Let's face it – generating quality leads is crucial for any business with an online presence that wants to attract new customers and grow. One of the best methods for doing that is to use a sales lead generation database. It's often the quickest and most cost-effective way to gather a pool of prospects who are actually interested in what you're selling.
Now, not all lead databases are created equal. Some are better than others, and knowing how to pick the right one is key. A superior database provides continuously updated and verified data, which is essential for keeping that sales pipeline flowing smoothly.
So, to make your life easier, I've put together a list of the best lead generation databases for companies and individuals in 2024. These providers are reputable and collect their data ethically, so you can efficiently generate quality leads.
What is lead generation?
Lead generation is a marketing process for attracting prospects and nurturing their interest, which results in conversion. It starts by collecting a prospect's contact information through online forms, emails, job applications, blog posts, or by purchasing a lead generation or sales database.
In the B2B world, where products and services can be pretty pricey, lead generation is a crucial part of the sales funnel. By capturing lead information, businesses can engage with prospects, gradually guiding them toward making a purchase.
For e-commerce and other sectors, getting B2B prospect lists is also important because they provide critical data about potential clients. This data can be used to enhance marketing efforts and increase conversions, even if the initial interaction doesn't result in an immediate sale.
The main goal of lead generation is to understand and cater to the needs of your verified leads from start to finish, maximizing the chances of converting them into loyal customers. This systematic approach helps identify the right prospects and deploy the most effective strategies to seal the deal.
What is a good lead database?
A good lead database is one that provides fresh verified leads data to help businesses connect with potential customers. It should include these main aspects:
- Relevant data points (company name, industry, location, contact data).
- Freshness.
- Customer support.
- Flexible filtering.
However, it’s important to emphasize that contact data collection must stay in line with data privacy laws. If you get contact data from a data provider who won’t tell you how they got it, it’s better stay clear. Contact data is private, which means if it wasn’t collected ethically, you may face certain legal issues.
Different strokes for different folks
As the title suggests, no one prospecting database would fit every business. Even if it existed, it would be way too cumbersome to manage and analyze. Also, if you already have a few prospect lists, it might be helpful to get a sales database for lead enrichment.
The most basic way to differentiate lead databases is based on whether they target businesses (B2B) or individual consumers (B2C) and whether they focus on people or companies. With this approach, we get 3 types of lead generation databases.
1. Lead databases for companies
When creating a B2B lead list, you should look for company or firmographic data that would help filter businesses that fit into your ideal customer profile (commonly known as ICP). For instance, if you're a coffee machine seller, you may want to target companies in your area with at least 20 employees. Additionally, you can check for new businesses founded months or weeks ago that are actively buying office supplies.
2. Lead databases for people
The process is similar for B2C lead generation when you look for standalone customers that purchase your product or service directly. Let’s say you’re a software developer with the goal of creating the best task management tool. By looking at tech product review data, you can find similar applications, their ratings, and supported platforms. Now, you can target online ads in websites frequented by business people, hopefully bringing premium subscribers.
3. Lead databases for people in companies
Finally, there’s a third option when you target people in companies. Usually, those are the decision makers, C-level managers, and influencers who don’t necessarily directly buy your product but may influence the buying decision. In this case, an employee database is a great choice because you get both people with their job titles and their current employers.
In some cases, like when you're a software vendor, contacting the CTO first might be better than going straight for the jugular (CEO). If you manage to sell to the former, they will become your ally in selling to the latter.
You can also contact separate team members and offer a free trial of your software. Alternatively, you can target online ads on websites popular among developers. If they like it, they might ask their team lead to buy it, effectively closing the deal for you.
Top 5 lead generation databases for companies
1. Coresignal
Website: coresignal.com
Description: Coresignal offers fresh data on B2B leads, including 69M+ company records from the largest professional network. The self-service API tool features a robust filtering and flexible plans.
Pricing: Datasets from $1000, API from $49/month.
2. LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Website: business.linkedin.com
Description: LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers company data from its own network. Rather than selling the full database, it uses a subscription model, offering 1 free and 3 paid plans.
Pricing: Free, Core ($60.16/mo), Advance ($116.98/mo), Advance Plus (custom)
3. Uplead
Website: uplead.com
Description: Uplead is a popular lead generation database company that offers high-quality datasets and a 95% data accuracy guarantee. Their paid plans aren’t cheap, but you can always test the service first.
