B2B Data: The Ultimate Guide

B2B Data is the Key to Unlocking the Power of Business-to-Business Information for Growth and Success

B2B Data is a crucial aspect of modern business operations, and understanding how to effectively use it can lead to increased revenue, improved targeting, and better decision-making. 

This guide will cover everything you need to know about B2B data, from the basics of what it is, to the different types of data available and how to access it.

We’ll also explore the benefits of using B2B data for revenue operations, sales, and marketing teams, as well as specific use cases and best practices for data validation and enrichment. 

Additionally, we’ll discuss the importance of sourcing B2B data, whether through in-house efforts or outsourcing, and the unique insights provided by B2B event data.

By the end of this guide, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of B2B data and how to leverage it to drive business growth.

Let’s get into it.

What is B2B Data?

B2B data refers to data collected and used for business-to-business (B2B) transactions. B2B data can include information about people, companies, their products and services, and the interactions and relationships between different businesses. 

Companies often use the data to identify potential partners, clients, and suppliers and analyze and improve their B2B operations.

Why Data-Driven Strategies Lead to Success

Data-driven strategies are often considered the most successful because they’re based on facts rather than assumptions. 

This allows businesses to make more informed and accurate decisions and better understand the needs and preferences of their customers.

There are a bunch of benefits to using data to guide your decisions, like:

1. Improved Decision-Making & Better Risk Management: By analyzing data, teams can identify potential risks and develop strategies to mitigate them. This can help justify spending on software and data as it can provide insights that can reduce the risk associated with guesswork. It can also help forecast and anticipate potential risks, by using predictive modeling, so you’re able to make decisions based on real-world insights. This helps prevent costly mistakes and maximize the chances of success.
2. Enhanced Customer Understanding: Data can provide valuable insights into the needs and behaviors of customers, allowing businesses to understand their target audience better and tailor their products, services, and marketing efforts accordingly.
3. Increased Efficiency: Data-driven strategies can help businesses streamline their operations and processes and identify opportunities for improvement and cost savings, which can increase efficiency and productivity and ultimately drive more revenue and growth.
4. Better Targeting and Personalization: Data-driven strategies enable organizations to gain insights into customer needs, preferences and behavior, which can be used to improve products and services and target specific segments of the population. This is done through segmenting customer base, predictive modeling and personalization, like personalized product recommendations, personalized email campaigns and customized website experiences. This leads to increased customer engagement and sales.
5. Increased Agility: Data-driven strategies allow organizations to be more agile, by providing insights into current and potential changes in the market and customer needs. This allows organizations to quickly adapt to changing conditions, giving them a competitive advantage in the market. With a data-driven approach, organizations can identify changes in customer preferences and demands, respond to market conditions and opportunities, and use real-time data monitoring to quickly adapt to changes.

What Are the Types of B2B Data (With Examples)

When it comes to B2B data, there’s a lot of different options out there. What kind of data a business uses depends on what they’re trying to do. Some types of B2B data that are pretty standard include:

1. Demographic Data: This can include information about the characteristics of businesses and their employees, such as industry, size, location, and job titles. For example, B2B data might include information about a business’s industry (e.g., manufacturing, finance), its number of employees (e.g., 100-500), and its location (e.g., New York, NY).
2. Firmographic Data: Also known as company data, this can include information about the specific characteristics of a business, such as a business’s name (e.g., XYZ Corporation), its address (e.g., 123 Main Street), and its contact information (e.g., phone number, email address).
3. Technographic Data: (Also known as technology data) can include information about a business’s technology, such as the specific software and hardware products it employs. For example, use of a particular software product (e.g., Salesforce CRM) or a specific type of hardware (e.g., Dell laptops).
4. Contact Data: This can include information about the specific individuals within a business who are responsible for making purchasing decisions, such as their names, job titles, and contact information. For example, B2B data might include the name of a business’s purchasing manager (e.g., John Smith) and their contact information (e.g., email address, phone number).
5. Intent Data: Also known as behavioral data, it includes information about the actions businesses take online, such as the websites they visit and the content they engage with. For example, B2B data might consist of information about a business’s engagement with a particular website (e.g., visited the XYZ Corporation website) or with a specific type of content (e.g., downloaded a white paper on cloud computing).

Where Does B2B Data Come From?

