The Forrester Wave™: Marketing And Sales Data Providers For B2B, Q1 2024

Marketing And Sales Data Providers For B2B Vendor Product Comparisons 2024

Key features and pros and cons of top Marketing And Sales Data Providers For B2B products:

Data Axle - Leaders

Pros:

Comprehensive provider with unique focus on US and Canadian data
Deep focus on capturing small and medium-size business (SMB) data with unmatched franchise and branch hierarchies
Strong mobile phone and email coverage
Ability to link business and personal contact profiles leveraging B2C data capabilities
Extraordinary coverage of business location data
Remarkable partner ecosystem including major data providers in consumer space

Cons:

Less developed global delivery strategy with focus primarily on North America
Less detailed future roadmap compared to competitors
Geographic data coverage limited outside North America

Dun & Bradstreet - Leaders

Pros:

Remarkable expansion of demographic (contact) coverage, offering one of the largest overall contact databases
Industry-standard account hierarchy capabilities built around proprietary DUNS (Data Universal Numbering System)
Exceptional partner ecosystem and outstanding geographic customer support
Data management expertise for complex master data management strategies beyond marketing and sales
Most trusted source for global account data across marketing, sales, and finance departments
D&B Rev.Up ABX offers full CDP capabilities with extraordinary data management, hygiene, integration, and discovery features

Cons:

Future roadmap is less specific and developed than competitors

ZoomInfo - Leaders

Pros:

Default data provider for B2B sales teams with aggressive expansion through acquisition and organic growth
Depth of coverage in firmographic (account) and demographic (contact) data including exceptional account hierarchy capabilities
Exceptional complementary data offerings and broad integration capabilities
Built-in data management and hygiene functionality rivaling CDP vendors
Market leader in compliance and security programs
Innovation led by R&D budget that dwarfs most competitors, with ZoomInfo Labs created in 2022
Strong contact data coverage and services capabilities

Cons:

Somewhat rigid pricing structure criticized by customers

6sense - Strong Performers

Pros:

Exceptional intent and technographic data
Strong enrichment capabilities
Rich specialized account data including account psychographic and predictive elements
High-end analytics capabilities through Revenue AI for Marketing and Revenue AI for Sales platforms
Detailed account data
Excellent customer service experience
Extensive and achievable data roadmap

Cons:

Pricing lacks simplicity offered by most providers
Lacks out-of-the-box data health assessment capabilities

Anteriad - Strong Performers

Pros:

Full-service marketing partner with highly customized, compliant database development
Strong global footprint enhanced by 2023 acquisition of BNZSA
Exceptional array of data privacy certifications with compliance prioritized throughout data collection and processing
High level of service acting as extension of in-house marketing resources
Focus on demand generation execution

Cons:

Less transparent pricing due to tailored nature of data services
Lacks scale of account data coverage offered by Leaders
Less geographic coverage and fewer email addresses/mobile phones in contact database

Apollo.io - Strong Performers

Pros:

Rapid growth through product-led growth (PLG) strategy executed at scale
Advantage in email and mobile phone coverage through crowdsourcing model
Disproportionate investment in R&D with notable innovation strategy
Among simplest and most transparent pricing structures
High marks for data freshness and affordability
Attractive sales prospecting platform

Cons:

Data validation capabilities lag some competitors
Lacks strong account hierarchy capabilities
Does not offer data unification services
Customers indicate need to improve data accuracy

Cognism - Strong Performers

Pros:

Deep global contact data with differentiated coverage, particularly in Europe/EMEA
Strong track record of internal data security and privacy certifications
Robust global support infrastructure
Outstanding contact depth and contact rates in EMEA
Data roadmap draws directly from customer feedback and is available to all customers

Cons:

Account data and data discovery capabilities lag top competitors
Does not offer extensive data hygiene or unification support
Seen by customers as supplemental provider rather than primary backbone of B2B database

Demandbase - Strong Performers

Pros:

Global account data coverage
Strong intent, technographic, and complementary data types
Robust enrichment capabilities
One of most detailed and focused data roadmaps in evaluation
Ability to package data and marketing execution together as full go-to-market platform
Recent growth in global contact coverage

Cons:

Notably smaller contact database than Leaders
Global support infrastructure lacks live support for non-English speakers

Leadspace - Strong Performers

Pros:

One of largest B2B databases in evaluation
Depth and recency of data through partnerships and validation across multiple sources
Competitive account hierarchy capabilities
Strong coverage of mobile phones and email
Data management, hygiene, and unification capabilities expected from CDP
Willingness to allow insights generation against large data sets before requiring purchase

Cons:

Lacks depth of global support personnel offered by Leaders
Scores affected by lack of reference customers
Exclusively licenses data from other sources rather than proprietary methodologies

Clearbit - Contenders

Pros:

Strong digital identity resolution capabilities for first-party data
Product-led growth offering fits well with HubSpot model
Strong preexisting integration with HubSpot
Account depth comparable to most providers
Natural choice for HubSpot users following acquisition

Cons:

Lacks account hierarchy and specialized data elements offered by leading competitors
Smaller contact database than most sales prospecting-focused providers
Advantages over Leaders not fully demonstrated
Declined to participate in full Forrester Wave evaluation process

DemandScience - Contenders

Pros:

Full-service marketing demand generation provider with strong analytics and data support
Contact depth on par with competitors
Capabilities to define target segments and drive engagement among key audiences
Stronger data capabilities than most marketing demand generation companies

Cons:

Product roadmap and partner ecosystem less robust than similar providers
Highly custom business model limits pricing transparency
Does not maintain large comprehensive account database or detailed account hierarchy
Geographic coverage for contact data less competitive outside North America
Data enrichment and unification services not as robust as similar providers
Unlikely to be primary data provider for large B2B enterprise

Lusha - Contenders

Pros:

Strong internal data security and compliance stance with security and privacy certifications among strongest in evaluation
Privacy-compliant data delivery
Ability to provide email addresses for contacts
Affordability for large data sets
On-par geographic coverage for contact data

Cons:

Does not offer significant data hygiene, enrichment, or unification capabilities
Overall depth of account data lags most sales intelligence providers
Partner ecosystem and global support infrastructure less developed than top competitors
Vision and innovation strategy still evolving with recently hired CTO
Declined to participate in full Forrester Wave evaluation process

RocketReach - Contenders

Pros:

Superb depth of contact coverage with one of larger contact databases in evaluation
Excellent availability of email addresses and mobile numbers
Ability to provide email addresses for contacts
Affordability for large data sets at competitive price point
Simplicity of use with no-frills approach

Cons:

Overall geographic coverage falls short of similar contact-focused providers
Does not include strong data management services
Lacks account data depth and complementary data sets of most providers
Less global support presence than most competitors

SMARTe - Contenders

Pros:

Strong global contact data quality with impressive geographic contact coverage
Custom data research capabilities
Superior quality of contact offering outside North America validated by customers
Simple, transparent pricing model
Ability to track down requested contact personas
Intentional focus on data quality over database size

Cons:

Lacks account depth and specialized account data elements of Leaders
Complementary data types less robust across the board
Does not offer data unification services
Account data depth not impressive to reference customers
Does not result in strongly differentiated vision or innovation strategy
Intentionally reduced size of active database to concentrate on quality

FAQs

Q: Which vendors are Leaders in 2024?

A: Data Axle, Dun & Bradstreet, ZoomInfo

Q: What does "Leader" mean in Forrester Wave terms?

A: Leaders are vendors that excel in both current offering and strategy. In the context of this Forrester Wave for Marketing and Sales Data Providers for B2B, Leaders demonstrate: depth of data coverage in firmographic (account) and demographic (contact) data, exceptional complementary data offerings, broad integration capabilities, strong data management and hygiene functionality, robust compliance and security programs, significant innovation investment, comprehensive partner ecosystems, and the ability to serve as the primary B2B data provider for marketing and sales teams. Leaders have positioned themselves to support coordinated efforts across marketing and sales functions with an integrated view of prospects and customers that incorporates critical business and behavioral signals.

Q: How do I interpret a Forrester Wave?

A: https://www.forrester.com/policies/forrester-wave-methodology/

Report:

Top Vendor Products for Marketing And Sales Data Providers For B2B in 2024

Marketing And Sales Data Providers For B2B Vendor Product Comparisons 2024

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FAQs

Q: Which vendors are Leaders in 2024?

Q: What does "Leader" mean in Forrester Wave terms?

Q: How do I interpret a Forrester Wave?

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