Best Sources of Firmographic Data and How to Make the Most Out of Them
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Where can you find firmographic data?
The line between B2B and B2C sectors is getting thinner. All companies need accurate information about their customers to satisfy their needs. During customer interactions, companies must sell their services or products while also delivering solutions that will address the customer’s current needs.
Simply put, businesses need to have a more personalized approach than ever. That’s where firmographic data can benefit, especially B2B businesses. Before we talk about where you can get firmographic data and how to use it, let’s learn more about this type of data.
Companies use various data in modern business to improve their processes, products, marketing efforts, sales, and other aspects of their workflows.
Firmographic data explained
Firograpic data is just what it sounds like. It’s the same as demographic – only it doesn’t focus on individuals but on organizations.
It involves information about companies, but it can come in many different data structures allowing you to understand services and products that could be useful or relevant to that organization.
Here are some datasets that are typical examples of firmographic data:
- Information about company ownership;
- Market position and market trends;
- Funding information;
- Company’s growth over time;
- Annual expenses;
- Annual revenue;
- Company size and industry size.
Companies use firmographic data to improve their targeting, learn about market trends, and sell services or products more effectively. Firmographics also allow companies to enrich their demographic data.
For example, you will have to adjust your approach if you’re working with a company mainly employing millennials.
Sources of firmographic data
Lucky for everyone, the majority of firmographic data is publicly available. Simply put, companies can find all of this data online. Some of the primary sources of firmographic data are:
- Official business websites of companies;
- Social media profiles of companies;
- Company registers;
- Websites about companies;
- Company review sites;
- Employment websites;
- Tax declarations.
Companies are often required to display firmographic data publicly when registering. However, even though you can find this data relatively quickly, gathering data from thousands of sources can be complicated and time-consuming.
For example, many companies get firmographic data from social media, but to do this, you will have to search for pages and profiles manually,m click on specific sections, and research the web.
All of this requires lots of time and money. That’s why many companies turn to third-party data providers that constantly extract data in an automated fashion and have it readily available for different businesses.
Here are some of the different types of firmographic data sources:
- Verified data sources
These sources include private databases, websites like Coresignal, or when you reach out to companies to get some verified data. Verified data sources are very accurate as there are multiple verification steps through which data is cleaned.
Another benefit of using verified data sources is that the data you will get will be easy to access, updated, recent, and valuable.
- Derived data sources
When companies extract data using additional sources, we can say they use derived data sources. For example, going onto Linkedin and checking out different company profiles, details, and information means you’re deriving information from that platform.
Other similar sources include job reports or job websites. Data from these sources can give you a broader context, but you can’t expect to get highly accurate information. It all depends on how the data is analyzed and collected.
- Self-reported data sources
All of us can go on company websites and find relevant information. This information is called self-reported data and can be found in company registers, business websites, profiles, and other sources.
This kind of data is collected mostly using web scraping services. It is the most effective way of acquiring typical firmographic data and information like annual revenue, industry, size, product information, etc. Still, scrapped data needs to be enriched and cleaned to get highly detailed and accurate information.
Using firmographic data effectively
Firmographic data is essential for market segmentation. It can be the foundation of creating personalized, relevant, and cost-effective marketing campaigns for potential and existing clients. Understanding how a company operates might help you figure out how they can use your service or products effectively and cover their pain points.
At the same time, you can always use firmographic data to see how much money companies spend on services or products similar to those you’re offering, making it easier to focus on the right companies and priorities your marketing and sales strategies.
Firmographic data allows companies to understand the needs of their customers. Every company or person is unique, and it’s essential to know them so you can deliver what they need. Here are some of the other main uses of firmographic data:
- Firmographic data helps you optimize efforts towards improving customer satisfaction;
- It allows you to create long-term relationships and increase customer retention while building trust;
- Maximize personalization efforts;
- Improve marketing and sales strategy and reduce costs.
Best sources of firmographic data: bottom line
Firmographic data offers vital advantages. Every serious business should rely on data as much as possible to stay ahead of its competition and understand its market. Take the time to learn how to use this kind of data and start acquiring it as soon as possible.