There are all sorts of places B2B data can come from, both inside and outside a business. Some examples of where you might find B2B data include:

• Business Records and Documents: Companies can collect data from internal records and documents, such as invoices, contracts, and purchase orders.
• Prospect or Customer Interactions: Companies can collect data from customer interactions, such as sales calls, customer service inquiries, and online activity, conversions and transactions.
• Market Research: Companies can collect data through market research efforts, such as surveys, focus groups, and customer feedback.
• Publicly Available Data: There are also many sources of publicly available B2B data, such as government databases, industry publications, and trade associations.
• Data Brokers: In some cases, companies may purchase B2B data from data brokers, who collect and sell data from various sources.

Why Use B2B Data?

Using B2B data can help businesses make more informed decisions, improve operations, and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

There are plenty of reasons why companies might use B2B data. Some of the main ones include:

• Identify Potential Partners, Clients, and Suppliers: B2B data can help identify businesses based on their location, size, industry, and financial health.
• Analyze and Improve Their B2B Operations: B2B data can provide insights into a company’s B2B operations, including its sales and revenue, marketing efforts, customer relationships, and supply chain. This can help businesses identify areas for improvement and make more informed decisions.
• Understand Market Trends and Opportunities: B2B data can provide valuable insights into market trends and opportunities, such as changes in consumer demand or new products and services. This can help businesses stay ahead of competitors and adapt to changing market conditions.
• Develop Targeted Marketing Campaigns: B2B data can be used to develop targeted marketing campaigns tailored to specific businesses or industries. This can help enterprises to reach the right audience and generate more effective results.
• Improve Customer Relationships: B2B data can help businesses understand their customers’ needs, preferences, and feedback and use that information to improve their relationships and provide better customer service.
• Comply With Regulations: In some cases, businesses may be required to collect and use certain B2B data to comply with regulations or industry standards.

The Benefits of B2B Data for Revenue Ops, Sales, and Marketing Teams

Revenue Ops

B2B data can be valuable for revenue operations teams because it can provide them with important information about the companies they’re selling to, such as their size, industry, and key decision makers. 

This information can help revenue ops teams tailor their sales and marketing strategies to meet the needs of their target customers better and ultimately drive more revenue. 

Additionally, B2B data can help revenue ops teams identify trends and patterns in their target market, which can be helpful in forecasting and budgeting purposes. It can also track the effectiveness of different sales and marketing tactics, allowing teams to refine their approach and maximize their return on investment. 

B2B data can provide revenue ops teams with valuable insights that can help them improve their performance and drive growth for their business.

Sales Teams

B2B data can be valuable for sales teams by providing information on companies and their decision-makers. They can help sales teams identify potential leads and target their outreach efforts more effectively. Data on industry trends and market conditions can also help sales teams anticipate customer needs and tailor their sales pitch accordingly. Data can also reveal customer behavior and buying patterns and can help sales teams identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling.

It can also track the effectiveness of different sales tactics, allowing teams to refine their approach and maximize their return on investment. Overall, B2B data can provide sales teams with valuable insights that can help them improve their performance and drive growth for their business.

Having information about the customer can be very beneficial. You can:

• Understand Customer Preferences and Needs: Including information about customer purchasing history, feedback, and interactions with the company. This can help sales and marketing teams tailor their messaging and offer to better meet their customers’ needs.
• Improve Customer Relationships: Teams can use customer data to improve their relationships and provide better customer service. This can help build trust and loyalty and drive more sales and revenue.

Marketing Teams

B2B data can be valuable for marketing teams because it provides insights into other businesses’ specific needs and behaviors. 

This information can help marketers create more targeted and effective campaigns and drive more sales for their company.

