A Leader in The Forrester Wave™: B2B Marketing Data Providers
Today is another exciting day for Dun & Bradstreet, as we have been named a Leader in the recent report: The Forrester Wave™: B2B Marketing Data Providers, Q2 2021. The report evaluates 11 vendors across 24 criteria.
Among the criteria, Dun & Bradstreet achieved the highest score possible in 14 criteria, including:
- Data management
- Analytics, reports, and dashboards
- Integrations, APIs, and applications
- Account selection
- Product roadmap and vision
- Market presence
Data Helps Businesses Grow and Thrive
As a marketer, I find myself in an interesting position. On the one hand, I am an evangelist and a spokesperson for how data fuels growth for our customers. On the other hand, I’m also a champion and a consumer of data within my own organization. I am essentially my target customer, with firsthand knowledge of both the challenges and the opportunities that revenue teams face.
Data can be – and should be – the driving force in our decision-making. In the past 20 years, the marketing discipline has evolved from an art to a science. Jim Barksdale hit the nail on the head when he said:
“If we have data, let’s look at data.
If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.”
I will be the first to admit that if my team only considered my opinion, we would probably be wrong more often than we are right. Data helps us know where we have been and helps guide us to where we want to go. It is the organizations that not only “look at the data” but also use it to inform and guide their decisions that are leading the way.
There’s certainly no shortage of data, either. There is more data than ever being captured – an explosion of first- and third-party data sources that inform fit, intent, and risk. B2B organizations are faced with the ever-increasing challenge of sourcing, organizing, optimizing, and ultimately gaining actionable insights from this abundance of data. Having data is one thing – knowing what to do with it, and acting on it when and where it matters most, is another matter. “Let’s look at the data” is more easily said than done.
According to a 2020 Dun & Bradstreet study,1 data is unanimously recognized as the catalyst for driving an effective sales and marketing strategy and improving overall business performance. This recognition is important, because having quality B2B data will enable the digital transformation initiatives hastened by the post-pandemic landscape.
On the marketing front, increased adoption of omnichannel marketing designed to create personalized, one-to-one, and account-based experiences is dependent on the activation of data across revtech platforms. Meanwhile, buyers increasingly expect a self-serve experience and targeted, relevant, timely content.
So, what does all this really mean? It means that data will fuel this expanded focus on the customer – and success or failure will ultimately determine a business’s long-term growth.
Choosing a Data Provider
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to choosing the right data provider. Many factors must be considered when determining what’s right for your business and use case. But let’s look at the basics.
B2B marketing data isn’t just the name of a business, the name of a contact, or an email address. Ultimately, marketing data needs to provide a complete, 360-degree view of your customers and prospects. Successful sales and marketing programs require unifying all relevant account data (firmographic, technographic, linkages, decision-makers, buyer intent, digital interactions) to engage your target audience at the right time via the right channel. And our expertise in identity resolution helps businesses master their customer data and enable targeted and meaningful account-based experiences.
Why Dun & Bradstreet?
I could talk for hours about all the things that set Dun & Bradstreet apart from other data providers, but here are just a few highlights:
First, the Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud is unrivaled in the extent of global company and contact data it offers. We provide insights on hundreds of millions of global companies and 37 million linkages, including hundreds of millions of global small and medium-size businesses. Companies of all sizes around the world, including 90% of the Fortune 500, rely on our data to grow and protect their businesses, confident that they’re abiding by applicable privacy and security requirements.
Next, underlying our data strategy approach is our ubiquitous Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S® Number, a unique, nine-digit identifier for every business in the Data Cloud that identifies a company as being unique.
Finally, because we’re technology-agnostic, it’s easier for our customers to syndicate our data and insights easily and consistently across their existing revtech stack.
Preparing for the Future
For over 100 years, Dun & Bradstreet has been helping our customers understand their customers through good times and challenging times alike. Change is constant, and we’ve certainly seen our share.
We’re committed to helping our clients adapt to the rapidly changing sales and marketing landscape. Our recent acquisition of Bisnode and our focus on continuous innovation will strengthen our leadership as a B2B marketing data provider. As both an evangelist and a champion of marketing data, I am excited for what the future holds. There is so much more on the horizon!
1 Dun & Bradstreet 7th Annual B2B Sales and Marketing Data Report.