Pricing: Free trial, Paid plans from $99/mo
4. Lusha
Website: lusha.com
Description: A reputable sales intelligence platform, Lusha offers not only lead generation data but also lead scoring, which helps identify buyer intent. They focus on the US market only, though.
Pricing: Free, Pro ($36/mo), Premium ($59mo), Scale (custom)
5. Anymail finder
Website: anymailfinder.com
Description: Anymail finder is a great starting point for companies that aren’t ready to buy a B2B lead generation database yet. This tool helps find and verify business email addresses for marketing and sales use.
Pricing: Free trial, plans from $9/mo
Top 5 lead generation databases for people
1. Coresignal
Website: coresignal.com
Description: Coresignal’s lead generation database for employees has 687M+ records freshly collected from the biggest professional network. Alternatively, you can use the self-service API tool and a pay-as-you-go pricing plan.
Pricing: Datasets from $1000, API credit bundles from $20
2. LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Website: business.linkedin.com
Description: LinkedIn offers people data from its network. It uses a subscription model but also provides a free plan.
Pricing: Free, Core ($60.16/mo), Advance ($116.98/mo), Advance Plus (custom)
3. Solution publishing
Website: solpub.com
Description: Solution Publishing doesn’t sell lead generation data on its website but links to multiple data platforms. Its dataset consists of 120M US employee records.
Pricing: Custom, one-off & subscription
4. BIGDBM
Website: bigdbm.com
Description: Besides company data, BIGDBM offers 125M employee records that include emails and phone numbers. Be aware that the database consists of US residents only.
Pricing: Custom
5. WebAutomation
Website: webautomation.io
Description: WebAutomation has 50M GDPR-compliant employee records, updated monthly. There are 3 pricing plans along with a free trial.
Pricing: Free trial, Project ($74/mo), Start-Up ($186/mo), Business ($336/mo)
What do you need to know before buying a lead database?
Before buying a lead database, you must make sure you’re dealing with a reliable lead provider. While it’s easier said than done, there are a few things we’d like to share that will help you avoid entrepreneurial unpleasantries. Here are some of them:
- Social proof. That means activity on social media, listings in data marketplaces, positive reviews on websites like Datarade, and other data industry players recognizing and referring to them.
- Responsiveness. The response should be fast and professional. See if the contact person genuinely asks about your needs, not just urging you to buy.
- Free sample. It’s a standard practice in the data industry, allowing the client to see how the data is structured and what data fields are available. If the seller is reluctant to share a few hundred lead list records, don’t bother.
- Data freshness. Ask about update frequency. Ensure the data is always fresh and ready to provide you with accurate insights.
- Compliance. As mentioned before, data privacy is no joke. Make sure that the provider is compliant and the data is sourced ethically.
- Scalability. Consider scalability options. As your business grows, will the lead database be able to keep up with you? If not, you may need to switch vendors. That’s a sign to look for one that offers scalability now.
- Cost and value. The cheapest option is not always the best. Talk to different providers and select one that provides the best cost to value ratio. Most value could lie in freshness, size, deliverability, integration, and compliance.
These are just a few points to consider when buying a B2B or B2C lead database. You can learn more from our detailed guide on choosing a data provider.
How to choose a good leads database: Key data points
While selecting a lead database, make sure to consider the following data points and decide if they meet your business needs:
- Data accuracy. Look for an updated leads database that provides only fresh and accurate data. Outdated data can harm your business and profits.
- Data fields. Make sure the provider offers essential data points such as name, email, and firmographic data points for B2B queries.
- Coverage. Consider the regions you operate in for targeted lead generation. Does the sales database provide data in these locations?
- Segmentation. Does it allow segmenting the data by location, industry, company size, and more? It’s essential for successful targeted lead generation.
- Compliance. It’s crucial that the lead database provider complies with GDPR, CCPA, and other data regulation laws.
- Formats. Check the available formats for exporting data.
Bottom line
Being “data-driven” may sound like a buzzword, but it’s quickly becoming a necessity rather than a nice-to-have feat for modern business. Lead generation databases are already a common source of clients for enterprise-level companies, with subscription-based services winning over SMBs looking for not that big data.
Whether you’re in a B2C or B2B segment, a quality sales lead database holds the power to turn losses into profit. Your sales team will be grateful for it, and you, in turn, will be grateful to them for next quarter's results.