Some specific benefits of B2B data for marketing teams include:

1. Improved Target Audience Segmentation: B2B data can help marketers better understand the characteristics and behaviors of their target audience, allowing them to segment their audience more effectively and create customized marketing campaigns that are more likely to resonate with each segment.
2. Increased Personalization: B2B data can also be used to personalize marketing messages and content, which can help build stronger relationships with potential customers and improve the overall effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
3. Enhanced Understanding of Customer Needs and Pain Points: By using data, marketers can gain a deeper understanding of their target audience’s specific needs and pain points and create marketing messages and content that addresses these issues in a relevant and compelling way.
4. Better Campaign Measurement and Optimization: B2B data can provide valuable insights into the performance of marketing campaigns, allowing marketers to identify what is working well and what areas need improvement. This can help them optimize their campaigns for better results and a higher return on investment.
5. Identify Potential Customers and Target Markets: B2B data can help sales and marketing teams identify potential customers and target markets based on location, industry, size, and revenue. This can help them focus their efforts on the most promising opportunities and increase their chances of success.
6. Develop Targeted Marketing Campaigns: B2B data can be used to develop marketing campaigns tailored to specific businesses or industries. This can help sales and marketing teams create more effective and relevant messaging and increase the chances of success for their campaigns.

B2B data can provide marketing teams with a wealth of information to help them create more effective marketing campaigns and drive more sales for their business.

B2B Data Use Cases

B2B data can be a valuable asset for companies, providing insights that can help inform a variety of business decisions and strategies. B2B data can be used in a number of different use cases, including:

1. Lead Generation: B2B data can generate leads for a company’s sales team by identifying prospects and developing targeted marketing campaigns to capture their contact information and interest.
2. Competitive Intelligence: B2B data can provide information on a company’s competitors and the strategies they are using to succeed in the market. This can help sales teams anticipate and respond to competitive threats more effectively.
3. Account Intelligence: B2B data can provide insights into the specific needs and pain points of a particular company or decision maker. This can help sales teams tailor their messaging and approach to better address those needs and increase the likelihood of closing a sale.
4. Sales Enablement: B2B data can be used to provide sales teams with the information they need to close deals faster, by providing them with customer insights, account intelligence, and sales intelligence.
5. Market Research: B2B data can be used to analyze market trends and identify opportunities for growth. This can help companies identify new markets, develop new products, and stay ahead of the competition.
6. Account-Based Marketing: B2B data can be used to develop personalized marketing campaigns for specific accounts by combining information about a company’s products, services, and customer needs with data about the target account’s industry, location, and other factors.
7. Customer Segmentation: data can segment a company’s customer base into groups with similar characteristics, such as industry, location, or purchasing behavior. This can help businesses develop targeted marketing campaigns and tailor their offerings to the needs of different customer segments.
8. Customer Retention: B2B data can be used to identify at-risk customers and take proactive steps to retain them. This can help sales teams maintain a steady revenue stream and avoid the costly process of acquiring new customers.

B2B data can be a valuable tool for a wide range of sales and marketing use cases, helping businesses to identify potential customers, generate leads, improve targeting, and increase their chances of success.

B2B marketing professionals know the value of quality data. According to eMarketer 40% of B2B marketing professionals Worldwide consider collecting quality data to be a demand generation challenge.

What is A B2B Database?

A B2B database is a data collection designed explicitly for B2B transactions. B2B databases typically include information about companies, their products and services, and the interactions and relationships between different businesses. 

This data can be used by companies to identify potential partners, clients, and suppliers and to analyze and improve their B2B operations. B2B databases can be compiled from various sources, such as business records, customer interactions, market research, and publicly available data. 

They can be accessed in various ways, including through online databases, software applications, and data brokers.

B2B Data Enrichment

B2B data enrichment adds additional information to existing B2B data to make it more valuable and useful. 

This can involve various activities, such as adding missing data, verifying and updating existing information, and combining data from different sources. 

B2B data enrichment can help businesses improve the quality and accuracy of their data and make it more useful for a wide range of purposes, such as identifying potential partners, developing targeted marketing campaigns, and analyzing market trends. 

Data enrichment can be performed using various tools and techniques, such as data cleansing, data matching, and data integration.

Data Validation

Data validation is checking data for accuracy and consistency and ensuring that it meets the specific requirements and standards of a given system or application. This is important because data is often used to drive critical business decisions, and errors or inconsistencies in the data can lead to inaccurate or misleading results.

Data validation typically involves a combination of manual and automated processes. For example, data may be checked by a person to ensure that it’s complete and accurate and then run through a set of automated rules or algorithms to identify any potential errors or inconsistencies. This can help identify and correct data errors and ensure that it’s clean and reliable.

Data validation can be an essential part of the data management process and is often performed as part of the data entry, cleaning, or processing stages. It can be crucial in B2B data, where accurate and consistent information is critical for effective marketing and sales efforts.

