request
  • Free trial

12. ZoomInfo

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.

Key features:

  • Identifies other team members related to the visitors
  • Helps the building of data-rich workflows
  • Detects signals that reveal ready-to-buy companies
  • Supports contact tracking
  • Analyzes the interactions across communication channels

    Pricing:
  • Available by request

Get High Quality Leads with Intent Data Providers

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.