Sourcing B2B Data: In-house vs. Outsourcing

Two main options for sourcing B2B data are in-house and outsourcing. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages, and the right choice will depend on the specific needs and resources of a given marketing team.

In-house data sourcing involves internally collecting and managing B2B data, using the team’s resources and expertise. This approach offers some potential benefits, such as greater control over the data and the ability to tailor data collection and management to the team’s specific needs. However, in-house data sourcing can also be time-consuming and require significant resources, such as specialized staff and technology.

On the other hand, outsourcing [data sourcing] involves working with a third-party provider to collect and manage B2B data on behalf of the marketing team. This approach can be a good option for teams that need more time or expertise to collect and manage data internally. 

Outsourcing can also provide access to a broader range of data and advanced data management tools – this could include the use of AI or Machine Learning that could gather data that a person or team may not be able to source themselves.

What do we think? Drumroll…

You Should Outsource Your B2B Data Needs

Several reasons a business might outsource its B2B data needs rather than collect and manage data in-house. 

These reasons can include the following:

1. Access to a Wider Range of Data: Outsourcing can provide a broader range of B2B data than a business can collect. This can be especially important for companies that serve a wide range of industries or target audiences, as it can provide a more comprehensive view of the market.
2. Expertise and Specialized Tools: data management can be a complex and specialized task requiring specialized skills and technology. By outsourcing, a business can access the expertise and tools of a third-party provider, allowing it to focus on its core competencies and business goals.
3. Cost Savings: Outsourcing can often be more cost-effective than collecting and managing data in-house. This is because a third-party provider can leverage economies of scale and shared resources to provide data management services at a lower cost than a business could achieve.
4. Flexibility and Scalability: Outsourcing can provide greater flexibility and scalability than in-house data management. For example, a business can easily adjust the scope and level of support a third-party provider offers as its data needs change without investing in additional staff or technology.

Outsourcing can be a good option for businesses that want to access a wider range of B2B data, leverage specialized expertise and tools, and achieve cost savings and flexibility in their data management efforts.

One specialized type of B2B Data is Event Data.

What is B2B Event Data?

B2B event data refers to information about events that are targeted at businesses rather than individual consumers. These events can include conferences, trade shows, workshops, seminars, and other gatherings designed to bring together companies and industry professionals for networking, education, and other purposes.

B2B event data can provide valuable insights for marketing teams. For example, data about upcoming events can help marketers identify opportunities to promote their products or services or connect with industry prospects. Data about past events can provide insight into the preferences and behaviors of the businesses that attend. This information can help marketers create more effective marketing campaigns and generate more leads and sales.

B2B event data is a powerful tool for marketing teams looking to build a lead generation pipeline. It provides valuable insights into the attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors of industry events, allowing them to identify potential leads and target their outreach efforts more effectively.

Vendelux contains a database of 50,000+ b2b events all around the world. Not only does Vendelux offer information about people and companies attending events, but it also uses AI and machine learning to build predictive models on who is likely to attend events, and will also recommend events that you may not have had on your radar.

Vendelux uses first-party data partners, monitoring and enrichment and AI predictive modeling, giving the best quality data for event marketers to build data-driven event marketing strategies that boost ROI.

Wrapping Up

B2B data is a vital resource for businesses of all sizes and industries. By understanding what data is, where it comes from, and how to effectively use it, companies can improve their targeting, lead generation, and overall performance. We’ve looked at an overview of B2B data, including various types, strategies, benefits, and best practices for data validation, sourcing, and enrichment.

Additionally, we’ve highlighted the importance of B2B event data and the benefits of outsourcing B2B data needs. By using the information in this article, you can make data-driven decisions and gain a competitive edge in your industry.

Now that you have a deeper understanding of B2B data and its potential benefits, you can start taking steps to incorporate it into your business operations. One of the first things you should do is evaluate your current data collection and usage practices and identify areas for improvement. You can also begin researching different types of B2B data and explore potential sources for obtaining high-quality data. Another important step is to consider the best way to validate, enrich and use the data for your business. Additionally, you can research outsourcing B2B data needs and compare the pros and cons to decide what works best for your company. By taking these actions, you can begin to reap the benefits of data and drive business growth. 

Get started with B2B event data by starting free here or requesting a demo!